TravelStream™ news feed for member may12 on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/may12 en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Wed, 21 May 2008 02:44:20 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/may12/1/1211352180/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/may12/1/1211352180/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/may12/1/1211352180/tpod.html Wed, 21 May 2008 02:44:20 -0400 Lovely story

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The death toll from last week's quake in Sichuan rose to 40,075 nationwide as of 6 pm on Tuesday, with 247,645 injured, the Information Office of the State Council said on Tuesday.

The office also said that 32,361 people were missing.

Military sources said that as of Monday midnight, 6,375 people were pulled out from debris.

The Ministry of Public Security said a DNA database of the unidentified dead would be built for later identification.

Identified bodies will be cremated and burial allowed in areas where cremation services are unavailable, the ministry said.

As for the unidentified, police and medical workers will keep a record, take pictures and collect body tissues for DNA tests.

A team of 160 forensic experts from neighboring provinces has reached the quake-hit regions of Sichuan, the ministry said. They will be divided into 44 groups to assist local forensic teams.

The Ministry of Civil Affairs said about 5.36 million buildings were destroyed, with more than 21 million suffering various degrees of damage.

The quake affected 434 counties in 10 provinces and municipalities, the ministry said.

The provincial power grids in quake-hit Sichuan, Gansu and Shaanxi as well as Chongqing municipality are back to normal operation, while electricity supply in Gansu, Chongqing and Shaanxi has been restored to normal levels.

But power was still out in the worst-hit Beichuan, Maoxian and Wolong counties, the information office said.

Till on Tuesday, 7,000 aftershocks were felt after last Monday's magnitude-8 quake.

A forecast of a strong aftershock in Sichuan province late on Monday prompted panic among the local residents as well as in the neighboring Chongqing municipality and Guizhou province.

The Sichuan seismological bureau forecast on Monday night that a 6-7 magnitude aftershock was likely to rock Wenchuan county, epicenter of the May 12 quake, on Monday or on Tuesday, and warned local governments and people to be prepared.

The forecast, which was broadcast on TV and radio in Sichuan, sent many citizens in the provincial capital Chengdu scurrying out of their homes and into the open.

Several thousand aftershocks have jolted Wenchuan since last Monday's devastating quake.

Nearly 9,000 people in a quake zone were evacuated on Tuesday for fear that huge cracks on a mountain could lead to further disaster.

Many crevices, measuring up to 1.5 km long and 50 cm wide, have been spotted on Shiziliang Mountain in the Qingchuan county seat, Guangyuan city, threatening about 50,000 people and rescuers.

Part of the mountain has sunk about 1 m and caused many roads to cave in.

Any new strong aftershock or heavy rainfall in the area could trigger severe landslides and cause casualties, according to the quake relief headquarters at the site.

The local government on Tuesday launched an emergency evacuation of 9,000 residents near the mountain. The area has been cordoned off and is under round-the-clock monitoring.

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]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/may12/1/1211201880/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/may12/1/1211201880/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/may12/1/1211201880/tpod.html Mon, 19 May 2008 08:59:59 -0400 Lovely story

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Millions of people in China and overseas observed three minutes silence at 2:28 pm Monday to mourn thousands of people killed in an earthquake which hit the nation's on May 12.
It was exactly one week after the devastating 8.0-magnitude tremor hit Wenchuan County and its neighboring areas in southwest China's Sichuan Province, claiming 34,073 lives, 3,304 of them died in hospitals as of 12:00 am on Monday. Another 245,108 people were injured


Across the country, air raid sirens, cars, trains and ship horns wailed in grief as the people fell silent.

Chinese President Hu Jintao, top legislator Wu Bangguo, Premier Wen Jiabao, and other top leaders including Jia Qinglin, Li Changchun, Xi Jinping, He Guoqiang and Zhou Yongkang also stood in silence in the central government compound of Zhongnanhai in Beijing.

At the Tian'anmen square where the national flag flies at half post, thousands of people shouted "Brave and strong, China!" and "Brave and Strong, Wenchuan!" with some waving the national flags. Wenchuan county was the epicenter of the 8.0-magnitude quake.

Chinese bourses and commodities exchanges also suspended trading for three minutes in remembrance of the earthquake dead.

The three-minute remembrance is part of three-day national mourning for those who died in the killer earthquake.

The State Council, the Cabinet, on Sunday ordered flags to be flown at half-mast and all public entertainment suspended for three days.

