Filipinos have hit the streets of Manila to protest against their own government for its failure in securing a stay on the execution of an unnamed drug trafficker yesterday. More on the Philippines here. more ›

"A man who was sentenced to death for 116 rapes, 91 thefts and 23 robberies filed an appeal recently in eastern Anhui Province while many of his victims chose silence as they considered their cases shameful. Most of the women Liu Qingpeng, 46, raped in Linquan County in Anhui were wives left in the village when their husbands went to work in cities, Xing'an Evening Post reported today. Liu usually intruded their homes wearing a mask and threatening with a knife. After robbing them, he would rape the victims, the Fuyang City Intermediate People's Court said. The victims also included teenagers, old women and pregnant women. Liu even raped two girls in front of their mother, the court said. However, many women refused to appear in court to give testimony as they thought it's too humiliating to let other people know the rape, a police officer surnamed Yang told the newspaper." [Shanghai Daily] more ›

• Learning to drink like a local in Qingdao, China [CNN] "Another round of toasts and exclamations of "hajiu" sounded out around me. I took a sip and set down my small glass of Tsingtao beer as my new friends downed theirs and refilled. Our seafood dinner, perched on the single cluttered table of a tiny antique shop, was punctuated regularly by such moments. I joined in happily, although somewhat bemused, at each increasingly beery celebration of our host, the worldly Captain Jau. My company, a gathering from four regions of China, was engaging me in Chinese drinking etiquette, in the city of Qingdao."
• At Frankfurt book fair, only official China can show its face [NRC Handelsblad] "Censorship in China is the theme Dai Qing chose for her lecture in the margin of the Frankfurter Buchmesse, which opens on Wednesday. She was supposed to have been an official guest of the book fair, which this year has chosen literary China as its main theme. But Dai Qing, who is well-known outside China for her campaigns against political repression and costly projects like the Three Gorges Dam, is not welcome at the official event."
• Xinhua vs Financial Times [Danwei] "Two headlines from the home pages of The Financial Times and Xinhua, two ways of looking at the world. The Financial Times: US hardens stance on renminbi rigidity; Xinhua: China not currency manipulator: U.S. government"

A Han Chinese man was sentenced to death months after the murder of two Uighyrs suspected of raping two Han Chinese factory workers in Shaoguan. In addition, nine other Han Chinese were sentenced to between five and eight years in prison for the murders. Since the attacks were the spark that erupted the racial riots in Xinijang this summer, we guess this is the government's attempt to smooth over ethnic tension in the new frontier. But in light of the many, many other ethnically charged rules and regulations in effect since the riots, we have our doubts that this is the right path for closure on the issue. more ›

Yang Jia was sentenced to death today for the murder of six and injuring four police officers. The Beijing resident attacked the Zhabei police station in an act of revenge after being detained for renting a stolen bike. This outcome was expected despite great public sympathy for Yang who was seen as a hero on the Internet and speculation as to whether he would receive a fair trial. more ›