BEIJING, Jan 20: About 34 million Chinese males would have to look outside China to find brides as male population continue to heavily outnumber the women population in the world’s most populous country.
China had 697.2 million males and 663.4 million females in 2013, which meant that there were 33.8 million more men than women, head of China’s National Bureau of Statistic, (NBS) Ma Jiantang, today said.
The total population of China barring Hong Kong and Macau was 1.36 billion in 2013, he said.
The skewed sex ratio was attributed to sex-selective abortion and preference for a male child as also seen elsewhere in Asia where people believe male heirs can ensure their families’ bloodline is preserved.
The Chinese Government has been cracking down hard on sex determination tests to “eliminate discrimination against girls” and continue promoting gender equity.
The sex-selective abortions thrived in many parts of the country for the past three decades after the government vigorously implemented the one child policy.
Chinese men opted to marry Vietnamese brides in the wake of paucity of women and increasing gender gap. (AGENCIES)

BEIJING, Jan 20: A knife-wielding man injured three security staff members at an airport in northwest China today.
The man, who was not identified, rushed through the security check area at the airport in Lanzhou, capital of Ganzhou province, and started attacking people.
He was brought under control by security staff, a spokesman with the Lanzhou Zhongchuan Airport said.
The three injured security staff members, two in critical condition, have been taken to a local hospital.
The knife-wielding man has been detained by police. The motive behind the attack is under investigation.
Attacks by disgruntled people have become common in recent years in China.
The airport has resumed service and flights are operating normally, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. (AGENCIES)

VIENNA, Jan 20: Iran is due today to unplug key nuclear equipment for six months in return for a slight easing of crippling Western sanctions, as an interim deal between Tehran and world powers takes effect.
This starts the clock on negotiating a trickier long-term accord aimed at ending the Iran nuclear standoff and averting war once and for all, a process threatened however by possible new US sanctions.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif yesterday said he hoped for “positive results for the country, as well as regional and global peace and security”.
UN inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency arrived in Tehran on Saturday standing ready to report back first thing todayo from sites around Iran that the freeze has begun.
On day one, Iran has to halt the enrichment of uranium to medium levels — close to weapons-grade — and to begin diluting half of its stockpile of this material.
If the IAEA gives the thumbs-up, in Brussels EU foreign ministers will adopt legislation loosening sanctions on items like auto parts and gold, followed later in the day by a similar move in Washington.
Over the next six months Iran will also not install or switch on new nuclear machines and will grant the IAEA more access, including daily visits to the Fordo and Natanz enrichment facilities.
The total sanctions relief — staggered over the six months — is worth some USD 6-7 billion, including USD 4.2 billion in frozen overseas assets. The first USD 550 million instalment is due February 1.
But the core sanctions will still bite. Over the next half-year alone, Iran will miss out on USD 30 billion in oil revenues, the White House says. Most of Iran’s USD 100 billion in foreign exchange holdings remains off-limits.
Iran and the P5+1 — the US, China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany — will soon begin talks on a long-term comprehensive accord.
According to Mark Fitzpatrick, a former US State Department official now at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, the powers will want Iran to slash the number of centrifuges to 3,000-4,000 from the current 19,000. (AGENCIES)

NEW DELHI, Jan 20: Cardamom prices were up by 0.35 per cent to Rs 736 per kg in futures market today due to rise in demand in the spot market amid tight supplies from producing belts.
At the Multi Commodity Exchange, cardamom for delivery in March rose by Rs 2.60, or 0.35 per cent, to Rs 736 per kg in business turnover of 29 lots.
In a similar fashion, spice for delivery in February gained Rs 1.80, or 0.26 per cent, to Rs 707 per kg in 168 lots.
Market analysts said besides rise in demand in the spot market, tight supplies from producing regions mainly helped cardamom prices to trade higher at futures trade. (AGENCIES)

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 20: Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim today said he was “puzzled and shocked” over being barred entry to Japan, as his party questioned whether Malaysia’s ruling coalition was behind the move.
Anwar said he arrived at Narita International Airport on a personal visit yesterday and was told by immigration authorities he was barred because of his 1999 conviction for sodomy and corruption.
The controversial conviction, which cast the then-rising political star out of Malaysia’s longtime ruling party and into jail for six years, is viewed by many as a frame-up by Anwar’s enemies.
“I am puzzled and shocked by the incident,” Anwar, 66, told reporters.
“It is not the way for a democratic country to treat an opposition political leader and a veteran politician.”
He called on Malaysia’s Government to “probe this incident and lodge a strong protest against Tokyo.”
Anwar said he protested to Japanese immigration officials, saying the 1999 conviction was an invalid reason to refuse his entry and that he visited Japan on three occasions since 2006 without incident.
Officials told him vaguely that they were responding to a more recent “report” against him, he said.
Anwar added that he had been invited to Japan to deliver a speech on inter-religious harmony by a Japanese NGO.
He returned to Malaysia on a later flight.
In a blog posting, Anwar said he felt “hidden hands may be at work here” and demanded an explanation from Malaysia’s foreign ministry.
“The barring of Anwar Ibrahim from entering Japan raises serious questions on the involvement of this (the Malaysian) Government,” Anwar’s People’s Justice Party said in a separate statement.
Malaysia’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Anwar said Japan’s embassy in Malaysia had told him before the trip there would be no problem entering the country. Embassy officials declined immediate comment to reporters.
Malaysia’s ruling coalition has steadily lost ground in parliament since Anwar officially became opposition leader in 2008.
The opposition accuses the coalition of a long-running campaign of harassment and false charges designed to smear Anwar.
Shortly after a historic strong 2008 opposition showing, Anwar faced new charges of illicit sex with a former male aide. Sodomy is illegal in Muslim-majority Malaysia. (AGENCIES)

WELLINGTON (NEW ZEALAND), Jan 20: A strong earthquake rattled New Zealand’s lower North Island including the capital Wellington today, although there were no immediate reports of major damage or injuries.
The United States Geological Survey reported the magnitude 6.3 quake struck at 3:52 p.M. Local time, about 38 kilometers northeast of the town of Masterton. Many Wellington residents were at home because it was a public holiday in the region.
A giant eagle sculpture in Wellington’s airport, placed there to promote director Peter Jackson’s movie trilogy “The Hobbit,” fell from its overhead perch to the floor.
New Zealand lies on the Pacific’s “Ring of Fire,” an arc of earthquake and volcanic activity that stretches around the Pacific Rim.
An earthquake in the city of Christchurch in 2011 destroyed much of the downtown and killed 185 people. (AGENCIES)

LONDON, Jan 20: Al-Qaeda is training hundreds of British people fighting in Syria to become jihadists and urging them to carry out attacks when they return home, according to an interview with a defector published in today’s Daily Telegraph.
The defector, known as Murad, from the hardline Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) said other recruits from Europe and the US were also being trained to make car bombs before being sent home to form terror cells.
“They talked often about terrorist attacks,” he said of his former ISIS instructors.
“The foreigners were proud of 9/11 and the London bombings. The British, French and American mujahideen in the room started talking about places that they wanted to bomb or explode themselves in Europe and the United States.
“The American said he dreamed of blowing up the White House,” he told the newspaper.
He called the teachings of ISIS, which grew out of Al-Qaeda’s affiliate organisation in Iraq, “very hardline”.
Britain’s intelligence services estimate that around 500 British fighters are currently in Syria, and fear they will return radicalised.
Police today charged two 21-year-old men from Birmingham, central England, with travelling to Syria to carry out acts of terrorism. (AGENCIES)