News & Reports 2010-07-31

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In This Edition

China says floods in parts of the country have so far claimed nearly a thousand lives, left over 500 people missing, and displaced some 10 million people.

Pakistan's emergency teams and security agencies continue their efforts to search for the black box of the country's worst-ever plane crash.

NATO says July has become the deadliest month for American troops in the nine-year-old war.

And Artifacts valued at about $1.5 million US dollars from Beijing's Forbidden City are due to exhibit in the US in September, as part of their first world tour for the antiques.

Hot Issue Reports

Flooding in China kills nearly 1,000, displaces 10 millions

Heavy rains and floods continue to hit northeastern China and alongside the Yangtze River.

The country's flood control headquarters say this year's floods have claimed 991 lives so far, displaced some 10 million people and flattened 2 over 1 million houses. Another 558 people are listed as missing.

Downpours have been battering 3 northeastern China's Jilin province, killing 4 29 people this week alone after sweeping 5 the south earlier in July.

Total rainfall in 10 hours in the Wangqi County reached nearly 2 meters. Flooding water has destroyed 8 hundred houses with some 14-thousand residents evacuated 6.

All electricity and water supplies in the county have been cut, and rescue teams are working to repair the damaged facilities in a neighborhood where all the villagers have been displaced.

Zhao Yindong is an on-scene coordinator 7 from an electricity-repair group.

"I've never seen damages this big. You can no more see any electric poles over there as 289 of them have been washed down. We are trying our best and hopefully there will be power again in 3 days. There is a lot of works to do, indeed."

The neighboring Yongji County with its some 30-thousand residents was completely flooded. Two rescue workers were killed after their boat turned over in the flooding water.

Flooding in northeastern China is usually not as severe as in the south, but the region still saw a huge loss in the deadly 1998 flood which killed over 4-thousand people nationwide.

Meanwhile, dangers in the Three Gorges 8 Dam on the Yangtze River, the world's largest hydro-power project, have not gone away as it reports its highest water level this year.

Although seasonal 9, this year's flooding in some parts of the country are the worst in at least a decade.

Chinese army hopes to enhance international cooperation in disaster relief work

A spokesman for the Chinese People's Liberation Army says the country hopes to enhance cooperation with its counterparts in international disaster relief work.

The Defense 10 Ministry 11 spokesman Geng Yansheng says the country and its army have established a mechanism 12 to deliver humanitarian 13 relief supplies to other countries.

"Since 2002, the Chinese government and the PLA have delivered about 500 million yuan of humanitarian relief supplies to 19 counties, including tents, blankets, medicines, medical facilities, food and electric generators 14, some of which were deployed 15 by our chartered planes and trains."

The spokesman also emphasizes the important role the army plays in domestic relief operations. He notes there have been nearly 400-thousand troops helping 16 with the flood control and disaster prevention works this year as the flooding has almost killed one-thousand people in the country.

Meanwhile, China established its own professional international rescue team in 2002, which is joined by army rescue forces.

The Chinese International Search and Rescue Team, consisting of engineer troops, armed police, medics and especially earthquake experts, joined the Haiti earthquake rescue this year.

Earthquake relief director Huang Jianfa says the team is set to be expanded and get more funds this year.

"Team members will be expanded to 480-strong by the end of this year. The central government is set to offer 100 millions yuan more to upgrade rescue facilities."

China will host a regional seminar joined by Southeast Asian countries on regulations for disaster relief work next month.

Latest from site of Pakistan's worst-ever plane crash

Pakistan's emergency teams and security agencies continued their efforts to search for the black box of the country's worst-ever plane crash.

The Airbus A321 plane operated by Pakistani carrier Airblue crashed into hills overlooking Islamabad during stormy weather, killing all 152 people aboard.

Aircraft pieces, bodies and belongings 17 were scattered 18 over the heavily forested slopes.

As the nation continued to grieve, army troops and civilian 19 rescue workers searched a large stretch of the hills scorched 20 by the crash, but tough conditions slowed the pace of operations.

