Category: BBC

A Chinese man has pleaded guilty in a US district court to exporting around 850 protected turtles wrapped in socks and falsely labelled as toys, the US Department of Justice said. Between August 2023 and November 2024, Wei Qiang Lin exported to Hong Kong more than 200 parcels containing the turtles, according to a Justice Department statement on Monday. The boxes packed with the turtles had been labelled as “containing ‘plastic animal toys’, among other things”, the authorities said. Lin primarily shipped eastern box turtles and three-toed box turtles. Both…

A Chinese warship ploughed into its own coast guard vessel on Monday while the latter was chasing a Philippine vessel in the South China Sea, Manila said. Philippine coast guard officials were distributing aid to fishermen in the disputed Scarborough Shoal, Commodore Jay Tarriela said, when the Chinese coast guard “performed a risky manoeuvre” which inflicted “substantial damage” on the Chinese warship’s forward deck. China confirmed that a confrontation took place and accused the Philippines of “forcibly intruding” into Chinese waters, but did not mention the collision. The South China…

A school bullying incident in southern China has sparked a series of protests and calls for more justice for the 14-year-old victim. A video of the girl being slapped, kicked and forced to kneel by three other minors went viral in the Jiangyou city in Sichuan province last week. The police said the three suspects are all female, aged 13, 14 and 15 – and two of them had been sent to “specialised schools for corrective education”. As news of the incident spread on social media, many felt the punishment…

Flooding killed 31 residents at a care home for elderly people on the outskirts of Beijing this week, local officials have said. Footage showed emergency teams wading through chest-high water trying to rescue those trapped in the home in the Miyun District. Many of those who died were reportedly immobile. Local officials have admitted there were “loopholes in emergency planning” and said the incident was a painful lesson that served as “a wake-up call”. A total of 44 people have died in the Beijing floods, which have come during a…

At least 30 people have died in Beijing as northern China experiences days of heavy rain and flooding. The BBC’s Stephen McDonell is in Miyun, northeast of Beijing, where authorities have mobilised the People’s Armed Police to assist in the mountain areas affected by the severe weather. China’s leader Xi Jinping has called for an “all-out” search and rescue for those missing in the floods, as almost 80,000 people have been relocated from across China’s capital. BBC

At least 30 people have died in Beijing and more than 80,000 were evacuated to safety, Chinese authorities said, as heavy rains and floods ravage roads and houses in northern China. Eight other people died after a landslide on Monday in Chengde city, about three hours northeast of Beijing. China is dealing with a summer of extreme weather. Record heatwaves hit the country’s eastern region earlier this month while floods swept the country’s southwest. Against the backdrop of the massive floods in northern China, President Xi Jinping has called for…

Parents in China are being offered 3,600 yuan (£375; $500) a year for each of their children under the age of three in the government’s first nationwide subsidy aimed at boosting birth rates. The country’s birth rate has been falling even since the ruling Communist Party abolished its controversial one-child policy almost a decade ago. The handouts will help around 20 million families with the cost of raising children, according to state media. Several provinces across China have piloted some form of pay outs to encourage people to have more…

At least 30 people have been killed in floods that have inundated large parts of northeastern China. More than 80,000 people have been relocated from their homes after more than 543.4mm (21.4 inches) of rain fell in areas around Beijing over recent days. Chinese leader Xi Jinping has ordered an “all-out” search and rescue effort to minimise casualties. Video by James Chater. Follow live coverage of the China floods here. BBC

Shi Yongxin, the abbot of the world-renowned Shaolin Temple, is being investigated by multiple agencies for embezzlement, “improper relationships with multiple women” and “fathering illegitimate children”, the temple said on Sunday. The 1,500-year-old Shaolin Temple, located in a mountain range in central China’s Henan province, attracts thousands of disciples every year – some from across the world. Mr Shi, who has been Shaolin Temple’s abbot since 1999, has earned the nickname “CEO monk” for transforming the institution into a global brand. He has been stripped of his ordination certificate amid…

The US and China are due to start a fresh round of talks on Monday as expectations grow that the world’s two biggest economies could agree a 90-day extension to their trade war truce. The meetings in Sweden – led on Washington’s side by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and for Beijing by Vice Premier He Lifeng – come hours after US President Donald Trump announced a framework tariffs deal with the European Union. The current 90-day truce between the US and China – which saw the two countries temporarily lowering…