News » Society » The trade in human hair at the Tirumala Venkateswara Temple in India
News » Society » The trade in human hair at the Tirumala Venkateswara Temple in India |
- The trade in human hair at the Tirumala Venkateswara Temple in India
- Stricter rules on property info
- Official arrested
- China takes control of Pakistani port
- A new life to treasure ...
- Action on pollution after swim challenge
- Landslide buries 5, including 2 kids
- Airliner's cowling falls off in flight
- Officials deny shielding deep-well polluters
- Inquiry Into China Film Trade Unnerves Hollywood
- Hong Kong Disneyland Finally Sees Profit
- Global investors watch how chips fall in China’s cashless casino bar
- Have You Heard…
- China Said to Approve Joining Iran High-Speed Rail Project
- China urges calm over Korean Peninsula situation
- Huey P. Newton and the Black Panther Party: a picture story
- 5 buried in SW China landslide
- Engine cover falls off passenger jet
- Drunk driver killer got nephew to take rap
- One dead, six injured in N China supermarket fire
| The trade in human hair at the Tirumala Venkateswara Temple in India Posted: 18 Feb 2013 01:38 PM PST SELLING hair for profit:
Photo: Barbers shave off the hair of Hindu holy men as they participate in rituals that will rid them of all ties in this life so that they can dedicate themselves to serving god as "Naga" or naked holy men, during the Ardh Kumbh festival in Allahabad, India, Tuesday Jan. 16, 2007. The significance of nakedness is that they will not have any worldy ties to material belongings, even something as simple as clothes. This ritual that transforms selected holy men to Naga can only be done at Kumbh festival. Photo: Sukdev Baba Shanti, a Sadhu or Hindu holy man from the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, ties his thirteen and half feet long hair as his followers look on at the Kamakhya temple in Gauhati, India, Tuesday, June 21, 2005. Sadhus, or Hindu holy men, are congregating from all parts of the country to take part in the Ambubasi festival at the Kamkahya Temple from June 22. |
| Stricter rules on property info Posted: 18 Feb 2013 09:16 AM PST A REGULATION making it harder to uncover property details in some Chinese cities has raised questions over whether the new rule is to protect personal information, as claimed, or to prevent "house family" scandals being exposed. The stricter rules come in the wake of several "house family" scandals in which government officials, bankers and businessmen were nicknamed "house sisters," "house brothers" and "house uncles" because of reports that they owned multiple properties. The scandals were exposed because household information was then made available by merely providing the names of alleged multiple property owners. The government of the coastal city of Zhangzhou has introduced a new rule banning residents checking information by providing only the householder's name, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported. People can only check information by providing a detailed location of the property or its ownership number. The rule follows a similar one in eastern Jiangsu Province's Yancheng, introduced recently after "the leaking of personal household information sparked concern among some residents over the safety of their personal information." In Guangzhou, household information rules were also strengthened last month. Inquirers who were previously required to provide locations of properties are now being asked to provide a series of certificates including those related to the property's ownership and its registered number, the newspaper said. The new rules have stirred controversy with many people believing they are in place to protect corrupt officials and prevent details of their properties being made public. Zhang Xiuting, an official with an anti-corruption bureau in Mudanjiang, a city in northeast China, was said to have owned 17 properties. The whistleblower told the newspaper that the information was gleaned via the household information inquiry system with the help of some "insiders." A post on weibo.com that had been forwarded more than 2,300 times by yesterday said: "So who would fear the leak of household information? Only those corrupt officials who illegally purchase the properties. "In the wake of the 'house sister' scandals, the rules are actually protecting the corrupt officials in the name of protecting personal information." Guangzhou officials said that in the case of Li Yunqing, dubbed the "house auntie" and said to own 24 properties worth 15 million yuan (US$2.4 million), she had bought the properties with legal income and money left by her father. Li's household information had been illegally acquired, they said. |
