YANCHENG, China (Reuters) – An explosion at a pesticide plant in eastern China has killed 62 people, state media said late on Friday, with 34 people critically injured and 28 missing, the latest casualties in a series of industrial accidents that has angered the public. The blast occurred on Thursday at the Chenjiagang Industrial Park in the city of Yancheng,… Read more »
HONG KONG (AFP) – Sixty years after the Dalai Lama fled into permanent Indian exile, the cause of Tibetan freedom that earned him a Nobel prize and a celebrity-studded international following has lost much of its momentum – neutralised, analysts say, by the passage of time and China’s rising global power. Inside Tibet, Beijing has effectively wiped out any organised… Read more »
HONG KONG/TAIPEI (REUTERS) – As Beijing grows wary of pro-independence groups seeking to forge closer ties in Hong Kong and Taiwan, activists say they are coming under increased surveillance and harassment from pro-China media outlets and unofficial “operatives”. Visits to Taiwan in January by several Hong Kong activists including Tony Chung generated heavy coverage by two pro-China newspapers, including detailed… Read more »
HONG KONG (AFP) – A Hong Kong activist was found guilty on Friday (March 15) of “misleading police” after a local court decided his claims to have been abducted by mainland Chinese agents and punctured with staples were made up, local media reported. Howard Lam, 44, a founding member of the city’s largest pro-democracy party, was sentenced to five months… Read more »
The shootings that killed at least 49 people at two mosques in New Zealand on Friday have placed new scrutiny on New Zealand’s gun laws and sparked a fervent debate about whether they were a factor in the gunman’s decision to carry out his attack there. The police have described the gunman as a man in his late 20s and officials have… Read more »
British singer Joss Stone has performed at a bar in North Korea, as part of her effort to play in every country in the world. The artist from Devon was pictured singing in a bar in the capital Pyongyang, and going to various sites around the city. Ms Stone announced the visit as part of her Total World Tour, which… Read more »
Malaysian authorities have rejected a plea to drop the murder case against Doan Thi Huong, the Vietnamese woman accused of killing the half-brother of North Korea’s leader. Vietnam had been pushing for her release, and the decision comes days after her Indonesian co-defendant, Siti Aisyah, was unexpectedly freed. Both women insist they are innocent. Kim Jong-nam was assassinated with liquid… Read more »
China has blocked a bid to designate the leader of the group behind an attack which brought India and Pakistan to the brink of war a terrorist. Masood Azhar is the leader of Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), which carried out a suicide bombing last month killing 40 troops in Indian-administered Kashmir. The UN security council has been asked to subject Masood Azhar… Read more »
One of China’s most prestigious high schools has been the target of public anger after piles of expired mouldy food were found in its canteen kitchen. Mouldy bread, rotting meat and seafood were discovered at the Chengdu No 7 Experimental High School. One parent told the BBC of his horror and disgust, saying the food was “stinky and disgusting” and… Read more »
North Korea has criticized Japan for raising the issue of abductions of Japanese nationals at a meeting of the UN Human Rights Council. A Japanese delegate called for the swift resolution of the issue during discussions on human rights in North Korea in Geneva on Monday. Japan’s government says at least 17 citizens were abducted by North Korea. Five returned… Read more »