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☆ Bleak images show snapshots of daily life in the closed world of North Korea
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-24 | by ( Nathan Rennolds | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

An AFP photographer captured rare shots showing everyday life in North Korea. `The images show a bleak picture of life in the completely isolated nation. NEW LOOK Sign up to get the inside scoop on today’s biggest stories in markets, tech, and business — delivered daily. AdvertisementAn AFP photographer captured rare images showing daily life in North Korea. The images Pardo took between February 26 and March 1 offer a bleak yet fascinating look at life in a country shrouded in secrecy.

Persons: Pedro Pardo, —, Pardo, Kim Il Organizations: Service, Democratic People's, Marxist, Business Locations: AFP, North Korea, China's Jilin, North Korea's, China, Jilin province, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, DPRK

☆ Signs of Rare Unrest Among North Korean Workers in China, Researchers Say
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-08 | by ( Feb. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +5 min

By Ju-min ParkSEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's intelligence agency says poor conditions for North Koreans working overseas have led to "incidents and accidents", while researchers report rare protests and unrest in China among workers from a North Korean military-linked trading company. Fed up with unpaid wages and lingering pandemic lockdowns, as many as 3,000 North Korean workers in China staged protests last month, according to two South Korean government-affiliated researchers, including a former North Korean diplomat. The North Korean embassy in Beijing and its consular office in the Chinese border city of Dandong did not respond to calls from Reuters seeking comment. South Korea's unification ministry said in a report last year that China and Russia were hosting North Korean workers despite the sanctions. That's not easy now, given the North Korean regime wants to keep them in China to raise money for the government."

Persons: Cho Han, Cho, Ko Young, Ko, Jimin Jung, Josh Smith, Eduardo Baptista, Antoni Slodkowski, Laurie Chen, Gerry Doyle Organizations: North, . State, Korea Institute for National, South, Korea's National Intelligence Service, Security, Koreans, U.S . State Department, NIS Locations: SEOUL, China, North Korean, Beijing, Dandong, North Koreans, North Korea, Pyongyang, Korean, Helong, Jilin province, Jilin, Russia, Seoul

☆ Social media chatter helps draw 3 million tourists in 3 days to a frigid city in northern China
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-07 | by ( Yulia Jiang | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

"He said he was happy to see so many southern visitors in Harbin." The plump, bundled-up appearance of Harbin tourists, many hailing from southern China, led to locals calling them "Little Southern Taters" — a nickname that was widely discussed on Chinese social media. Tourists new nickname for Harbin — the shorter "Rbin" — has swept across Chinese social media too, representing their newfound affection for the city. A larger plan to use social media to publicize Harbin and the larger province of Heilongjiang may be at play. He Jing, head of Heilongjiang Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, told China Central Television that his department has been focusing on using social media "since the beginning of 2023."

Persons: Yuying Zhang, Zhang, Zhang Zhang, Zhang Tao, she's, —, Andrea Verdelli, Jing, Jiang, Yuetong Jiang Organizations: Harbin Cultural Broadcasting, Tourism Bureau, CNBC, Xinhua News Agency, Getty, Street, Bloomberg, Heilongjiang Provincial Department of Culture, China Central Television, Harbin Locations: Harbin, China, Shanghai, Heilongjiang, Tourism, Changchun, China's Jilin

☆ Scientists Show How to Turn Lunar Soil Fertile for Agriculture
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( Nov. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +4 min

Researchers said on Thursday they have found a way to turn inhospitable lunar soil fertile by introducing bacteria that enhance the availability of phosphorus, an important plant nutrient. They performed experiments growing a relative of tobacco using simulated moon soil, more properly called lunar regolith, in a laboratory in China. In that study, Arabidopsis did grow, but not as robustly in the lunar soil as in volcanic ash from Earth used for comparative purposes, suggesting that lunar soil could use a little help to become more fertile. The study used simulated regolith rather than the real thing because genuine lunar soil, as one might imagine, is in short supply on Earth. "In contrast, our technique, which is a kind of in-situ resource utilization, applies microbial improvement to the lunar soil, making it more fertile and capable for plant cultivation," Xia added.