| Posted: 18 Feb 2013 09:16 AM PST A neighborhood committee official in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, has been arrested on charges of bribery after online claims he owned more than 2 billion yuan (US$320 million) in assets and 80 properties. Zhou Weisi, a deputy head of the Nanlian community in the city's Longgang District, reportedly has 20 luxury cars. |
| China takes control of Pakistani port Posted: 18 Feb 2013 09:15 AM PST China took control of Pakistan's Gwadar Port yesterday as part of its drive to secure energy and maritime routes. "The contract of operation of Gwadar Port is formally given to China. Today, the agreement is transferred from the Port of Singapore Authority to China Overseas Ports Holding Company Limited," President Asif Ali Zardari announced. "The award of this contract opens new opportunities for our people ... It gives new impetus to Pakistan-China relations," Zardari added in a speech broadcast live on television. On January 30 the Pakistani Cabinet approved the transfer of Gwadar, currently a commercial failure cut off from the national road network, from PSA International to the Chinese company. The Pakistanis pitched the deal as offering an energy and trade corridor to connect China to the Arabian Sea and Strait of Hormuz, a gateway for a third of the world's traded oil, overland through an expanded Karakoram Highway. Experts say it would cut thousands of kilometers off the distance which oil and gas imports from Africa and the Middle East have to travel to reach China. China paid about 75 percent of the initial US$250 million used to build the port but in 2007 PSA International won a 40-year operating lease. On February 6 Indian Defense Minister AK Antony said New Delhi was concerned at Pakistan's decision to transfer management of the deep-sea port to China. However, Pakistan foreign ministry spokesman Moazzam Ahmad Khan dismissed those concerns last week, telling reporters: "This is not something that any other country should have any reason to be concerned about." |
| Posted: 18 Feb 2013 09:14 AM PST Villagers take part in a treasure-grabbing competition as part of activities to mark the Shangjiu Festival in a Tibetan township in southwest China's Sichuan Province. The festival, on the ninth day of the first month in the lunar calendar, celebrates the birth of new life. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Action on pollution after swim challenge Posted: 18 Feb 2013 08:47 AM PST AN environmental protection official was challenged to swim in a highly polluted river with 200,000 yuan (US$32,040) as a reward if he did. In response, the official has pledged to build facilities to combat the pollution and to control population in the area. Jin Zengmin, chairman of a glasses company in Hangzhou, asked Bao Zhenming, director of the environmental protection bureau in his hometown of Rui'an in Wenzhou City, to swim in a local river for just 20 minutes. Jin claimed pollution had caused cancers among many villagers living nearby. He posted the challenge on his microblog at the weekend to raise awareness of the problem. Jin claimed that shoe-making workshops along the river were discharging industrial sewage direct into the river as well as toxic gas into the air. Seventeen residents among the 1,000 villagers died of cancer last year, Jin said. Jin posted pictures showing lots of rubbish floating in the river and the water in parts of it turning white. He said he and his friends often swam in the river when they were young and when there were no workshops. Bao phoned Jin on Sunday, saying it was his responsibility and promising to treat the river soon, Jin said. Yesterday, Bao said: "The river has truly been polluted, but mainly by household garbage rather than industrial waste." He denied that the cancer cases were related to the workshops because officials had found no industrial waste being discharged. The pollution was mainly caused by an overexpansion of the migrant population in the area, he said. Some 40,000 citizens and 80,000 out-of-towners were living in the neighborhood, far exceeding the numbers the region could cope with. He said many workers in about 100 labor-intensive workshops along the river were discharging household waste into the river. Bao said officials would be clearing the waste on and along the river soon. "The city government has built a garbage recycling plant and will put it into use this year. A new sewage treatment plant will also be built within three years," Bao said. Jin Xiaokun, a neighborhood official, said illegal residential buildings along the river would be dismantled to control the migrant population. |
