Midtown Blogger/Manhattan Valley Follies: News from Hong Kong-South China Morning Post

Australian PM's confidence over black box signals from MH370 rejected by search chief

Update Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott expressed optimism over the hunt for missing flight MH370 during an official visit to China yesterday - despite the search chief's insistence there had been no new breakthrough.
Saturday, 12 April, 2014, 5:47am 10 comments More on Malaysia Airlines flight 370

Panic in Gansu capital after tap water found ‘excessively’ contaminated with benzene

Panicking residents in the northwestern city of Lanzhou, Gansu, swarmed supermarkets to clear bottled water off the shelves yesterday after authorities warned the city's drinking water contained excessive levels of a carcinogenic chemical.
12 Apr 2014 - 3:21am 2 comments

Heartbleed computer bug danger spreads to firewalls, phones and e-mail servers

Hackers could crack e-mail systems, security firewalls and possibly mobile phones through the "Heartbleed" computer bug, say security experts. And they warned that the risks posed by the bug extend beyond just internet web servers.
11 Apr 2014 - 10:48pm

Beijing court upholds guilty verdict against rights lawyer Xu Zhiyong

Update Legal experts said Beijing's top court acted unfairly but predictably when it rejected rights lawyer Xu Zhiyong's appeal against his conviction for disturbing public order.
12 Apr 2014 - 3:29am 1 comment

Pope Francis apologises for 'evil' done by child-molesting priests

Pope Francis made his first public plea for forgiveness yesterday for the "evil" committed by priests who molested children, using some of his strongest words yet on the Catholic Church's sexual abuse crisis.
12 Apr 2014 - 1:01am

Small parties’ strong showing in Indonesian poll gives them key role in presidential vote

Indonesia's smaller parties are set to play a key role in July's presidential race after an unofficial tally showed they fared better than forecast in this week's parliamentary election.
11 Apr 2014 - 10:59pm

Japan's cabinet approves U-turn on plan to phase out nuclear plants

Japan's cabinet yesterday approved an energy policy reversing the previous government's plans to gradually mothball nuclear power plants, a move likely to be unpopular with a wary public following the 2011 Fukushima disaster.
12 Apr 2014 - 1:25am 1 comment

Xi's awakened lion claim rings true for France

President Xi Jinping's visit to France last month, during which a raft of business and bilateral deals were sealed, showed China "was an awakened lion, but a peaceful one", says France's top envoy to China.
12 Apr 2014 - 3:40am