Things are getting heated in the build-up to U.S. Presidential elections this coming fall, and China is a subject that both candidates keep coming back to, and that American voters are eager to hear about. The faltering Olympic organization and burgeoning economy of the PRC have been getting most of the attention, but in the past few days it has been other issues that have turned the attention of the Presidential hopefuls and their supporters......

Hong Kongers snub Beijing Sydney Morning Herald: Hong Kong voters snub Beijing, strike blow for democracy TIME: One for the Democrats in Hong Kong Reuters: Pro-democracy Chan wins symbolic Hong Kong election Fake moon pictures? Fox: China: Our Moon Photo Is No Fake The Canadian Press: China rejects questions over allegedly generic lunar surface photo The Telegraph: China defends lunar probe pictures China business WSJ: China Railway Shares Surge On Shanghai Trading Debut WSJ:......

Despite the fact that Kevin Rudd - the fluent Mandarin speaking leader of the Australian Labor Party - is widely predicted to romp it in at the Australian Federal election this coming Saturday, it seems he's not taking any chances. The latest salvo in Rudd's "earnestness offensive" according to the Sydney Morning Herald, takes form in a seven-metre billboard of The Great Rudd (see right) that has been suspended above Cameron Road in Hong......

Yen Falls as BOJ's Fukui Says No Preset Time for Rate Increase [Bloomberg] The yen fell against all 16 of the most-active currencies as Bank of Japan Governor Toshihiko Fukui said there was no set time for raising interest rates.Survey shows Singapore is Asia's most desirable city to live in [Channel News Asia] According to the latest Country Brand Index, Singapore is the top Asian city to live in. It was also ranked third globally......

Shanghaiist keeps you up-to-speed with the latest in Australian politics. Remember Kevin Rudd, the Australian Labor Party leader that impressed us all (and President Hu Jintao) with his kickass Chinese skills? Some 23 year old law student with too much time on his hands decided to poke fun at the ongoing Australian election campaign by uploading a Youtube video of Rudd, depicting him as revolutionary leader Chairman Mao. And it was a hit —......

South Korea starts construction of space centre [Channel News Asia] Asia's space race is heating up with China's latest launch of its first lunar orbiter. And neighbouring South Korea is working hard to catch up.Malaysian police officer denies illegally amassing US$8m in assets [Channel News Asia] The head of Malaysia's Commercial Crimes Investigation Division has denied allegations that he illegally amassed more than US$8 million in assets. India rediscovers East Asia [Asia Times] The visit......

Asia's papers keep newspaper flags flying [Asia Times] With a little help from the Internet, the future of newspapers looks bright in Asia where seven of 10 of the world's best selling dailies are published, with China, India and Japan accounting for more than half. Advertisers, the lifeblood for newspapers, are also smiling.Asian mega-cities to be swallowed up by sea [Asian Offbeat] They include Dhaka, Bangladesh; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Shanghai (gosh!)......

.asia domain names approved [BetaNews] But don't start rushing for the domain names yet as registration will not begin for another six to nine months. As usual, trademark holders will first be awarded rights to domain names. India's success to help halve world poverty [Hindustan Times] Spectacular poverty-cutting gains made by India will help the United Nations meet its goal of halving world poverty by 2015, said Kishore Mabhubhani, a renowned Singaporean public policy specialist......

With the dust now settled on last week's APEC summit in Australia, we came on a juicy tidbit of news that either didn't get much mileage in the Chinese press or escaped the news that we read. Shanghaiist reader Fergus Ryan filled us in: Last weekend's APEC summit in Sydney had one success that the host, Australian Prime Minister John Howard, may not have foreseen. Opposition leader, Kevin Rudd (Labor Party), effectively gate-crashed the event......

Kabul, Afghanistan - Second South Korean hostage killed The second hostage among a group of 23 South Koreans to be kidnapped by the Taliban has been shot to death, and the bullet-ridden body of 29 year old Sim Sungmin has been found by Afghan police. Qari Yousef Ahmadi, a Taliban spokesman, has said that the militants would "kill more hostages if the Afghanistan government does not release prisoners by noon on Wednesday". Mumbai, India......

Kabul, Afghanistan - Taliban militia kidnap 23 South Korean Christians Taliban gunmen have threatened to kill a group of 23 South Korean Christians on a relief mission unless Seoul pulls out its 200 troops from Afghanistan. Already, the pastor of the group has been shot and tossed on the highway to Kandahar. Latest news from the AP suggest some of the hostages have been released. Reverend Park Eun-jo of the Saemmul Presbyterian Church has apologized......

Although June is the designated month of Gay Pride events all over the world, Shanghai will show its Pride this week by holding several events at Shanghai's own, one-of-a-kind gay dance club/bar/motel multiplex, PinkHome. All of the events are the result of much hard work by Shanghai's own, (and also) one-of-a-kind organization, Shanghai's LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) group. As for the events, there won't be a parade or hopefully any tear gas, curses, or......

Well, ok, it's his disembodied voice on a conference call, but we still think having the U.S. senator and Democratic presidential hopeful drop the PRC a line is pretty cool. Even though actual voting won't be happening for a while, election season is in full gear, and the campaign group "Americans in China for Obama" are kicking things off in Shanghai with a cocktail party tomorrow night: Senator Obama Conference Call and Reception: June 7th......

Singapore - Singapore will host a round of the 2008 FIA Formula One World Championship, making it the home of Asia's first street circuit (the only other street circuits are in Monaco and Valencia). More exciting is the fact that this will be the first night-time event in Formula One history! Dili, Timor Leste - Asia-Pacific's newest and poorest nation turns five, and the success of the country's recent presidential election, won resoundingly by Nobel......

