News & Reports 2012-01-21

 Hello and Welcome to News and Reports on China Radio International.

In This EditionUS authorities order to shut down Megaupload, one of the leading file-sharing websites, on charges piracy 1 laws violations 2.
Former Pakistani President Per-vez Musharraf says he will return to his native country to lead his party during the upcoming elections.
The world's largest annual human migration 3 reach its peak in China, as tens of millions people travel home for the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday.
Chinese researchers have developed the world's first hepatitis E vaccine 4 under a government high-tech 5 programme.
Hot Issue ReportsMegaupload File-sharing Sites Shut downOne of the leading file-sharing websites, Megaupload, has been shut down by U.S. officials who have charged its founders 6 with violating piracy laws.
Federal prosecutors 7 have accused the site of costing copyright holders 8 more than 500- million-US-dollars in lost revenue.
The U.S. Justice Department says Megaupload's two cofounders along with two other employees have been arrested in Auckland, New Zealand.
It's reported that a dozen spin-off sites have also been shut down.
The news comes just a day after anti-piracy law protests in the U.S saw websites such as Wikipedia shut down their services for 24-hours to protest against the Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA, and Protect IP Act, or PIPA.
The two laws are currently under congressional debate.
However Investigators 9 say the decision was made two weeks ago.
For more on anti-piracy acts in the US, Rebeca Hume earlier spoke 10 to Professor Wang Chun-Yan, an expert on intellectual property rights law at Renmin University.
Former President Denies Claims he's Delaying Return to PakistanThe former Pakistani President says he will return to his native country within ten-days to lead his party during the upcoming elections.
Per-vez Musharraf told a London news conference that recent media reports about his return being delayed, due to political instability, are not true.
"In a section of the press it has been stated that I am not returning, I have postponed 12 my return from January to some time in the future. Now that is not correct at all, I have not done that. These are wrong statements in the media."However, state prosecutors have said they planned to detain Musharraf on charges that he failed to provide security for former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto ahead of her assassination 13.
The return of Musharraf, who has been living in Dubai and London, could add to an already turbulent political atmosphere in the country.
The former Presidents comments come a day after current Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani appeared in the Supreme 14 Court for a contempt hearing.
Gilani was in court to explain why he failed to reopen a corruption 15 case against President Asif Ali Zar-dari.
Elections are now scheduled for next year, but there has been increasing speculation 16 that Zardari may go to the polls this year, due to the recent turmoil 17.
Rescue Operation for the Capsized Italian Cruise Suspended Again in Stormy WeatherRescue operation for the capsized Italian cruise ship has reportedly been suspended once again due to stormy weather.
The operation has entered its seventh day.
The ship moved a little in choppy water, and rescue officials fear it could suddenly slip into much deeper water.
Cosima Nicastro is a spokesperson for the Italian coastguard.
"The rescuers operating underwater are in a very dangerous situation. The safety line for the divers 18 is going down about 50 metres into the wreck 19 so that's a long way to get out again if something happens."Nicastro adds the bad weather will not go away soon.
"The weather will become worse but even if the wind gets stronger, the wreck is in a sheltered position. But the most important thing now is to evaluate the movement of the ship."So far, at least 11 people have died and 21 others remain missing.
Meantime, the ship owner, Costa Cruises has now begun to compensate 20 victim families.　According to Italian media reports, Costa is planning to pay every family up to 480-thousand euros. Every luggage lost or damaged will be compensated 21 to its value.
Meantime, a new emerged tape now suggests that the ship's officers continued to report only an electrical problem 30-minutes after the ship hit the reef.
Greece Economy: Progress Made in Talks with Private CreditorsGreece has made progress in crucial negotiations 24 with its private creditors 22 on a 100-billion-euro debt write-down.
Officials say the move is essential to maintain the country's solvency 25, and negotiations will stretch into a third day this week.
Greece is facing a renewed threat of defaulting on its debts, with a 14.5 billion euro repayment 26 looming 27 in late March and no funds to cover it.
Talks between the government and representatives of private investors 28 broke down last week amid disagreements over the interest rate that Greece would have to pay for the new, lower-valued bonds.
Aggelos Tsak-anikas, head of research at the Foundation for Economic and Industrial Research, says agreeing on the Private Sector 29 Involvement deal is essential to avoid a default and re-start Greece's economy.
"Certainly we will have an agreement and all the details of this agreement will determine whether the markets will take this as a good signal or not. But it is an important dimension of the negotiation 23 and it is important for the trajectory 30 of the Greek debt, because we have to reduce our debt and this is something that is very important for the Greek economy."Senior members of the EU-IMF debt inspection 31 team known as the "troika" are due in Athens this week to negotiate additional terms for the second bailout, and to monitor Greece's progress on slashing 32 deficits 33 through harsh austerity measures.
