Tag: China

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Egypt journalist arrested over coverage of detainee’s death

An Egyptian news outlet says one of its reporters, who reported on a young man’s death in police custody, has been detained on charges of reporting fake news September 11, 2020, 7:32 PM • 3 min read CAIRO — A prominent Egyptian journalist who reported on a young man’s death in police custody has been detained on charges of reporting fake news, his employer said Friday, the latest blow to press freedoms in the country. The arrest of journalist Islam …

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SMIC, China’s largest chipmaker, plunges 23% after U.S. says it could blacklist the firm

A close up image of a CPU socket and motherboard laying on the table.   GUANGZHOU, China — Shares of Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC), China’s biggest contract chipmaker, plunged over 23% on Monday, after the U.S. government said it was considering putting export restrictions on the company. The firm’s Hong Kong-listed shares were down 23.89% at 18 Hong Kong dollars as of 3:24 p.m. local time. SMIC’s recently-listed Shanghai shares were down 11.29% at 58.8 yuan. The U.S. Department of …

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China lands its first reusable spacecraft as state media hails it as an ‘important breakthrough’

China’s Long March-2F carrier rocket during a 2016 launch.   GUANGZHOU, China — China has successfully launched and landed an experimental reusable spacecraft, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency which lauded the achievement as an “important breakthrough.” The spacecraft was launched on a Long March-2F rocket from the Jiuquan launch center located in Inner Mongolia on Friday. It spent two days in orbit and and returned to the scheduled landing site on Sunday, Xinhua said. There are very few details on the …

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Typhoon Haishen: Japan escapes worst as storm barrels towards South Korea

South Korea is bracing for the arrival of Typhoon Haishen, after the powerful storm battered Japan’s southern islands but appeared to pass through without major damage or casualties. The storm, carrying top sustained winds of up to 144 km/h (90 mph), was headed north toward South Korea’s second largest city of Busan, the country’s weather agency said. High winds have already cut power to almost 5,000 households in the southern tip of the Korean peninsula, including the resort island of …

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Coronavirus: All you need to know in under 500 words

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the new coronavirus outbreak, which originated in Wuhan, China, a pandemic.  As of September 4, the global death toll surpassed 870,000 amid more than 26.4 million cases. Over 17.5 million people have recovered from the disease worldwide, according to the data collected by the Johns Hopkins University in the United States. More: Coronavirus: All you need to know about the symptoms and risks How does coronavirus spread and how can you protect yourself? Coronavirus: Which countries have confirmed …

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Who’s next? Abe’s party maneuvers to pick Japan’s next PM

With Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announcing his plans to step down due to health reasons, members of his ruling party are furiously maneuvering ahead of an internal vote that will ultimately decide his successor By MARI YAMAGUCHI Associated Press September 2, 2020, 12:35 AM • 4 min read TOKYO — With Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announcing his plans to step down due to health reasons, members of his ruling party are furiously maneuvering ahead of an internal vote that will …

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Iran nuclear deal parties set to meet in Vienna amid US pressure

The signatories to the faltering Iran nuclear deal are expected to meet in Vienna as the United States urges the reimposition of international sanctions on Tehran and the extension of the conventional arms embargo against it. Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia are struggling to save the 2015 landmark accord with Iran, which has been progressively stepping up its nuclear activities since last year. Tehran insists it is entitled to do so under the deal – which swapped sanctions relief …

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Zoom Is Fighting Rumors In India That It’s A Chinese Company

After the Indian government banned 59 apps owned by Chinese firms last week, the videoconferencing app Zoom is fighting xenophobic rumors on social media that it is Chinese-owned. It’s not — the company is American and is scrambling to let Indians know. In a blog post on Tuesday, Velchamy Sankarlingam, Zoom’s president of product and engineering, tried to clear up misinformation about Zoom’s country of origin. The company, he reminded people, is based in the United States. “We do recognize …

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China warns Czech senate speaker will pay ‘heavy price’ for Taiwan visit

The Czech senate’s Milos Vystrcil and his wife wave to salute the press in Taipei, Taiwan, on August 30, 2020.   Czech Senate speaker Milos Vystrcil will “pay a heavy price” for making an official trip to Taiwan and China will not sit idly by, the Chinese government’s top diplomat said on Monday, in a warning brushed off by Taiwan’s government. Vystrcil arrived in Taipei on Sunday on a visit to promote business links with Taiwan, saying the Czech Republic …

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Which countries have not reported any coronavirus cases?

