China Telecom chief resigns amid investigation

The chairman and chief executive of one of China's largest mobile service providers, China Telecom, has stepped down days after authorities said he was under investigation. The firm said Chang Xiaobing had resigned in a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Wednesday. Authorities had announced on Sunday that Mr Chang was being investigated for alleged disciplinary violations. Several Chinese executives have been embroiled in a crackdown on corruption. Mr Chang was the latest executive that was reported missing by local media before the country's anti-corruption watchdog - the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection - said he was under investigation. Top Chinese executives investigated Jiang Jiemin, former chairman of leading energy group China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) jailed for 16 years in October for graft Xu Jianyi, former chairman of top automaker China FAW Group expelled from the ruling Communist Party in August for embezzling funds and taking bribes Shen Hao, former president of financial media group 21st Century jailed for four years last week for extortion and blackmail Cheng Boming, president of China's largest brokerage, CITIC Securities, under investigation in September for alleged trading on insider information Meanwhile in the filing, China Telecom said president and chief operating officer Yang Jie would take over as chairman and chief executive until a new appointment is made. State-owned China Telecom is the country's third largest telecom service provider after China Unicom, where 58-year-old Mr Chang was the chairman before he joined China Telecom in August. There were reports earlier this year that the government was considering merging the two telecom giants. Many critics have also said that Beijing's anti-corruption drive has more to do with getting executives of leading firms to toe the Communist Party's line. The company's shares closed down 0.3% on Thursday after news of the management shake-up.

Microsoft to warn email users of suspected hacking by governments

  Microsoft Corp said on Wednesday it will begin warning users of its Outlook.com email service when the company suspects that a government has been trying to hack into their accounts. Microsoft told Reuters about the plan in a statement. It comes nine days after Reuters asked the company why it had decided not tell victims of a hacking campaign, discovered in 2011, that had targeted international leaders of China's Tibetan and Uighur minorities in particular. According to two former employees of Microsoft, the company's own experts had concluded several years ago that Chinese authorities had been behind the campaign but the company did not pass on that information to users of its Hotmail service, which is now called Outlook.com. In its statement, Microsoft said neither it nor the US government could pinpoint the sources of the hacking attacks and that they didn't come from a single country. The policy change at the world's largest software company follows similar moves since October by Internet giants Facebook Inc, Twitter Inc and most recently Yahoo Inc. Google Inc pioneered the practice in 2012 and said it now alerts tens of thousands of users every few months. For two years, Microsoft has offered alerts about potential security breaches without specifying the likely suspect. In the statement, Microsoft said: "As the threat landscape has evolved our approach has too, and we'll now go beyond notification and guidance to specify if we reasonably believe the attacker is 'state-sponsored'." Microsoft declined to say what role, if any, the Hotmail hacking campaign played in its policy change. The Hotmail attacks had also targeted diplomats, media workers, human rights lawyers, and others in sensitive positions inside China, according to the former employees. Microsoft had told the targets to reset their passwords but did not tell them that they had been hacked. Five victims interviewed by Reuters said they had not taken the password request as an indication of hacking. Online free-speech activists and security experts have long called for more direct warnings, saying that they prompt behavioral changes from email users.

Turbulence on Air Canada flight from China injures 21

A Canada-bound airliner was forced to make an emergency landing after severe turbulence injured 21 passengers, including three children, officials said. The Air Canada flight from Shanghai to Toronto was diverted to Calgary after the turbulence hit. Eight passengers suffered neck and back injuries and 13 more were taken to hospital for observation. Those hurt were in a stable condition, an emergency services spokesman said. Air Canada's chief operating officer Klaus Goersch said passengers had been through a "very unsettling experience". The Boeing 777 with 332 passengers and 19 crew on board landed at Calgary without further incident, the airline said in a statement. Passengers described the experience. "To start with it was just OK, normal just up and down, and all of a sudden it was really violent and just shaking everybody," said Yi Lee. "Suddenly the flight is just going down and everything is really scary. The girl sitting next to me, she was sleeping and she just fly up (to the ceiling)," said Linda He. Mr Goersch praised the crew's response and said some of the passengers taken to hospital had quickly been discharged.

