China

BEIJING (AP) — An earthquake collapsed homes, killed at least two people and injured dozens Thursday in southwest China’s Sichuan province, state media reported.

Rescue work was underway following the magnitude-6.0 earthquake.

It struck at 4:33 a.m. in Luxian county at a depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles), the official Xinhua News Agency said. State broadcaster CCTV said that 60 people were injured, three seriously, and 35 houses had collapsed.

The epicenter was about 200 kilometers (120 miles) southeast of Chengdu, the provincial capital.

HONG KONG, Sept 15 (Reuters) - Hong Kong's security chief called on Wednesday for the city's main press association to disclose to the public who its members work for and how many of them are students, a day after he accused the group of infiltrating schools.

The comments by Secretary for Security Chris Tang are likely to deepen concern over a crackdown on civil society in the Asian financial hub after Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law on the former British colony last year.

Beijing, Sep 15 (AP-PTI) China tightened lockdowns and increased orders for mass testing in cities along its east coast Wednesday amid the latest surge in COVID-19 cases.

Checks have been set up in toll stations around the city of Putian in Fujian province, with a dozen of them closed entirely.

The nearby cities of Xiamen and Quanzhou have also restricted travel as the delta variant spreads through the region.

BEIJING (AP) — China tightened lockdowns and increased orders for mass testing in cities along its east coast Wednesday amid the latest surge in COVID-19 cases.

Checks have been set up in toll stations around the city of Putian in Fujian province, with a dozen of them closed entirely. The nearby cities of Xiamen and Quanzhou have also restricted travel as the delta variant spreads through the region.

The National Health Commission on Wednesday said an additional 50 cases had been diagnosed in various parts of Fujian, most of them in the Putian region.

HONG KONG (AP) — Nine Hong Kong activists and ex-lawmakers on Wednesday were handed jail sentences of up to 10 months over their roles in last year’s banned Tiananmen Square candlelight vigil, the latest blow in an ongoing crackdown on dissent in the city.

The nine are part of a group of 12 defendants who pleaded guilty earlier this month to participating in the vigil that was the only large-scale public commemoration on Chinese soil of the 1989 crackdown in Beijing on student-led protests. Three others were given suspended sentences.

BEIJING (AP) — Asian stock markets followed Wall Street down on Wednesday after U.S. inflation was lower than expected amid unease about the impact of the spread of the coronavirus’s delta variant.

Shanghai, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Sydney all retreated, giving up the previous day’s gains.

Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 index fell despite data showing consumer prices rose at their slowest rate in seven months in August.

BEIJING, September 14. / TASS /: The leaders of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s (SCO) participating states will decide on expanding the SCO membership at the summit in Dushanbe on September 16-17, Secretary General of the organization Vladimir Norov told TASS on Tuesday.

SHANGHAI, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- Nearly 330,000 people in Shanghai have been evacuated as the city braced for heavy rains and strong winds brought by Typhoon Chanthu, the 14th typhoon of the year.

Chanthu was forecast to linger over sea waters between 100 km and 200 km east of Shanghai from Monday night to Wednesday before weakening and moving northeastward away from the city on Thursday, said the Shanghai meteorological center.

Parts of Shanghai are forecast to receive precipitation of up to 250 mm from Monday night to Wednesday.

HONG KONG, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- The 2021 Election Committee's subsector ordinary elections in China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) will be held on Sept. 19.

As the first practice of improving Hong Kong's electoral system, the elections will lay a solid foundation for the implementation of the principle of "patriots administering Hong Kong" and the central authorities' overall jurisdiction over the HKSAR, and usher in a new future of greater prosperity for Hong Kong that has returned to stability from chaos.

BROAD REPRESENTATION

BEIJING (AP) — Global stock markets were mixed Tuesday as investors waited for an update on U.S. inflation that has been stronger than expected.

London and Shanghai declined while Frankfurt and Tokyo advanced.

Wall Street futures were higher a day after the benchmark S&P 500 index closed higher, snapping a five-day losing streak.

Investors were watching for August inflation data. Headline inflation stands above 5% as consumer and business activity revives.