Taiwan’s President Allows Dalai Lama Visit

If you’re in a mess, say yes. That may be what Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou was thinking when he gave his official nod to the controversial visit of the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s leader-in-exile, to Taiwan next week. Ma has been facing his lowest approval ratings — around 20% — since he took office more than a year ago

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China to close smelting plants in lead-poisoning cases

China is shutting down a pair of smelting plants suspected of sickening several thousand children with lead poisoning, according to state-run media. At least 851 children living near a plant in northwestern China’s Shaanxi province were found to have excessive lead levels in their blood, according to the Xinhua news agency.

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One million flee as deadly storm slams into China

A deadly typhoon that slammed into China’s coastal provinces and Taiwan over the weekend has displaced nearly one million people and left dozens missing, state-run media reported Monday. High winds and torrential rain from Typhoon Morakot hit coastal provinces Fujian and Zhejian hardest, and caused the worst flooding in decades in Taiwan — where flood waters as high as seven feet were reported, China Daily said

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Inmates in chopper jail break on crime spree

Three men who escaped from prison in Belgium in a daring helicopter escape committed a string of robberies on Saturday, a police spokesman said. The escapees, who include a man considered to be one of the country’s most dangerous criminals, robbed a bank, a gas station and two storage facilities, said the Bruges police spokesman Sunday.

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Yemeni judge sentences al Qaeda members to death

A judge in Yemen sentenced six al Qaeda terrorists to death and sent 10 others to prison for up to 15 years, the state-run Saba news agency reported. The ring, known as the Tarim cell, belonged to the Yemen wing of the al Qaeda terrorist organization, the agency said. The group, which included four Syrians and a Saudi, had been convicted of bombing oil and military facilities and foreign diplomatic missions, including the U.S.

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Report: Urumqi bans illegal public assembly

A city in China’s far west that witnessed deadly protests last weekend has banned public assembly without police approval, state media reported. “Assemblies, marches and demonstrations on public roads and at public places in the open air are not allowed without the permission by police,” read a notice by the Public Security Bureau of Urumqi, the Xinhua news agency reported. Violent demonstrations in Urumqi on July 5 claimed at least 184 lives

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