Obama's European tour a show of "solidarity"

U.S. President Barack Obama returned here Saturday after a six-day European tour, during which he put on a show of "solidarity" while trans-Atlantic divergence may still run deep.Trying to forge a unified position on the unrestive Middle East and North Africa was high on Obama' agenda while he was in Europe, especially because the trip started only three days after his major policy speech on those issues.The United States has vital interests in that region while Europeans are sensitive to the developments there given the geographic proximity.After a two-day summit in the northern French resort of Deauville, Obama and other leaders of the G8 industrialized nations pledged 20 billion U.S. dollars in aid to Egypt and Tunisia through 2013 for their "suitable reform efforts."Of the total, 10 billion...

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More than 100 taking part in marathon on Qomolangma

More than 100 runners from around the world took part in a marathon held Sunday morning on the south slope of Mount Qomolangma, the world's highest peak, event manager Ram Thapa confirmed to Xinhua over telephone.The 42,195-meter race started from near the famous Khumbu Ice Fall at Qomolangma Base Camp (5,364 meters above sea level) and the finish is set at Namche Bazar (3,440 meters above sea level).The adventure was organized by Himalayan Expedition of Nepal to commemorate the historical ascent by late Tenzing Norgay Sherpa and Sir Edmund Hillary on May 29, 1953. May 29 is observed as "International Qomolangma Da...

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Three killed, eight injured in chemical plant blast in east China

Three people were killed and eight were injured in a chemical plant blast Saturday evening in east China's Zibo City, Shandong Province, the city government said on Sunday.The blast occurred at 9:31 p.m. Saturday in a chemical plant of Shandong Baoyuan Chemical Co.,Ltd.. Two were dead at the scene and one died later in hospital.The cause of the blast is under investigati...

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Army of toy peacekeepers embarks on global mission

 With 50,000 plastic toy blue helmets now appearing in dozens of countries, running into a UN peacekeeper is no longer limited to the world's troubled "hotspots."MINUSCULE BLUE HELMETSWandering through New York, Paris or Sydney, it is hard to imagine some 120,000 blue helmets are ubiquitous in conflict zones all around the world. Dutch Graphic Designer Pierre Derks attempted to break this invisibility with his project "Minuscule Blue Helmets on a Massive Quest."Together with an inexhaustible squad of volunteers Derks perseveringly one-by-one hand-painted blue helmets on 50,000 plain green toy soldiers and handed them out to people at an art show in The Hague, the Netherlands, which is dubbed the world's second UN city. All minuscule peacekeepers came with an instruction package to photograph...

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Doubts raised about Colombia's new reparations law

 The newly approved law on reparations for victims of decades of violence in Colombia raises a host of questions, particularly about how beneficiaries will be defined and how the government will finance the scheme.Colombia's Senate on Tuesday ratified the Victim and Restitution of Lands Law, which would compensate for and return usurped property to those subject to armed violence since 1985.The government estimates that 4 million hectares of land were abandoned and 2 million seized during the armed conflicts.Under the law, financial compensation will be awarded to victims of the conflicts, and the land returned to former owners. The government says at least 4 million people will benefit.The costs of implementing the law will be the main challenge for the government. Officials estimate...

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Cambodia confident temple management plan to be accepted by UNESCO

Cambodia is firmly confident that the UNESCO's World Heritage Committee (WHC) will officially accept the management plan of Preah Vihear temple proposed in the 35th WHC meeting in Paris on June 19 to 29, said a top government official on Sunday."In the next month's meeting, the World Heritage Committee will make the official decision on the management plan of Preah Vihear temple, which Cambodia submitted in the last year's annual WHC meeting," the cabinet minister Sok An, Chairman of the Cambodian National Commission for UNESCO, said Sunday at Phnom Penh International Airport upon his arrival from Paris, where he held talks with Thai Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Suwit Khunkitti on Preah Vihear temple issues under the mediation by the UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova."Cambodia...

