tblazko@gmail.com

Oxford researchers warn that computational propaganda is a powerful tool against democracy.

China has raised its rate for a day in the life of one of its citizens, to 258.9 yuan (US$38) per day, according to a notice on the website of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate. Anyone who is wrongfully detained but later found to be innocent can ask for financial compensation from the government according to the new benchmark, which is based on the average wage in China. The figure for last year was 242.3 yuan per day. The new standard came into effect on Wednesday. Under it,...

Už je to dosť dávno čo by som si naozaj sadol pri rádio, naladil svoju obľúbenú stanicu a vypočul si zhruba dvojhodinovú reláciu.Nejako sa vytratilo to čaro čo nám rádio ponúkalo

It was a £250m project to strengthen China’s bond with its isolated neighbour. But two years on from its expected completion, the bridge joining Dandong and Sinuiju remains unfinished: an emblem of an uneasy alliance gone sour

From Dandong, the largest Chinese city on the border with North Korea, it’s just a short hop to the Hermit Kingdom – or rather, a short swim. In summer, bronzed Chinese bathers wade into the Yalu River and paddle 400 metres to the opposite bank, where armed North Korean soldiers watch from turquoise guard towers over women washing clothes along the muddy bank. The North Koreans don’t dare swim.

“There are North Korean soldiers hiding in the long grass,” says one elderly Chinese woman swimming by the bank. “They will catch you and charge a ransom if you get too close.”

Related: The Pyonghattan project: how North Korea's capital is transforming into a 'socialist fairyland'

Continue reading...