China mine survivors detected by infrared cameras in Shandong

 Eight miners trapped for five days after a mine in China caved in have been found alive, state media say. Reports say rescue teams have not yet been able to free the survivors, but have made contact and sent in supplies. The rock fall at the gypsum mine, in the eastern province of Shandong, was so violent that it registered at China's earthquake monitoring centre. Nine miners are still missing. Seven have already been rescued and one is known to have died. Rescuers used infrared cameras to peer into darkness at the wrecked mine. The cameras detected the surviving miners waving their hands. The workers were weak with hunger but otherwise were in good health, state media reported. They told rescuers they were in passages underground that were intact. Ma Congbo, the chairman of Yurong company which owns the mine, drowned himself by jumping into a mine well early on Sunday, China's Xinhua news agency said. His motive was not clear but the Chinese authorities have toughened punishment of employers who are seen as negligent. China has a long history of industrial accidents. The latest incident comes days after a landslide caused by construction waste in southern China left dozens of people missing and presumed dead. The nation's mines have long been the world's deadliest, but safety improvements have reduced deaths in recent years. Last year, 931 people were killed in mine accidents throughout China, significantly fewer than in 2002 when nearly 7,000 miners were killed.

China's 'new normal' - a bit too much like the old normal

 The ashes were delivered within two days of the death. No autopsy for the 44-year-old tycoon whose flamboyant career had culminated in a spectacular political scandal and corruption trial. But Xu Ming was due for release within months and he had recently told friends he was in excellent condition. So when the man who knew so much about the murky connections between China's political and business elite suddenly died of a reported heart attack on a prison toilet, rumours swirled. News of his death was suppressed in official media. But on social media, another billionaire commented. "In the eyes of a government official, we are nothing but a cockroach. If he wants to kill you, he can; if he wants to keep you alive, he can." 2015 was a year in which many of China's high profile businesspeople might have agreed that they enjoyed the trappings of power and wealth only at the whim of the authorities. "Why would the government want to target me?… I believe in the future of China. I believe in the Party's reform policy."

China approves wide-ranging counter terrorism law

China's governing body has passed its first-ever counter-terrorism bill, which it says will help address rising terror threats at home and boost international security. An Weixing, an official with the public security ministry, told journalists Sunday that terror attacks were a rising issue in China. "Terrorist attacks have caused heavy losses of people's lives and properties, posing a serious threat to our security, stability, economic development and ethnic unity," the state-run Xinhua news agency quoted the official as saying.

China Telecom chairman Chang Xiaobing under investigation

The chairman of one of China's largest state-owned mobile operators, China Telecom, is being investigated by the country's anti-corruption watchdog. Chang Xiaobing is "suspected of serious violation of discipline", according to a statement on the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection website. The executive was reported missing by local media on Sunday. He is the latest in a series of high-profile executives to become embroiled in Beijing's crackdown on corruption. The government's ongoing anti-corruption drive resulted in more than 70 senior officials at state firms being investigated in 2014. Advertisement Top Chinese executives investigated Jiang Jiemin, former chairman of leading energy group China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) jailed for 16 years in October for graft Xu Jianyi, former chairman of top automaker China FAW Group expelled from the ruling Communist Party in August for embezzling funds and taking bribes Shen Hao, former president of financial media group 21st Century jailed for four years last week for extortion and blackmail Cheng Boming, president of China's largest brokerage, CITIC Securities, under investigation in September for alleged trading on insider information Little information was given on the investigation involving Mr Chang, but the statement mentioned his position as the former chairman of the country's second-largest mobile operator China Unicom. The 58-year-old became the chairman at China Telecom in August. Earlier this year, there were reports that the government was considering merging the two telecom giants. Government scrutiny of the top firms in the world's second largest economy has spread beyond state-owned enterprises.

China unveils two-child policy

It's official. From January 1, 2016 China will allow two children for every couple. Chinese lawmakers rubber-stamped the new legislation Sunday during a session of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, which governs the country's laws, the state-run   "The state advocates that one couple shall be allowed to have two children," according to the newly revised Law on Population and Family Planning. This effectively dismantles the remnants of the country's infamous one-child policy that had been eased in recent years. When news of the planned change to the law broke in October, the ruling Communist Party issued the following statement: "To promote a balanced growth of population, China will continue to uphold the basic national policy of population control and improve its strategy on population development. "China will fully implement the policy of 'one couple, two children' in a proactive response to the issue of an aging population."