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Myanmar official media hail president China visit

Myanmar president U Thein Sein's three-day state visit to China has opened a new chapter in the history of Myanmar-China relations, Myanmar official media said Sunday.Describing the visit as the highest level relationship in the areas of relations between the two countries, the New Light of Myanmar stressed in its editorial that the visit has promoted comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership.The editorial quoted Myanmar President U Thein Sein as saying that " A historical Paukphaw relationship developed and it has reached a strategic level. So, efforts will be made for further strengthening the relations between the two countries".The editorial also quoted Chinese President Hu Jintao as agreeing so, underlining that "Successful discussions of the two state leaders during the state visit...

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Make-up show kicks off in central China

 A model with fashionable make-up is seen during a show in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, May 28, 2011. Some 20 models displayed various make-up styles at the show on Saturday ...

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Nadal sails into French Open last 16

Top seed and defending champion Rafael Nadal eased past Croatian qualifier Antonio Veicon 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 to reach the last 16 at the French Open on Saturday.It was the Spaniard's 41st win at Roland Garros against just the one defeat since he made his debut in 2005.The world No. 1 will next face either compatriot Fernando Verdasco or Croatian Ivan Ljubic...

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25 prominent paintings of Zhang Daqian ready to auction in HK

 Strange Pines of Mount Huang by Chinese painter Zhang Daqian (1899-1983) is seen on display during a media preview in south China's Hong Kong on May 28, 2011. A total of 25 prominent paintings from the Mei Yun Tang Collection of Paintings by Zhang Daqian will be brought under the hammer on May 31, Sotheby's Hong Kong announced on Saturday.   Children Playing under a Pomegranate Tree by Chinese painter Zhang Daqian (1899-1983) is seen on display during a media preview in south China's Hong Kong on May 28, 2011.  Reading Under Autumn Trees (R) by Chinese painter Zhang Daqian (1899-1983) is on display during a media preview in south China's Hong Kong on May 28, 20...

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China's first collection of Buddhist medicine unveiled at Shaolin Temple

A newly-published 100-volume collection of works on Buddhist medicine was unveiled Saturday at the Shaolin Temple, the shrine of Kong Fu in central China's Henan Province.China Buddhist Medicine Collection, compiled in 101 volumes and 70 million characters, includes more than 3,000 documents on the theories and practices of Buddhist medicine.The earliest of the works dates to the Han Dynasty (202 BC - 220 AD), while the latest was written during the Republic of China (1912 - 1949)."We use medicines to cure people's physical illnesses and Buddhism to solve their mental problems; the combination of the two is aimed to restore the balance and harmony of man's body and spirit," said Shi Yongxin, abbot of Shaolin and one of the principal compilers.To complete the collection, the Shaolin Temple...

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About 100 Chinese universities join water-saving campaign

Around 100 universities in 20 Chinese provinces have joined an annual water-saving campaign called "saving a barrel of water," which kicked off at Tsinghua University in Beijing Saturday.College students will conduct surveys on water use in urban residential communities and design tailored plans for them to save water. The most effective plan will win monetary prizes provided by the campaign's sponsors."The students will also go into primary schools of migrant workers' children, giving lectures on saving water," said Zhao Yixin, head of the Beijing Environment Protection Foundation, one of the campaign organizers.He said the campaign would instill a sense of water conservation with parents and the local communities of the participating college students.This is particularly important for China...

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Governor of Takhar province injured in explosion

Governor of northern Afghan province of Takhar was injured in a suicide bomb attack on his house in the provincial capital Taluqan city on Saturday, an official said.It was a suicide attack inside the governor's house as a result provincial governor Abdul Jabbar Taqwa was injured, spokesman for the governor Faizullah Tawhidi told Xinhua.An official who declined to give his name said that provincial police chief Mohammad Daud was killed in the incident.However, Tawhidi rejected the claim, saying Daud might have been injur...