| Landslide buries 5, including 2 kids Posted: 18 Feb 2013 08:00 AM PST FIVE people, including two children, were buried after a landslide hit southwest China's Guizhou Province yesterday morning, a preliminary investigation found. An electrician at a neighboring coal mine is among those buried, rescuers said. The landslide happened about 11am in Longchang Township in the city of Kaili, burying six work sheds. Rescuers had rushed to the scene, and the cause of the landslide was being investigated. |
| Airliner's cowling falls off in flight Posted: 18 Feb 2013 08:00 AM PST A CHINA Southern Airlines flight from northeast China to the southern city of Guangzhou made an emergency landing yesterday morning after an engine hood fell off during the flight. No one was injured. Part of the cowling on the left engine of the Airbus 320 was missing shortly after Flight CZ3624 took off from Harbin, capital of the northeastern Heilongjiang Province, about 8:30am, the airline said. "We heard a big bang when the aircraft was still ascending and passengers sitting near the left engine informed the crew members that the cover fell down," a passenger on the flight said. The crew followed emergency procedures and the pilot flew back to Harbin Taiping Airport. "The captain told us other parts of the aircraft were working well and they decided a make an emergency landing," a passenger identified as "cigarette ash prince" said on his microblog. "Finally, we landed smoothly and the passengers applauded," the passenger added. The aircraft circled the airport to consume fuel before landing safely at 9:52am, the Guangzhou-based carrier said in a statement. The cause of the accident was still under investigation, while the airport authority said none of the missing cowling parts had been found. No casualties were reported on the ground from falling parts. Passengers were moved to another A320 aircraft to take them to Guangzhou at around 11am. Cowlings are used to protect the engine but the aircraft can still fly without the part, said Zhou Jisheng, a civil aviation expert. However, losing part of the cowling might cause problems if the exposed engine were damaged by turbulence or the falling cowling hit other parts of the aircraft, so the pilot should make an emergency landing, he added. In a similar case, the cowling of a Turkey Airlines A320 aircraft fell onto the runway in Istanbul when the aircraft was about to take off in November 2009. It returned and made a safe landing. |
| Officials deny shielding deep-well polluters Posted: 18 Feb 2013 08:00 AM PST ENVIRONMENTAL authorities in Weifang City of Shandong Province yesterday denied online accusation saying they were helping chemical companies avoid scrutiny while offering a big reward to anyone reporting companies illegally discharging waste deep underground. A snapshot of an emergency notice reportedly issued by Weifang environment watchdogs to local chemical companies has been spread widely online. It informed the companies of visits by reporters and asked them to control waste discharge. The incident follows online claims that many chemical companies have used high-pressure injection wells to discharge waste sewage over 1,000 meters deep for years, seriously polluting underground water. The notice said a TV news crew from China Central Television had arrived to carry out an undercover investigation. The environmental authorities required in the notice that the chemical companies keep their sewage treatment stations working normally and ensure zero waste discharges. They also asked the companies to make sure the quality of treated sewage would meet the province's standards, while no liquid or other waste was allowed to be poured into rainwater pipelines. "The security workers must not stop the TV news program's cars and their reporters from entering the factory from each entrance, but they should inform the environmental officials immediately," the notice reads. It gave telephone numbers of two contact persons, who could not be reached yesterday. Xie Zhenxi, leader of Weifang environmental supervision team, told Nanfang Daily yesterday that "the environment bureau has never issued such a notice to local companies." Xie said he didn't know the source of the notice online. Meanwhile, although the city government told Xinhua news agency on Sunday that they had investigated 715 companies but so far hadn't found any polluting the underground water, netizens are raising doubts. They asked how officials could investigate so many companies in less than 48 hours. "The watchdogs started a citywide investigation last Friday and they checked 715 companies by Sunday. Even if they worked around the clock in the 48 hours, they could only have stayed at each company for less than 20 minutes," a netizen said. In response, the government said a total of 69 teams including 320 officers participated in the investigation, covering the entire city to finish the mission in such a short time. |