Chinese mine owner kills himself as 17 miners remain trapped

The owner of a gypsum mine in China's eastern Shandong province has killed himself, as rescuers try to reach 17 miners who have been trapped for two days, state media report. One person died and four miners escaped when the mine collapsed on Friday. Since then, rescue workers have managed to pull a number of miners to safety. China has a long history of industrial accidents. The latest incident comes days after a deadly landslide caused by construction waste in southern China. Ma Congbo, the chairman of Yurong company which owns the mine, drowned himself by jumping into a mine well early on Sunday, China's Xinhua news agency reports. Advertisement It happened two days after the mine collapsed in Pingyi County's Linyi city, Shandong Province, just before 20:00 local time. It is not yet clear what caused the collapse. Rescuers have drilled a hole to access some of the trapped workers, and are trying to transfer food and water, officials say. More than 700 emergency officials are involved in rescue efforts, according to Linyi Mayor Zhang Shuping.

French journalist Ursula Gauthier kicked out of China for slamming Beijing's Uyghur policy

Chinese authorities say they're not renewing the press credentials for a French journalist whose recent reporting questioned Beijing's "ulterior motives" in standing in solidarity with France after the November Paris attacks, and criticized China's handling of its Uyghur minority. Ursula Gauthier, a Beijing-based correspondent for French magazine L'OBS since 2009, wrote in an article published on November 18 -- less than a week after coordinated attacks killed at least 130 people in Paris -- that China had no basis in drawing parallels between the international pledge to fight against terrorism and its own version, that she calls "the merciless crushing of the Muslim Uyghur minority." "In other words, if China declares its solidarity with nations threatened by Islamic State, in return it expects the support of the international community in its own entanglements with its most restless minority," she added.

China says landslide caused by safety violations, vows to punish 'seriously'

A mountain of construction debris that swallowed cars and buildings in China was a result of safety violations -- not a natural disaster, state media said. Rescue crews have pulled out four bodies after the landslide in Shenzhen on Sunday. As many as 73 people are still missing, according to calculations based on Chinese media. State investigators say they have determined the landslide was caused by unsafe conditions, according to the Xinhua news agency. "Those responsible for the incident will be seriously punished in accordance with laws and regulations," a state investigation team said Friday. Shenzhen emergency officials said at least 16 people remain hospitalized -- three in serious condition.

China smog sparks red alerts in 10 cities

Tianjin issued its first ever red alert on Wednesday as it was hit with hazardous levels of pollution Hazardous smog blanketing China's north-east has sparked more red alerts, with authorities advising residents in 10 cities to stay indoors. The announcement follows last week's warning that a vast area of China would be badly hit by pollution. Beijing saw its second red alert over the weekend. The latest wave of alerts includes the industrial port Tianjin. Red alerts trigger advisories for people to stay inside, schools to stop classes, and restrict vehicle use. An environmental ministry statement issued on Wednesday night said the 10 cities with red alerts include Tianjin as well as smaller surrounding cities Puyang, Xinxiang, Dezhou, Handan, Xintai, Langfang, Hengshui, Xinji and Anyang. Advertisement They are among 30 cities including Beijing seeing "severe pollution". Another 20 cities have "heavy pollution".

Is Russia still a key world power?

Russia has been eclipsed as a world power by China Whether Russia, one of 15 successor states to the USSR, which broke up in 1991, is still a genuine world power in 2015 is open to question. It remains the world's largest country and the largest oil producer It retains its permanent seat on the UN Security Council (one among five) Its nuclear arsenal (in Cold War times one of five countries, but now one of nine) has been progressively modernised Sustained increases in defence spending have brought it close to its goal of escalation dominance in local and regional war But the economic base for these capabilities is steadily declining. Russia's economy is the 10th largest in the world, producing little of value beyond hydrocarbons. Corruption and rent-seeking extract an enormous economic toll. It remains burdened with Soviet era infrastructure, and its ability to meet the educational and medical needs of its population is rapidly declining.

China football revolution can be a financial game changer

When Chinese investors recently decided to acquire a 13% stake in Manchester City's parent firm, it put the country's renewed interest in football firmly in the spotlight. The world's second largest economy has never been a football powerhouse, qualifying for just one World Cup. Meanwhile, the population seems more interested in NBA basketball than the sport known in the UK as "the people's game". But over the past couple of years Chinese investors and firms have quietly been acquiring stakes in football clubs in England, Spain, France, Netherlands and the Czech Republic, while President Xi Jinping has professed a love of the game. So why are the Chinese now snapping up stakes in European clubs?  sours:bbc