Pirates have overrun a tanker near India today, capturing the vessel and 31 crew members.

Shops and restaurants atop the Great Wall of China are being given the shove as part of a move to restore the original appearance of the country’s best known historical site, it was reported today.

“Five sliced things” and “pee soup” will be off the menu under a plan to try to standardise the English names of dishes and drinks sold in Beijing restaurants before the 2008 Olympics, a newspaper reported today.

Beijing’s new mayor has been fired after the Chinese capital announced a nearly tenfold increase in cases of the deadly Sars disease, boosting its total from 37 to 346.

Accidents in Chinese mines killed 503 miners in six weeks, leading the government to order better safety and tell state-run mines to close down small pits, state media reported today.