COVID-19 has so far been reported in 188 countries and territories [Ebrahim Noroozi/AP] In December 2019, the coronavirus was seemingly confined to China. But, a few weeks later, the virus, which causes the illness known as COVID-19, became a global pandemic. The virus, which leads to a respiratory illness that can be transmitted from droplets of bodily fluids – such as mucus and saliva, has now been reported in at least 188 countries. More: Coronavirus: All you need to know …

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China restaurant collapses during birthday party, killing 29

Rescue efforts have ended at a two-story restaurant in a northern China village that collapsed during an 80th birthday celebration for a resident, leaving 29 dead August 30, 2020, 3:12 AM • 1 min read BEIJING — Rescue efforts ended at a two-story restaurant in a northern China village that collapsed during an 80th birthday celebration for a resident, leaving 29 dead, authorities said Sunday. The Ministry of Emergency Management said another 28 people were injured, seven of them seriously, …

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China tightens tech export controls potentially jeopardizing TikTok deal, reports say

The TikTok app icon sits displayed on a smartphone in front the national flags of China and the U.S. in this arranged photograph in London, U.K., on Monday, Aug. 3, 2020. Hollie Adams | Bloomberg | Getty Images An updated export rule from China could jeopardize the sale of TikTok’s  U.S. operations, according to reports published Saturday in The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times.  According to the reports, China updated its export control rules to incorporate technology that could include TikTok, a claim …

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Several killed as two-storey restaurant collapses in China

At least 17 people have been killed after a two-storey restaurant in China collapsed during a gathering on Saturday morning, the country’s state media said. The official Xinhua News Agency said 28 others were injured in the accident, with 21 among them reported to be in a serious condition. The restaurant was located in Shanxi province’s Xiangfen county, about 630km (400 miles) southwest of capital Beijing. Hundreds of rescue workers, wearing hardhats and face masks, searched for trapped people in …

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Venezuelan politician jailed in 2018 drone attack sent home

Venezuelan officials have released an opposition politician jailed over two years ago on suspicion of taking part in a failed drone attack on President Nicolás Maduro August 28, 2020, 11:07 PM • 2 min read CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuelan authorities have released an opposition politician to home detention two years after being jailed on suspicion of taking part in a failed drone attack on President Nicolás Maduro, his relatives said Friday. Images on social media showed Juan Requesens arriving home …

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Blanked-Out Spots On China’s Maps Helped Us Uncover Xinjiang’s Camps

Read Part 1 of this investigation here. Read Part 2 here. This project was supported by the Open Technology Fund, the Pulitzer Center, and the Eyebeam Center for the Future of Journalism. In the summer of 2018, as it became even harder for journalists to work effectively in Xinjiang, a far-western region of China, we started to look at how we could use satellite imagery to investigate the camps where Uighurs and other Muslim minorities were being detained. At the …

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China fires ‘aircraft-carrier killer’ missile in warning to US

China has fired two missiles, including one dubbed an “aircraft-carrier killer”, into the South China Sea, according to a news report, in a pointed warning to the United States as tensions in the disputed sea lane rise to new levels.  The South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported on Thursday that Beijing fired one intermediate-range ballistic missile, DF-26B, from Qinghai province and another medium-range ballistic missile, DF-21D, from Zhejiang province on Wednesday in response to US aerial activities in a “no-fly …

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Exclusive: The Chinese Scientist Who Sequenced the First COVID-19 Genome Speaks Out About the Controversies Surrounding His Work

Over the past few years, Professor Zhang Yongzhen has made it his business to sequence thousands of previously unknown viruses. But he knew straight away that this one was particularly nasty. It was about 1:30 p.m. on Jan. 3 that a metal box arrived at the drab, beige buildings that house the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center. Inside was a test tube packed in dry ice that contained swabs from a patient suffering from a peculiar pneumonia sweeping China’s central …

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South Korea, China hold highest-level talks since coronavirus outbreak

  South Korea started talks with China’s top diplomat on Saturday, the first visit by a high-level Beijing official since the new coronavirus emerged in China late last year. Yang Jiechi, a member of the Communist Party Politburo, was meeting South Korea’s new national security advisor, Suh Hoon, in the southern port city of Busan to discuss coronavirus cooperation, bilateral relations and the situation surrounding the Korean Peninsula, the South Korean government said.   Yang arrived on Friday and is …

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AP Explains: India’s Kashmir move foretold China standoff

SRINAGAR, India — Indian and Chinese officials are holding talks Thursday to try to resolve a months-long standoff along their disputed frontier, where the two countries have deployed tens of thousands of soldiers. More than a dozen rounds of talks so far have failed to break the impasse.   Experts say India’s actions in Kashmir a year ago exacerbated existing tensions with China, culminating in the deadliest clash between the Asian giants in more than four decades. The ongoing standoff …

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Stock futures rise slightly following last week’s gains

U.S. stock futures rose slightly early Monday after Wall Street logged its third consecutive weekly gain, but fell short of breaking the all-time high set on Feb. 19. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose about 70 points. S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures popped 0.37% and nearly 0.75%, respectively.   The S&P 500 climbed 0.6% last week and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.1%. The Dow gained 1.8% last week. Despite those gains, the S&P 500 failed to notch a fresh …

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