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A plainclothes policeman catches a woman during a police crackdown on prostitution in Quanzhou, Fujian province, October 29, 2011. China should remove criminal and administrative penalties against sex workers which often lead to serious police abuses, Human Rights Watch said in a report released on May 14, 2013. The abuses include torture, beatings, physical assaults, fines and arbitrary detentions of up to two years, as well as a failure to investigate crimes against sex workers by clients, bosses and state agents, according to the report. Prostitution is not permitted under Chinese law, although the industry has boomed since the country launched economic reforms in 1978. REUTERS/Stringer

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Explosion and gunfire in central Damascus

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BEIRUT | Fri Apr 27, 2012 6:59am EDT

BEIRUT (Reuters) - An explosion hit the central Damascus district of Midan, a pro-government television news channel and residents said, an area where regular protests demanding the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad are held.

"An explosion occurred next to the Zeen al-Abadeen mosque and there were casualties," Ikhbaria television reported.

The television station said that its reporters heard gunfire while filming the damage.

(Reporting by Oliver Holmes and Erika Solomon; Editing by Louise Ireland)
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