Beijing, China | AFP | China’s home-grown AG600, the world’s largest amphibious aircraft in production, took to the skies on Sunday for its maiden flight. The plane, codenamed “Kunlong” according to state news agency Xinhua, took off from the southern city of Zhuhai and landed after roughly an hour-long flight. …
Read More »Hamleys opens its largest toy store in Beijing amid Christmas debate
Beijing, China | AFP | British toy retailer Hamleys opened its largest store in the world in Beijing on Saturday, just two days before Christmas as debate played out over whether the holiday should be banned in the Communist country. Christmas elves, a teddy bear parade and a curiously slender …
Read More »At least 10,000 killed in 1989 Tiananmen crackdown: British cable
Beijing, China | AFP | At least 10,000 people were killed in the Chinese army’s crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in June 1989, according to a newly released British diplomatic cable that recounts the bloodshed in gruesome detail. The document, made public more than 28 years after …
Read More »UN weighs new N.Korea sanctions, vote expected Friday
United Nations, United States | AFP | The United States on Thursday presented a draft UN Security Council resolution ramping up sanctions on North Korea by cutting oil supplies vital for Pyongyang’s military programs, according to the text obtained by AFP. The council is expected to vote on the new sanctions …
Read More »China opens major economic conference
Beijing, China | AFP | China opened a major economic planning conference on Monday as the country tries to pivot away from its no-holds-barred growth model. The annual Central Economic Work Conference gives leaders the opportunity to review past economic policy and plan for 2018. The pursuit of high growth propelled …
Read More »GLOBAL COMMENT: China factor in Kenya, Zimbabwe
Weighing economic, political ties and future relationships that could prove decisive for Africa COMMENT | HANNAH RYDER | Ask anyone with a basic knowledge of Africa which country is more poised for success – Zimbabwe or Kenya – and he or she will undoubtedly answer “Kenya.” Events of the last week …
Read More »Chinese auto giant to end petrol vehicle sales by 2025
Beijing, China | AFP | One of China’s largest state-owned automakers has said it will phase out sales of all petrol vehicles by 2025, as Beijing considers taking all fuel-burning cars off the country’s roads. Beijing Automotive Group Co (BAIC) chairman Xu Heyi said over the weekend the company will phase …
Read More »Museveni enters fight over $ 20bn oil deals
French domination sparks fight with Chinese Kampala, Uganda | HAGGAI MATSIKO | Oil companies—Total E&P, Tullow Oil and CNOOC—are locked in a bitter fight for control of Uganda’s oil sector. The coveted prizes are deals worth about $20 billion. The three entered a partnership in 2012 when Tullow Oil, which …
Read More »Chinese electric carmaker to open Morocco plant
Casablanca, Morocco | AFP | Chinese electric car manufacturer BYD on Saturday signed an agreement to open a factory near the Moroccan city of Tangiers to build battery-powered vehicles, officials said. BYD will become the third car manufacturer, after Renault and Peugeot of French, to construct cars in the North …
Read More »China seizes 12 tonnes of endangered pangolin scales
Beijing, China | AFP | Nearly 12 tonnes of smuggled pangolin scales have been confiscated by Chinese officials — the country’s largest-ever seizure of the endangered mammal’s prized parts as it seeks to curb illegal trafficking. The pangolin, whose brown scales have earned it the nickname “scaly anteater”, is the most …
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