| Inquiry Into China Film Trade Unnerves Hollywood Posted: 18 Feb 2013 08:30 AM PST  Source: New York Times By Michael Cieply LOS ANGELES — Hunkered down. Lawyered up. Looking over your shoulder for the prosecutors. That is a not a comfortable way to do business. But it may become business as usual for those who have been struggling to make China both a customer for Hollywood films and a partner in the production of them. So far, there has been none. But official silence has not kept the investigation from casting a chill over dealings between Hollywood and China. At a discussion in August sponsored by the Beverly Hills Bar Association, some panel members said deal-making had been complicated by the investigation. This concern was repeated in recent interviews by people involved in the Chinese-American film trade, though only on the condition of anonymity to avoid attracting the attention of regulators. The legal concern is arising precisely as Chinese consumers — once presumed to be an easy audience for American-made films like "Skyfall" or "The Dark Knight Rises" — have been showing a preference for homegrown, Chinese-language blockbusters. Those include the comedy "Lost in Thailand," which surpassed American films to collect more than $200 million in China's theaters after it opened last year, and the action-fantasy "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons," which had sales of $50 million in its first four days this month, according to the China Film Biz blog. Asked last week about the corrupt practices inquiry, spokesmen for the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission declined to comment. All the major studios, in addition to DreamWorks Animation and Marvel Entertainment, which have extensive dealings in China, either did not respond or declined to comment. Last April, people briefed on the inquiry said virtually every Hollywood company with significant dealings in China had been notified in prior weeks of the inquiry into possible violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which forbids American companies from making illegal payments to government officials or others to ease the way for operations abroad. Last week, a government official close to the inquiry, who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order not to prejudice the investigation, said the inquiry was continuing. Bethany L. Hengsbach, a lawyer in Los Angeles versed in China dealings, said last week that she could not discuss the action because she had been retained by an involved party. At the Beverly Hills Bar Association panel in August, Ms. Hengsbach spoke publicly of indications that federal officials were involved in "an industry sweep of the studios," while warning that it was rare for such investigations "to turn up nothing." In the meantime, business has moved forward on projects like "Kung Fu Panda 3," a Chinese coproduction from DreamWorks Animation, and "Iron Man 3," which Marvel, a Walt Disney Company unit, has shot partly in China. Thomas E. McLain, the chairman of the Asia Society Southern California, said he had not seen evidence that deals were being put on the back burner until the inquiry was resolved. But he acknowledged that the investigation was a topic of conversation at the society's annual U.S.-China Film Summit. The event was held here last October, and drew some important figures from the Chinese film industry, including Han Sanping, the chairman of the China Film Group. To keep Washington focused less on fears of corruption than on the possible benefits of film trade with China — where the growing box office reached $2.7 billion last year — the U.S.-Asia Institute, a policy-oriented nonprofit, has begun including movie operations among the stops made by lawmakers and their staff on institute-sponsored trips to China. Kent A. Lucken, the institute's president, said in an interview last week, "They need to see that there are American companies operating in China, fully regulated and under the law, conducting business, and thriving." Some who are involved in Hollywood's entry into China are privately expressing hope that the Justice Department inquiry will be resolved before they run out of time on what one of them last week called a "ticking clock," as Chinese consumers outgrow their receptivity to Hollywood fare. The squeeze started last year when they began to spend more money on some homegrown films than on the American blockbusters. But Michael W. Emmick, who was formerly a prosecutor with the Justice Department, and now focuses on the corrupt practices cases, among other things, in his private law practice, said a resolution could be a long time coming. "This is still early in the game," he said. While Mr. Emmick is not representing