According to the Wall Street Journal, a lawsuit against the Bank of China has been filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, claiming that Bank of China transferred millions of dollars for terrorist groups bent on attacking Israel, ignoring demands by Israeli counterterrorism officials to halt the practice. The lawsuit was brought on behalf of more than 100 victims of terrorism in Israel and alleges that the money was transferred for the militant groups Hamas and......

Protests, protests everywhere — in Europe, within China, and all across the United States. Quite frankly, we can barely catch up with it all. Watch protestors shout "CNN liar! Cafferty fire!" in this video of the anti-CNN demonstration which took place outside CNN's studios in downtown LA that we told you about earlier. [h/t to Danwei] Related links Photos: Chinese students show their love for the motherland at Place de la République in Paris Anti-French,......

Photos from Hélène Franchineau Shanghaiist's Paris correspondent Hélène Franchineau brings us these photos of a demonstration conducted by the Chinese student community there on Saturday in protest against the western media's biased reporting of events within China. On the same day, similar protests were conducted by the Chinese community across the United States. The anti-CNN demonstration which took place outside CNN's studios in downtown Los Angeles attracted "thousands of Chinese Americans and overseas Chinese"......

The Los Angeles Dodgers take on the San Diego Padres this weekend at Beijing's Olympic baseball stadium. Seating capacity is limited to 13,000 spectators, and sure enough Emma has sold out their allotment of the cheap seats here in Shanghai. We're curious as to the scalper situation in Beijing, but for the risk-averse, other Chinese ticketing websites still have a small number of tickets left. A little internet sleuthing can still get you into the......

Having soft-opened since February 9th, Lawry's the Prime Rib is ready to put on its best face for Shanghai's beef lovers beginning with its grand opening tomorrow. Shanghaiist was able to do some preview dining and we were left with one distinct impression: this place takes its prime rib traditions very seriously. The Xintiandi restaurant is this famed Los Angeles chain's first foray into the mainland, but it is plenty experienced in Asia with successful......

Steven Spielberg's decision to withdraw from arranging the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Olympics caused press around the world (except for China) to rub their hands with glee this week at the prospect of China's dirty laundry being flown from the flagpoles of Beijing. Citing China's tacit support of genocide in Darfur, the director claimed that his conscience no longer allowed him to continue business as usual, and that the hosts "should be......

Photograph of Michael Strahan, coach Tom Coughin (holding the Vince Lombardi trophy) and quarterback and Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning by Tien Mao Gothamist was amazed after the Giants won the Super Bowl, the city went wild, and it witnessed a ticker-tape parade.Barack Obama drew 20,000+ ahead of Seattle’s Saturday caucus.Londonist had Super Tuesday too.Elusive guerrilla street artist Banksy revisits Los Angeles.After the Patriots lost the Super Bowl and came this close to making......

Earlier we had reported that America's favorite pastime might soon be making its Chinese debut and now it's official. The China Series 2008, as its being called, will feature two games between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres on March 15-16. The games will be held at Beijing's Wukesong Baseball Field, which will also be used for the upcoming Olympics. No word yet on when tickets will be available or how much......

LAist listed a top ten list of sorts: things they hope not to see in Los Angeles in 2008. (one example, pictured above). Shanghaiist was surprised to learn that "godless," "atheist," and "commie" China is soon going to be the world's largest supplier of Bibles! Torontoist picked some of their favorite photos of 2007. Londonist was relieved to hear the fire at the Royal Marsden hospital didn't harm any of the patients even though......

The last time an anchor from our favourite TV channel made it to the news, he created such a brouhaha that culminated in the eviction of one coffee company from the Forbidden City. In the news this time is New Zealand-born anchor Edwin Maher who for many years before arriving in China was a weatherman with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The Los Angeles Times published a profile of Maher that started it all off. It......

New Burger on the Block: Thanks to the always up-to-date Christine Lu from the China Business Network, we learned that Los Angeles based burger joint Fatburger is planning on expanding big into China, starting with their first restaurant at the Venetian in Macao. From their press release: Additional Fatburger restaurants are scheduled to open in Hong Kong in the coming months: the first on Queens Road East and the second at Jia Hotel in Causeway......

There isn't a live music update this week, but it's art shows galore TONIGHT. Three picks that aren't in your conventional Moganshan Lu / Taikang Lu destinations. ART LABOR GALLERY, from 5pm 10–36 Yongjia lu by Maoming Lu (永嘉路10-36号，近茂名路) Phone: 6431 7782, info@artlaborclub.com, www.artlaborgallery.com Art photographer Yuichi Hibi from New York City presents a selection of his works from his internationally acclaimed book imprint. Influenced by film noir and described by critics as “weirdly charged......

He's performed shows around the world from London to Los Angeles, from Vegas to Berlin and from Zurich to Tokyo. Earlier this year, world-class magician Marco Tempest, the Virtual Magician, was hired by Daihatsu for Auto Shanghai, apparently the world's second largest car fair. Watch him in this newly released video as he goes around Shanghai, rehearses for the big show and impresses the girls backstage. Pretty interesting stuff. At least we now know one......

China hurting in world opinion polls [China Post] In a survey covering 18 countries which account for 56 percent of the world's population, 38 percent said China can be trusted to act responsibly while 52 percent said the country can't be trusted. Letter accuses China's party of drift [Los Angeles Times] A rare open letter signed by 17 former top officials and conservative Marxist scholars ahead of a key party meeting accuses China's top......

