Rural Daily

4 Tibetan teens detained for resisting going to Chinese schools

9Oct

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4 Tibetan teens detained for resisting going to Chinese schools

Tibetan students learn Tibetan writing in a first-grade class at the Shangri-La Key Boarding School during a media-organized tour, in Dabpa county, Kardze Prefecture, southwestern China's Sichuan province, Sept. 5, 2023. Chinese authorities detained four Tibetan teens from a shuttered Buddhist monastery school after they resisted being sent to schools run by the Chinese government, two residents living in Tibet told Radio Free Asia. The students, aged 15-18, had been attending the school of the Lhamo Kirti Monastery in Dzoge County in Sichuan province, where instruction was in Tibetan and subjects included Buddhist teachings. But in July, the school was closed because Chinese officials said students under 18 had not attained the age at which they could receive monastic education. ...

Europe braces for Chinese retaliation over EV import tariffs

8Oct

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Business & Economy, World

Europe braces for Chinese retaliation over EV import tariffs

London — The European Union is bracing for retaliation from China after the bloc voted last week to impose tariffs on the import of Chinese electric vehicles, or EVs, amid speculation that Beijing could seek to target individual European countries that voted for the measures. The EU is divided on the issue, with 10 member states in favor in Friday’s vote, five countries voting against the measures and 12 abstaining. After the vote, China's Commerce Ministry said it opposed the planned tariffs, calling them "unfair, non-compliant and unreasonable." Cognac France is among the countries that pushed for the EU to adopt the tariffs. Makers of French cognac, a type of brandy, fear that Beijing will now seek to target their product, after China launched an anti-dumping probe earlier t...

8Oct

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Former Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen heads to Europe this week

FILE - In this photo released by the Taiwan Presidential Office, Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen waves as she departs Taiwan, Sept. 5, 2023. Taipei, Taiwan — Taiwan’s former president Tsai Ing-wen kicks off an eight-day trip to the Czech Republic and two other European countries on October 12 – her first international tour since leaving office in May. While China is likely to voice its opposition to the trip, analysts say it highlights the close ties that Taipei has forged with European countries in recent years. China says democratically ruled Taiwan is part of its territory and opposes any formal contacts between Taiwan officials and other nations. In a statement released Monday, Taiwan’s presidential office said current President Lai Ching-te has delegated the National Securi...

8Oct

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Asia-pacific

Vietnam releases activist suffering advanced stage cancer

Activist Nguyen Thuy Hanh (2nd from R) is greeted by friends in Hanoi on her release from detention on Oct. 7, 2024. Vietnamese authorities have released political prisoner Nguyen Thuy Hanh, who has been detained since April 2021 on charges of “anti-state propaganda,” her husband told Radio Free Asia on Monday. Huynh Ngoc Chenh said his wife was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison at a secret trial on July 31, 2024. Hanh, 61, spent the first year of her detention in a Hanoi prison, before being moved to a mental institution in the capital in 2022 to be treated for depression. In January this year, her husband said Hanh had been diagnosed with advanced stage cancer. More than 200 people signed a petition calling for her immediate release but, following treatment at Vietn...

8Oct

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North Korean farmers risk penalties if too many potatoes left in the ground

This undated picture released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on April 4, 2019 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, second from left, inspecting a potato factory in Samjiyon County. North Korean farm managers who are not carefully harvesting their potato crops – leaving some behind – are getting in trouble with authorities, residents with links to the agricultural sector told Radio Free Asia. Inspectors recently swooped down on several collective farms in the northern potato-growing region of Ryanggang province to check the fields. “The inspectors drove around in cars and dug up every nook and cranny of the potato fields on the farm,” a resident who works in agriculture said on condition of anonymity for security reasons. “If the inspectors conclude tha...