clients in the investigation, and said he had no direct knowledge of it, he said that regulators sometimes use such industrywide inquiries as a "cost effective" way of putting an entire business sector — like the pharmaceuticals industry or the portion of the financial industry dealing in sovereign debt — on notice. "Sometimes, they're trying to send a message, to make companies keep their records, beyond the usual document retention policy," Mr. Emmick said. He cautioned against characterizing the Hollywood action as a "sweep," which he said might indicate imminent civil suits or arrests. In a summary published this month, lawyers for the WilmerHale law firm said that new foreign corrupt practices enforcement cases by the S.E.C. and the Justice Department declined to just 27 last year, after spiking to a recent high of 90 in 2010, though violations of the act remain a stated priority for both agencies. Looking ahead at the rest of the year, the lawyers predicted the "continuation and outcome" of industrywide government examinations of "financial institutions' dealings with sovereign wealth funds, movie studios' operations in China, and oil and gas companies' business in Libya." Asked to elaborate on his expectations for the film industry investigation, Roger M. Witten, one of the authors of the report, in an e-mail last week echoed what those hunkered-down studio representatives have been saying for the last year. "Unfortunately, I'm not in a position to talk about this on or off the record," he said. |
| Hong Kong Disneyland Finally Sees Profit Posted: 18 Feb 2013 08:25 AM PST  Source: Wall Street Journal By Chester Yung HONG KONG—Record attendance at Hong Kong's Disneyland helped to bring the theme park to profit for the first time since its 2005 opening. The theme park operator said the financial turnaround was lifted by a 13% increase in visitors during the financial year to a record 6.7 million, from 5.9 million a year earlier. Hong Kong Disneyland is the smallest of Disney's world-wide theme parks and is the third to be built in Asia, following the two Disney parks in Tokyo. Tourists from mainland China remained the biggest proportion of visitors at 45%, while the number of local visitors rose slightly, to 33% from 31%. Revenue grew 18% during the financial year to HK$4.27 billion from HK$3.63 billion, while occupancy levels at the two Disney-themed hotels at the resort rose to 92% from 91%. "It is very encouraging to see the significant improvement" of the theme park's financial performance, said Hong Kong Disneyland Managing Director Andrew Kam. He didn't elaborate on the park's further expansion plans. Still, analysts say that Hong Kong Disneyland's financial turnaround could enable the park's backers to develop more comprehensive long-term development and expansion plan. The theme park has reported a net loss every year for the past six years in operation, partly due to lower-than-expected visitor figures. Critics have pointed to its size and a lack of attractions that appeal to the China market as reasons for the lackluster performance. In a bid to boost attendance, the Hong Kong government and Disney in 2009 signed an agreement to expand the theme park, with plans to add a number of major attractions. The last of the current expansion plans is scheduled to open later this year. But competition from Shanghai Disneyland, slated to open by the end of 2015, could undermine efforts to expand the compact model in Hong Kong. A Hong Kong government spokesman said earlier that the park's investors are discussing plans to build new hotels at the Disney resort, adding to the current two, in hopes of drawing more international tourist traffic. When the Disney deal was signed in 1999, the park was widely seen as a panacea for Hong Kong's struggling economy, at the time reeling from the Asian financial crisis. The government estimated that the park would provide a US$19 billion boost to the local economy over 40 years. In 2009, the government cut that forecast to US$15 billion. In its first year of operation, visitors to Hong Kong Disneyland fell 400,000 short of the park's target of 5.6 million. |
