China is making rapid progress in building an airstrip suitable for military use in contested territory in the South China Sea, according to new satellite images.

The facility, on reclaimed land around a reef, would be big enough for fighter jets and surveillance aircraft. IHS Jane’s Defence Weekly said images from Airbus Defence and Space, taken on 23 March, showed the runway on Fiery Cross reef in the disputed Spratly archipelago already stretched to 500m and had room to grow to six times that length. Paved sections of apron were also visible.

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A student in Taiwan who kept a pair of disposable contact lenses in her eyes for six months has been left blinded after a microscopic bug devoured her eyeballs.
The tiny single-cell amoeba ate away at undergraduate Lian Kao’s sight because she didn’t take out and clean the contacts once during that time.

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Hundreds of students have stormed the Taiwanese government’s headquarters in protest at a deal that will bring closer trade ties with China.

They used a vehicle to knock down barbed wire gates outside the Executive Yuan in central Taipei. Another group of students has occupied the parliament chamber since Tuesday. 

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