Results tagged “pakistan”

The father of Pakistan's nuclear weapons program, Abdul Qadeer Khan, has admitted to the Washington Post that the country received enough uranium to make two atomic bombs, as well as blueprints for making them, from China in 1982. The deal had supposedly been arranged by the late Mao Zedong years earlier: though the United States has known about the blatant proliferation for decades (and even confronted China about it once), it has never sought sanctions on China. This news makes an interesting preface to the talks on nuclear proliferation that will be a crucial part of talks between Obama and Hu Jintao.

• Facebook blunder betrays NZ millionaires [ABC] "Interpol is still trying to find a couple of cashed-up Kiwis, believed to be living it up in Asia, after they were mistakenly given $8 million ($NZ10 million) by Westpac. Rotorua service station owners Leo Gao and his girlfriend Cara Young fled New Zealand with about $NZ3 million after they discovered the money in their bank account. But their chances of being caught have increased after they were joined overseas by Ms Young's sister, Aroha Hurring, who posted details about their location on her Facebook page. Police believe the trio are in China after Ms Hurring foolishly updated her status to say she was drinking the local Asian beer and enjoying the heat."
• Taiwan Firm to Offer Google Phone in China [WSJ] "HTC Corp. plans next month to start selling in China a smart phone based on Google Inc.'s Android operating system, the first Google-based phone in the world's biggest wireless market, HTC Chief Executive Peter Chou said in an interview. The new HTC phone is a version of the company's Magic model, unveiled in February, that has been customized to incorporate software from China Mobile Ltd. China Mobile is the world's largest mobile operator, with nearly 500 million accounts."
• In Chinese city, WWII enemies are now partners [LA Times] "Looking back, Japanese businessman Tomatsu Ito says, he might as well have moved to Mars rather than a few hours' flight away to China... Often desperate, he would phone JianHua Yang, his second in charge at the branch office of an Osaka, Japan-based software company. Yang is a Dalian native who, like many here, speaks Japanese. Their budding bicultural friendship symbolizes a trend here: Ito is among thousands of Japanese flocking to this bustling port on China's eastern seaboard. Resentment still runs deep in China over Japan's 40 years of often brutal colonial rule in this region in the early 1900s, but Dalian has become a singularly welcoming oasis."

• 70 sick in China after eating tainted pig organs [The Associated Press] "At least 70 people in southern China fell ill after eating pig organs contaminated by a banned animal feed additive, state media said Monday. Three people were in the hospital, while the rest were discharged after being treated for stomach aches and diarrhea over the weekend."
• Beijing's Olympic building boom becomes a bust [Los Angeles Times] "By Rodman's calculations, 500 million square feet of commercial real estate has been developed in Beijing since 2006, more than all the office space in Manhattan. And that doesn't include huge projects developed by the government. He says 100 million square feet of office space is vacant — a 14-year supply if it filled up at the same rate as in the best years, 2004 through '06, when about 7 million square feet a year was leased."
• The flaws in Chinese business: Time to change the act [The Economist] "The rapid collapse of economic activity around Dongguan indicates that China’s private companies are being subjected to the same battering as their counterparts in many other countries. Yet it also raises questions about the long-term survival of many of these companies. They have been among the most dynamic components of China’s fast rise towards prosperity. Their turmoil may be transient. Then again, there are also worries that it is in fact tied to profound flaws in the Chinese economy."

Chinese-made grenades have been found to be used by the terrorists that launched the deadly spate of attacks in Mumbai that has now been dubbed by the media as India's 9/11.

"Pakistan's foreign minister said yesterday China has signed an agreement with Pakistan to help it build two more nuclear power plants."

As the United States and Europe continue to reel from the financial fallout, Asia is heaving a collective sigh of relief that this time, it is at least not their fault. Iceland's biggest banking crisis ever has forced its almost bankrupt government to turn to Russia for a US$4 billion loan, raising eyebrows everywhere as to what this means for geopolitics in Europe.

We know that this sounds like an April fool, but China could be facing a rice shortage. No, seriously. We told you a few days ago about KFC upping their prices; now the cost of the other staple in Shanghaiist's diet, rice, could be facing a hike due to fears over supply. For the moment, the government has frozen the price of rice — as well as that of other goods such as cooking oil — in an effort to curb food costs following their 23% leap in February, but has not ruled out price rises in the near future. They have also announced that farmers will receive increased prices for both rice and wheat as China attempts to avoid the rice production problems currently engulfing some other Asian states.

This evening will see the second week of the Shanghai International Literary Festival kicking off down at M on the Bund. Events will continue across the weekend and throughout the week, providing plenty of opportunities to see a whole host of great writers and performers. Ticket details can be found here as can the full line-up (which we suggest you check - there's far too much going on for us to cover it all in one post!). Below are just some of the highlights you can expect to see:

UPDATE: New videos added after the jump

The Peking Duck: Is the rush to study Chinese a time-wasting fad?

A prominent former Thai senator accused of sex crimes against four underage girls was sentenced to 36 years in prison on Tuesday, when an appeals court stiffened the sentence of a lower court.

Hong Kong Triad T-Shirt Gets Fashion Label in Hot Water [Asiaone.com] The arrest of 18 employees of a Hong Kong lifestyle and retail chain over a controversial new line of T-shirts '14K' bearing the name of a well-known triad gang spurred an apology from the store's founder.Pakistan - Besieged Musharraf plays for time [Asia Times] Having opened a can of worms by declaring a state of emergency, Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf is now in...

As ice is melting between North Korea and the United States, more and more Chinese businessmen have been rushing to the border with the secretive communist country, looking to cash in on its trade and investment potential.

Li Heping, an outspoken Chinese lawyer said Wednesday he was abducted and beaten for hours, and accused of causing unrest by representing clients with complaints of official corruption and police abuse.

The Indian government on Tuesday invited six aircraft manufacturers including Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp. to bid on a contract for 126 combat planes worth up to $10 billion.

Sri Lanka is fighting against the threatened beheading of a teen maid in Saudi Arabia over the death of an infant. Saving her from beheading has become one of the most urgent issues in a country where nearly everyone has worked abroad or had a relative employed overseas.

Chinese cash helps former Portuguese colony overtake US city's gaming revenues.

• Students top pregnancy hotline list
  Nearly half the women calling the city's first hotline for unexpected pregnancies are students. Hotline officials released the figures yesterday in a move to promote young people's sexual awareness ahead of World Population Day on Wednesday.


• Prostate awareness drive goes national
  Ten Chinese hospitals will kick off the nation's first coordinated research into chronic prostatitis, or inflammation of the prostate gland.


• Beijing opens first counseling clinic for prisoners
  A special assistance center was set up in Beijing Prison recently where policewomen, who are also qualified counselors, provide help for special "clients", male prisoners who are serving long sentences, Beijing Youth News reported on July 5.

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Tamil Nadu, India - Officials in southern India are investigating claims that a couple, who are both doctors, let their 15-year-old son perform surgery to get into Guinness World Records as the world's youngest surgeon.

From Alpinist.com:

Shanghaiist reader luckytaikonaut (probably not his or her real name), aware of our affinity for furry friends, sent in this report about a group of protesters, reportedly including Miss Shenzhen 2005, who effectively forced the city's Fangji Cat Meatball restaurant to shut down: