As there is no bridge for pedestrians to cross this point of the Xunsi River in south-west Wuhan, local residents have to chance using a pipeline to reach the other side. On October 17, it claimed its sixth victim in a decade. Read more...

The Chinese blogosphere was very excited last week after an alleged prostitute and HIV carrier published a blog post with the telephone numbers of 279 of her former clients, telling them "If your number is included, then congratulations, you've got AIDS". Instead of being appalled however, the Chinese blogosphere thought the whole thing rather amusing - a worrying indication of China's naive attitude towards the lethal virus. Read more...

The prospect of Nicolas Sarkozy's 23 year-old undergraduate son being catapulted to the head of a major public agency has sparked widespread accusations of favouritism both at home and abroad. Our Observers in Gabon and China give their views on Sarkozy's latest imperial move. Read more...

On August 3 violent clashes broke out between local residents and Chinese immigrants in a suburb of Alger. Our Observer in Blida, 50km from the capital, explains that reasons behind the conflict are economic as well as cultural. Read more...

These photos show the gradual and perfectly timed improvement in weather conditions in the run up to the Chinese Republic's 60th anniversary on October 1. Pure luck? Not so, says one of our Observers in the city. An American expat who lives in Beijing, Roseann Lake gives her reaction to the event. Read more...

As expected, the parade organised to celebrate the People’s Republic of China’s 60th anniversary went extremely smoothly — thanks in part to the massive security lock-down weeks ahead of the show. There was one small hitch, however, as Chinese Web users were quick to see. Read more...

No, this isn't a soldier-turned-pom-pom girl rally, just a rehearsal parade of Chinese students ahead of the country's national holiday, on October 1.

This building in the city of Wuhan has been dubbed the “most awesome” in the country by Chinese Web users. The voters were being ironic, as the student dorms it houses are probably one of the most dangerous places to live in all of China: their windows are just inches away from a high voltage electric pylon. Read more...

Dusty condoms lie on the floor, old oil cans are used to store lubricant, shirtless workers handle fake brand wrappers...Welcome to an illegal condom factory in Shaoyang, China. Read more...

On August 22, Chinese broadcaster CCTV released “Soul’s Window”, a much-trumpeted “original production” aimed at a child audience. But Web users haven’t fallen for it. Read more…