Munawar Ali Mehar, the police chief in charge of the operation, says investigators 21 were still searching for the "black box" flight recorder amid the wreckage 22 to help establish what happened.

"Now that we have to shift the wreckage, more things might come out, but our priority is to make sure that the evidence is not misplaced or damaged. We haven't found the black box yet, but will stay until we do."

A spokesman for the airline has said the plane had no known technical issues, and the pilots did not send any emergency signals before the crash.

July Becomes Deadliest Month of Afghan War for US

July has become the deadliest month for American troops in the nine-year-old war.

NATO announced Friday that six more US troops have died in Afghanistan, bringing the death toll 23 for July to at least 66 and surpassing the previous month's record as the deadliest for US forces.

Bradly Parrish, a specialist of the US Army, described the scary scene of patroling in the war-torn territory.

"Scary. It's - you never know when it's coming. I mean, like when we go on patrols and we're walking because they use the pressure plates out here and any step could potentially be your last and you just kind of have to accept it every time you walk out of wire."

US and NATO commanders had warned casualties would rise as the international military force ramps 24 up the war against the Taliban, especially in their southern strongholds in Helmand and Kandahar provinces.

Bangkok grenade blast injures 1 in latest violence to rattle 25 Thai capital

A grenade exploded near a Bangkok shopping mall, leaving one person hurt and rattling 26 the Thai capital less than a week after a similar blast that remains 27 unsolved.

The blast seriously injured a bystander who was hospitalised. According to police, the grenade was hidden in a rubbish bag and placed alongside other rubbish bags in front of a residential 28 building. opposite a shopping center in the Din 1 Daeng neighbourhood of Bangkok.

Vichai Sangparpai is the Metropolitan 29 Police Commander:

"It's a hand grenade. It was wrapped with a rubber band and soaked with oil, waiting to be exploded."

A witness decribed what he had experienced:

"The next thing I knew there was a loud explosion, so I suddenly woke up and I heard the sound of earth falling on the cars."

Last week, a grenade exploded near a bus stop in another part of downtown Bangkok, killing one person and wounding 10.

Authorities have declined to speculate if the blasts are related to Thailand's political turbulence 30.

No one has claimed responsibility for either explosion.

NEW Concerns BP will scale back clean-up once well is capped

Fishermen shut down by the Gulf 31 of Mexico spill have found work with BP skimming oil from the water, but as the crude sinks or evaporates, they may be left with nothing to do but wait for their claim checks to arrive and for their fishing grounds to reopen.

But no one knows how much longer BP plans to keep them working.

Oysterman Vatroslav Garbin received a contract for the Vessel 32 of Opportunity program but was never sent out.

"BP downsized some vessels 33 because they keep saying that there's no oil out there. But what I heard from so many people since they were playing for so long with the chemicals, that there is still plenty oil on the bottom or floating in the water."

Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser said it's clear the cleanup effort is being scaled back even though oil is still showing up on the coast.

"Yesterday there was a flight where no oil was seen. I don't know how they took that flight, but they must have bobbed and weaved around the oil because in Plaquemines Parish there is oil all over."

Little of the oil remains on the water, but that doesn't mean it has all vanished.

Scientists are worried that much of the oil has been trapped below the surface after almost 3 million liters of chemical dispersant were used to break up the oil 1.6 kilometres deep.

They have found evidence of massive clouds of oil suspended in the water.

Artifacts from Forbidden City on Display for first time in September

Artifacts valued at about $1.5 million US dollars from Beijing's Forbidden City are due to exhibit in the US in September, as part of their first world tour for the antiques.

The collection includes thrones and large-scale paintings from Fuwangge, where China's powerful Emperor Qianlong was entertained during his retirement 34. The curator of Chinese art at the Peabody Essex Museum Nancy Berliner says the Fuwangge garden brings her peace and calm.

