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- China's manned submersible reaches 6,908 meters under sea
- China's manned submersible makes second dive in Mariana Trench
- Brics nations to boost IMF funds
- China hails Philippines' pullout
- Chinese media push into US
- China's manned submersible makes second dive in Mariana Trench
- Is Spain next for bailout? As nation's debt hits crisis point Cameron says UK must forge trade links in new markets beyond EU
- Europe's on the brink of probably the gravest and most frightening tumult of our lifetime
- Boris Johnson backs second runway at Stansted Airport as stop-gap before creation of Thames 'hub'
- Our only hope is to look beyond the EU
- 'She has the patience of a saint': Mother, 104, taking care of her daughter, 87, who suffers from dementia
- Five times loser: Fitch is latest to cut India's credit outlook to negative hitting its borrowing capability
- U.S. reclaims top spot in super-computer wars with machine that 'can do more in an hour than the world's population working non-stop for 320 years'
- Test center plays wrong English tape for students
- Manned space docking a crucial step for China
- HK agency: Samsonite luggage has carcinogen
- Tibetan authorities sink plans for tourist cruises
- Pyramid sellers attack police
- Viewers solve mystery of the 'fleshy monster'
- U.S. reclaims top spot in super-computer wars with machine that 'can do more in an hour than the world's population working non-stop for 320 years'
| China's manned submersible reaches 6,908 meters under sea Posted: 18 Jun 2012 08:07 PM PDT THE Jiaolong, China's manned deep-sea submersible, made a second dive into the Mariana Trench today, setting a new national record by reaching a depth of 6,908 meters below sea level. The dive, which started at 7 am local time (2100 GMT Monday) after the leaking oil pipe of its hydraulic system had been repaired, is expected to re-check the hydraulic system and test various functions and the security of the submersible at great depths. After setting a new national record in the Mariana Trench, located in the western Pacific Ocean and the deepest part of the world's oceans, sea drivers are collecting water samples and placing markers on the sea floor. Last Friday, the vessel reached 6,671 meters below the sea in the first dive, well surpassing the previous record of 5,188 meters made last July. The Jiaolong will attempt four more dives, aiming to move deeper and deeper to pursue the goal of reaching 7,000 meters below the sea level between mid-June and early July. The Xiangyanghong 09, the vessel's oceanographic mother ship, reached the designated dive zone in the Mariana Trench on June 11. |
| China's manned submersible makes second dive in Mariana Trench Posted: 18 Jun 2012 05:59 PM PDT CHINA'S manned deep-sea submersible Jiaolong made a second dive into the big blue sea at the Mariana Trench today morning. |
| Brics nations to boost IMF funds Posted: 18 Jun 2012 07:20 PM PDT The Brics economies say they will increase their contribution to the International Monetary Fund. |
| China hails Philippines' pullout Posted: 18 Jun 2012 04:09 AM PDT China welcomes the Philippines' decision to pull out from a disputed part of the South China Sea, saying it hopes that this will ease tensions. |
| Posted: 18 Jun 2012 05:58 PM PDT Chinese state media looks to expand in the States |
| China's manned submersible makes second dive in Mariana Trench Posted: 18 Jun 2012 05:59 PM PDT CHINA'S manned deep-sea submersible Jiaolong made a second dive into the big blue sea at the Mariana Trench today morning. |
| Posted: 18 Jun 2012 04:23 PM PDT The Prime Minister (pictured) said the situation was so grave that Britain would now have to look beyond Europe and forge economic links with more successful parts of the world. |
| Europe's on the brink of probably the gravest and most frightening tumult of our lifetime Posted: 18 Jun 2012 04:10 PM PDT Greece is no more fit to share a currency with Germany than I am to play tennis with Andy Murray. There is no more chance of them repaying its debts than of Boris Johnson giving up women. |
| Boris Johnson backs second runway at Stansted Airport as stop-gap before creation of Thames 'hub' Posted: 18 Jun 2012 04:01 PM PDT Johnson launched an attack on the Government after David Cameron refused to rule out reconsidering expanding Heathrow following the next election in 2015. |
| Our only hope is to look beyond the EU Posted: 18 Jun 2012 02:47 PM PDT Here in Britain, some hope remains. For beyond stagnant Europe, as Mr Cameron reminds us, countries such as China and India have booming markets we've neglected for far too long. |
