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What's in the News

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Stil

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Re: What's in the News
« Reply #2355 on: April 18, 2014, 11:11:35 PM »
One fifth eh. I wonder what the real amount is.
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Calach Pfeffer

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Re: What's in the News
« Reply #2356 on: April 19, 2014, 01:52:04 PM »
China's soil pollution: It's much worse than you think

Close to 20% of China's arable land is contaminated by heavy metals, posing severe global economic and political consequences in the coming years.

By Minxin Pei

FORTUNE -- When the Chinese government completed its first national soil pollution survey in 2005, the findings were so alarming that Beijing promptly declared the data a "state secret."

Chinese leaders apparently changed their minds and, a few days ago, the Ministry of Environmental Protection and the Ministry of Land Resources jointly announced the key results of the 2005 survey.

While the rare display of transparency from the Chinese government merits applause, the admission that close to 20% of China's arable land has been contaminated by heavy metal not only demonstrates the severity of China's environmental degradation but also has profound economic and geopolitical consequences for the international community.


That's interesting - food security as the factor making China part of globalization finally.
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Calach Pfeffer

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Re: What's in the News
« Reply #2357 on: April 25, 2014, 03:32:18 PM »
China's African Adventure

The disintegration of South Sudan, the world's newest country, is driving a foreign-policy shift in one of the world's oldest.

The  maelstrom of violence in South Sudan shows no signs of abating, with rebel forces reportedly advancing on a pair of key oil-producing regions and massacred civilians piling up by the hundreds. The horrors have prompted outrage from senior officials at the United Nations and the United States -- but the biggest potential impact from the unrest could occur thousands of miles away, in Beijing.

The disintegration of the world's newest country is driving a profound shift in one of the world's oldest. China, which for decades has sought to pair globe-trotting economic ambitions with an inviolable "non-interference" approach to other countries' affairs, is departing from tradition to take an increasingly active role in the Sudan crisis.

China's African envoy, Zhong Jianhua, has blitzed the region in recent months trying to help craft a solution for South Sudan's internal strife, a stark contrast to the much-criticized, stand-off position China held just a few years ago when Khartoum ran roughshod over civilians but kept sending plenty of oil to Beijing. In February, Zhong told Reuters that China's hands-on approach to South Sudan represents a "new chapter" in Beijing's millennial foreign policy. Earlier this year, Zhong offered to facilitate mediations between the country's warring factions designed to wind down the fighting...
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ericthered

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Re: What's in the News
« Reply #2358 on: April 26, 2014, 05:08:23 PM »
This requires a Voodoo Priest Nylon....the zonkey...it is soooo cute. It is so news. Beautiful news...A donkey and a zebra found love...
http://nyhederne.tv2.dk/udland/2014-04-25-halvt-zebra-og-halvt-%C3%A6sel-se-den-nyf%C3%B8dte-zonkey

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piglet

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Re: What's in the News
« Reply #2359 on: April 26, 2014, 11:01:16 PM »
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BrandeX

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Re: What's in the News
« Reply #2360 on: April 28, 2014, 01:20:16 AM »
I believe they are called "Zedonk"'s.
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Calach Pfeffer

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Re: What's in the News
« Reply #2361 on: May 03, 2014, 04:28:17 PM »
11 Surreal Photos From A Pagan Festival In Rural China

In January or February every year, much of the Asian world celebrates the Chinese New Year. That important holiday comes with regional traditions, including the elaborate pagan She Huo festival, celebrated in rural villages in the northwestern Shanxi region.

Villagers dress in elaborate costumes of gods, spirits, and mythical beasts while singing, dancing, and performing to commemorate the 2,500-year-old festival. Chinese photographer Zhang Xiao recently traveled to Shanxi to capture the festival in several cities. He shared some of the photos with us here, and you can check out the rest in his new book, "Shanxi."




China invents Darth Maul


(In other news, what is clicker-bait BusinessInsider doing in China anyway? Hmm? Seems like they moved here. One of them become an English teacher?)
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BrandeX

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Re: What's in the News
« Reply #2362 on: May 03, 2014, 07:51:07 PM »
I take it that article was written by a christian, because they seem to throw that "the rest of you who aren't are pagans" around a fair amount.
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Calach Pfeffer

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Re: What's in the News
« Reply #2363 on: May 04, 2014, 03:30:05 AM »
Chuck Lorre responds...

Judging from the comments, I'm wondering what American sitcom they were actually watching.

The Big Bang Theory - a documentary speculating how one tiny South Korean boy band made it Big.
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xwarrior

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Re: What's in the News
« Reply #2364 on: May 04, 2014, 01:58:04 PM »
re. 11 Surreal Photos From A Pagan Festival In Rural China

I do not know Darth Maul but this could be his brother:



One day, while serving on the North West Frontier, I came across a festival celebration similar to the one featured in the article. I was teaching at a college in Baoji (a small city  said to be the original home of Han), which is located in Shaanxi (which is not to be confused with the province next door that has only one 'a' in its name) at the time.

The festival was held at Dan Jia Cun. I had not planned to be there but as the locals had blocked the road to through traffic I got off my bus to find out what was happening.

Other photos from that day are at  http://raoulschinasaloon.com/index.php?topic=6215.msg117743#msg117743
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Calach Pfeffer

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Re: What's in the News
« Reply #2365 on: May 08, 2014, 06:52:14 PM »
The World's Most Dangerous Water Fight

China's muscular efforts to extend its control over broad reaches of the South China Sea have already clashed -- literally -- with neighboring countries such as Vietnam and the Philippines that appear increasingly determined to push back against Beijing.