National flags will fly at half mast, public entertainments will be cancelled and the Olympic torch relay suspended during the three-day mourning period

Condolence books will be opened at the Foreign Ministry and Chinese embassies and consulates around the world.
Also, the Olympic torch relay will be suspended till Wednesday, organizers said.
Meanwhile, the magnitude of last Monday's quake was Sunday revised from 7.8 to 8 by the China Seismological Bureau.
Rescuers pulled out more survivors on Monday and Sunday. A 61-year-old woman Li Mingcui was rescued at 10:42 am Monday morning after being trapped under the rubble of a bazaar in Beichuan county for 164 hours. The rescuers pulled her out . and sent her to the nearest hospital.
A woman worker of the local power plant was rescued Sunday night in Yingxiu town, Sichuan province, 150 hours after the quake. The rescue team spent 56 hours saving Yu Jinhua.
Sunday afternoon, a 53-year-old man was also rescued in Yingxiu, 148 hours after the tremor. The man, Shen Peiyun, was conscious and was taken to hospital by helicopter.
In the morning, a man named Tang Xiong was rescued from a collapsed hospital in Beichuan county 139 hours after the quake.
Also in Beichuan, another man was rescued Saturday night from a collapsed building. Wu Jianping was then taken to hospital.

for more news,please click: http://www.in-brands.com
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/may12/1/1211002740/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/may12/1/1211002740/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/may12/1/1211002740/tpod.html Sat, 17 May 2008 01:40:40 -0400 Lovely story

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China, China

Chinese President Hu Jintao Friday went to Beichuan County of Mianyang City to visit people affected by the southwest China earthquake, encouraging them to be confident in overcoming hardships caused by the disaster
Hu first visited quake victims in Shengli Village, Leigu Town of Beichuan. More than 1,000 out of the 18,000 population in Leigu Town died or were missing in the quake.

Hu went into a tent to talk to one family. Seeing the man's daughter was injured in the quake, Hu said, "We know you've suffered. The quake destroyed your house and injured members of your family. We feel your anguish.

"The whole Party, army and all the people have been mobilized to support the quake relief work," he said.

Hu went out the tent and said to people standing along the road, "We will make every effort to rescue stranded people, treat the injured and make proper arrangements for the victims, as well as helping you to rebuild your homes."

He encouraged the victims to be strong, overcome difficulty with confidence, courage and strength.

He then went to the Beichuan Middle School, where all the teaching buildings collapsed in the quake.

Knowing there were still 300 teachers and students buried in the ruins, Hu said, "Saving lives is still an urgent task. We should rescue them by every possible means as long as there is a glimmer of hope."

Hu also praised the troops conducting rescue work in Beichuan Middle School.

"You came to the frontline immediately, and threw yourself into the rescue work regardless of your own safety and made a great contribution.

"You have given hope, confidence and strength to the quake-affected people," he said.

Hu said the rescue work has entered a crucial stage. "You should be unafraid of fatigue and work around the clock, making great efforts to keep losses to a minimum."

In a field clinic in the middle school, he kissed the face of Luo Mengxi, a three-and-half year old girl who lost her mother in the quake.

He went back to Beichuan county seat and visited the Nanhe Sports Center, where more than 10,000 disaster-affected people were settled. He thanked the volunteers for their contribution to the rescue work.

He also visited the Mianyang City Central Hospital, telling the medics to make every effort to treat the injured.

Hu went to the quake-hit areas Friday to console quake-affected people and direct disaster relief operation.

Hu arrived at Mianyang City at Friday noon after more than two hours of flight from Beijing. In the meeting room of the airport, he and Premier Wen Jiabao, who had been directing relief work in the disaster-hit areas since Monday, discussed the quake-relief work.

The meeting said "rescuers must reach not only towns but also all villages." The survivors who had been rescued must be transferred to safer places in time, and children who lost their parents and elders who lost their family members in the quake must be properly cared for.

Also Friday morning, Premier Wen Jiabao told Chinese media on a train in Sichuan that saving lives remained the top priority almost four days after the quake.

"We won't give up if there is even the slightest hope of finding more survivors," he said.