"This garden is completely different than the rest of the Forbidden City. You know, the walk ways are curved, you're always going around things, you're finding surprises and it's very calm. There are all these rockeries, as well as these very small, intimate buildings, where you have a real sense of the personality of the Qianlong Emperor and his interest in self-cultivation, it's not about power, it's not about intimidation 35, it's about looking inward."

The exhibition is organized by the Imperial Palace Museum and New York-based World Monuments Fund. The collaboration 36 also include restoration projects of the Fuwangge garden. It is estimated that bringing the entire garden, including the relics 37 back to life, will take at least 9 years.

Q&A: how to to find an economic development model that does not damage our planet

Making 2010 the year of China's green economy is the aim of the World Environmental Conference that is being held in Beijing.

Its organisers want to create a business and enterprise environment that brings about the development of green industry and low carbon cities.

Initially 38 focusing on China, key areas for discussion also include energy conservation, environmental protection and new low carbon technologies.

Earlier, "People in the Know" host Nigel Ballard got a chance to speak with Steve Howard, the Secretary General of the Global Foundation Secretariat, who is attending the conference in Beijing.

Teaching Skills in Primary and Middle Schools Need Improving

It's never too old to learn. Life-long learning is required in modern society, even for teachers. China's National Training Program for teachers of Primary School and Middle School has just been carried out comprehensively. It includes the National Exemplary Training for teachers of primary school and middle school, as well as Training for Rural Backbone 39 Teachers in the mid-west.

London Bike Hire Pcheme

London has launched a bike hire plan in an attempt to make transportation in the city greener. The plan will continuously expand over the next two years until it hosts the 2012 Olympic Games.

Indian Prime Minister says the ongoing 40 preparations for the Commonwealth 41 Games are satisfactory

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asserted the ongoing preparations for the Commonwealth Games are satisfactory.

"Well, with regard to Commonwealth Games, I have reviewed the situation with the Cabinet Secretary yesterday and I am satisfied that all necessary preparations are in place, will be in place, with regard to the deadlines that have been fixed 42 and that we can look forward to a very successful Commonwealth Games."

Meanwhile, British Prime Minister David Cameron, who is visiting India for the first time as Britain's head of government, wished India success in staging of the international competition.

"Can I wish you every success, particularly with the Commonwealth Games that you have upcoming."

The 12-day sporting extravaganza will be India's biggest sporting event since the 1982 Asian Games in New Delhi.

Media Digest

From the People's Daily: Local authorities in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous 43 Region have mobilized an army of specially-bred and trained silver foxes to combat a destructive plague of rats.

This year, more than 10 percent of the total grassland 44 coverage 45 in Xinjiang have been overrun by disease-infested rats. The rats have ravaged 46 the grasslands 47, eating grassroots and damaging the prairies with their underground digging.

The silver fox was chosen to be the rat fighter for its distinctive 48 ability to run, hunt and live under the harsh living conditions on the prairie. Since 2004, an army of 284 foxes have been released into the wild to do their work.

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Out of Reuters: A vicar was found guilty of conducting hundreds of sham 49 marriages between African nationals and cash-strapped eastern Europeans to allow illegal immigrants to gain residency in Britain.

Reverend Alex Brown presided over 360 fake ceremonies over four years, including several cases in which participants canceled one wedding only to marry someone else a month or two later, and another in which a person was registered to marry two people on the same day.

Brown insisted he only ever married couples he was sure were getting married for the right reasons or if the bride-to-be was imminently 50 expected to give birth.

Market Update

US stocks had a fitting end to a choppy July as prices seesawed 51 their way to a narrowly mixed finish. The market still had its best month in a year.

The Dow fell 0.01 percent, to 10,466. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 0.01 percent, to 1,102, while the Nasdaq composite index rose 0.1 percent, to 2,255.

In Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 fell 1.1 percent to 5258, Germany's DAX index rose 0.2 percent to 6148, and France's CAC-40 fell 0.2 percent to 3643.