20141001 BBC_Things that could only happen in a Hong Kong protest

Tear gas, pepper spray, feelings of anger and betrayal, crowds forced to run from riot police... and yet the protests retain that uniquely Hong Kong character.

Reporters and Hong Kong residents have shared their most surreal and charming experiences on the streets.

Doing your homework

Perhaps it isn't actually anarchic but it is definitely one of the biggest protests in Hong Kong for years. And yet students - some of whom were at the vanguard of this movement - find time to sit down and do their homework. Richard Frost for Bloomberg News tweeted this picture of children doing just that.

Students doing their homework in Hong Kong's street protest

Apologising for the barricade you put up

An entrance to the Causeway Bay MTR station was barricaded and emblazoned with signs shouting out for democracy. In the middle was a small cardboard sign - also written by the protesters: "Sorry for the inconvenience."

Hong Kong resident Collier Nogues, who took the picture, said it is "characteristic of the feeling everywhere I went this afternoon. Generous, polite."

Always apologise for putting up a barricade and blocking access

Deploying ancient arts of self defence with an umbrella

The humblest and most domestic of props became a protest icon after it was transformed into a shield against pepper spray and tear gas. The picture of a sole protester wielding his umbrella against the tear gas went viral online on Monday.

And when it began to rain on Tuesday, it was put to its secondary use as protection in wet weather. Residents also tweeted that protesters were distributing raincoats in Mong Kok. Police say umbrellas were also used by some protesters to threaten officers during Sunday night's unrest.

How to deploy an umbrella in self defence

The BBC has explained how the humble umbrella became a HK protest symbol.

Concern for how fragrant fellow protesters are

Hong-Kong-based journalist Tom Grundy tweeted this picture of a protester proffering free shirt-fresheners. At times the temperature has been sweltering and amid the crowds things are bound to get a little bit sweaty.

Shirt freshener anyone?

And while on the streets with the protesters, the BBC's Martin Yip witnessed volunteer armies spraying people with water to keep them cool and fresh.

Jump media player

Media player help

Out of media player. Press enter to return or tab to continue.

Armies of water-sprayers cool things down in Causeway Bay

Keeping off the well cut grass lawn when asked by a cardboard sign

A picture on the live page of the South China Morning Post showed a sea of protesters who it noted had parted for the grass courtyard where Hong Kong's cenotaph is located. Protesters still obeyed signs telling them to keep off the grass at the monument, putting the "civil" into civil disobedience.

"Despite the crowds around the war memorial in Central, not one person is standing or sitting on the grass. There's a new cardboard sign over the usual sign telling people not to go on the grass," the Hong Kong-based paper wrote.

File picture of Hong Kong's war memorial outside the old legislative council building - protesters stayed off the grass

Being the tidiest protesters on the block

The BBC's Saira Asher reports on how diligently the protesters cleared up after themselves. "The morning is being spent mostly removing rubbish left over from last night's huge crowd. Students are picking up cigarette butts and plastic bottles, others are distributing breakfast buns. That is why those on the street are being called 'the politest protesters' by some on social media."

Recycling has also been organised by those on the streets. Many agree that the world hasn't seen organised and tidy protests quite like this before.

This is echoed by the South China Morning Post in its live page when it wrote of a bizarre incident in Causeway Bay where a man pelted protesters with rotten eggs, telling them to "go back to class and stop blocking the roads". Protesters reportedly responded by cleaning up the mess.

Jump media player

Media player help

Out of media player. Press enter to return or tab to continue.

Litter collection and recycling has been organised by those on the streets

Most witnesses agree that despite the clashes on Sunday night and the sheer anger at China's decision to restrict who can run to be Hong Kong's leader, the mood on the streets is largely peaceful and generous. There have been incidents of commuters and angry local residents exhorting protesters to give up and leave - a reminder that not all of Hong Kong's residents agree with the demonstrations.

But for the moment it looks as if the Hong Kong protesters will keep on tidying up, creating lanes to enable smooth passage, doing their homework and of course making the demands they see as crucial to the future of Hong Kong.

201401001 BBC_Japan volcano: Search suspended as toll rises

volcanic eruption at Japan's Mount Ontake

Dozens of people were injured in the incident on the mountain, which is about 200km (125 miles) west of Tokyo.

Early on Monday helicopters began searching, as smoke rose from the peak.

Hundreds of firefighters, police and troops were involved in the operation, which later had to be halted because of the adverse conditions.

Twelve bodies have been recovered so far. Another 24 are reported to be on the mountain, after five more were located during the course of the day.