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Australia gambling reform receive support from major football codes: Sports Ministers

Australia's plan to crackdown on betting advertisements during sports events has been backed by two major football codes, Sports Minister Mark Arbib said on Saturday.Under Labor federal government's gambling reform, the government on Friday announced to give television networks until June next year to rein in promotion of betting advertisement during sports broadcasts, or laws will be introduced to ban it.Arbib said he had a very positive meeting with National Rugby League (NRL) boss David Gallop and his Australian Football League (AFL) counterpart Andrew Demetriou."I have to say we've had very good support from the sports so far," he told the Fairfax Radio Network on Saturday."They are very supportive of the move."Arbib said gambling was always going to be part of sport but it was important...

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Deportivo appoint Oltra to lead them back to Primera Liga

Deportivo la Coruna have confirmed the appointment of Jose Luis Oltra as first team coach for next season.Oltra has the job of taking Deportivo back to the BBVA Primera Liga after they were relegated on a dramatic last day of the season a week ago.It is a swift return to management for the 42-year-old who had a spell with Almeria last season after replacing Juanma Lillo in November 2010. However, he was sacked by the club this April after being unable to provoke a reaction from a limited squad.Oltra is best known for leading Tenerife to promotion to the Primera Liga in the 2009-10 season, but he was unable to maintain the club in the top flight the following year and his contract was not extended.He will have a difficult job at his new club, given that the majority of Deprotivo's highest paid...

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No more free plastic bags in China's bookstores, drugstores: official

 China will expand its ban that prohibits shops from giving out free plastic bags and will increase efforts against their use in order to reduce environmental pollution, a senior government official said Saturday.Now bookstores and drugstores will also be prohibited from handing out free plastic bags, and all shops and supermarkets will be supervised to adhere to the policy, said Zhao Jiarong, deputy secretary-general of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), said at an event marking the third anniversary of the ban.But she did not say when the ban targeting bookstores and drugstores would become effective.China started banning shops from giving out free plastic bags and prohibiting production and usage of plastic bags thinner than 0.025 millimeters since June 1, 2008.The...

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China's Li Na reaches French Open last 16

China's Li Na breezed past Romania's Sorana Cirstea.6-2, 6-2 to sail into the fourth round of the French Open for the second time on Saturday.The 6th-seeded Li, who became the first Chinese player to make a Grand Slam final at the Australian Open, will next take on Czech ninth seed Petra Kvitova, 6-4, 6-2 winner over Vania King of the United States.Li has never reached the last eight in the French Op...

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Love wind, fear wind: growing pains of China's wind power industry

In a vast prairie to the north of Hohhot, the capital city of north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, hundreds of wind turbines stand like a vast, unbroken forest.The turbines have created both opportunities and problems for the region's power companies."I long for wind, but I also fear wind," says Su Changyou, a manager of a wind farm located in Inner Mongolia's Siziwang Banner (County)."During high winds, my wind turbines will rotate in full gear, which means higher profits. But sometimes, my telephone rings with calls from power grid controllers ordering us to limit our power generation," says Su.Ever since Su's wind farm was connected to China's power grid last May, only about 60 percent of the farm's turbines have been in operation. The rest of the turbines must remain idle to...

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China's Changchun city holds 2nd foreigners' games

The second sports games for foreigners living in this capital city of Jilin province kicked off here on Saturday with over 400 athletes from 69 countries and regions participating.The two-day competition features 18 disciplines from six sports including soccer, basketball, badminton, table tennis and shooting.Most of the participants are foreign professionals, technical and management personnel, students and teachers living in Changchun.Sola Kembo Christian of Congo said, "It is the first time for me to attend this games. I feel good and never want to lose any matches."Thomas Ilisz of Germany, who plays badminton, said, "It is a very good competition, which can provide a chance for us to gather here to enjoy sports. I hope same competition will be held in next year."More than 8,000 foreigners...