| Posted: 18 Jun 2012 03:03 PM PDT Maria Garcia, 87, of Florida, begins each day by asking after her mom, Rosario Schielzeth, 104, who is always there, keeping her daughter's mind sharp through games of Bingo, trips to the movies and constant chats. |
| Posted: 18 Jun 2012 04:15 PM PDT Over the last couple of months, not only are topflight rating agencies - Standard & Poor's (S&P), Moody's and now Fitch - bearish about India's policymaking and governance abilities, but large investment houses such as Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs have similarly asked searching questions of the ability of the country to pump-prime its growth imperatives, constrained as it is owing to an acute lack of political will to implement reforms. |
| Posted: 18 Jun 2012 11:11 AM PDT IBM's Sequoia computer, which is 1.55 times faster than China's previous record-breaker, has been installed and switched on at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. |
| Test center plays wrong English tape for students Posted: 18 Jun 2012 10:36 AM PDT THE mismanagement of the listening section of China's biannual College English Test left more than 2,000 students stuck in exam rooms for four hours after their exams finished last Saturday at a college in east China's Jiangxi Province. Users of Sina Weibo, China's most popular Twitter-like microblogging service, broke the news, saying instructors at the Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute in the city of Jingdezhen mistakenly played the listening section for the College English Test Band Six (CET-6) - which was scheduled to be broadcast at 3pm for those sitting the CET-6 - to those taking the lower-level test of Band Four (CET-4) at 9am instead. In order to prevent the CET-6 test questions from being disclosed, school authorities asked more than 2,000 CET-4 examinees to remain in the exam rooms until the listening section of the CET-6 exam finished. The institute posted an announcement on its website on Sunday, saying five faculty members, including the chief examiner of the exam site, received punishment ranging from demotion to removal. "The serious incident was caused by 'loose management' and relevant faculty members' 'negligence,'" the posting said. "The mishandling was blamed on an exam paper handler who mistakenly regarded the Arabic number "Six" in the "Band Six" as the month of June when he fetched the tapes for the CET-4 examinees in the institute on Saturday morning," Zeng Desheng, the institute's publicity official, said yesterday. The situation escalated after thousands of Internet users took to the web. School authorities said they organized teachers to calm the students by offering them free lunch. "This was the second time that I sat the CET-4. I was fully prepared this time, but the incident totally disrupted my train of thought," a CET-4 examinee "guo'er" from the institute's Ceramic Design Department said, opting to give her weibo user name. In China's universities, CET-4 or CET-6 is a requirement for university students applying for higher education. Many universities won't let a student graduate without such a certificate, and it is also a prerequisite for those entering China's highly competitive job market. |
| Manned space docking a crucial step for China Posted: 18 Jun 2012 09:57 AM PDT A Chinese spacecraft carrying three astronauts docked with an experimental module yesterday, the latest milestone in China's ambitious campaign to build a space station. The Shenzhou-9 and its crew of three, which includes China's first female taikonaut Liu Yang, linked with the Tiangong (Heavenly Palace) 1 module, which was broadcast live on TV. The docking was a first for Chinese manned spaceflight. In November 2011, the unmanned Shenzhou-8 successfully docked twice with Tiangong-1 by remote control. Yesterday's docking also was completed by remote control from a ground base in China. A manual docking, to be carried out by one of the crew members, is planned for later in the mission. The Shenzhou-9 spacecraft carrying Liu and her crewmates docked with Tiangong-1 around 2pm. About three hours later, flight leader Jing Haipeng floated into the 15-cubic-meter space module, marking the country's first transfer of astronauts between two orbiting crafts. Jing, 45, soon adjusted his position to stand in the gravity-free cabin and waved to a monitor inside the space module. He was followed by Liu Wang, 43, who helped Jing monitor the condition of the air and pressure inside the module. Woman astronaut Liu Yang, 33, was the last to enter the space lab. She stumbled and floated in the cabin and took a longer time to adapt to the new environment. After entering the cabin, the three astronauts