Monday's search centred on a mountain lodge on Mount Ontake

Eventually toxic gases and ash forced the search teams to suspend their operation

Some of the bodies were found in a lodge near the summit and others were buried in ash up to 50cm (20in) deep, Japanese media reported.

20140917 China Daily_The elderly should not tell others to vacate seats

It is saddening to read reports on how senior citizens' request for seats in public transport vehicles have led to quarrels and even scuffles with younger people. If people had even the least "respect for the elderly and love for the young", or showed some mutual understanding, such sorry incidents could have been avoided.

On Sept 10, an elderly bus passenger in Zhengzhou, Henan province, died while quarrelling with a younger man who refused to yield his seat to him. The senior citizen slapped the younger man several times before he collapsed on the bus floor and died, witnesses said. The tragedy came just days after a young bus passenger in Wuhan, Hubei province, was reportedly beaten by five elderly passengers for refusing to offer his seat to one of them.

Whether or not younger passengers should offer their seats to their elderly counterparts (or for that matter, pregnant women, the physically handicapped or children) should not have become a contentious issue. Earmarking seats for senior citizens in public transport vehicles is part of social norms. And by voluntarily offering their seats to the elderly, perhaps in return for a "thank you" or some other expression of gratitude, younger passengers exhibit a facet of harmonious society.

Mutual respect, mutual care and mutual concession remain integral to Chinese society, especially because it faces a rising aging population. The lack of respect and care for senior citizens at home, or public places or transport, may reflect the waning standards of morality in society. But when a video showing a young woman kicking an elderly passenger in a bus in Xiamen, Fujian province, went viral in April, she was severely criticized by people across the social divide.

A certain number of seats are designated for specific groups, including senior citizens, in buses and subways. The problem is that some senior citizens, when they find their peers occupying the designated seats, ask younger passengers, sometimes rudely, to vacate their seats for them. So some elderly people too are to blame for the unsavory incidents.

According to a survey published in China Youth Daily in July 2013, most Chinese believe that offering their seats to "special groups" (including the elderly) in buses and subways is a voluntary rather than a compulsory act. Although the majority of respondents said they had offered their seats to elderly people at least once, they were not always willing to do so, especially when they were very tired or didn't feel well.

Offering one's seat to the elderly or sick may be basic civilized behavior, but no one should be forced to do so. In fact, some respondents to a survey said they would feel morally belittled if senior citizens forced them to vacate their seats.

Sometime ago, the media reported that a senior citizen carried a camera while commuting by bus every day, and took photographs of young people who refused to yield their seats to the elderly and posted them on the Internet to shame them. But his attempt to humiliate the "unyielding" passengers did not find favor with all netizens, with some criticizing his action. There have also been reports of senior citizens asking younger passengers to give up their seats and scolding, even beating them up, after they refused to do so.

Indeed, some seats should be designated for elderly people in buses and subways. But that should not put people occupying regular seats under any moral obligation to yield them to senior citizens.

Chinese society has had a long tradition of "respecting the old and caring for the young", which should prompt young and healthy people to offer their seats to "special groups". But senior citizens should at least be polite while asking younger passengers to yield regular seats to them, because they have no right to do so.

20140917 China Daily_Hainan rocked as typhoon causes chaos

Typhoon Kalmaegi, the fifteenth to hit China this year, made landfall in Wengtian, a township in Wenchang, at 9:40 am. Flights, buses and rail services were canceled and schools closed as the typhoon with wind gusts of up to 144 km/h made landfall in Hainan province. [Photo / Xinhua]

Flights, buses and rail services were canceled and schools closed as a typhoon with wind gusts of up to 144 km/h made landfall in Hainan province on Tuesday.

Typhoon Kalmaegi, the fifteenth to hit China this year, made landfall in Wengtian, a township in Wenchang, at 9:40 am.

As of 5 pm, 119 fights had been canceled at Haikou Meilan International Airport in the provincial capital. No flights were allowed to land or take off at the airport.

As of 3 pm, 110 flights had also been canceled at Sanya Phoenix International Airport.

All bus services in Haikou were canceled on Tuesday morning. Rail services in the province, including the only high-speed bullet train, were also suspended.

As of 2 pm, 352,867 people had been evacuated in the province, according to the local authority. Some areas of Haikou and Wenchang and the counties of Lingao and Chengmai were inundated by seawater.

Ferry services from Hainan to the mainland, about 30 km away, were also suspended due to high waves.

The alert level for waves was upgraded to "red", the most severe, by the state marine forecast station.

The China Meteorological Administration issued an "orange" alert, the second-most severe warning under the national four-tier weather warning system.