The death toll from the powerful earthquake rose to 22,069 nationwide as of 2 p.m. Friday, while 168,669 people were injured, according to the emergency response office of the State Council.

for more news ,please click: in-brands.com [in-brands.com]
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/may12/1/1210938960/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/may12/1/1210938960/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/may12/1/1210938960/tpod.html Fri, 16 May 2008 07:57:44 -0400 Lovely story

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The recent spate of xenophobic attacks in Johannesburg is a sign the crisis in Zimbabwe is spilling over into SA, the Freedom Front Plus warned on Friday.

"The Zimbabwe crisis is now escalating beyond [that country] into the southern African region... That's the real reason [for the xenophobic violence]," FF Plus Chief Whip Corne Mulder told MPs during a special debate in the National Assembly.

The debate was called to examine the issue of escalating attacks on foreigners in Alexandra and other areas in Johannesburg. The past week has seen hundreds of mainly Zimbabweans and Mozambicans forced to take shelter around police stations after attacks on them by armed mobs.

Mulder said the attacks could be linked to a number of policy failures on the part of the African National Congress.

First among these was silent diplomacy towards Zimbabwe, and "tacit approval" for what that country's president, Robert Mugabe, and his ruling Zanu-PF party were doing.

"The effect of this is that more than three million Zimbabweans had to flee Mugabe's tyrannical rule to South Africa."

The problem was exacerbated by "ineffective" action by the departments of homes affairs and safety and security, which were "incapable of securing South Africa's borders and to process refugees".

Also to blame was poor service delivery at grassroots level.

"The policy-failure chickens of the ANC are coming home to roost, one after the other," Mulder said.

While not naming Mugabe, Independent Democrats leader Patricia de Lille referred to "rogue leaders" who drove their people to what they thought were greener pastures in South Africa, sparking a competition for already scarce resources.

"Xenophobia is happening because we have no proper mechanism to deal with refugees and illegal immigrants. We have no proper control at our borders, and there is wide-scale corruption at [the department of] home affairs," she told the House.

An education campaign was needed to teach South Africans the difference between a refugee and an illegal immigrant.

"The genuine refugees who have been displaced in Alexandra and Diepsloot must be accommodated in safe refugee camps, and the illegal immigrants must be deported immediately," De Lille said.

Democratic Alliance leader Sheila Camerer told MPs there was an urgent need for transformation at the department of home affairs.

Further, a security "vacuum" along South Africa's borders was the major contributor to unregulated migration into the country.

Camerer also called for a survey to determine how many illegal immigrants there were in South Africa.

"And [finding] solutions which will either see them properly integrated into South Africa or returned to their country of origin," she said.

The Inkatha Freedom Party's Ben Skosana said xenophobia had become "rampant" in South Africa.

"It is... criminal for local residents to take the law in their hands, resulting in wanton theft, destruction and killings that we are now seeing.

"Regrettably, this mayhem could be indicative of the reaction from a people who ... still suffer the severe psychological social and economic 'unfreedoms' and deprivation," he said.

The ANC's Obed Bapela - who comes from Alexandra - suggested "criminality" was a major feature of the attacks, while conceding the "land issue" in the township was a problem.

"It's about who should be beneficiaries when it comes to housing."

He said of the two people killed in the violence, one was South African, and of the 65 injured, "40 percent were South Africans and 60 percent foreigners".

for more news,please click : http://www.in-brands.com
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/may12/1/1210835700/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/may12/1/1210835700/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/may12/1/1210835700/tpod.html Thu, 15 May 2008 03:17:25 -0400 Lovely story

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China, China

China's central government has ordered to mobilize 50 more military helicopters to airlift the critically injured residents from the mountain-logged rural areas, also epicenter of the killer earthquake which struck southwestern Sichuan Province on Monday.
While on another air inspection of the quake-hit distrcits on Wednesday, Premier Wen Jiabao ordered new reinforcements to the two hardly-battered counties, Wenchuan and Beichuan, as more than 100,000 PLA troops and police forces are searching and rescusing victims day and night.
The newest death toll has risen to 14,866 people, said the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and the situation is getting urgent and grim to save more trapped alive under the debris, as the time since the earthquake surpassed three days.
Rescuers were racing against time to find survivors after the strongest quake to hit China in 32 years jolted southwestern Sichuan province, demolishing buildings and trapping tens of thousands beneath the rubble.