began to adjust various machines inside. They wore a thinner blue jumpsuit to move easily inside the narrow space, about the size of a bus. The 8.5-ton space lab module has traveled around Earth for 263 days since it was launched last September. They will live in the module for about 10 days, conduct medical tests on the effects of weightlessness on the human body, and perform other scientific and engineering tasks on Tiangong-1. Two astronauts will live and work inside the module to test its life-support systems while the other one will remain in the capsule to deal with any emergency. Major step toward station "The real test will be the manual docking attempt six days later," said Zhou Jianping, chief engineer of China's manned space program. "A manual docking, if successful, will demonstrate the country's grasp of essential space rendezvous and docking know-how." A manual docking is considered as a major step toward China building a space station around 2020, in time for the likely retirement of the International Space Station. "I was extremely envious of my three colleagues because they could float freely in the cabin, but I could only sit in a far smaller space on Shenzhou-5," said Yang Liwei, who became China's first taikonaut in 2003. The Tiangong module is mainly composed of a "sitting room" and two "bedrooms," said Zhang Bonan, chief designer of the Shenzhou-9 spacecraft. A red Chinese knot can be seen hung on the wall of the main cabin as a symbol of good fortune. The main cabin mainly has equipment for experiments and a video phone booth for astronauts to contact the ground at any time, Zhang said. It has separate "bedrooms," about 7 square meters each, for male and female astronauts. They can attach their sleeping bags in any position inside the gravity-free module. They will sleep in turns to make sure at least one is on duty. "The astronauts can draw the curtain to be out of the sight of monitors being installed around the module," Zhang said. It also has a smaller cabin in which there is a "gymnasium" where fitness equipment such as bicycle ergometer, chest developer and neuromuscular electrical stimulator will help astronauts reduce the effects of weightlessness and maintain their cardiac and muscular functions. "They have to do exercise every day to ensure the health that is equally important with their work," said Yu Jin, chief designer of the Tiangong-1 space module. They will go back to the spacecraft to dine. All the solid food has been cut into bite sizes so the astronauts can eat easily in the gravity-free cabin, Yu said. This is China's fourth manned space mission. The country undertook a two-man mission in 2005. Then there was a three-man trip in 2008 that featured China's first space walk. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| HK agency: Samsonite luggage has carcinogen Posted: 18 Jun 2012 09:56 AM PDT Samsonite International SA pulled its "Tokyo Chic" line of luggage from Hong Kong stores yesterday after a local consumer group reported high levels of compounds linked to cancer in the handles, although the company insisted the bags were safe. The Hong Kong Consumer Council said last week it found that the side handles on three Samsonite suitcases had higher levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons than recommended in voluntary guidelines. The compounds are commonly found in plastics, rubber and lubricating oil and it's possible that traces were left during manufacturing, the council said. They've been known to cause cancer and birth defects in animals. Samsonite said it commissioned independent tests from German and Hong Kong laboratories that showed levels were "significantly lower" than the council's findings. The consumer council said its tests showed levels particularly high in a suitcase sold under the Tokyo Chic line. Samsonite said that it has withdrawn all luggage from that line from Hong Kong shelves to allay the fears of local customers and would replace the handles. The company is not pulling Tokyo Chic luggage from other markets. It said there are no legal guidelines for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Samsonite said it doesn't expect the scare to affect its financial results. The company's stock, which is traded in Hong Kong, rebounded to close 7.6 percent higher after falling 16 percent on Friday. |