Our weekly round-up of some of the highlights from China's English-language blogosphere: Native inhabitants of a large Chinese city looking down on Chinese newcomers from outside that city? Eyes East is surprised that Dalian may not be as "open" as it advertises after all. He ends his post by asking: "Is this just a Dalian thing?" We glance up and take a look around and conclude that it's definitely not. Beijing Newspeak writes about the......

Pyongyang, North Korea: The DPRK has celebrated the birthday of its "Eternal President", the late Kim Il Sung, with a mass games involving thousands of performers clad in colourful costumes, while the rest of the world sweats over its missed disarmament deadline.Tokyo, Japan: Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said Tokyo feels responsible for forcing women to work in brothels during World War II, in contrast to earlier remarks last month that there was no proof......

So a writer from The Gazette, a popular Montreal newspaper, was in China recently. And he was awed by the same things that most writers who haven't been to China recently are awed by: the shiny skyscrapers, the intoxicating energy, the pirated DVDs. But the writer's trip to China also coincided with the "most exciting Quebec election in decades," and he desperately wanted to follow the news from back home. And thanks to this thing......

With the sun out, the temperatures high, one can only think of one thing-- what's going on in the World of the -ist's? Bostonist dug deep to uncover Barack Obama's unpaid parking tickets, their Governor's latest ethical lapse, and a plagarizing sports writer. Chicagoist had everything in twos: two views on having the Olympics, losing two members of their Super Bowl team, and two music festivals. DCist put their noses in legal books as......

Jagshemash! Borat is a hit. It's getting rave reviews, grossing millions, and definitely the most quotable thing we've seen in ages. But Borat seems to have missed most of the -ist cities, and we were all wondering how the film would have been different if he'd made his way around the world on the -ist tour. In Shanghai, Borat would be observing Inane Learnings of Penis Photos for Make Benefit Glorious Flat World of Handmade......

The -ists this week had politics on the brain. And what goes better with politics? Partying-- that's two great tastes in one. Oh, and Kevin Federline...can't forget about Kevin Federline. That's three great tastes in one. -Bostonist discussed two big state issues-- what sort of math constitutes a marriage and what kind of alcohol can be sold in most grocery stores. And the politically minded Curt Schilling went on "Jeopardy!". -Chicagoist celebrated the election news......

On Tuesday, the American -ists will be celebrating democracy and hitting the polls, letting politicians know what they really think. It just made us wonder: if it were up to the -ist-a-verse, what would we be voting for? Londonist votes for better skincare, alternative spaces for art, cute little birds and the men who keep them, and concrete. Lots of concrete. Shanghaiist votes for one of the Bee Gees and Air Supply (it's a double-ticket),......

We'd heard a lot of hype about Hong Kong director Johnnie To's (杜棋峰) new film Exiled (放逐), not least of all because it was one of three Chinese language films that competed at the Venice Film Festival (against new works by Jia Zhangke and Tsai Ming-liang). We just watched the DVD, and if ultraviolent action and stylish gunplay is your thing, then this is the movie to watch. The plot is simple: 1998 Macau, right......

Shanghaiist has a retraction to make -- what we previously dubbed the "Chinese Oscars" in this post was absolutely wrong, because, naturally, the 6th Chinese Language Movie Awards (第6届华语电影传媒大奖）deserve this title. This awards ceremony had previously been held in the mainland, but this time (April 17), they moved it to Hong Kong. And guess who won? Tony Leung Ka-fei (Liang Jiahui) won best actor for the 80th eighth time for his role in Election (Hei......

The Hong Kong film awards ceremony was held last night, and unsurprisingly, there were no suprises, no upsets, nothing except the same banal shit. You can read about it here. A note about that article: It says that the HK Film Awards are the Chinese Oscars, even though Shanghaiist thought that the Golden Horse awards over in Taiwan were the Chinese Oscars. Which one is it? Or should the Golden Rooster awards be considered as......

While the CNOOC/Unocal mess is still fresh in our minds (by “mess” we mean a resounding victory for those that have American interests at heart), another Chinese company, it seems, has found itself in the crosshairs of US law makers. Lenovo, a Chinese PC manufacturer, has raised a few eyebrows among congressional leaders with its impending sale of 16,000 desktop PCs to the State Department. House chairman of the Small Business Committee, Rep. Don Manzullo......

There's a whole wide world out there, and here's the proof: DCist revels in The University of Maryland's basketball triumphs, marvels at Metro's security strategy, and applauds DC local Katie Couric's new gig. Phillyist is all about the Philadelphia Film Festival. OK, not all about -- they still have time for loitering, underage sex, and random wacky news. LAist would have to send a camera around the world to get shots as bizarre as Katie's......

Yeah, yeah, we know it's a little late for 2005 lists. But our editor is off in the U.S. making life-altering decisions and we just found this list of the top 10 Chinese films of 2005 (in Chinese). Here is how it came out: 1. 黑社会 (Election) 2. 无极 (The Promise) 3. 向日葵 (Sunflower) 4. A.V. 5. 最好的时光 (Three Times) 6. 世界 (The World) 7. 如果爱 (Perhaps Love) 8. 七剑 (Seven Swords) 9. 孔雀 (Peacock)......

Former American President Bill Clinton -- no stranger to downloading porn, we're sure -- will visit Hangzhou on September 10 to address the 2005 China Internet Summit. The theme of the get-together organized by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba will be "Connecting China To The World" ... well, just the parts of the world the Chinese government deems suitable for the Chinese people. Also expected to speak are CEOs from industry lightweights like Google, Amazon, Yahoo......