The view of the U.S. embassy after the explosion. Photo: Emmanuel Wong/Getty Images
A 26-year-old man detonated a small explosive device outside of the U.S. embassy in Beijing on Thursday, injuring himself but causing no further damage or loss of life.
Why it matters: Security incidents are considered extremely rare in the Chinese capital — where protests are tightly controlled — and all references to the explosion were censored from social media platforms WeChat and Weibo within hours, according to CNN.