The father of a young protester who was killed during the crackdown on the 1989 pro-democracy demonstrations in Tiananmen Square has hanged himself after more than 20 years of seeking justice for his son, a human rights group said yesterday.

Aaron Cook has appealed to the British Olympic Association after being left out of this summer's London Games, despite being the European taekwondo champion and soon the world No 1.

One man died and the other was taken to hospital after they set themselves on fire yesterday outside the Jokhang Temple, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

Great Britain's James Goddard was second in the final of the 200 metres individual medley on the third day of the European Championships in Debrecen, Hungary.

A plane carrying a blind activist at the centre of a US-China diplomatic tussle has departed from Beijing for the United States.

On time and, presumably, on budget, BA Flight 2012 touched down at Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose in Cornwall at 7.25pm last night with a precious cargo: the London Mayor Boris Johnson, Lord Coe, Princess Anne, David Beckham, and, in its own seat in its own little Davy lamp, the Olympic flame.

A North Korean boat hijacked three boats with 29 Chinese fishermen on board and demanded 1.2 million yuan ($190,000) for their release, Chinese media reported today.

A blind Chinese activist who sparked a diplomatic crisis by fleeing into the US Embassy last month filled out a Chinese passport application and posed for a photo Wednesday, moving forward in his bid to study in the United States.

Dalai Lama gives away prize money but remains silent on self-immolations

The Chinese activist whose six-day stay at the US embassy in Beijing sparked a diplomatic crisis last month has voiced concern about the fate of his nephew, who has been arrested on charges of attempted homicide.

The University of Washington has offered a fellowship to the blind Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng, who has said that he wants to study in the United States following his dramatic escape from house arrest.

The Chinese artist Ai Weiwei has sold a ton of the porcelain sunflower seeds he displayed at the Tate Modern for $782,000 (£480,000), a record sum for his work which should help to pay off his tax bill if an appeal against the Chinese taxman does not go his way.

Rights advocate Chen Guangcheng says the Chinese government has quietly promised him it will investigate abuses he and his family suffered at the hands of local authorities, in a rare instance of Beijing bowing to demands of an activist.