Nearly 10 000 Chinese website operators have lost the use of their .com internet addresses due to telecom problems caused by last month’s earthquake near Taiwan, state media reported on Friday. The 7,1-magnitude quake severed major international telecommunications lines.
Climate change will harm China’s ecology and economy in the coming decades, possibly causing large drops in agricultural output, said a government report made public on Wednesday. The report comes several days after state media said 2006 was hotter than average with more natural disasters than normal.
Hong Kong telecom authorities assumed emergency powers on Tuesday as firms faced internet disruption on the first day back to work after an earthquake damaged regional undersea data cables. Telecom and internet service providers sent the city’s telecom authority Ofta hourly updates on service capacity.
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/ 31 December 2006
At least six small bombs exploded in Bangkok on Sunday, killing two people, wounding more than 20 and shocking the Thai capital into cancelling New Year countdown celebrations. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombs, which went off within about an hour and included one put under a seat at a bus stop outside a shopping mall which killed one person and wounded 16.
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/ 26 December 2006
Doctors and nurses at a hospital in southern China have donned combat gear after an incident in which angry relatives of a patient attacked hospital workers, state media reported on Tuesday. The Shanxia Hospital in the boomtown of Shenzhen operated on a patient who suffered from bone fracture after a car accident early this month, but he died 17 days later of heart failure.
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/ 25 December 2006
China’s government, which suppresses a range of information deemed threatening to national security, now wants to keep weather forecasts from falling into the wrong hands, state press said on Monday. New regulations will clamp down on the illegal acquisition of Chinese meteorological information by foreigners.
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/ 22 December 2006
A week of diplomatic negotiations aimed at persuading North Korea to scrap its nuclear weapons ended with no progress on Friday, with envoys failing even to set a firm date to meet again. The six parties agreed only to report to their capitals and ”reconvene at the earliest opportunity”, said a statement read by chief Chinese negotiator Wu Dawei.
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/ 21 December 2006
Forget fund flows and profit predictions, 2007 is about ”fire sitting on water”. Buy oil, avoid metals, and don’t get your fingers burned. Feng shui experts steeped in the ancient Chinese knowledge of geomancy, or natural energies, see a turbulent year ahead for both markets and mankind.
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/ 19 December 2006
A new $500-million fibre optic cable between China and the United States will be vital in helping to meet booming internet traffic between the two nations, state press reported on Tuesday. US telecom giant Verizon Communications announced on Monday it would build the cable in a joint project with firms from China, South Korea and Taiwan.
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/ 19 December 2006
North Korea test-fired missiles on United States Independence Day, sought bilateral talks with the US on Thanksgiving, and declared itself a nuclear power during Chinese New Year celebrations. So envoys to talks in Beijing and the throng of journalists tailing them might be forgiven for wondering whether North Korea’s penchant for ”holiday” diplomacy will keep them far from home this Christmas.
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/ 18 December 2006
North Korea said on Monday it wanted all sanctions lifted before it would discuss implementing a nuclear disarmament deal. North Korea made the demand at the opening day of six-party talks in Beijing aimed at dismantling North Korea’s nuclear weapons, according to a source close to the talks.
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/ 14 December 2006
The long arms of the world’s tallest man saved two dolphins in north-east China by reaching inside them to remove plastic they had swallowed, state media reported on Thursday. The dolphins at an aquarium in Fushun, Liaoning province, had fallen sick after swallowing the plastic from the edge of their pool.
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/ 5 December 2006
A Chinese province has banned its tourists from wearing counterfeit clothes overseas to avoid flagrant abuse of intellectual property rights and to protect its image, local media said on Tuesday. The government in the north-eastern province of Jilin had also banned carrying or sending pirated goods, including CDs and DVDs, overseas.
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/ 4 December 2006
A Chinese coal mine has made the news for a reason other than the grim series of accidents nationwide — it is claiming a world record for the the highest number of simultaneous weddings held underground. The Datong Coal Group in Shanxi province held weddings for 10 miners on Saturday 300m down the pitshaft, the People’s Daily said on Monday.
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/ 29 November 2006
Beijing Olympics organisers are selling over half the tickets for the 2008 Games at less than each to allow as many people as possible a chance to attend the event. Tickets to competition events would be priced from 30 to 1 000 yuan (,85 to ), with preliminary sessions starting from 30 yuan and finals tickets costing 60 yuan.
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/ 29 November 2006
North Korea wants sanctions dropped and the United States to free its overseas bank accounts as preconditions for dismantling its nuclear programme, Yonhap news agency said on Wednesday, terms likely to become a sticking point in negotiations.
