Headlines

DPRK Premier visits China

President Hu Jintao Thursday called for resuming the Six-Party Talks as soon as possible to ease rising tensions in the Korean Peninsula sparked by Pyongyang’s satellite launch plan.

He made the remarks when meeting Kim Yong-il, Premier of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).

Pyongyang had announced it would launch the satellite between April 4 and 8.

During his five-day visit to China, Kim also visited Shandong province’s Taishan Mountain and the Confucius Temple in Qufu.

China blocks Coca-Cola’s bid for Huiyuan

The government Wednesday rejected Coca-Cola’s $2.4 billion bid to acquire beverage maker Huiyuan Juice Group Ltd, citing China’s Anti-Monopoly Law.

In a statement, the Ministry of Commerce said the planned takeover violates the provisions of the Anti-Monopoly law, adding that it would have restricted competition and harmed the domestic juice industry.

The bid was the first major deal to test the Anti-Monopoly Law which took effect last August.

Fire at China Central Academy of Fine Arts

Fire devoured a makeshift student dormitory for the China Central Academy of Fine Arts in northeast Beijing Monday morning, injuring one person and forcing over 400 students to stay in temporary shelter.

The two-storey temporary building rented by the art school caught on fire around 10am.

It housed low-level employees and students of its Adult Education Institute.

One hundred and forty firefighters battled the blaze, which was put out around noon.

146-year-old newspaper goes on online

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer printed its final edition Tuesday, after its owner, Hearst Corp said it failed to find a buyer.

Seattle becomes the second American city after Denver to lose a newspaper this year.

The Post-Intelligencer’s roots date to 1863, when Seattle was still a frontier town. The newspaper has now shifted entirely to the Web.

The US newspaper industry has seen ad revenue fall in recent years as advertisers migrate to the Internet.

Yao Ming tops Forbes China Celebrity list

NBA star Yao Ming tops this year’s Forbes China list of the top 100 celebrities, with the most media exposure and pre-tax income of 357 million yuan or $52 million.

This is the sixth time Yao topped the list, followed by actress Zhang Ziyi and New Jersey Nets forward Yi Jianlian.

Beijing Olympics multiple gold medal diver Guo Jingjing shot up 24 places to fourth position.

Other Olympic athletes such as gymnasts Yang Wei, Zou Kai and Li Xiaopeng, table tennis player Ma Lin, weightlifter Chen Xiexia and diver Wu Minxia made their debuts this year.

Hurdler Liu Xiang dropped from second spot to fifth this year, partly due to his early exit from the 2008 Games due to injury.

China to decrease US investment

China’s appetite for US Treasury Bonds is set to diminish as a result of the falling trade surplus and rising concern over investment security.

The country’s reserves of US Treasuries rose by $12.2 billion to $739.2 billion by the end of January, according to a report by the US Treasury Department.

Although US President Barack Obama later assured that every investor, including China, America’s biggest creditor, “can have absolute confidence” in the soundness of investments in the US, a rising number of Chinese experts are advocating that the government find new investment channels for its foreign exchange reserves.

Austrian man pleads guilty to incest

An Austrian jury sentenced Joseph Fritzl to life in a psychiatric ward for homicide, enslavement, incest, rape and other charges for holding his daughter captive for 24 years and fathering her seven children.

The 73-year-old told the court he accepted the verdicts and waived his right for an appeal, bringing a dramatic end to a shocking case that has drawn worldwide attention.

The homicide charge, or “murder by neglect” in German, was for the death of an infant twin boy Michael who prosecutors say might have survived with proper medical care.

Fritzl’s daughter Elisabeth was the key witness against him, testifying via a series of video tapes that were only shown in closed-door sessions.

Picture News

Adopted Chinese visit their homeland

A group of Chinese children adopted by 34 families in six countries have come back to their homeland to find out more about their roots.

The Ministry of Civil Affairs arranged the four-day trip to help the children, all adopted from Yangzhou, Jiangsu province, to understand where they come from.

“As a parent, I think it is very important to offer her a chance to experience her heritage. Alice might be too young to understand, but China has met all of my expectations. In years to come, she will piece up her life story as she knows where she comes from.”

- Ian Hollocks and his daughter Alice, 7, from London, UK

“Once we got off the plane, my daughters told me, ‘Now everyone has a similar face like me, instead of you’.”

- Jeri Burman with her daughters Sarah, 14 and Katie, 12 from Florida, US

“Once we decided to come, our daughters were very excited about this trip, especially the authentic Chinese food. Maybe it is in their genes, that they just love it.”

- Vic and Relinde Paulissen with their daughters Wenyan, 11 and Siuwa, 6 from Susteren, the Netherlands.

（英語點津 Helen 編輯）

About the broadcaster:

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.