President Xi Jinping will unveil his grand economic plan for the world on May 14 and 15 at an international summit on his “One Belt, One Road” policy initiative. Attended by 28 heads of state and top officials from more than 60 nations, the event is a coming out party for the Asian giant and will see Xi outline China’s plans to forge a new global economic order by drawing on the millennia-old tradition of the Silk Road trading route.
In truth, the summit is just the latest step in China’s evolution as a global power. The tendrils of Chinese influence have been gradually wrapping themselves around the globe and the once closed-off Asian nation is emerging as a potential superpower. We explore five ways China is changing lives – with its financial clout and its influence on culture, education, travel and the military balance of power.
Part one Investment
Islamabad’s Chinatown
Islamabad, Pakistan -- In a bustling street in Pakistan’s capital the air is thick with the familiar smell of mutton sizzling on charcoal. The plumes of smoke rising into the night sky are illuminated by something once uncommon here -- the blinking red neon of a sign bearing the restaurant’s name in Chinese.'They’ve lost the lot': how the Australian mining boom blew up in property owners' faces
Home repossessions and calls to financial counsellors soared in Western Australia as prices crashed. Does the state’s property downturn serve as a lesson to rest of the nation of what happens when a property bubble bursts?
The calls to financial counsellors began about 18 months ago. Middle-aged, middle-class homeowners in Western Australia who had shifted their retirement nest egg from superannuation to property were suddenly unable to pay their mortgage.
It typically started with an investment property, often in the Pilbara mining towns of Karratha, Port Hedland and Newman. Purchased for $750,000 in 2012, when the market was near its peak, the property was now worth $300,000 and falling. The rental return, which had been $1,600 a week, had fallen to $370. Not enough to cover repayments.
Then came the kicker: the massive mining projects whose construction had fuelled the biggest economic boom WA had ever seen were now completed and required considerably fewer employees. The mining industry shed 46,000 full-time jobs between 2013 and 2015, and those who were able to find new employment were no longer commanding boom-time salaries.
Chechnya gay rights activists arrested on way to deliver petition in Moscow
Police say the activists' actions amount to an unsanctioned protest
Russian police have detained five activists who tried to deliver a petition to prosecutors in Moscow against the treatment of LGBT people in Chechnya.
Hundreds of thousands had signed the petition calling for an official investigation into the alleged torture and killing of gay men in the Russian territory.
Police said they arrested the men because their actions amounted to an unsanctioned protest.
Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta reported last month that authorities in the majority Muslim republic of Chechnya had rounded up over 100 men suspected of being gay and tortured them.Mexican court grants vigilante movement figure freedom during trial
A court has ordered the release of a founder of the Mexican vigilante movement that fought against a powerful drug cartel, after nearly three years in prison awaiting trial, judicial authorities said.
Jose Manuel Mireles, who rose to become the most famous figure of Michoacan's vigilante movement, was granted release on bail by a district court in the western state of Michoacan.
The Federal Judiciary Council said the court had lifted the order for Mireles' preventive detention "so that he can continue his trial in liberty."
It said he can leave prison once he has posted bail equivalent to $1,500 and under condition he not leave the state or contact certain people.
Thailand demands Facebook take down 131 'illicit' pages
Lindsay Murdoch
Thai authorities have given Facebook a four-day deadline to remove web pages it deems violate Thai laws, including royal defamation, in a new challenge to the social network giant publishing politically sensitive material in countries restricting freedom of speech.
Authorities have also ordered Thailand's internet providers to block thousands of web pages and content it considers illegal, despite that the UN Human Rights Council has declared access to the internet to be a human right.
Thailand's National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission says it has identified 131 pages Facebook has failed to remove.
Zika virus: Brazil says emergency is over
Brazil has declared an end to a national emergency over the Zika virus after a sharp decrease in cases.
The number of cases dropped 95% between January and April, compared to the same period a year ago, officials said.
The virus has been linked to the birth of babies with abnormally small heads. The threat was at its peak as Brazil prepared to host the 2016 Olympics.
The World Health Organisation lifted its own international emergency in November last year.
The Zika virus has been linked to severe birth defects in almost 30 countries.
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