A gas explosion tore through a state-run coal mine in northern China on Saturday, killing 42 people and leaving 66 others trapped underground as rescuers worked hastily to save them.

Hong Kong's personal bankruptcy filings fell in October to a one-year low as the city emerges from its worst slump since the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis.

China's last surviving veteran from the D-Day landings of Allied troops in northern France has died at the age of 91, state media reported Wednesday.

Hong Kong will invite the public to comment on democratic reforms being proposed by the government, an official said Wednesday, in one of the few places on Chinese soil that enjoys Western-style elections.

A state media report says a massive landslide in northern China partially has buried a village and killed at least 23 people, and that rescuers are seeking survivors.

Dozens of undocumented migrants have been arrested in Hong Kong in a crackdown on asylum seekers in the wealthy former British colony, officials said Sunday.

To boost sales of Taiwanese goods in China's Nanjing City, a key Taiwan trade promoter on Saturday signed an agreement with the Nanjing City government to set up a Taiwan Brand Street and a Taiwanese goods center in the historic capital city in China's Jiangsu Province, officials said.

The cost of relocating villagers to make way for the first phase of the planned Shanghai Disney Park is expected to reach six billion yuan (US$880 million), state media said Friday.

An elementary school cafeteria in northern China collapsed under heavy snow, killing three students and injuring 28 others, state media reported Thursday.

Plastic bags, the scourge of the environment, are flying high in Beijing, thanks to a retired engineer who is turning the waste into colorful kites.