| Global investors watch how chips fall in China’s cashless casino bar Posted: 18 Feb 2013 08:21 AM PST  Source: Reuters By Farah Master (Reuters) – Placing bets on green-felt baccarat tables in a new casino bar on China's southern Hainan island, punters seem oblivious to a huge wager quietly being placed around them, one that could potentially siphon business from the world's largest gaming hub in Macau an hour's flight away. Owned by art, film and real estate mogul Zhang Baoquan, the casino bar marks the Chinese government's first tacit approval of a gaming concept outside of Macau. Global investors, including some of the world's biggest gaming companies, are watching to see how the chips will fall. "Our casino bar is the first in the country. The government is monitoring, it's a test," Zhang told Reuters in a recent interview at his 23rd-floor office overlooking his sprawling 173-acre property that opened late last year. "Right now we are not at this stage (legalising casino gambling), but my personal opinion is, in future, there is a big possibility that they will have." The stakes are enormous — China's monopoly gambling site, Macau, raked in $38 billion in gaming revenues last year, primarily from Chinese gamblers. If Beijing were to allow gambling elsewhere in the country, cash would follow. It's not just the Chinese government that is watching the development. MGM Resorts International (MGM.N) opened a hotel in Sanya last year and fellow U.S. casino operator Caesars Entertainment is set to open a hotel in 2014. An MGM spokesman said the company had no plan to introduce "anything of this kind". Caesars did not respond to requests for comment. Dressed in jeans and a black-and-white Hawaiian shirt during his interview, the 56-year-old Zhang said he aims to create an integrated resort similar to those in Las Vegas and Singapore where gaming, convention space and retail outlets are offered together. Mangrove Tree Resort World, the newest addition to Hainan's rapidly developing hotel scene, will be China's biggest resort when construction is completed next year. It will have more than 4,000 rooms, a convention hall accommodating 6,000 people and facilities including a water park. It is one of 10 integrated resorts that Zhang is developing around the country, including one more in Sanya and others stretching from Lhasa in Tibet to the eastern coastal city Qingdao. While the Chinese government does not permit casinos in the country outside of Macau, Zhang – ranked by Forbes as one of the country's 300 richest people in 2012 with $600 million – said Hainan could become an exception. Sensitive to existing restrictions, the soft-spoken businessman emphasized cultural attractions such as his art gallery that, along with the casino bar, will be incorporated into the planned resorts. WINNING "MANGROVE" POINTS Inside Jesters, which models itself on Macau's casino halls with garish chandeliers and a giant roulette wheel ceiling, players buy tickets costing 500 yuan ($80) each. Bets range from 20-2,000 yuan in the mass area, while the high-limits area is set at 2,000-100,000 yuan. Big whale punters will be able to bet over 100,000 yuan once the VIP room opens on the second floor. The casino bar, with 50 gaming tables now, is currently open only to hotel guests, but when the resort is completed, local residents will be allowed in. When players win, they receive "Mangrove" points that can be used to buy products available in the casino such as an iPad 3G or a Rimowa suitcase. Once luxury brands open outlets within the resort, customers will be able to spend their points in those stores. Art work from Zhang's Beijing art gallery is also available for purchase. Retail stores including Prada and Louis Vuitton will be part of a network of 20 luxury stores that will open at the resort next year, Zhang said. Zhang, president of Beijing conglomerate Antaeus, has the financial backing of China Development Bank. The state lender invested 70 percent of the cost of the Mangrove Tree expansion. "The local governments are very supportive," says the boyish-looking Zhang, who started off as a carpenter in his hometown of Zhenjiang in eastern Jiangsu province, and now is well known as an arts philanthropist and prominent film investor. Married to Wang Qiuyang, a mountaineer whose father Wang Chengbin was a former army commander, Zhang said any potential change to gambling restrictions would take time, adding that the government would need to decide whether to let other operators open similar casino bars. "Gambling culturally is a very bad thing, but today there is a difference — gambling is a financial tool," said Zhang. "In Asia, even North Korea has two casinos. The richest country, Singapore, before you would never think society would accept it there. All over the world the attitude towards casinos is different from what it was traditionally." SANYA AND BEYOND China is positioning Hainan as an international tourist destination, approving the construction of 15 large resorts and 63 five-star hotels as part of the country's five-year plan. As Chinese spend their money in new casinos across Asia from the Philippines to Vietnam, pressure is growing on Beijing to keep more gamblers at home. "To some extent, the approval of gaming on Chinese soil is inevitable," said Gary Pinge, analyst at Macquarie Group in Hong Kong. "With regional markets already vying for a share of the Chinese gambling wallet, unless China brings gaming onto its own shores, it will not only lose tax revenues to other countries, but also the 'multiplier effect' from the consumption spend." In the meantime, Zhang is pushing ahead with his expansion plans. Aiming to list the Mangrove Tree brand on the Hong Kong stock exchange in 2015, Zhang hopes to use the capital raised to take his Mangrove Tree brand outside of China. "Sydney, the Maldives, the United States, England, Paris and Turkey" would all be good, said Zhang with a shy smile. |