1Dec

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World

EFF calls for ‘unethical’ Gordhan’s removal over SARS rogue unit

Minister of Public Enterprises, Pravin Gordhan. Photo: Flickr The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) have reiterated their call for President Cyril Ramaphosa to fire Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan, this time citing his admission of the so-called SARS rogue unit’s existence. Gordhan was cross examined by advocate Dali Mpofu, on behalf of his client former South African Revenue Service (SARS) Commissioner Tom Moyane on Monday, 30 November 2020. Moyane and Gordhan have not enjoyed a rosy working relationship – with the former SARS Commissioner accusing the former finance minister of being racist and arrogant. Moyane also took issue with the early retirement payout of former SARS Deputy Commissioner Ivan Pillay and accused him of establishing the ‘rogue unit’. “The unit did exi...

1Dec

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Asia-pacific

South Africa: Today’s latest news and headlines, Tuesday 1 December

PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA JUNE 29: Suspended SARS Commissioner Tom Moyane is flanked by his legal team, advocate Dali Mpofu and Eric Mabuza during a break in the proceedings of the Nugent commission of inquiry on tax government and administration on June 29, 2018 in Pretoria, South Africa. Moyanes lawyer, advocate Dali Mpofu said an inquiry into the operation of the agency should be halted pending a disciplinary hearing against his client Moyane. (Photo by Gallo Images / Sunday Times / Masi Losi) There were snide comments and accusations floating thick in the air at the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture on Monday 30 November. However sanitized the podium was, the tension was still palpable among the legal trash talk. Dali Mpofu, representing former South African Revenue Service...

1Dec

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World

Senekal: Brendin Horner murder accused back in the dock

Brendin Horner Image source via Facebook: Brendin Horner The two men who have been charged with the brutal murder of 21-year old farm manager, Brendin Horner on a farm outside the sleepy town of Senekal, quietly return to the dock today Tuesday 1 December. The 32-year old Sekwetje Mahlamba and 44-year old Sekola Matlaletsa are alleged to have stabbed and strangled Horner to death in early October, in what the state believes is a stock theft incident gone wrong. HORNER MURDER ACCUSED REARRESTED WHILE OUT ON BAIL While it has been widely reported that Matlaletsa was released out on R 5000 bail on 22 October, Free State Police Commissioner, Baile Motswenyane, revealed in her address at the Ministerial Rural Safety Imbizo in Bethlehem in mid-November, that Matlaletsa was in fact back in c...

30Nov

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Asia-pacific

On This Day: What happened on 30 November?

2004 | Patricia de Lille takes the stand at the Durban High Court to testify against Schabir Shaik, a Durban businessman who was charged with fraud and corruption charges. (Ziyaad Douglas / Gallo) Here’s a look at what happened on this day, 30 November, throughout history. We remember the news, events, and people that influenced the course of history forever. ON THIS DAY: 30 NOVEMBER 1954 | D.F Malan retired as Prime Minister of South Africa and was succeeded by J.G Strydom. 1981 | Bulelani Ngcuka is arrested and jailed for refusing to testify in the political trial of Patrick Maqubele. 1993 | The South African government signs the Investment Incentive Agreement with the United States of America. 2004 | Patricia de Lille takes the stand at the Durban High Court to testify again...

30Nov

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Asia-pacific

Weather forecast, alerts and UVB index for all South African provinces, 30 November 2020

Weather data provided by the South African Weather Service. For a detailed forecast of your province, click here. SEVERE WEATHER ALERTS IMPACT-BASED WARNINGS: Nil. FIRE DANGER WARNINGS: EXTREMELY HIGH FIRE DANGER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED OVER THE BEAUFORT WEST IN THE WESTERN CAPE AND KHAI-MA MUNICIPALITIES IN THE NORTHERN CAPE. ADVISORIES: Nil. GAUTENG: Temperature: Cloudy to partly cloudy and warm with scattered late afternoon showers and thundershowers. The expected UVB Sunburn Index: High. MPUMALANGA: Temperature: Morning fog and drizzle along the escarpment were it will be cool, otherwise partly cloudy and warm with isolated showers and thundershowers but scattered over the Highveld. LIMPOPO: Temperature: Partly cloudy and cool to warm with isolated showers and thunder...