Persons: Will Dunham WASHINGTON, Yitong Xia, benthamiana, Xia, Will Dunham, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: China Agricultural University, Communications, NASA Locations: China, Beijing, United States, China's Jilin Province

☆ Scientists show how to turn lunar soil fertile for agriculture
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( Will Dunham | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Persons: Nicotiana, Yitong Xia, benthamiana, Xia, Will Dunham, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: China Agricultural University, Reuters, REUTERS Acquire, Rights, Communications, NASA, Thomson Locations: Beijing, China, United States, China's Jilin Province

☆ Risky intercepts show China's fighter pilots are 'willing to challenge' the US as their planes increasingly meet in the air, former aviator says
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( Chris Panella | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

US officials released a video of a Chinese fighter jet intercepting a US aircraft over the South China Sea. A former American aviator told Insider the incident highlights how Chinese pilots are "willing to challenge" the US in the area. "What we're witnessing is an increasingly competent and better trained Chinese flying cadre" that is "willing to challenge the US and allied flights occurring near the PRC air defense identification zone," retired Cmdr. The US says it documented more than 180 coercive or risky intercepts by Chinese aircraft since fall 2021. Two US Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft sit parked on the flight line at MacDill Air Force Base in 2021.

Persons: —, Guy Snodgrass, INDOPACOM, Snodgrass, isn't, Qian Baihua, Lauren Cobin Organizations: Pentagon, Service, US, Pacific Command, US Air Force, People's Liberation Army Air Force, Changchun Air Show, Changchun Dafangshen, Getty, East China Seas, North, America, US Department of Defense, China, People's, Army, MacDill Air Force Base Locations: South China, American, China, People's Republic of China, US, Chinese, South, Changchun, Changchun Dafangshen Airport, Jilin Province, East, Russian, Russia

BEIJING, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Unseasonably cold weather and blizzards hit northeast China on Monday, forcing hundreds of flights to be rescheduled and closing schools as several cities issued heightened weather alerts and warned people to stay indoors. China's weather authority warned of a drastic drop in temperature in coming days, along with blizzards, anticipated to substantially affect several cities, state media reported. Provinces and cities upgraded weather response protocols as heavy snowfall is expected in parts of Inner Mongolia, and Hebei, Jilin and Liaoning provinces, China Daily reported. Chinese weather forecasters kept orange alerts for blizzards in several areas, while China's National Meteorological Center issued an orange alert for blizzards and a blue alert for cold waves and strong wind, Global Times reported. China has a four-tier colour-coded weather alert system, with red the highest, followed by orange, yellow and blue.

Persons: Bernard Orr, Ella Cao, Raju Gopalakrishnan Organizations: Harbin Taiping International Airport, China Daily, Central Meteorological Observatory, Meteorological Center, Global Times, Central Meteorological Administration, Thomson Locations: BEIJING, China, Heilongjiang, Harbin, Jilin, Liaoning, Mongolia, Weibo, Provinces, Inner Mongolia, Hebei, Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai

A cartoon soldier is depicted on part of a warning sign on barbed wire on the Chinese side of the border between Russia, China and North Korea near the town of Hunchun, China, November 24, 2017. Any forced repatriation of North Koreans goes against international norms and South Korea viewed it as regrettable, Koo Byoung-sam, a spokesman for South Korea's Unification Ministry, told a media briefing. "It appears to be true that a large number of North Koreans in China's three northeast provinces have been repatriated to the North," Koo said. South Korea had been unable to determine the number of people involved and whether there were defectors among them. China has never recognised fleeing North Koreans as defectors and instead calls them "economic migrants".

