Life NewsUPDATED: 11:05, July 03, 2007 |
Russia has launched a campaign to promote the national language after almost two decades of retreat - to match the country's increasing economic and political confidence. Thousands of smokers defied the introduction of the smoking ban across England on Sunday by lighting up in pubs, claiming that the legislation was an infringement of civil liberties. One billion people will die of tobacco-related diseases this century unless governments in rich and poor countries alike get serious about preventing smoking, top World Health Organization (WHO) experts said yesterday. Following last summer's successful "swimathon", this South China city is planning to hold another mass swimming event across the Pearl River in the very near future. Most addicts in the city use synthetic drugs and start before they are 30 years old, according to a survey. The country's largest inland lake, Qinghai Kokonor, will stop "shrinking" and start reverting to its former level within a decade, scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences said yesterday. Beijing has become the first city in China to meet the required safety standards of potable water. Leading experts and officials are studying the feasibility of a strategic environmental impact assessment system (SEIA) in China, sources said. Despite being the world's most prolific producer of television dramas, about 40 percent of the 12,000 episodes Chinese firms produce each year never see the light of day. A growing number of Beijing residents are opening up their homes to four-legged tenants - during the first six months this year, about 50,000 households registered dogs for the first time. Lightning storms normally occur in summer; but recently, the lightning storm in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province really scared people. According to incomplete statistics from Zhejiang's meteorological department, since June 21st, the lightning strikes were centralized in Zhejiang. On June 21st, for one day only, lightning struck the ground up to 20,000 times in the entire province and more than 6,000 times in the Hangzhou area alone. Seven lightning casualties occurred in one week within the province, as the lightning killed ten people and injured twelve. Malaysia is expected to announce 50 historical buildings as its national heritage in conjunction with the celebration of its 50th anniversary of independence, local reports said here on Monday. Many Chinese colleges and universities are owed millions of yuan because students are unable to, or choose not to, pay back tuition loans, the Ministry of Education said on Monday. The Khmer HIV/AIDS NGO Alliance (KHANA) in cooperation with the Club of Cambodian Journalists in Phnom Penh on Monday started a two-day Special Journalism Training Course on HIV/AIDS Reporting for 30 Cambodian print journalists. The Myanmar Information Ministry is encouraging local media to publish their journals and magazines in English language version also for the development of the media sector, local media said on Monday. Southern China is expected to experience high temperatures and below-average rainfall in July which will worsen the problem of blue-green algae in its water resources, a senior meteorological official warned on Monday. England brought itself into line with the rest of the UK, and many other countries throughout the world after the ban on smoking in public places in England came into effect Sunday. Some 12 million Vietnamese people, or 14 percent of Vietnam's population, are infected with hepatitis B, around three million of them need treatment, local newspaper Youth reported Monday. Depression treatment contributes to a decline in suicide attempts, according to a new study. The percentage of Americans who consider children very important to a successful marriage has dropped sharply since 1990, and more now cite the sharing of household chores as pivotal, according to a new survey. Los Angeles' driest year in 130 years of record-keeping went into the books this weekend. Rockers and royals, including Rod Stewart, Elton John and Princes William and Harry, took the stage at London's recently opened Wembley Stadium last night to remember Princess Diana, almost 10 years after her death in a Paris car crash. If you thought the 8,000 terra cotta warriors were the last archeological surprise this ancient capital of China had in store, think again. The more than 2-millennia-old tomb of China's first emperor Qinshihuang has thrown up yet another secret: a 30-meter-tall building. At 5:10 pm, Sunday, the nose landing gear of a Boeing 767 which was scheduled to take off at 5:30 in flight CA941 from Beijing to Dubai, suddenly retracted during boarding, giving the aircraft head a heavy jerk. Eight people aboard fell down and got injured, including five crewmembers and three passengers. They were rushed to hospital immediately. Eight people have died in rainstorms that have lashed central China's Hubei Province since June 29, the State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters said on Sunday. Beijing Waterworks Group announced Sunday that tap water in China's capital is drinkable even without being boiled. One third of Chinese recreation and sports stars have health problems, a survey revealed on Sunday. China's government is likely to scrap up its "golden week" holiday system and make public holidays of more traditional festivals by 2009, a Chinese tourism expert has revealed. A museum featuring cultural relics unearthed during the construction of the south-to-north water diversion project opened on Sunday in Shiyan City, central China's Hubei Province. The renovated Giant Panda Habitat in Hong Kong's Ocean Park opened to the public on Sunday, where a pair of new-comer pandas made their first public appearance. |
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