The news agency run by China's ruling Communist Party launched a global English-language television channel today as part of efforts to expand its influence abroad.

China’s biggest national news agency today announced plans to launch its global, English-language television news network as part of efforts to expand the communist government’s media influence abroad.

PRESSURE mounted on the President last night not to sign a sweeping new crime crackdown into law after senators attacked the way it was being rushed through the Seanad.

China launched a major crackdown on internet pornography today, targeting popular search engines such as Google.

China is gearing up to become the latest country to ban free plastic bags in a government-led campaign to change people’s shopping habits, cut down waste and help the environment.

China struggled to keep roads open to provide a lifeline for quake survivors today while the government warned that rebuilding after the disaster would be “arduous”.

Rescuers rushed to reach 24 coal miners trapped underground by China’s earthquake almost two weeks ago, officials said today as the government sharply raised the death toll and warned it could exceed 80,000.

The Tibetan government-in-exile has asked for a temporary stop to protests against China as the country grapples with the aftermath of an earthquake that has killed 40,000 and left millions more homeless.

A woman who survived by drinking rainwater was rescued alive today after being trapped in the rubble of China’s earthquake for more than 195 hours.

China said it was struggling to find shelter for many of the five million people whose homes were destroyed in last week’s earthquake, while the region remained jittery today over warnings of aftershocks.

Two women were rescued in China today after a week trapped in the rubble of a collapsed building at a coal mine in Sichuan province, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

The Chinese government has said the confirmed death toll from the earthquake has risen to 34,073.

More than 200 relief workers have been buried by a mudslide in earthquake-hit Sichuan province, a Chinese state news agency said today.

Thousands of troops were called in to central China after a massive earthquake rocked the region today bringing fears of a huge death toll.

An investigation has blamed speeding for the train crash in eastern China that killed 70 people, it was reported today.

Chinese shares soared early today after the government cut a tax on stock transactions in a move widely seen as a signal of support for the markets.

China’s government has approved a plan to change the country’s national holiday schedule to cope with overwhelming travel congestion and restore tradition, state media has reported.

Chinese Finance Minister Jin Renqing has resigned for “personal reasons”, the government said today.

CHINA yesterday lashed out against American criticism of its human rights record, saying racial discrimination and crime were still rife in the United States and prisoners were being abused at US-run detention centres abroad.

Coal dust caught fire in a mine in northeast China, sparking an explosion that killed at least 68 people and left 79 missing, the government said today, as the country’s leadership called for tighter work safety measures.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa was named a vice chairman of a high-level Chinese government advisory panel today, apparently confirming his departure as the territory’s leader.

Russian president Vladimir Putin has vowed retribution after an explosion ripped through a stadium in the Chechnya’s capital during a Victory Day parade, killing its president Akhmad Kadyrov.

Chechen President Akhmad Kadyrov was among at least 20 people killed in a bomb blast at a Grozny stadium where he was attending Victory Day observances, officials said.

The official death toll following an explosion in China's north-west Shaanxi province has risen to 47 and officials expect it to rise even further.

Prince Gyanendra took the throne as Nepal’s new king today, hoping to rebuild a monarchy shattered by the massacre of the royal family.

Prince Gyanendra has been named as Nepal's new king, hours after his nephew Prince Dipendra died in hospital.

Nepal's Crown Prince Dipendra has been named king while on life support, and his uncle Prince Gyanendra is acting king.