The higher ups are apparently mad at Guangdong paper Southern Weekend, which managed to snag an exclusive interview with President Obama when he visited in November. Chief editor Xiang Xi was demoted to second-in-command and replaced by a new editor after the CCP's propaganda department complained, sources told Reuters. Unlike most world powers, the U.S. White House went directly to Southern Weekend, long known for its more "adventurous" reporting of misdeeds and injustices, rather than go to a more official outlet. When propaganda department officials learned of this sidestep, they restricted the interview and slashed the transcript before it went to press. Despite the briefness of what remained, other Chinese papers were told not to republish it. But Southern Weekend editors surrounded the finished piece with "conspicuously large fields of blank space," a passive protest against the censorship that had happened. Now it looks that Xiang Xi is paying for that sass. more ›

What was meant to be a friendly game of basketball in Hunan Province has burst into a furious debate on the internet, after an American player tossed money out to a crowd of students... and some students actually scrambled to pick it up. more ›