Photographer `beaten' by police

Beijing - An international news agency and the US embassy yesterday lodged protests with China's Foreign Ministry after a photographer…

Beijing - An international news agency and the US embassy yesterday lodged protests with China's Foreign Ministry after a photographer was allegedly beaten by police while covering the Three Tenors concert in the Forbidden City at the weekend, Miriam Donohoe reports.

The photographer, Mr Stephen Shaver of Agence France-Presse (AFP), claims he was punched in the head and ribs, knocked over and dragged along the ground while taking photographs before Saturday's concert, staged to promote Beijing's bid to host the 2008 Olympics.