| Tibetan authorities sink plans for tourist cruises Posted: 18 Jun 2012 09:00 AM PDT AUTHORITIES in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region have quashed plans to run lake cruises on the region's famous Yamdrok Lake amid fears over potential damage to the plateau ecology. A local tourism company's plan to offer boat tours on the lake had not received the necessary authorization, the government in Shannan prefecture near Lhasa confirmed yesterday. The Shannan government has told Nanggarze County, home to the lake, to halt the project and promised to penalize the organizations and individuals responsible for the project. Reports of the cruise plans, which appeared in a Lhasa-based newspaper on Friday, sparked widespread concern. The cruises had been due to begin at the end of this month. Tibetan Buddhists said the tours showed a lack of respect for the faithful who worshipped at the sacred lake while others believed the boats and the increasing numbers of tourists would taint the lake water and put the plateau environment at risk. |
| Posted: 18 Jun 2012 09:00 AM PDT TWENTY people involved in a pyramid selling scheme have been detained after several security guards and police officers were injured in a riot at a residential complex in Hefei, capital of east China's Anhui Province. They were among hundreds of scheme members who challenged police after their meeting place in the complex was discovered on Saturday morning. Security guards were beaten up and had their walkie-talkies smashed while some rioters tried to grab a police officer's gun, seriously injuring him as he lay on the ground refusing to let go of the weapon while he was kicked by several attackers. The officer, surnamed Cheng, suffered severe leg injuries. Two security guard team leaders were hit by bricks and one of them, Liu Chuanru, suffered kidney damage which could lead to an operation to have one removed, the Xin'an Evening News reported yesterday. "I attempted to block them, but they just rushed to attack me," a security guard surnamed Gao said. The two team leaders were quickly surrounded and beaten to the ground. The rioters even tried to stop an ambulance from reaching the injured. Pyramid sellers often had quarrels or scuffles with security guards in nearby residential complexes, where the illegal activities were rampant, because their scams were often hindered by security guards, an unnamed guard told the newspaper. The pyramid sellers seemed to have no fear of the police. There were shouts of "Let's teach the police a lesson," the newspaper reported. A SWAT police squad eventually put a stop to the riot. |
| Viewers solve mystery of the 'fleshy monster' Posted: 18 Jun 2012 09:00 AM PDT A TV channel in Xi'an City, northwest China Shaanxi Province apologized yesterday after the "unidentified fleshy monster" it said had been discovered underground turned out to be ... a sex toy. "Monster discovered during well digging," claimed the Xi'an Channel 2 during its "Zero Distance to Xi'an" program broadcast on Sunday. In the program, a young female reporter and a group of villagers gathered near a bucket of water, in which the "mysterious fleshy pink object" was floating. "I was helping a friend to dig a well about 80 meters under the ground where we found this fleshy thing," said a villager surnamed He. "We don't know what it is, but it seems to have eyes and nose," He said. The reporter said the object was like a smooth mushroom with one of its ends looking like a human mouth. "Some elderly villagers, with some 80 years old, dropped by to study the object but they had never seen anything like it," He said. He browsed online and wondered whether the object was a meat lucid ganoderma, a type of fungus. The reporter said she would be taking the object to a botanist for analysis. But viewers weren't fooled, quickly pointing out that the object was not some rare fungus but an artificial vagina. "Ignorance is horrible. How can the reporter mistake a sex toy for fungus?" asked one viewer on his Weibo microblog. "I own a sex toy shop and this thing is exactly like the artificial vaginas I sell every day," said another viewer on Tianya.cn. A download of the program was forwarded more than 14,000 times online sparking not only amusement but also criticism of the station's lack of professionalism. In response, the station made an apology on its official microblog yesterday. "We are sorry to incur ridicule from the news coverage on Sunday. The incident has attracted wide public attention and comments," it said. "We apologize for discomfort and misdirection brought to the audience because our reporters are young and unfamiliar with worldly affairs." This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Posted: 18 Jun 2012 10:22 AM PDT IBM's Sequoia computer, which is 1.55 times faster than China's previous record-breaker, has been installed and switched on at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California. |
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