Persons: Damir Sagolj, Koo Byoung, Koo, Tae Yong, Kim Hyuk, Kim Cheol, Jack Kim, Hyonhee Shin, Eduardo Baptista, Ed Davies, Robert Birsel Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Koreans, South Korea's Unification Ministry, Former North, Korean, Rights Watch, The North, Thomson Locations: Russia, China, North Korea, Hunchun, Rights SEOUL, South Korea, North, Korea, China's, Former North Korean, Korea's, Beijing, North Koreans, Koreans, The, The North Koreans, Korean, Jilin province

CNN —At least 21 people are dead and six others missing after a flash flood and landslide following torrential rains in the outskirts of northwestern China’s Xi’an city, local authorities said Sunday. Parts of China have seen record high temperatures and deadly flooding in recent weeks, with experts linking extreme weather around the world to climate change. Flooding killed at least 29 people in Hebei province and 33 in the capital Beijing, according to local authorities. Another 14 people were reported dead in the city of Shulan in Jilin province, as the rains moved northward, inundating farmlands in the country’s grain-producing area. Seven people were taking shelter from heavy rains at the house when it collapsed, according to China National Radio.

Persons: ” Organizations: CNN, Emergency Management, Xinhua, Restaurants, Authorities, China National Radio Locations: China’s Xi’an, Xi’an, China, Weiziping, Hebei province, Beijing, Shulan, Jilin province, Hebei, Hunan province, Leyu, Hengnan county

☆ Factbox: Impact of floods in China after Typhoon Doksuri
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] A view of damaged cardboard boxes at Baixiang packaging products factory after the rains and floods brought by remnants of Typhoon Doksuri, in Zhuozhou, Hebei province, China August 7, 2023. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/file photoBEIJING, Aug 10 (Reuters) - Extreme rain battered northern China after Typhoon Doksuri made landfall in southern Fujian province on July 28, flooding cities including Beijing, killing at least 60 people and causing extensive damage to homes, crops, livestock and infrastructure. Following is a tally of the damage, as reported by state media:BEIJINGAs of 12 a.m. (-1day 1600 GMT) Aug. 9* 33 deaths, 18 still missing* 59,000 homes collapsed, 147,000 homes damaged* 225,000 mu (15,000 hectares) of crops strickenBAODING PREFECTURE IN HEBEIAs of 12 p.m. (0400 GMT) Aug. 5* 10 dead, 18 missing* 4,448 homes collapsed, 7,286 homes damaged* 79,000 hectares of crops affected* 284 bridges and over 550 kilometres of rural roads ruined* 17 billion yuan ($2.36 billion) in direct economic lossesSHULAN CITY IN JILIN PROVINCEAs of 10 p.m. (1400 GMT) Aug. 6* 14 deaths, 1 missingDANDONG CITY IN LIAONING PROVINCEAs of Aug. 1* Four deadHEILONGJIANGAs of 12 p.m. (0400 GMT) Aug. 9* 3.87 million mu (258,000 hectares) of crops stricken* 23,708 homes collapsed or damaged* 149 bridges ruined, 352 culverts, 242,000 metres of roadbed and 1,300 greenhouses destroyedFUJIAN PROVINCEAs of 2 p.m. (0600 GMT) July 28* 262.3 hectares of crops damaged* 52.27 million yuan ($7.25 million) in direct economic losses($1 = 7.2068 Chinese yuan)Reporting by Beijing Newsroom; Editing by Miral Fahmy and Sherry Jacob-PhillipsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Doksuri, Tingshu Wang, Miral Fahmy, Sherry Jacob, Phillips Organizations: REUTERS, CITY, Beijing, Thomson Locations: Zhuozhou, Hebei province, China, BEIJING, Fujian, Beijing, BAODING PREFECTURE, HEBEI, JILIN PROVINCE, LIAONING, HEILONGJIANG, FUJIAN PROVINCE

CNN —Days of heavy rain have caused severe flooding in China’s leading grain-producing region in the northeast, killing 14 people and raising concerns about food security as floodwater inundated farmlands. As the storm moved further north, another 14 deaths were reported Sunday in the city of Shulan in Jilin province. Firefighters operate a drainage machine near a village in the city of Mudanjiang in northeastern China's Heilongjiang province on August 5. A cornfield is submerged by floodwater in a village in Hebi city, Henan province on August 5. A flooded farm in Xinxiang city, Henan province on August 5.