China's New Year Travel Rush Reaches PeakThe world's largest annual human migration reached its peak Friday in China, as tens of millions people filled trains to spend the Lunar New Year with their families.
The traditional Spring Festival holiday begins on Sunday, the new year's eve.
Authorities have been struggling to cater 34 to an unprecedented 35 3.1 billion passenger trips over 40 days, a number which increases each year as the urban population surges.
From last year, a new online ticketing system was launched by the Ministry 36 of Railways to ease travel frustrations 37.
However, it still didn't suffice to please some travelers like Li Xinyu who spent hours to get a ticket online.
"I tried to log in the ticket booking system from 12 O'clock. It took me four hours to successfully get a ticket. I am very frustrated 38 that it took four hours."But others, like Gao Shuyong, found the new system more convenient.
"The Spring Festival is for people to get together with family. We must go to wherever our parents are. That is to say, no matter how far it is, we take the train or bus. I think this year's reform is good, making it easier for people to buy tickets, so we are more willing to go home."The Spring Festival - the most important holiday for the Chinese - is their only chance to see family in a full year, particularly for those migrant workers from rural areas who would return to see their young children and elderly parents.
Year of Dragon Expected to Spark Surge in SalesChina's shops are doing a roaring trade, as millions of people are busy preparing for the Year of the Dragon.
This year's lunar holiday, also known as the Spring Festival holiday, begins this Sunday and runs until January 28th.
With only a few days left, shoppers are flocking to the major decorations market in Beijing to buy red decorations, to ward 39 off evil spirits and bring good luck.
65-year-old Wan 11 Taiwei, who owns a party and decorations store, says his sales have doubled since Jan.
"We all hope we can have lots of good fortune in the Year of the Dragon. It is a good year and we Chinese all like dragons because it is a symbol for China."The Lunar New Year is traditionally the best season for retail 40 sales.
Millions of Chinese people travel back to their home towns and villages from the cities and spend their savings 41 on consumer goods and food.
The Ministry of Commerce says last year's consumer spending in retail and dining sectors 42 rose to 61-billion-US-dollars.
Analyst 43 Alistair Thornton from HIS Global Insight says the New Year is a peak season for travel and white-goods consumption.
But he warns the Year of the Dragon may also bring uncertain times for China:
"We're seeing growth slowing quite significantly at the moment, led primarily by the property market, which is undergoing a fairly severe correction. On top of that, you've got the eurozone crisis, which threatens to blow up at any stage now. And the impact on China from that could be quite significant."China is one of the biggest importers and slower growth could have global repercussions 44, if it cuts demand for minerals and industrial goods from countries such as Australia and Brazil.
Growth has slowed in 2011 after the government hiked up interest rates to prevent overheating and tame politically dangerous inflation.
Spring Festival Gala to Go 3DChina Central Television is set to debut 45 a three-dimensional version of this year's Spring Festival Gala.
The 3D version will be aired via CCTV 3D test channel.
Lu Xiaoli, the deputy director of CCTV technology management center, says the key to the 3D broadcasting is the 3D camera.
"3D shooting is imitating human eyesight with two cameras generating image through optical parallax effects. We want to bring more visual sensations to viewers than they could get from 2D. We've prepared a dolly track especially for the 3D shooting."The gala will also be available in standard and high definition versions.
China's Vaccine for Hepatitis E to be Available SoonA new hepatitis E vaccine is expected to be put into medical production in June this year.
Health authorities are also planning to introduce the vaccine to other countries.
Wang Jing reports.
The hepatitis E virus shares similar symptoms with hepatitis A, both of which cause victims to suffer from anorexia 46, vomiting 47 and nausea 48. In China, the incidence rate of hepatitis E has increased notably 49, becoming the most common among all types of the hepatitis virus to infect adults.
Recently, a team of researchers in Xiamen, southeast China's Fujian Province, announced that they have successfully developed the world's first hepatitis E vaccine. With each injection only costing a few hundred yuan, Gao Yongzhong, general manager of Xiamen Innovax Biotech Co. Ltd, emphasizes the cheapness of the injection compared to the alternative of spending as much as 20,000 yuan on medical treatment once someone has become infected.