Schools and kindergartens in Haikou have been suspended from Monday afternoon to Wednesday, while universities and businesses were closed on Tuesday.

Typhoon Kalmaegi also halted the electricity supply in many residential communities on Tuesday. As of 3:30 pm, 221 communities were still without power, the local government said.

Haikou resident Lin Jinzhu, who owns a 10-square-meter clothing store, said she had never experienced two typhoons causing severe damage in the same year.

"I’ve been selling clothes here for 20 years but have never felt so afraid of the weather," Lin said. "Typhoon Rammasun flooded all the clothing stores in July, so this time we have been well prepared and put the clothes on higher shelves."

Super Typhoon Rammasun, which made landfall on July 18, killed at least 56 people and left 20 missing in Hainan and Guangdong provinces.

The China Meteorological Administration said that from 2 pm on Tuesday to 2 pm on Wednesday, Hainan, southern Guangdong, southern and eastern Yunnan and southern and western areas of the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region would see 250 to 300 millimeters of rain.

Typhoon Kalmaegi made landfall in the northern Philippines on Sunday night, causing flooding in some areas. Six people were killed on Saturday night when a passenger ferry sank as the storm approached.

In Hong Kong, Kalmaegi caused 29 injuries, flight delays and closed the stock market and container ports.

20140901 China Daily_China, Russia start construction of gas pipeline

YAKUTSK - China and Russia on Monday started the construction of a joint NATURAL GAS pipeline in Russia's eastern Siberia, in implementation of a NATURAL GAS supply contract signed between the two countries.

Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli and Russian President Vladimir Putin jointly witnessed the welding of the first roll of pipes on the Russian part of the China-Russia East Route NATURAL GAS pipeline in Yakutsk, the capital city of Russia's Sakha (Yakutia) Republic.

At a start-of-construction ceremony at the Us-Khatyn field in the outskirt of Yakutsk, Zhang and Putin were joined by people from both countries as live video signals from the Chayandin gas field some 1,000 km away was displayed on huge screens.

The Chayandin and Kovyktin gas fields in eastern Siberia will become major sources of supply when the pipeline begins to pump NATURAL GAS to China in 2018.

The start of construction of the Russian part of the China-Russia East Route natural gas pipeline signifies a major step forward in implementing the consensus reached between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Putin.

During their meeting in Shanghai in May this year, the presidents witnessed THE SIGNINGof a number of land-breaking contracts between companies of the two countries, including gas supplies and an annual supply of 3 million tons of liquified natural gas.

The Russian part of the joint-venture pipeline, which starts at the Kovyktin and the Chayandin gas fields, will extend through existing pipelines in eastern Siberia and end in the Far East port city of Vladivostok.

The China-Russia East Route NATURAL GAS pipeline will be jointly built by China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and Gazprom of Russia, with the latter responsible for building the part within Russian borders.

The Russian part of the pipeline, officially named "the Power of Siberia" pipeline, has a designed capacity of transmitting 61 billion cubic meters of NATURAL GAS every year.

According to a CNPC-Gazprom contract, the Russian side will export 38 billion cubic meters of gas to China through the pipeline every year for a 30-year period starting from 2018.

Fast growing energy cooperation has become a core ingredient of China-Russia comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership and has helped advance it into a new era of development. In addition to the East Route gas pipeline, the two countries are in negotiations on the construction of the West Route gas pipeline.

Under the CNPC-Gazprom agreement, the Russian side will export 70 billion cubic meters ofNATURAL GAS to China every year upon completion of both the East- and West-Route gas pipelines.

The two sides have also jointly built and put into operation a China-Russia OIL PIPELINEin the Far East. In 2013, China imported 24.35 million tons of crude oil, 27.28 million tons of coal and 3.5 billion kwh of power from Russia.

Russian Deputy Prime MINISTER Arkady Dvorkovich said earlier this year that Russia has the capacity of tripling or quadrupling the current volume of electricity and coal exports to China.

The CNPC and Russia's oil giant Rosneft will build a joint-venture oil refinery in Tianjin in north China, which will be able to process 16 million tons of crude oil every year.

In the field of nuclear energy, the China-Russia joint venture Tianwan nuclear POWER PLANT in east China already has two reactors put into trial operation, and the other two are under construction.

Xi and Putin have agreed to "establish a comprehensive energy cooperation partnership" during their meeting in May, Gazprom Chairman of the Board of Directors Alexey Miller said Saturday.

"We are making all-out effort to implement the consensus reached between President Putin and President Xi Jinping," Miller said.

