A young girl is forced into the men's restroom at a restaurant in Shenzhen, China by 58-year-old government official, who later arrogantly dares people to do something about it. Police say there is no evidence, but witnesses say he already confessed in the restaurant.

A follow-up on the alleged kidnapping/ransom of a British national by a Chinese state-owned scrap firm in Ningbo. "If you ever find yourself in a tight spot, don’t count on foreign service officers to get you out of it. Fortunately, I’ve never been in a position where I’ve had to test such advice.

The Shanghaiist humorously reports that The Economist's readers just aren't "mavericky enough" based on a new poll the magazine has compiled to gauge how the rest of the world would vote in this US election - China overwhelmingly supports Obama, as does Cuba, Congo, Sudan, Algeria, Namibia and Macedonia - Iraq, on the other hand, is a firm McCain supporter.

China’s propaganda mandarins are experimenting with a new policy to manage their message in the age of the internet: reporting the news as it happens. This marks an important shift for the ruling Communist Party, accustomed to deciding what will be reported and when.

China raised the price of its co-operation in the world's climate change talks yesterday by calling for developed countries to spend 1 per cent of their domestic product helping poorer nations cut greenhouse gas emissions.

The National Peasants' Games is being held in Quanzhou, Fujian Province.

The latest transfers of central and provincial government officials indicate that a major reshuffle is in the offing.

A strong magnitude-6.5 earthquake struck in the remote Qinghai province of northwestern China on Monday, the U.S. Geological Survey said. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

The quake's epicenter was 1,120 miles west of Beijing, the USGS said. It struck at a depth of 6.2 miles at 9:22 a.m. local time (0122 GMT), the agency said.

The information office of the Shenzhen Municipal People's Government announced early on November 8 that there was a severe "police attacking" incident which began on the afternoon of November 7. This involved more than one thousand ordinary people in Shi Yan Road in Bao An District of Shenzhen.

Taiwan and China set aside decades of hostilities Tuesday and agreed to expand flights and allow shipping links across the Taiwan Strait -- a potential hotspot that has long threatened to become a war zone.