"In the past, people infected with hepatitis E had to receive medical treatment that would usually cost them around 20,000 yuan. But a vaccine that costs several hundred yuan will help to prevent you against infection. It is a product that has a good performance but a relatively 50 low price."Alongside Gao Yongzhong's company, a team of researchers from Xiamen University worked for 14 years developing the vaccine. China's Ministry of Science and Technology began to sponsor the research in 2005 under the government-funded 863 program, a high-tech development initiative.
Last December, the vaccine was granted an official approval for medical production, and is expected to go into mass production this June. The ministry says China will vaccinate 51 those deemed to be at high risk of becoming infected and will work with international organizations to introduce it to other countries.
According to the World Health Organization, one third of the global population is estimated to be infected by the virus and countries in South and East Asia report about 6.5 million cases of infection every year.
The Xiamen Innovax Biotech company, located in the Haicang District of Xiamen, has been given high priority in the development of the local biopharmaceutical industry.
As deputy head of the Haicang District, Zhang Quan explains that their goal is to develop the region's biopharmaceutical industry into a large national base for bio-medicine with funds in place somewhere in the region of 200 million yuan.
"We are increasing our efforts for the construction of a special development area for biopharmaceutical enterprises. We shall continue to increase funds and the amount of technical assistance that will be offered to biopharmaceutical enterprises. We have a target in mind; to build the district into a large, active, national-level biopharmaceutical industrial base with a high level of professionalism.
For CRI, I'm Wang Jing.
Sohu NewsNetizens have listed out the Top 10 questions they are scared of being asked during the Spring Festival.
Spring Festival is the time for family union. But for those who are not married or are still students, they have to be prepared to be bombarded with all sorts of embarrassing questions.
On the Top 10 list, the question: "Have you found yourself a boyfriend/girlfriend?" won the most votes.
One blogger says it is the trickiest 52 question, as no matter what the answer is, there will always be more follow-up questions. If you answer Yes, your uncle or aunt may ask you when is your wedding day. If the answer is no, then your relatives will properly press you to get one.
For students, the most hated question is: what is your score in the final exam?
A blogger shared his experience where the New Year's Eve dinner turned into a total nightmare when his aunt asked about his exam scores on the dinner table.
Other embarrassing questions include: "How come you don't recognize me? I used to hold you in my arms when you were still a baby"; "How much did you earn last year?" and "What have you done? You have put on so much weight."***************************Shanghai DailyWeibo, microbloggers have launched a campaign to find persons with long arms to extract a volley ball from the stomach of a dolphin in an aquarium 53 in Nanjing of Jiangsu Province.
The dolphin swallowed the broken ball during a performance.
The aquarium says that surgery can cause more harm to the dolphin, so it is calling on people with arms longer than 1.1 meters to help retrieve 54 the ball from its stomach.
The Nanjing aquarium introduced four dolphins from Japan, including a pair that came after the earthquake and tsunami 55 in northeastern Japan last year.
Many microbloggers are urging Chinese basketball players to offer a "helping 56 hand."A Jiangsu Basketball Club player had already tried, but his arms are still not long enough to reach the dolphin's stomach.
Yahoo News10 fake Ipad 2S, all made of slabs 57 of modeling clay, have been sold at electronic stores in Vancouver.
One of the shop said that it is likely that people who bought the Ipads with cash had replaced them with the model clay, and then returned the packages to the stores.
The returned fakes then were restocked on the shelves and sold to other customers.
The fake Ipads weighed almost the same as the original ones.
The scam was first brought to attention by a victim, Mark Sandhu.
Sandhu says that after purchasing what he thought was an Ipad 2 for his wife, he tired to return the clay, but the store rejected his claim.
He then contacted Apple and local police, but no one believed his story.
Now the stores are launching investigations 58 into how the scam was pulled off.
***************************Yahoo NewsDoctors have managed to save the life of a 71-year-old man with two hearts who suffered dueling 59 heart attacks.
At first, doctors thought they had a typical case of cardiac arrest until they examined the patient more closely and noticed his unusual medical condition.
It turns out that the man actually wasn't born with two hearts.
His second heart arrived after an earlier medical procedure on his original heart.
The procedure, a heterotypic transplant, is done to pair a new, healthy organ with a diseased one.
A medical professor says that this sort of situation happens to cardiac patients or kidney patients sometimes.
Under such circumstances, surgeons might leave a kidney in place if it's too much trouble to take out, or if there is hope for recovery of the organ after being helped by the new heart or kidney.
After being admitted to the hospital, doctors administered drug therapy in an attempt to correct the patient's dysrhythmia, only to have the medicine shut down both of his hearts.
Doctors then were able to successfully use a defibrillator to revive both hearts simultaneously 60.
The man is now reportedly doing well with his two functioning hearts.