Persons: Doksuri, Zhang Tao, floodwater, Typhoon Khanun, Xi Jinping Organizations: CNN, Xinhua, Firefighters, China’s Ministry of Water Resources, Communist Party, Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Affairs, National Bureau of Statistics, China Meteorological Administration, Qiushi, Communist Locations: China, Beijing, Hebei, Shulan, Jilin province, Heilongjiang, Mudanjiang, China's Heilongjiang, Jilin, Harbin, Shangzhi, Wuchang, Liaoning, Hebi city, Henan province, Henan, Xinxiang city

☆ China's northeast inundated in Doksuri's wake
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

People ride a boat through a flooded road after the rains and floods brought by remnants of Typhoon Doksuri, in Zhuozhou, Hebei province, China August 3, 2023. Bridges have collapsed and roads were damaged across the city, state media reported. Rainfall this past week broke many records in Beijing and northern China, with the vast Haihe river basin hit with its worst flooding since 1963. Floodwaters could take up to a month to recede in Hebei province, a water resources department official told state media. Zhuozhou southwest of Beijing is the hardest hit city in Hebei province, with about 100,000 people - a sixth of its population - evacuated.

Persons: Doksuri, Tingshu Wang, Typhoon Doksuri, David Kirton, Tom Hogue Organizations: REUTERS, China News Service, Thomson Locations: Zhuozhou, Hebei province, China, SHENZHEN, Shulan, Jilin, State, Beijing, China's Heilongjiang

☆ China announces steps to boost sales of cars and electronics
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Employees work on the assembly line of new energy vehicles (NEVs) at a workshop of China FAW Group's Hongqi Fanrong Plant on July 5, 2023 in Changchun, Jilin Province of China. Chinese authorities announced measures on Friday intended to help boost sales of automobiles and electronics with the goal of shoring up a sluggish economy, but the steps failed to impress investors who have been clamoring for stronger stimulus. In June, they unexpectedly extended a purchase tax break on new energy vehicles until 2027. A separate statement on supporting sales of electronics products said authorities would encourage scientific research institutes and market entities to actively apply domestic artificial intelligence technology to improve intelligence levels of electronic products. Investors have said they are disappointed by China's weak second quarter growth and want to see stronger stimulus, with some pinning their hopes on the Politburo meeting later this month.

Persons: Tesla, China's Organizations: China FAW Group's Hongqi, National Development, Reform Locations: Changchun, Jilin Province, China

BEIJING, June 6 (Reuters) - Chinese universities are drastically increasing tuition fees this year, with some making their first rises in two decades, hurt by a reduced national budget for tertiary education and tight local government finances. The higher fees come amid a financial crunch among local governments after three years of disruptive COVID-19 policies, a property crisis and a sluggish economy. Chinese universities, almost all public, rely heavily on state funding. The study suggested increasing tuition fees for international students to as much as 110,000 yuan per year from about 20,000 yuan. ($1 = 7.1165 Chinese yuan renminbi)Reporting by Ella Cao and Ryan Woo.

Persons: Liu Jin, Ella Cao, Ryan Woo, Gerry Doyle Organizations: East China University of Science, Technology, Shanghai Dianji University, Beijing Institute of Technology, Thomson Locations: BEIJING, Shanghai, Sichuan, Jilin

☆ China PMI: economic activity expands for the first time in months as Covid 'exit wave' ends
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Laura He | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Hong Kong CNN —Economic activity in China has expanded for the first time in four months as disruptions caused by the abrupt end of its zero-Covid policy appears to be fading. The official non-manufacturing PMI, which tracks activity in the services and construction sectors, surged to 54.4 in January from 41.6 in December, also marking its first expansion in four months. This is a sign that China’s Covid “exit wave” is coming to an end, said analysts from Nomura in a research report. The official PMI survey mainly covers larger businesses and state-owned companies. Zhu Wanchang/VCG/Getty ImagesChina scrapped most of its pandemic restrictions in early December, effectively ending its three-year-long zero-Covid policy.

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