| Posted: 18 Feb 2013 08:16 AM PST Have You Heard…   |
| China Said to Approve Joining Iran High-Speed Rail Project Posted: 18 Feb 2013 08:33 AM PST  Source: Bloomberg News China's State Copuncil approved plans to take part in the building of a high-speed railway line in Iran, two people familiar with the matter said. China's decision comes as the U.S., the European Union and their allies have tightened sanctions on Iran for a nuclear program they argue is meant to develop atomic bombs. Iran maintains its program is peaceful. China and Iran have maintained "normal business cooperation," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told a briefing in Beijing today. China is the biggest buyer of Iranian crude oil. Current sanctions are costing Iran about $98.9 million a day in lost oil sales, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Iran is to resume stalled multilateral discussions on its nuclear program with the U.S., U.K. France, Germany, Russia and China on Feb. 26 in Kazakhstan. The last round of negotiations between Iran and the group, known as P5+1, failed to yield results. The U.S. imposed new sanctions earlier this month that would keep importers from paying for oil with dollars and euros.   |
| China urges calm over Korean Peninsula situation Posted: 18 Feb 2013 02:58 AM PST CHINA today appealed for relevant parties not to take any actions that could worsen the situation of the Korean Peninsula. At a daily press briefing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said, "The situation of the peninsula currently is sensitive and complicated." He added that China called on relevant parties to exercise calm. When asked to confirm a report by Reuters, which said the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) had told China that it is prepared to carry out one or even two more nuclear tests, or another rocket launch this year, Hong replied he "did not know where the Reuters report came from." The DPRK conducted its third nuclear test on February 12 despite opposition from the international community. Hong reiterated that China opposes DPRK's nuclear test. China holds that the UN Security Council's relevant discussions should be conducive to the realization of denuclearization, non-proliferation, and peace and stability on the peninsula, he said. The spokesman added that China is ready to maintain contacts with all relevant parties in this regard. |
| Huey P. Newton and the Black Panther Party: a picture story Posted: 18 Feb 2013 02:37 AM PST HUEY P. Newton was the co-founder of the Black Panther Party co-founder and Minister of Defense. He was born on February 17, 1942. He was murdered by a member of the Black Guerilla Family on August 22, 1989. On the way, one policeman was shot dead – Newton's conviction for the murder of John Frey was overturned. When he was accused of killing Kathleen Smith, Newton fled to Cuba. He returned. Two trails failed to deliver a verdict. The case was dropped. So much for the violence. What about the message? Photo above: This is an October 1971 photo of Black Panther chief Huey Newton in San Francisco after his return from a ten-day trip to China. What did they want? Black Panther Party Platform. October, 1966: The Rules: The Founders: Bobby Seale and Huey Newton.
This scan is aken from the September 1967 issue of Ramparts magazine. Babylon Falling sets the scene: "It's February 1967. Eldridge Cleaver, just two months out of prison, is working at Ramparts magazine, which began publishing his Soul on Ice essays while he was still locked up. Cleaver, not yet a Black Panther, is a part of an organization which is hosting Malcolm X's widow Betty Shabazz for a series of Bay Area speaking engagements surrounding the second anniversary of Malcolm's assassination. The newly formed, but already notorious, Black Panther Party for Self Defense is hired to provide security for Mrs. Shabazz while she is in the Bay Area."
Photo: Members of the Black Panthers gather in front of entrance to the Alameda County Courthouse in Oakland, Calif., July 15, 1968, to protest the trial of Huey Newton, 26, the founder of the Black Panthers. Newton went on trial for the slaying of an Oakland policeman and wounding another officer on October 28.
