The leaders of Russia, Turkey, and China have cast off quasi democratic checks and balances, but the more autocratic their rule, the more they have to lose, writes Nina L Khrushcheva

China’s parliament said it will tightly control the nomination of candidates for a landmark election in Hong Kong in 2017, a move likely to trigger mass protests in the city’s Central business district by disappointed democracy activists.

FOR more than a decade, a relentless campaign by China to steal valuable, confidential information from US corporations flourished with barely a peep from Washington. And now it might never be stopped.

The US, China and Iran are firing the first shots in a new type of warfare being fought from the keyboard instead of the battlefield, writes John Hearne

China has denied fresh US claims it is sponsoring cyber-attacks and said the countries should cooperate against the global threat of computer crime.

It began as a coffee table book — ex-Vogue editor Carine Roitfeld took photos of models, actors, and musicians, all wearing Chanel's classic coat. Now, the Little Black Jacket is a major exhibition, opening in London next month.

The state banquet in his honour was more than lavish, but still Enda craved the Chinese takeaway of his dreams.

The man destined to be China’s next leader won an extraordinary welcome across Washington in a finely scripted opening to one of the world’s most important relationships.

THIS gripping book about history’s most famous maritime disaster focuses mainly on the ship’s passengers and officers, and less on the tragedy.

Police in north-east China have shot and killed three soldiers who fled their barracks with an assault rifle and hundreds of rounds of ammunition, according to reports.

GOOGLE has become a “political tool” vilifying the Chinese government, an official Beijing newspaper said yesterday, warning that the US internet giant’s statements about hacking attacks traced to China could hurt its business.

A US aircraft carrier group set off for Korean waters yesterday, a day after North Korea rained artillery shells on a South Korean island, in a move likely to enrage Pyongyang and unsettle its ally, China.

CHINA celebrated its wealth and rising might with a show of goose-stepping troops, gaudy floats and nuclear-capable missiles in Beijing yesterday, 60 years after Mao Zedong proclaimed its embrace of communism.

The only grandson of China’s revolutionary leader Chairman Mao has been made the youngest general in the People’s Liberation Army at the age of 39.

China ordered 101 more helicopters into the air today and planned aid drops into remote areas of Sichuan province as it struggled to cope with the powerful earthquake that has directly affected 10 million people.

People trying to travel home for the Chinese new year after the worst winter storms in half a century crippled the country’s transport system were given hope today.

CHINA has contingency plans to dispatch troops into North Korea and secure nuclear weapons in the event of instability in the hardline communist state, according to US experts who have talked to Chinese military researchers.

Chinese rescuers searching the rubble of a collapsed bridge for dozens of missing people recovered seven bodies today, bringing the death toll to 36, as the government warned builders nationwide to learn from the disaster.

CHINESE mobile phone users can now download film clips of the Korean War and stirring military anthems to celebrate the founding of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).

The United States has some concerns about a rising China, including a military expansion that may be excessive, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said today.

A Chinese farmer who received a partial face transplant after he was badly disfigured in a bear attack has been discharged from hospital.

China today condemned an Israeli attack in Lebanon that killed one Chinese UN observer and called for new Middle East peace efforts.

Premier Wen Jiabao opened the annual session of China’s figurehead parliament today with promises of massive new social spending to placate the poor, restive countryside and said the sizzling economy will slow this year but should still grow by 8%.

The city: Shanghai. The venue: A People’s Liberation Army acrobatics theatre.

China’s parliament enacted a law today authorising force to stop rival Taiwan from pursuing formal independence, prompting anger on the self-governing island and warnings from Japan of a rise in regional tensions.

The European Union today told China it will maintain its 15-year-old embargo on arms sales until Beijing makes significant improvements in its human rights record.

CHINA’s military yesterday staged its first parade in Hong Kong with 3,000 soldiers marching crisply in formation as others rode in armoured vehicles and helicopters, as part of Beijing’s efforts to boost patriotism and soothe lingering political tensions.

At least 11 people died and 18 were injured in violent clashes as Indians started voting today in parliament elections expected to return Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s governing coalition to power for another five years.

China announced today an 11.6% increase in military spending for 2004, a bigger increase than last year in an age when the People’s Liberation Army is racing to make itself competitive and adapt to a hi-tech world.

With its astronaut back home and healthy, the orbital capsule that made China’s first manned space mission a success began its own physical examination today – an exhaustive, part-by-part check-up to determine if everything worked according to plan.

China launched its first manned space mission today, sending an astronaut hurtling into orbit and becoming the third country in Earth’s history to do so - four decades after the Soviet Union and the US.

Vice President Hu Jintao was appointed as leader of China’s Communist Party today, handing him the country’s most powerful position and making him a certain bet to replace Jiang Zemin as president next year.

Chinese police have detained a pair of dissident intellectuals ahead of this week’s anniversary of the 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, a human rights monitoring group said today.

As US technicians prepared to inspect a grounded Navy spy plane, an American military spokesman said today that Washington still hopes to fly home the aircraft damaged in a collision with a Chinese fighter jet.