20140910 BBC_Pakistan floods: Thousands flee after dyke breached

Some 700,000 Pakistanis have been told to leave their homes

Continue reading the main story

Related Stories

• 24 dead in Pakistan mosque collapse
• Kashmir flood relief operation a major challenge
• Vllagers praying for floods to ease

Pakistani authorities have breached a strategic dyke in flood-affected Punjab to ease pressure on flood defences downstream and protect urban areas.

More than 700,000 villagers have been forced to flee their homes.

Much of the water is reaching Pakistan from Indian-administered Kashmir where flood levels are now falling.

There have been chaotic scenes at one of the region's main airports, Srinagar, as tourists and migrant workers struggle to leave.

The death toll in the two countries has passed 450, with troops deployed to rescue people and provide assistance.

Jump media player

Media player help

Out of media player. Press enter to return or tab to continue.

Crowds of people displaced by the floods are protesting at the lack of help from authorities, as Andrew North reports

The flooding is the worst Indian-administered Kashmir has seen in decades. Officials say 400,000 people are stranded there and at least 200 people have died.

Pakistan has not experienced floods as devastating since 2010 - officials say 254 people have died in the past few days.

The BBC's Andrew North, near Jhang in Pakistan's Punjab province, says the authorities are struggling to cope with the still growing flood around the city, with thousands more displaced.

At the scene: Andrew North, BBC News, Jhang

Parts of Jhang are now flooded as well as the surrounding area. Many people are taking refuge on dykes with their belongings piled around and their livestock tethered nearby.

Some used tractors to escape the rising waters, carrying rope beds, blankets and feed for the animals. They have now improvised shelters on the dykes.

Rescue teams are still going out on boats to find stranded people. But the relief effort is patchy. Teams of volunteers - some from Islamic groups - have been distributing food, water and medicines, but there's only limited co-ordination and many displaced people say they have not yet received any help.

Some of the new flooding has been caused by authorities breaching dykes to relieve the pressure - that means more villages being inundated.

On Wednesday, emergency teams blew up a dyke on the west bank of the Chenab river upstream from a major dam at Trimmu, in order to prevent flood waters from bursting through. Officials said 200 villages in the area had been flooded as a result.

Floods caused by monsoon rains are an annual event in South Asia and a series of dams on major rivers are aimed at protecting urban areas in particular from being hit by floods. One of Pakistan's largest cities Multan is downstream from Trimmu dam.

Punjab has been taking the brunt of the rain and flooding in Pakistan in recent days. At least 24 people were killed and seven others injured when the roof of a mosque collapsed on Tuesday after days of heavy rain in the city of Lahore, officials said.

Officials say 400,000 people are stranded in Indian-administered Kashmir

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said the floods were a "sad moment" for the country.

"No-one knew that such a large flood was coming," he told flood victims in Hafiz district on Tuesday.

Across the border, in Indian-administered Kashmir, thousands of stranded people have taken shelter on rooftops of their homes.

Although heavy rains have eased in the Kashmir valley, water levels in Dal Lake in Srinagar are reported to be rising and inundating neighbouring areas.

Using helicopters, boats and naval commandos, troops say they have retrieved more than 76,500 people in flood-affected areas of Kashmir.

Officials said a shortage of rescue boats and lack of telecommunication links - which went down on Monday - were affecting rescue operations.

Many areas of Srinagar city are still under water

At the scene: Amber Rahim Shamsi, BBC News, Sialkot

Sialkot, which borders India, was one of the first districts of Pakistani Punjab to be hit by the flood. Many people here say that the district is cursed.

Shelling along the line of control from Indian security forces had been causing a great deal of insecurity in the border villages. Now, water released in the canals from Indian Punjab has inundated thousands of acres of prime agricultural land.

Thirty-two people have died here, but after nearly a week of record-breaking rainfall and flooding, the water is receding from the larger towns.

However, rescue operations are still continuing in two small villages in the district, which are as yet inaccessible. Meanwhile farmers here in the "rice triangle" of Pakistan are asking officials to pump water out of paddies.

Harvesting is due to start soon and many are concerned that if the water does not recede, it will push crop prices up.

20140911 BBC_Amazon rainforest destruction in Brazil rises again

The rate of deforestation increased by 29% in the year to July 2013

Continue reading the main story

Related Stories

• Brazil tribe tackles illegal loggers
• Brazil pursues Amazon 'destroyers'
• Amazon destruction up by 28% in year

The rate of destruction of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil has increased for a second year running.

Brazilian government figures show deforestation was up by 29% in the 12 months up to the end of July 2013.

Satellite data showed that almost 6,000 sq km (2,315 sq miles) of forest were cleared during that period.

The largest increases in deforestation were seen in the states of Para and Mato Grosso, where most of Brazil's agricultural expansion is taking place.

