North Korea readies longer range rocket, risks remain
CHOLSAN, North Korea/SEOUL (Reuters) – North Korea has readied a rocket for a launch from a forested valley in its remote northwest this week that will showcase the reclusive state’s ability to fire a missile with the capacity to hit the continental United States.
Pyongyang says the rocket, to be launched this week, will only carry a weather satellite, but South Korea and the United States say it is a test of a ballistic missile. And although the risk of it veering off course is low, guidance remains its weakest point.
That’s not a salad, it’s a symphony
BEIJING (Reuters) – Vendors at the local market in Beijing could be forgiven for thinking that Nan Weidong and Nan Weiping run a restaurant. But the bags stuffed full of vegetables the brothers lug back home are used for a very different purpose — musical instruments.
The two grew up surrounded by vegetables in China’s central Anhui province, but their music teacher father encouraged them to learn conventional instruments from a young age. As teenagers, they joined a local theatrical troupe.
Select group answer call for China female bodyguards
BEIJING (Reuters) – Punching, kicking and having bottles smashed on her head are standard daily fare for Sun Yiyao as she pursues her dream of becoming a bodyguard.
The 22-year-old is one of a small, select group of Chinese women training to become protectors for wealthy businesswomen and their families as demand grows steadily in the face of a widening wealth gap, which makes safety a prime concern for some of China’s richest citizens.
Pampered pandas flown into Scotland
EDINBURGH (Reuters) – A pair of pampered giant pandas arrived in Scotland Sunday to a reception of cheering and flag-waving crowds while British officials said the 10-year loan of the bears by China strengthened ties between the two countries.
Tian Tian and Yang Guang — whose names in English are Sweetie and Sunshine — arrived at Edinburgh airport after flying in from Chengdu, Sichuan province, and were later greeted at Edinburgh zoo by around 450 people waving Chinese and Scottish flags.
Infrequent flyer pandas take the high road to Scotland
CHENGDU, China (Reuters) – A pair of pampered giant pandas took off from China for Scotland on Sunday, with cabin crew on hand to calm their nerves and cater to their every need.
Tian Tian and Yang Guang – whose names in English are Sweetie and Sunshine – were lifted gently on board a plane in custom-built containers at Chengdu airport in China’s southwestern Sichuan province.
How to Make an Ice Sculpture
Reuters Television recently visited the ice sculpture competition at the International Ice and Snow Festival in Harbin, capital of China’s frozen Heilongjiang province.
If you would like to make your own ice sculpture, please follow the simple instructions in the video below.
The Price of Coal
What drives a miner to work in one of China’s notoriously dangerous pits, where 3,000 people were killed in 2008 alone?”We all know mining is dangerous, but what can we do?” Li Liangcang, a farmer form eastern China, asked me in his tiny rented miner’s house in the country’s frozen north. “I’m not young any more – 37 or 38 – and it’s too late to learn a skill. It’s not a question of choice. you have a family that depends on you. If you don’t do this job, what else can you do?”For his 56-year-old friend Zhu Xiuli, it’s a similar story.But then what would their families do without them? To see a Reuters report on the relatives of men killed in a recent blast at the nearby Xinxing mine click herePhoto credit: Jason Lee
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