Headlines

Sichuan tremors

An aftershock measuring 6 on the Richter scale rocked west China on Thursday afternoon.

The tremor hit at the juncture of Ningqiang county in Shaanxi province and Qingchuan county in Sichuan province at 3:05pm.

The aftershock left eight people injured and one elderly man died of fright.

It was the third tremor to hit the area in the last 24 hours.

Hubei hit by downpour

Ten people have died and two are missing after heavy rain lashed central China's Hubei Province this week.

By Wednesday, the storms had hit many areas in Hubei, inundating residential communities, and cutting off roads and damaging communications and power facilities in the worst hit Xiangfan and Enshi cities.

More than 100,000 people have been evacuated and about 11,500 houses have collapsed in the downpour.

Bulldozer rampage

Three Israeli’s are dead and 45 wounded after a terrorist ploughed a bulldozer down a busy street in Jerusalem on Tuesday.

The Palestinian from East Jerusalem rammed the construction vehicle into a dozen cars and overturned a bus before being shot dead by authorities.

The violent rampage is a chilling imitation of an attack that took place in the city less than three weeks ago.

Last chance for Games tickets

Beijingers queued up overnight to get their hands on the last remaining Olympic tickets.

Eager buyers began showing up at Olympic venues 24 hours before the tickets went on sale.

More than 800,000 domestic tickets, that have gone unclaimed, were made available to the general public at 9 o’clock this morning.

In-depth

Trapped miners in Guangxi

The bodies of seven miners were recovered from a flooded coal mine in Tiandong county on Tuesday.

Twenty-nine other men remain trapped since Monday, more than 3-kilometres underground in the mine in southern China’s Guangxi Autonomous Region.

The operation has now reached a critical period as heavy rain is expected over the next two days around Tiandong.

On Wednesday, authorities ordered all mines in the region to suspend production and check for any signs of flooding.

Morale boost for Olympians

Chinese athletes busy preparing for the Olympic Games had a surprise visit on Wednesday from President Hu Jintao.

Hu accompanied by Vice President Xi Jinping, went to the training stadiums in southern Beijing to give the Chinese team a morale boost.

The president watched training programs of athletes in gymnastics, synchronized swimming, table tennis, weightlifting, basketball and volleyball.

Hu expressed his hope that the athletes and coaches continue to train hard and achieve outstanding results at the Games.

Nepal elects first president

The mountainous nation of Nepal elected its first president on Wednesday, officially ending the rule of its 239-year-old monarchy.

Ram Baran Yadav, an ethnic Madheshi from the centrist Nepali Congress party, won 308 out of the 590 votes cast, defeating Maoist conservative Ramraja Prasad Singh.

The vote is the first since lawmakers declared Nepal a republic in April, ending a decade-long civil war with Maoist insurgents.

It is hoped Yadav’s election will unite a country torn for decades between its highland Himalayan cultures and the peoples of the plains.

Don’t mess with Dolly

Following the fury of Hurricane Dolly concern has turned to widespread flooding along the populous Rio Grande.

Dolly made landfall on Tuesday near the Mexico-Texas border, dumping 30 cm of rain in the first few hours and ripping off roofs and snapping trees in half.

The rain dumped by Dolly's march into the Rio Grande Valley, could affect more than 1 million people.

Other news

Hurdle highlight

Cuban hurdler Dayron Robles is hot on the heels of Olympic champion Liu Xiang clocking in the second fastest time ever for the men's 110 metres hurdle.

Robles, whose battle with  Liu promises to be one of the highlights of the athletics in Beijing, clocked in 12.88 seconds at the Paris Golden league meet earlier this week.

The Cuban's time was a hundredth of a second off the world record he set last month in the Czech Republic.

Beauties for the Games

Three hundred and thirty-seven hostesses for the Olympic victory ceremonies will graduate on Saturday from a two-month boot camp.

The women were selected from more than 1,400 students at China’s top universities.

On Sunday the hostesses were kitted-out in the two uniforms they will wear during a dress rehearsal at Beijing’s Institute of Technology.

A lot of dough for bread

How much would you pay for a loaf of bread? In Zimbabwe it goes into the billions!

Due to spiralling hyper-inflation in the African nation a 100 billion dollar note was launched this week with the same value as a loaf of bread.

In the political turmoil since the disputed March elections, prices in Zimbabwe have risen almost daily.

The hyper currency has already stirred interest in the money market with the notes going up for auction on eBay.

（英語點津  Helen 編輯）

About the broadcaster:

" style="WIDTH: 120px; HEIGHT: 120px" title=""> Bernice Chan is a foreign expert at China Daily Website. Originally from Vancouver, Canada, Bernice has written for newspapers and magazines in Hong Kong and most recently worked as a broadcaster for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, producing current affairs shows and documentaries.

 

" style="WIDTH: 120px; HEIGHT: 120px" title=""> Marc Checkley is a freelance journalist and media producer from New Zealand. Marc has had an eclectic career in the media/arts working on various projects in theatre, television, online, radio, print and film. Marc spent three months with the China Daily last year leading the online video news initiative. He returns to chinadaily.com.cn as Senior Editor and Producer for the website’s Olympic media news coverage.