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Three Gorges Dam water discharge helps irrigate farmlands amid severe drought

China's drought-plagued central and eastern provinces are hurriedly using increased water discharges from the Three Gorges Dam to irrigate dry farmlands as the severe drought continues, the country's top drought-relief authority said Saturday.A statement from the Office of the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters said the five provinces of Hubei, Hunan, Anhui, Jiangxi, and Jiangsu, which are suffering from their worst drought in 60 years, have irrigated 8.63 million mu (about 575,333 hectares) of farmlands, as of Saturday, by using the discharge water.In efforts to alleviate the prolonged drought, China plans to discharge more water from the dam on the Yangtze River. From May 25 to June 10, water flow from the previous 10,000 cubic meters per second will be raised to as much...

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Staggering death toll makes China's tobacco control more urgent than ever

Wang Jun, a resident in Tai'an, east China's Shandong Province, has been smoking for more than 20 years. In April 2010, his wife was diagnosed with lung cancer, and the news hit the chain-smoking Wang like a thunderbolt.He realized his smoking habit was at least partially responsible."I know my wife's cancer is closely related to my second-hand smoke," Wang said.China produced nearly 2.4 trillion cigarettes in 2010, which contributed more than 7 percent of the nation's annual total tax income, yet more than one million died of tobacco-related diseases, accounting for 13 percent of the total 9.43 million of deaths in 2010.China has more than 300 million smokers, and those smokers are not only damaging their own health. Second-hand smoke attacks about 740 million people, including 180 million...

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China opposes Vietnam oil, gas exploration in China's jurisdictional sea area: FM spokeswoman

China opposes Vietnam's exploring oil and gas in China's jurisdictional area of the South China Sea, Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Jiang Yu said Saturday."China's stance on the South China Sea is clear and consistent. We oppose the oil and gas operations conducted by Vietnam, which have undermined China's interests and jurisdictional rights in the South China Sea and violated the consensus both countries have reached on the issue," Jiang said in a statement.Jiang made the remarks responding to a recent report saying that Hanoi claimed Chinese marine surveillance vessels interfered with Vietnam's oil and gas exploration in the South China Sea and accused Beijing of violating its sovereignty."What relevant Chinese departments did was completely normal marine law-enforcement and surveillance activities...

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China Railway signs agreement with Myanmar on rail project

China Railway Group Limited (China Railway) announced Saturday that it has signed a side agreement with Myanmar to jointly build a rail transport construction project in Myanmar.The side agreement was a supplement to a memorandum of understanding signed in April between the Myanmar Union Ministry of Rail Transportation and the China Railways Engineering Corporation, the parent company of China Railway.Under the MOU, China agreed to cooperate with Myanmar in building a railway extending between Myanmar's border town of Muse and the western Rakhine state's Kyaukphyu, a port city.China Railway said it would be in charge of building the rail line, which starts from the Chinese city of Ruili in southwestern Yunnan Province, extending to Muse and ending at Kyaukphyu. The entire rail line runs 810...

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NYMEX crude oil futures rose as gasoline futures rose before the holiday long weekends

Friday, U.S. crude oil futures once again stand firm, rose slightly, from gasoline futures rose in found support. Gasoline futures in anticipation of rising demand summer driving season, rose. However, increases in crude oil futures limited, due to the U.S. pending home sales index fell, increasing concerns of economic weakness, so that a falling dollar after crude oil futures gave up most of the increase caused. Memorial Day holiday weekend opened before the summer driving season, U.S. gasoline futures rose for the sixth trading day. U.S. April pending home sales fell more than expected, down to the seven-month low, lowering the key of the property market recovery hopes. NYMEX-CLN1 U.S. July crude oil futures rose $ 0.36, to close at $ 100.59. This week, U.S. crude oil futures rose $...

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Rue21 is much higher than expected quarterly earnings and raised full-year profit forecast

Youth apparel retailer Rue21 (RUE.O) announced on Thursday its quarterly profit well above expectations and raised full-year profit forecast. In Friday morning trading, the stock soared 17.24%, to $ 33....

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Constellation Energy will buy electricity retailer StarTex Power

Electricity supply company Constellation Energy Group (CEG.N) will be 142.5 million cash acquisition of the Houston electricity retailer StarTex Power. In Friday morning trading, Constellation Energy Group shares was up 0.02%, to 36.9 U.S. dolla...

