China's top newspaper on Wednesday published a call for a review of Japan's sovereignty over the island of Okinawa — home to major U.S. bases — with the Asian powers already embroiled in a territorial row.

Bank of China Ltd. (3988.HK) (601988.SS) has shut the account of North Korea's main foreign exchange bank, which was hit with U.S. sanctions in March after Washington accused it of helping finance Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program.

China's ruling Communist Party has punished 21 officials over a scandal in which they allegedly were extorted by real estate developers after being secretly filmed in liaisons with hired women.

Chinese officials have certainly been busy.

Four more people in China have died from a new strain of bird flu, bringing to 31 the number of deaths from the mysterious H7N9 virus, with the number of infections rising by two to 129, according to Chinese health authorities. Among the deaths, two occurred in the eastern province of Jiangsu; one was from eastern Zhejiang; while another was from central Anhui, based on a Reuters analysis of the data provided by Chinese health authorities on Monday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lauded Shanghai for its past role as a haven for Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi persecution on a visit to the city's former ghetto Tuesday, as questions loom over the area's future.

China has sent one of its largest recorded fishing fleets to disputed islands in the South China Sea, state-run media said on Tuesday, amid tensions over Beijing's assertion of its claims in the region.

China is hosting both the Palestinian and Israeli leaders this week in a sign of its desire for a larger role in the Middle East.

An almost 20-year-old case of a Beijing student left paralyzed after allegedly being poisoned was back in the spotlight in Chinese state media Monday after a petition was posted on the White House website.

Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas arrived in Beijing on Sunday for a state visit, official media said, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also set to meet Chinese leaders later this week.