Photo: Black Panther leader Huey Newton gazes from a jail cell on the 10th floor of the Alameda County Courthouse in Oakland, Calif., July 18, 1968. Newton, 26, on trial for a white policeman's slaying, had called the news conference to accuse his jailers of attempting to break his spirit. He spoke from jail (click to enlarge):
Photo: Stripped to the waist in the afternoon sun, Huey Newton, co-founder of the Black Panthers shakes hands with followers and friends who greeted him as he walked out of the Alameda County Courthouse in Oakland, Calif., Aug. 6, 1970. Newton is free on $50,000 bail pending retrial on voluntary manslaughter charges stemming from a 1967 fatal shooting of an Oakland policeman. Photo: Huey P. Newton, national defense minister of the Black Panther Party, raises his clenched fist behind the podium as he speaks at a convention sponsored by the Black Panthers at Temple University's McGonigle Hall in Philadelphia, Pa., Saturday, Sept. 5, 1970. He is surrounded by security guards of the movement. The audience gathered is estimated at 6,000 with another thousand outside the crowded hall. Photo: Huey Newton, co-founder of the Black Panthers, gestures as he talks to friends and followers from the top of an automobile in Oakland, Calif., Aug. 6, 1970, immediately after his release on $50,000 bail pending retrial on voluntary manslaughter charges stemming from the 1967 fatal shooting of an Oakland policeman. Standing behind Newton is David Hilliard, Black Panther who is charged with threatening the life of President Nixon. Photo: Black Panther leader Huey Newton stands atop a ticket counter at San Francisco International Airport to address a large crowd gathered to greet him, July 4, 1977. With Newton is his wife Gwen, left, and Black Panther chairperson Elaine Brown. Man at right is unidentified. Guns are freedom:
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| 5 buried in SW China landslide Posted: 18 Feb 2013 02:02 AM PST INITIAL investigation has found that five people, including two children, were buried after a landslide hit southwest China's Guizhou Province this morning. An electrician at a neighboring coal mine is among those buried, rescuers said. The landslide happened around 11 am in Longchang Township in the city of Kaili, burying six work sheds. Rescuers have rushed to the scene, and the cause of the landslide is being investigated. |
| Engine cover falls off passenger jet Posted: 18 Feb 2013 01:12 AM PST A FLIGHT from Harbin, capital of northeastern Heilongjiang Province, had to make an emergency landing this morning, after an engine hood fell off in mid-air, reports said. China Southern Airlines flight CZ3624 to Guangzhou, capital of southern Guangdong Province, returned to Harbin Taiping Airport and landed safely. One passenger on the flight gave an account on the Weibo.com microblog. "After hearing a loud noise, the crew held an emergency meeting," posted the passenger, identified as "cigarette ash prince." "The captain told us other parts of the aircraft were working well and decided a make an emergency landing." "Finally, we landed smoothly and the passengers applauded," he said. News portal Sina.com confirmed that the aircraft, said to be an Airbus A320, departed from Harbin at 8:29am and returned at 9:52am. No casualties have been reported on the ground from the falling engine cover. China Southern Airlines had not responded to press enquiries by noon. |
| Drunk driver killer got nephew to take rap Posted: 18 Feb 2013 01:01 AM PST A DRUNK-driving government official has been detained after trying to get his nephew to take the blame for a car accident in which a three-year-old boy was killed. Zhang Yihua, party secretary of the poverty relief office in Zhen'an County in northwestern Shaanxi Province, hit the child at high speed at around 2pm on February 7, reported Chinese Business View. Although intoxicated, the official had insisted on driving the car on a rough, narrow road, the newspaper reported. The driver failed to stop immediately after the accident, dragging the child for some distance. The boy suffered head injuries and later died in hospital. Witnesses, including the child's parents, said an older man - identifed as Zhang Yihua - was driving and was very drunk. Also in the car were two young people, Zhang's daughter and nephew, Zhang Hejun. Zhang Hejun told police that he was responsible, and Zhang Yihua's daughter backed up his story, the newspaper reported. But following a five-day investigation, Zhang Yihua admitted that he was the driver. He told police he asked his nephew to take the blame to avoid bringing shame on his government position, it is reported. Zhang is told police that he, his nephew and daughter were invited to a meal. Afterwards, Zhang Hejun drove but the older man felt uncomfortable with this and insisted on driving himself. He hit the boy after driving just 200 meters. Zhang Hejun has also been detained. Zhang also said his daughter may also face proceedings for her alleged part in covering up her father crimes, the paper said. |
| One dead, six injured in N China supermarket fire Posted: 17 Feb 2013 11:08 PM PST ONE person died and six others injured when a three-story supermarket caught fire early this morning in north China's Hebei Province, local firefighters said. Seven workers were in the Zhongxing Supermarket in downtown area when the fire started around 6 am, said firefighters from the city of Tangshan. No customers were injured in the fire, as it started before the supermarket opened for the day. Firefighters extinguished the fire by 12:30 pm. All six of the injured have been taken to a local hospital. Two of them are still receiving emergency treatment. The cause of the fire is under investigation. |
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