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AFP
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Apr 28, 08 6:12 AM CDT
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At least 70 people were killed early today when a high-speed passenger train traveling from Beijing jumped the tracks and slammed into another train, AFP reports. Some 250 injured were pulled from the mangled wreckage in the city of Zibo in Shandong province. Officials discounted terrorism and blamed human error for the crash, the worst in China in a decade, but did not elaborate. Two railroad officials were fired shortly after the accident.
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Reuters
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Apr 28, 08 5:28 AM CDT
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Tens of thousands of North Koreans took to the streets to herald the arrival of the Olympic torch today, marking a radically different greeting for the often-harried flame, Reuters reports. People waved North Korean and Chinese flags, danced, cheered, and sang military songs. The welcome contrasted sharply with waves of protests at other global relays that have driven the torch inside vehicles and behind walls of security guards.
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Newsweek
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Apr 27, 08 3:31 PM CDT
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Even as the burgeoning price of oil slaps consumers at the pump, a darker global market crisis looms as rising commodities prices compound the pressures of poverty worldwide. The UN has said that spiking food prices have started "a silent tsunami threatening to plunge more than 100 million people on every continent into hunger." Newsweek investigates the causes, which are both complicated and simple.
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Reuters
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Apr 27, 08 10:30 AM CDT
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The Olympic torch again met with a clash of protesters today as it arrived in South Korea, Reuters reports. Some South Koreans are angered by Beijing’s human rights record, but the majority are pro-Chinese, wearing their country’s flag and chanting, “No politics, only Olympics.” Despite 8,000 police officers, the rallies turned briefly violent when Chinese students kicked a South Korean protester and threw stones at anti-China demonstrators.
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New York Times
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Apr 27, 08 9:00 AM CDT
(Newser) -
A police trade show packed with Western goods is thriving in Beijing despite worldwide outrage against China, the New York Times reports. DuPont and Motorola are among big-name companies selling items like bulletproof Kevlar and wireless systems for cops. Washington, which forbids the sale of police technology to China, was shocked to hear about items on the show floor.
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Der Spiegel
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Apr 26, 08 4:27 PM CDT
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If your idea of good eating doesn't stretch to yak's penis or duck testicles, then Beijing's Guolizhuang restaurant definitely isn't the place for you. The exclusive restaurant's menu is made up almost entirely of penis and testicle dishes, Der Speigel reports. Well-heeled businessmen flock in for dishes such as "Jasmine Flowers with 1,000 Layers"—otherwise known as sliced donkey penis.
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BBC
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Apr 25, 08 8:04 PM CDT
(Newser) -
A pro-China crowd peppered with protesters welcomed the Olympic torch relay in Japan today, BBC reports. Japan's national baseball manager kicked off the run in Nagano with 40 riot cops on each side, mostly blocking the view of thousands of onlookers. Cops nabbed one protester for trying to grab the torch and made two arrests, BBC reports.
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AFP
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Apr 25, 08 4:43 AM CDT
(Newser) -
Beijing officials will meet in the next few days with a representative of the Dalai Lama, reports AFP, quoting Chinese media. The meeting would be the first encounter between the Tibetan leadership and members of the Chinese government since last month's unrest in Tibet. China has come under intense foreign pressure to open talks with the Dalai Lama, particularly in the wake of protests in the run up to the Beijing Olympics.
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Associated Press
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Apr 25, 08 3:47 AM CDT
(Newser) -
US adoptions of Vietnamese children are tainted by bribery, kidnapping and baby-selling, according to an investigation by the US Embassy. The report, obtained by AP, discovered that one hospital sold a baby whose mother couldn't pay her medical bills. US couples—including Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt—have adopted more than 1,200 Vietnamese children in the last 18 months.
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Los Angeles Times
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Apr 24, 08 4:15 PM CDT
(Newser) -
One bridge over China’s Yangtze River sees hundreds of suicides as the country's rate rises—though fewer since a Nanjing man started spending weekends there saving lives. With 280,000 killing themselves ever year—twice the US total—Chen Si has so far stopped 144 suicides, the Los Angeles Times reports. “All people really need is one person willing to lend a hand,” Chen says.
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Associated Press
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Apr 24, 08 1:20 PM CDT
(Newser) -
The Chinese flag flew high at the Australian leg of the Olympic torch relay today, with pro-China partisans outnumbering pro-Tibet protesters four to one—and relative calm compared to the intensity of the relay to date. Human rights protesters alleged that Beijing, apparently embarrassed by the tone of earlier protests, sent the flags and even paid the way to Canberra for pro-China demonstrators.
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New York Times
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Apr 24, 08 8:33 AM CDT
(Newser) -
A Chinese ship with a cargo of arms and ammunition bound for Zimbabwe will indeed head back to China, the Chinese foreign ministry confirmed today, after Zimbabwe's neighbors refused to let the vessel dock. The decision is a victory for the coalition of trade unionists, religious leaders, and Western diplomats who united to block the armaments' delivery, reports the New York Times .
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Der Spiegel
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Apr 23, 08 9:01 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Paris seems to have reversed a tide of anti-French sentiment in China, but critics wonder if President Nicolas Sarkozy’s charm offensive has undermined his country’s commitment to human rights, Der Spiegel reports. Since Sarkozy’s messages of conciliation have gone out, China’s Foreign Ministry has praised the French president and state media has reversed its criticism of recently boycotted supermarket chain Carrefour.
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Bloomberg
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Apr 23, 08 8:25 PM CDT
(Newser) -
Sam's Club joined Costco today in limiting how much rice customers can buy, Bloomberg reports. The restrictions by the nation's largest warehouse retail chains come with the price of rice at record highs around the world, which has spurred some to begin hoarding, Bloomberg notes. Sam's Club customers can buy no more than four bags per visit.
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Australia's News Network
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Apr 23, 08 6:01 PM CDT
(Newser) -
China only has coal reserves left for about 12 days, and in some regions only about a week's supply is left, Australia's News Network reports. The demand for coal—the most important energy source in the country—has skyrocketed, with huge numbers of new power plants being built in the past decade.
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Associated Press
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Apr 23, 08 10:12 AM CDT
(Newser) -
The Olympic torch arrived Down Under today, but was immediately whisked off to a secret location to avoid protesters, the AP reports. Tomorrow’s torch relay in Canberra will be open to the public—unlike those in Jakarta and New Delhi—but the route will be lined with yard-high fences and police.
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