介绍:
2 killed, 6 injured as scaffolding collapses in southwest China
Two people have been killed and another six injured in a scaffolding collapse at a school facility in southwest China's Yunnan Province this afternoon.
Rescuers had pulled out eight people, with two already confirmed dead.
Firefighters are searching for five people that are still trapped.
China launches first equity options, investors bet stock prices to rise
China has launched its first stock options on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, offering investors a new hedging tool for trading index heavyweights, which regulators long have hoped to boost.
The options are based on the exchange-trade fund that tracks the SSE50 index, composed of the 50 most heavily weighted stocks on the bourse.
Components in the index have average price-to-earnings ratios of 10 times, compared with 17 times for the broader market.
Options will allow investors to hedge their investments but may also expose speculators to heavy losses.
The premium is the price of option contracts, or the money that investors pay to own option rights.
Analysts forecast the product will have a slow start due to regulatory restrictions to curb risk, although they believe it will benefit Chinese equity markets in the long run.
Helmand Police Chief: Drone kills Afghan IS Deputy Chief
A former Taliban commander, who recently swore allegiance to Islamic State, has been killed in southern Afghanistan's Helmand province.
Mullah Abdul Rauf reportedly had fallen out with the leader of the Taliban and adopted the black flags of IS before being appointed deputy head of IS in Afghanistan.
The provincial police chief of Helmand says Rauf was killed in a drone strike with five other militants.
It's considered a major setback to Taliban militants in Helmand and the adjoining Kandahar region.
Taliban militants fighting the government have yet to make comment on the report.
S. Korea says to make stern response to DPRK provocations
South Korea says it will meet any possible provocation from the North with a stern response.
This, after North Korea fired short-range missiles on Sunday, the second missile launch by Pyongyang this year.
A South Korean unification ministry spokesman also commented on the family reunion event that is supposed to be held in conjunction with the Lunar New Year holiday, just days away, saying it will be difficult to have the event because Pyongyang has not commented on Seoul's proposal.
The spokesman is urging Pyongyang to respond to Seoul's dialogue offer as early as possible to hold the reunion event even after the Lunar New Year holiday.
S. Korea's ex-spy chief gets 3 years for election meddling
South Korea's ex-spy agency chief has been sentenced to three years in prison on charges of intervening in the 2012 presidential election.
The Seoul High Court says 62-year-old Won Sei-hoon instructed his subordinates to intervene in domestic politics, in violation of election law.
Won allegedly ordered NIS officials to use some 700 Twitter accounts to post over 270,000 negative comments online against opposition candidates and in favor of the then ruling party hopeful Park Geun-hye.
China raises retail oil prices
The retail price of regular gasoline here in China will rise tomorrow, following the National Development and Reform Commission's latest adjustment.
The top economic planner says the retail price of gasoline will rise by 290 Yuan per ton and diesel by 280 Yuan per ton.
This will lead to retail prices of some 6 Yuan per liter. Oil prices had dropped in each of the 13 previous adjustments.
Retail gas prices in China rise when international crude prices change by more than 50 Yuan per ton over a period of 10 working days.
Xiamen to launch FTZ on March 1
Aithorities in Xiamen have approved the launch of a new free trade zone on March 1st.
The zone is supposed to emulate the success of the Shanghai Free Trade Zone. Xiamen's zone covers 44 square kilometers, including the Haicang Bonded Port Area and the Cross-border Trade Center.
It will mainly focus on high-tech industries, international trade service, and the financial sector.
High-speed railway to link Chinese border city to Vladivostok
Plans for a high-speed rail link between Northeast China's Hunchun city in Jilin Province and Vladivostok in Russia are taking shape.
The new railway is expected to boost trade between Jilin and Russia, and cooperation between the province and northwest Asia as a whole.
Hunchun, on the border with Russia, is about 180 kilometers from Vladivostok.
It takes more than five hours to travel one-way by car.
More than 1,000 Russians pass through Hunchun every day.
HK gov't may introduce airport improvement fee
Visitors to Hong Kong may have to bear the construction cost of the planned third runway at Hong Kong International Airport.
A senior executive at Hong Kong's Airport Authority says that the charging of an airport improvement fee is accepted internationally. He adds that it would not have any effect on the competitiveness of Hong Kong International Airport, one of the busiest in the world.
The third runway project of Hong Kong International Airport is expected to expand the airport's capacity to handle over 600,000 flights a year by 2030 and double the current amount of cargo and passenger traffic handed by the airport.
The construction cost of the new runway is expected to reach nearly 17 billion U.S. dollars.