More than 1,000 sq km (390 sq miles) have been cleared in each state.

Agricultural expansion was the biggest cause of deforestation in the states on Para and Mato Grosso

Last year, the Brazilian authorities said there had been a 28% rise in deforestation.

That reversed several years of decline.

The worst year since the Brazilian government began tracking deforestation was 2004, when almost 30,000 sq km (11,580 sq miles) of forest were lost.

Besides agricultural expansion, the rebound in deforestation is due to illegal logging and the invasion of public lands adjacent to big infrastructure projects in the Amazon, such as roads and hydroelectric dams.

20140907 SingTao_化工廠亂排污 內蒙驚見黑沙漠

(綜合報道)(星島日報報道)中國第四大沙漠——騰格里沙漠腹地，近年建起多個工業園區，園內化工廠將大量未經處理的有毒污水，直接排進沙漠坑窪地，形成一個個巨大的污水坑。還有企業建造大型排污池，以日曬蒸發等「自然」方式處理污水，導致沙漠湖泊、地下水源、空氣都受到嚴重污染，有牧民的飲用水源致癌物質苯酚超標四百多倍。

　　內蒙古阿拉善左旗與寧夏中市交界的騰格里沙漠腹地，分布四百多個原始生態湖泊，地下水資源豐富，地表有諸多國家級重點保護植物，是當地牧民的主要集居地。

　　《新京報》報道，近年來，這裏建起內蒙古騰格里工業園、寧夏中工業園區，引入大量化工企業，僅騰格里園區就有三十多家，大都是從東部西移過來的污染企業，但在當地政府眼裏卻是「創造沙漠工業奇的功臣」。

　　當地居民說，這些企業將未經處理的污水，包括強酸水等，源源不斷地排入沙漠，導致環境迅速惡化。

　　在離騰格里工業園約二公里處，有一個污水排放點，四個足球場大小的長方形排污池，並排在沙漠中，池周邊用混凝土砌成，圍有鐵絲欄，有排污管道通向工業園。

　　在現場看到，兩個排污池注滿墨汁般的污水，另兩個排污池是暗紅色的泥漿，排污池上空飄浮白色的煙霧，遠遠就能聞到令人作嘔的惡臭味。

　　有知情人士說：「這些排污池實際是蒸發池，工業廢水排入後，經過自然蒸發、地下滲透，沉澱下來的黏稠狀沉澱物，就用鏟車鏟出，直接埋在沙漠裏。」據稱，這種污水處理池，是得到內蒙古自治區批准建造的。

　　沙漠中不時還可以看到比足球場更大的巨型污水坑，散發刺鼻氣味，有推土機不斷地將沙子推進坑中，試圖掩埋污水。有牧民稱，這裏原本是低窪地帶，企業排來污水後就變成水坑。

　　在附近修路的工人說：「附近有多處這樣的排污坑，臭氣熏天，多呆一會兒就頭疼，眼睛、喉嚨都受不了。」

　　有環保人員在污水坑中取水樣後化驗，發現多項指標嚴重超標：生化耗氧量超標二百二十多倍、氨氮超標三十六倍、磷酸鹽超標二十二倍……距工業園約兩公里的牧民飲用水源，化驗結果驚人：致癌物質苯酚超國家標準四百一十倍！

20140902 China Daily_China's Mogao Grottoes protected from sand erosion

[Photo/Xinhua]

The renowned Mogao Grottoes, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Northwest China's Gansu province, have been protected from sand erosion and encroaching desert following 70 years of continuous effort, the site's administration said on Monday.

China sets up fund to protect Great Wall

Young inheritor passes down traditional artistry

Wang Wanfu, deputy director of the Relics Preservation Research Institute under the Dunhuang Academy, which administers the site, said that a combined system consisting of barriers, sand and plant belts, patches of grass and gravel have been installed to ward off erosion.

The accumulated sand in the grottoes today has been reduced by more than 85 percent from the amount reported in the 1980s, according to Wang.

Damage to murals and colored sculptures in the grottoes has been minimized and the environment around the grottoes has been improved due to sand control projects, he said.

Since the 1940s, various measures to stop drifting sand have been taken in the Mogao Grottoes. In the late 1980s, the Dunhuang Academy started cooperating with international protection and research institutes to protect the grottoes. A project launched in 2008 has also strengthened the sand control system around the grottoes.

The Mogao Grottoes have gained global recognition for their huge collection of Buddhist artwork, boasting more than 2,000 colored sculptures and 45,000 square meters of frescoes in 735 caves carved along a cliff. It became China's first UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.