Video of Blind Stereo MV Taking a week off, Shanghaiist has been in Los Angeles where rumors are flying that 2 hot L.A. acts (Rocket and Busdriver) will be headed our way this fall (contracts have been signed...shhh!). Also confirmed to play 4Live September 16th are punk rock legends the Exploited! Gotta love the gossip, now here is what's on this weekend in live music (that we like). Norwegians rejoice! Blind Stereo an electronic pop......

OK, we've never heard of East Star Airlines before, but it has just become the first private airline in China to be authorized to operate international flights. A Xinhua report tells us that under Civil Aviation Administration of China regulations, new airlines may apply to operate international flights only after three years of operations. East Star has been in business less than two years, but it beat rivals Okair, Ueair, Juneyao Airlines and Spring Airlines......

Air China has been hit by a spate of minor accidents lately. Yesterday flight CA941 (and that's a Boeing 767 you see in the picture), headed to Dubai from Beijing, was ready for takeoff with 148 passengers on board at about 5:15pm, when its "fore-undercarriage suddenly took back, leaving the plane nose on the ground". Ouch! Just two days before this though, yet another Air China flight (a Boeing 747 this time) had to make......

Mercer HR Consulting has once again released the findings of their annual Cost of Living Survey (it's almost as if they release a new report every month, doesn't it?). Here are some of their interesting findings: 1. Moscow is once again the world’s most expensive city. 2. Beijing has fallen from 14th to 20th and Shanghai from 20th to 26th. 3. Douala in Cameroon is ranked 24th, two ranks above Shanghai, which is just one......

If you are familiar with drinking heavily or going to Chinese banquets (basically the same thing), you've probably been forced to chug try some Maotai. Deemed "China's national liquor" by Reuters, Maotai or máotáijiǔ (茅台酒) is one of the most famous brands of Chinese rice wine (or báijiǔ). Although dignitaries like Margaret Thatcher and Richard Nixon have put this put-hair-on-your-chest drink to their conservative lips, the popular liquor is now threatened. You see, Maotai is......

The upcoming May holiday sees a Shanghai band heading to the US and a US band (not Pretty Girls Make Graves) coming to Shanghai. We'll start with the band that will be playing in Shanghai, because we are staying in Shanghai over the holiday and we are selfish. Locksley formed in Madison, Wisconsin, and then made an excellent career decision and moved to Brooklyn. They will play 4 Live on Friday, May 4 at 9......

Shanghai in hot debate over pets "The anti-pet brigade, angered over noise and mess from domestic cats and dogs, is lobbying the authorities for tougher restrictions on pet ownership, as the number of people keeping them without a license increases." FedEx plans new domestic China service "FedEx's domestic China service will flow from its hub at Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport in east China's Zhejiang province. ... Domestic carrier Okay Airways will provide air transportation,......

It is said that the first step toward recovery is admitting that you have a problem. Of course, this begs the question: recovery from which problem? Whatever the impetus for these changes, China has finally admitted to taking the organs of executed prisoners. Does this mean an end of the free-flow, all-you-can-afford, buffet-bonanza on the virile organs of hapless young peasants executed under one of China's 70 capital crimes? The Los Angeles Times reports: Speaking......

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......

A prominent Chinese statistician was fired from his government post for undisclosed reasons.Watch out for deaf mutes and close your passenger side windows, car drivers!Two football players from Shanghai Shenhua score goals in the China-Palestine game and take China to the Asian Cup finals.Don't tell us that you don't watch TV on that 240 square meter TV floating in the Huangpu River near the Bund.Monkey Peaches reports that Johnny To's Exiled (放逐) is going to......

We first learned of Italian photographer Olivo Barbieri's work earlier this year. His unique aerial tilt-shift photos look great online -- and we can't wait to see them in person. Starting tomorrow (Monday) at Bund 18, you can view his "Site Specific" exhibit. From MOCA Cleveland: In site_specific_, his ongoing series of films and largescale stills, Italian artist Olivo Barbieri creates unusual aerial portrayals of various international cities. Filming from a helicopter with a tilt-shift......

Shanghai malls haven't been doing too hot lately. The Cloud Nine Shopping Mall in Zhongshan Park can claim to be "the city's biggest shopping center in terms of floor space," but suffers from a severe lack of tenants and had to cede their home-grown basement grocery store to Carrefour in in June due to lackluster sales. In July, the Los Angles Times exposed Shanghai's luxury malls as "ghost malls", spearing Plaza 66 and others for......

Have you seen the above movie? We're assuming you have, since nearly 800,000 people have watched it over at YouTube in the four days since it was posted. It's gotten nearly 2,500 comments. What is it? Let Ahree Lee, the San Francisco based graphic designer and experimental filmmaker featured in the short film, explain: Starting in November of 2001, I have been taking a picture of myself every day and I haven't stopped yet. Me......

This may be old news (in fact, according to this link, it's almost three-year-old news) but we just learned over the weekend that McDonald's delivers in Shanghai, so we thought perhaps it would be new to some of you, too. We're not sure if every McDonald's in town delivers, but the one we were at in Yu Yuan (don't ask) does. The sign says they deliver between 9 am and 9 pm and require a......

We read an interesting piece from the Los Angeles Times about "the left-behind children" or 留守兒童 (liushou ertong): children from rural areas who are left behind when one or both parents migrate to the cities to find work. Evidently, there are as many as 20 million of these kids, or about one for every six migrant workers in China, though this article (in Chinese) states that the actual number depends on how you're counting them.......

DCist is screwed in the event of an oil crisis. Not that we're not all screwed in the event of an oil crisis, just D.C. is more screwed. Don't sell your car yet, District resident, a cabbie can kick you to the curb if he doesn't like your address. Not even Metro can save you now. Londonist experiences the London of the future through the wonders of 3D modeling, but while the 3D guys are......