Hong Kong's chief executive defended its compliance with global financial reporting standards after a G-20 row nearly saw it cited as a tax haven, the South China Morning Post said on Saturday. Donald Tsang said the territory's government had introduced legislation to allow information to be shared with foreign authorities cracking down on tax evasion. He was speaking after Hong Kong and Macau avoided being named on a list of tax havens worldwide drawn up by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

It followed a row at Thursday's G-20 summit in London, where China strongly opposed a French proposal to name the two territories. Eventually the dispute was resolved - reportedly after the intervention of US President Barack Obama. Mr Tsang told reporters that Hong Kong - where corporate tax is 16.5 per cent and personal income tax 15 per cent - had 'very transparent and very competent and well-respected banking and financial services.

Authorities in northern China said on Saturday they were trying to solve a job losses row that sparked protests by factory staff, but a protester said workers remained skeptical and angry. The factory, which employs around 4,000 people, had been shut for a week when the march began, another worker said on Friday. Employees angered by the closure of the factory set out on bicycle and foot from Baoding in Hebei province to Beijing to present a petition to the government, a centuries-old tradition.

They were angered by a factory restructuring plan that includes cutting jobs, and said a severance offer was insufficient. Local authorities talked them out of the march and provided buses to bring them back to Baoding, 'The workers are unhappy but no one cares, so we decided to march to Beijing to petition,' said Mr Yang. 'Many workers were at the factory a long time and given only a small severance. How can you not get angry?demonstrators said. Officials and protesters said there was no violence.

Sixteen miners were trapped in a colliery in north-eastern China that flooded on Saturday in the latest accident to hit the country's deadly coal industry, state media reported. The accident occurred early on Saturday at a mine in the city of Jixi in Heilongjiang province, it said. Twenty-two miners had been in the colliery at the time, with six managing to escape. Rescue efforts were under way, it said.

Official figures showed that more than 3,200 workers died in China's notoriously dangerous coal mines last year, but independent observers say the actual figure could be higher, as many accidents are covered up.

A Thai court sentenced a man to 10 years in prison for posting altered pictures on the internet that were deemed insulting to the kingdom's revered monarchy. Suvicha thakhor alias Chinnapat was convicted of violating computer and strict lese maheste laws after his arrest in north-east Nakkon Phanom province in February.

Do not insult. This is the consequences of insulting. If you want to insult other people, you will have to face the music... So, do not insult people.

Cambodian and Thai troops fought heavy gunbattles on their disputed border yesterday, leaving as many as four soldiers just days before a key regional summit. Soldiers traded rocket, machine gun and mortar fire near an 11th century khmer temple following a brief exchange of shots earlier in the day, officials from both sides said.

Harmony is important. If everyone is going for war, there will be no harmony. We must live in harmony to fight the people attacking us. We should team up and help one another and not having war.