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/ 29 November 2006
A Chinese court jailed two managers of a state-owned coal mine on Wednesday for negligence two years after a gas explosion killed 166 miners, Xinhua news agency said. The blast, one of the worst in China in decades, hit the Chenjiashan coal mine in Tongchuan in the north-western province of Shaanxi just days after the pit had caught fire.
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/ 28 November 2006
Researchers have found that artemisinin, the main drug used in fighting malaria, is well absorbed rectally, giving a promising treatment to people suffering severe forms of the disease. Malaria can cause vomiting, which makes oral administration of the drug difficult.
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/ 28 November 2006
China’s top safety official shouted and pounded his desk in anger at mine owners and local officials for ”utter disregard for workers’ lives” after a string of deadly mining accidents, state media reported on Tuesday. Li Yizhong, director of the State Administration of Work Safety, became incensed during a teleconference with officials on Monday, the China Daily said.
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/ 20 November 2006
Beijing is planning to build the world’s biggest subway and dramatically expand its bus network as part of efforts to combat the city’s fast-increasing traffic grid-lock, state press said on Monday. The Chinese capital will expand its subway system to 273km by 2010 and to 561km by 2020.
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/ 19 November 2006
World number one Roger Federer underlined his absolute dominance of men’s tennis when he routed American James Blake 6-0 6-3 6-4 on Sunday to win the Masters Cup for the third time in four years. The Swiss was beaten by David Nalbandian in last year’s final but there was no upset this time.
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/ 17 November 2006
Multinational corporations should help redress imbalances in the world economy by putting a higher priority on investing in developing countries, Chinese President Hu Jintao said on Friday. Hu said China will accelerate reforms of its economy to counter its growing and politically contentious trade imbalances.
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/ 16 November 2006
Online enyclopedia Wikipedia was accessible again in China on Thursday after being blocked for more than a year, a move hailed by free media advocacy group Reporters Sans Frontières. China routinely blocks access to websites it deems subversive and filters internet pages for sensitive words.
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/ 15 November 2006
A chubby faced Shanghai gas station intern known as "Little Fatty" has vaulted to the top of internet fame in China thanks to cheeky PhotoShop artists who are turning the plump youth into a pop icon. It all started three years ago when Qian Zhijun, then a 16-year-old high school student, was attending a traffic safety class and someone snapped a picture of his rotund, rosy cheeked face.
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/ 14 November 2006
Shanghai, China’s wealthiest and most dazzling city, plans to add to its reputation this weekend with a millionaire party aimed at hooking up rich men with beautiful women, state press said on Tuesday. Men wishing to participate must have assets worth at least two million yuan ($250 000).
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/ 13 November 2006
Rafael Nadal’s Masters Cup hopes took a blow on Monday when he was handed a shock straight-sets defeat by American eighth seed James Blake. The world number two was broken twice in the first set and lost a second-set tie-break to love as Blake won 6-4, 7-6 (7/0).
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/ 12 November 2006
Accidents at two Chinese coal mines have killed at least seven workers as the death toll from a gas explosion at a third mine a week ago rose to 23. In the latest disaster to hit the coal-dependent nation, two miners were killed on Friday after the wagon in which they were travelling broke free from a steel cord.
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/ 12 November 2006
A relatively unknown South Korean golfer ended Tiger Woods’ streak in stroke events, winning the HSBC Champions tournament on Sunday. Yang Yong-eun, a regular on the Japanese tour who has played infrequently outside Asia, closed with a three-under 69 on Sunday at the Sheshan International Golf Club for a two-stroke win at 14-under 274.
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/ 11 November 2006
One of China’s wealthiest tycoons has bought an -million stake in Anglo American, a landmark deal in China’s pursuit of African resources, the Financial Times said on Saturday. Citic Pacific chairperson Larry Yung, China’s third richest man, also known as Rong Zhijian, bought 17-million shares from the Oppenheimer dynasty.
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/ 9 November 2006
About half of the people in developing countries in Asia who kill themselves do it using pesticides, prompting the World Health Organisation to urge governments to ban or regulate their use. The WHO cited studies showing nearly everyone who committed suicide acted on impulse and their deaths could have been prevented if lethal chemicals had not been available.
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/ 9 November 2006
A group of wildlife experts weighed into the acrimonious battle over shark fishing on Thursday, saying very few species were threatened with extinction as some activists charge. They said that there was no targeted killing of sharks just for their fins — a Chinese delicacy — as most sharks are caught mainly for their meat.
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/ 8 November 2006
Tennis great Roger Federer said he hoped to find time for a beer with Tiger Woods while both are in Shanghai this weekend. Federer is playing in the season-ending Masters Cup while Woods is here for Asia’s richest golf event, the five-million-dollar HSBC Champions tournament.