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Weyerhaeuser Deutsche Bank downgrades to "sell ", which shares fell

Deutsche Bank said rising inventories of logs, resulting in timbervolume and prices, it will drag on forest wood productsmanufacturing and building business Weyerhaeuser Co (WY.N)performance this year; Deutsche Bank Weyerhaeuser rating from"hold," fell to "sell Out. " In Friday morning trading, Weyerhaeuser shares fell 5.9%, to $ 20....

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Cuba claims opening win at China int'l women' s volleyball tournament

Cuba beat the Netherlands in straight sets here on Saturday for its opening victory at the 2011 China international women' s volleyball tournament. Allegne Yanelis Santos had 13 kills and five aces to lead the Cuban team to the 25-17, 25-19 and 26-24 victory in 66 minutes. Going down tamely in the first two sets, the Dutch women put up some real resistance in the third, overcoming a 17-10 deficit to level it at 23-all. After a spike of Ramos Rosanna Giel gave Cuba the edge at 24-23, Lonneke Sloetjes smashed a ball home to tie it at 24-all, only to find Santos score two points in a row to seal the victory for Cuba. Sloetjes led the Netherlands with 18 poin...

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Chinese premier emphasizes development of science, technology

Premier Wen Jiabao said Saturday China must develop powerful strength in science and technology and foster a large number of talented individuals in order to "gain the upper hand" in international competition.He made the remarks while addressing a plenary session of the National Congress of the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST) on Saturday."China cannot develop without developing science and technology," Wen stressed. "Our future relies on the future of science and technology."He said China should pool its resources on major science and technology research programs, while making progress in the development of some strategically important new industries.Meanwhile, China should improve the quality, performance and competitiveness of traditional industries through scientific...

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G8 summit tries to avoid self-indulgence

The Group of Eight (G8) summit devoted much to unrest in West Asia and North Africa and the Middle East peace process, and deliberately less to the global economy, perhaps conscious of its declining sway.The G8 summit in the French resort of Deauville sends a signal that with the ever shifting international political and economic landscape and the rise of emerging economies, the world's eight powers can no longer dominate world affairs. Accordingly, their leaders tried to avoid self-indulgence at the summit.DEMOCRACY AND FREEDOM IN SPOTLIGHTDuring the two-day meeting which ended Friday, the G8 leaders focused much on the political changes in the Middle East and North Africa."In light of the recent developments in the Middle East and North Africa, and in sub-Sahara Africa, we renewed our commitment...

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Clinton's visit removes misconceptions: Pakistan

 Pakistan said on Saturday that the visit of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had removed misconceptions and misunderstandings between the two countries to a great extent.Hillary Clinton and Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen visited Pakistan on Friday to mend ties with its anti-terror ally which was angered at the unilateral U.S. raid to kill the al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden in Pakistan on May 2.American media reported that Hillary Clinton asked Pakistan to take decisive steps against al-Qaida and Taliban and handed over a list of five most wanted militant leaders during four-hour meeting with Pakistan's top political and military leaders.Pakistani Foreign Office spokeswoman Tehmina Janjua said that during discussions the leadership of the two countries...

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Egyptian court fines Mubarak, two ex-ministers 90 mln dollars

An Egyptian court on Saturday decided to fine former President Hosni Mubarak and two ministers of his regime a total of 540 million Egyptian pounds (90 million U.S. dollars) for damaging the economy with cutting off the mobile and internet services during the anti-regime protests, state media reported.The Administrative Court of State Council ordered Mubarak to pay 200 million pounds (33.5 million dollars) to the State treasury, former Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif 40 million pounds (6.7 million dollars) and former Interior Minister Habib el-Adli 300 million pounds (50.3 million dollars).This is the first court conviction against Mubarak since he was forced to step down on Feb. 11 after the 18-day protests.The fine will be taken from their own assets and will be in compensation for the damage...

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Posted in: Egyptian court fines Mubarak,two ex-ministers 90 mln dollars