Just days after Beijing dispatched an oil rig to waters claimed by both China and Vietnam, Chinese naval vessels apparently rammed and damaged at least one Vietnamese patrol boat in the area. Though no shots were reported to have been fired, Vietnamese media said Chinese ships used water cannons to enforce an unusually large three-mile no-go zone the Chinese have established around the rig.

The incident, the latest escalation in a regional flashpoint already primed for conflict, underscores the lengths China seems prepared to go to defend its ambitious territorial claims as well as the unintended consequences of China's take-no-prisoners approach to foreign relations. More specifically, experts on the region said that China risks creating a coalition of the exasperated among the oft-bickering nations of Southeast Asia who are increasingly speaking out against Beijing's aggressive territorial claims....
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Calach Pfeffer

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Re: What's in the News
« Reply #2366 on: May 08, 2014, 06:55:26 PM »
Vietnam Releases Video of China Ramming Ships

Earlier today Shannon and myself noted that Vietnam and Chinese vessels had collided in the South China Sea as Hanoi tried to prevent China from setting up an oil rig in the disputed waters.

On Wednesday, Ngo Ngoc Thu, vice commander of the High Command of Vietnam Marine Police, held a press conference on Wednesday to discuss the matter. During the press conference, a video was played in the background that appeared to show Chinese vessels backed by helicopters trying to obstruct the movement of Vietnam’s vessels. The footage from the video was provided by the Vietnamese fisheries surveillance force, according to Vietnam’s Ministry of Defense.

A low-quality version of that video has been posted on Youtube. It appears to have been taped by one of the media outlets that attended the press conference. English language subtitles of Thu’s remarks also appear on the video:

[video]

As previously noted, Vietnam has said that it had deployed up to 25 naval and civilian vessels to prevent China from setting up the oil rig. Tran Duy Hai, deputy chairman of the Vietnam National Border Committee, told the press conference on Wednesday that China had deployed around 80 of its own vessels to accompany and guard the oil rigs. He said this included: 7 military ships, 33 marine patrol boats and surveillance ships as well as other smaller ships such as fishing vessels.

According to Vietnamese media outlets, a total of eight Vietnamese ships were rammed, hit or sprayed with high pressure hoses. At least two ramming incidents have occurred, one early May 3 and the other early May 4. The first of these took place at such high velocity that the windows of the Vietnamese vessels were smashed, causing injury to Vietnamese crew members, as depicted in the videos.

At the press conference, Thu warned: “Vietnam has exercised restraint. But if Chinese vessels continue ramming Vietnamese ships, we’ll have to act out of self-defense.” Vietnam has also called for China to remove the vessels and oil rigs and then engage in talks with Vietnam.
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Calach Pfeffer

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Re: What's in the News
« Reply #2367 on: May 10, 2014, 02:15:24 AM »
Wheat vs. Rice: How China’s North-South Culinary Divide Shapes Personality

In China, as in many countries, the north-south divide runs deep. People from the north are seen as hale and hearty, while southerners are often portrayed as cunning, cultured traders. Northerners are taller than southerners. The north eats noodles, while the south eats rice—and according to new research, when it comes to personality, that difference has meant everything.

A study published Friday by a group of psychologists in the journal Science finds that China’s noodle-slurping northerners are more individualistic, show more “analytic thought” and divorce more frequently. By contrast, the authors write, rice-eating southerners show more hallmarks traditionally associated with East Asian culture, including more “holistic thought” and lower divorce rates.

The reason? Cultivating rice, the authors say, is a lot harder. Picture a rice paddy, its delicate seedlings tucked in a bed of water. They require careful tending and many hours of labor—by some estimates, twice as much as wheat—as well as reliance on irrigation systems that require neighborly cooperation. As the authors write, for southerners growing rice, “strict self-reliance might have meant starvation.”...
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Calach Pfeffer

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Re: What's in the News
« Reply #2368 on: May 14, 2014, 08:13:50 PM »
UK executive accused in GlaxoSmithKline China probe

Chinese authorities have accused a British GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) executive of ordering staff to bribe hospital officials to use its products.

The move helped generate billions of yuan in "illegal revenue", police said.

The UK man, Mark Reilly, and two other colleagues were also suspected of bribing government officials in Beijing and Shanghai, they said.

Police had finished their investigation and passed the case to prosecutors, officials said.

Chinese authorities announced in July last year that they were investigating GSK, detaining four Chinese GSK executives.

They accused the drug-maker of using travel agencies and consultancies to transfer hundreds of millions in bribes over several years.

GSK said then that it was co-operating with the investigation and that it had zero tolerance for such behaviour.

It has already apologised for employees apparently acting outside of its internal controls, reports the BBC's John Sudworth in Shanghai, but denies the sums of money are anything like as high as those alleged to have been paid.

GSK "departments offered bribes to hospitals and doctors as well as personnel to boost their sales. The money involved was in the billions of yuan [hundreds of millions of dollars]", a ministry of public security official told a Beijing press conference.

Mr Reilly, the company's former head of China operations, is believed to be inside China, according to an investigator.
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xwarrior

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Re: What's in the News
« Reply #2369 on: May 18, 2014, 06:35:50 PM »
It is Sunday, so this might be a good time to announce:


TV resurrection for leader's lover
North Korean leader's ex-girlfriend appears alive and well, nine months after being executed.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/asia/10057514/Kims-executed-girlfriend-makes-TV-comeback
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