Customers flock to Daoxiangcun to pick up cakes selected by the president during lunar new year tour around city Amy Hawkins A Beijing pastry shop visited by the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, on a lunar new year tour this week has been swarmed by customers hoping to get their hands on Xi-approved sweet treats. Traffic was…
Japan says vessel failed to comply with order to stop, with incident coming weeks after row with China over Taiwan Justin McCurry and agencies Authorities in Japan have seized a Chinese fishing boat and arrested its captain in a move that is likely to inflame an ongoing diplomatic row between Tokyo and Beijing. The seizure, which occurred on Thursday about…
The UN Special Envoy for Yemen on Thursday welcomed recent steps to bolster stability and improve living conditions, but told the Security Council that only a renewed political process can end the country’s long-running conflict. Hans Grundberg also warned that rising regional tensions risk dragging Yemen back into broader confrontation. “I ask this Council to…
Jailed then exiled in London, Rahman returns home as the main contender to be next prime minister of Bangladesh Hannah Ellis-Petersen and Redwan Ahmed in Dhaka Tarique Rahman, who after 17 years in exile is the main contender to be the next prime minister of Bangladesh, has pledged to end entrenched corruption and put the country on a “new…
Only two survivors rescued after boat overturned off Libyan coast, UN migration agency says Agence France-Presse in Geneva Fifty-three people are dead or missing after a boat capsized in the Mediterranean Sea off the Libyan coast, the UN migration agency said on Monday. Only two survivors were rescued. The International Organization for Migration said the boat overturned…
The country’s first female PM is the object of a personality cult revolving around everything from her outfits and snacks to her favourite pink pen Justin McCurryin Tokyo Just eight months ago, Japan’s ruling party appeared to have reached the edge of the electoral abyss. It had lost a parliamentary majority for the second time in 15…
Taiwanese president says ties with Washington ‘rock solid’, hours after leaders of US and China share first call since November Guardian staff and agencies In their first call since November, Chinese leader Xi Jinping warned US president Donald Trump to be “prudent” about supplying arms to Taiwan, according to a readout of their call provided by…
In spring 2003, exuberance at the fall of Saddam was swiftly followed by a descent into deadly chaos. Whether moving independently or embedded with troops, Guardian reporters witnessed the violence on the ground By Ian Mayes The allied attack on Iraq began on 20 March 2003. The Guardian’s 4am edition on Friday 21 March carried the headline:…
Five years after Myanmar’s military seized power and jailed the country’s elected leaders, the United Nations says the country’s crisis has only deepened, marked by escalating violence, mass displacement and a military-controlled election that UN officials warn has further entrenched repression rather than restored civilian rule. The people of Myanmar continue to suffer amid “widespread…
Rubaya mine produces about 15% of the world’s coltan, which is processed into tantalum, used in mobile phones Reuters More than 200 people were killed this week in a collapse at the Rubaya coltan mine in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, Lumumba Kambere Muyisa, a spokesperson for the rebel-appointed governor of the province where the…