Ordered by the General Staff of the PLA headquarters, up to 600 People's Liberation Army (PLA) troops entered Wenchuan county on foot, the epicenter, late Tuesday and pulled more than 1,000 people from debris, according to the disaster relief headquarters of the Chengdu Military Command.It was not clear how many had survived. The county city is estimated to have 110,000 permanent and migrant residents.
Earlier reports from Sichuan said only about 2,300 people of a town in the hardest hit county, named Yingxiu, out of a total population of 10,000, were known to have survived.
The confirmed national death toll reached 14,866 by 2 pm Wednesday, nearly all of them in Sichuan, according to the temporary disaster relief headquarters headed by Premier Wen Jiabao, who arrived in Dujiangyan, to oversee the rescue work hours after the quake.
Another 9,404 were buried in debris, 7,841 were missing and 26,206 people were injured, according to the headquarters.
"We will try our best to send milk powder to parents and ensure children do not go hungry," Wen said on Tuesday after learning that some infants were running short of food and many people needed drinking water and tents.
Wen was visiting cities worst hit by the quake, including Dujiangyan, Deyang and Mianzhu


He said the rescue work had entered a crucial stage and asked people to remain calm, confident and united as he inspected a factory in Mianzhu and urged officials to ensure rapid distribution of food.
He comforted a crying child, saying, "Don't cry. Food will be sent in a short time. Biscuits and milk powder will be sent in a short time."
He told villagers: "I know some of your family and friends have died. We are deeply saddened. Some people are still trapped. We will do our utmost to rescue them."
The premier ordered that all rocks and mudslides blocking roads to the epicenter be cleared by midnight.
"People are trapped in the debris; we must seize every second," he told an emergency meeting.
Xia Guofu, Sichuan provincial military commander, led a team of more than 300 soldiers into Wenchuan and more troops were expected imminently, said Ye Wanyong, political commissar of the command.
Rescuers who arrived at Yingxiu Town of Wenchuan on foot Tuesday afternoon said the town was inaccessible by road.
The soldiers reported more than 70 percent of the roads in the town damaged, and almost all bridges had collapsed. Many people were believed to be under the debris.
Previous attempts by rescuers to reach the epicenter "by land, air and water" failed because of landslides, telecommunication breakdown and rain, an official with the Sichuan provincial relief headquarters said.
for more news,please click : http://www.in-brands.com
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/may12/1/1210663380/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/may12/1/1210663380/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/may12/1/1210663380/tpod.html Tue, 13 May 2008 03:27:52 -0400 Lovely story

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China, China

"My home city, my beat, the gorgeous, famous 'city that never completely wakes up', Cape Town had no super-heroes. Not a single caped crusader, web slinger or alien super-being watched over this metropolis! Given the crime stats, I decided the situation needed immediate attention."

So begins a short story sent to IOL by reader Gareth Pike because he thinks "everyone just needs a bit of a laugh these days, the news being mostly rather gloomy!"

for more news ,please click : http://www.in-brands.com
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/may12/1/1210587480/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/may12/1/1210587480/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/may12/1/1210587480/tpod.html Mon, 12 May 2008 06:23:23 -0400 Lovely story

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China, China

Domestic grain prices have remained stable amid hikes in international prices, official figures have showed.
Wheat prices on the Chicago Board of Trade surged more than 140 percent in March, while rice prices jumped more than 80 percent.
Average grain retail prices on the Chinese domestic market, by contrast, registered slight growth, from 4.14 yuan (59 cents) per kilogram from the beginning of January to 4.19 yuan by the end of March, statistics from the Ministry of Commerce showed.
The government's efforts to ensure food supply in the country, including restrictions on grain-consuming bio-ethanol projects, was behind the stable prices, analysts said. The central government vowed this year to spend more than 562 billion yuan ($80.4 billion) to support farms and the rural sector, 130.7 billion yuan more than last year.

The authorities also decided in March to spend another 25.25 billion yuan ($3.61 billion) in addition to this year's rural budget, mainly to subsidize farmers' purchasing of seed, diesel, fertilizers and other production materials.

Similarly, the Ministry of Railways last month ordered railway authorities in the northeast provinces to improve efficiency and send 10 million tonnes of grains out of the grain-rich region to the south from May 1 to June 30, in a bid to ease supply imbalances and stem price rises.

The authorities have also been actively developing alternative energies.

The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) stopped approving bio-ethanol projects using corn and wheat in May last year, and planned to adapt four grain-consuming projects to use non-grain materials such as cassava and straw.

"Corn is an important feed material in China, and developing corn-consuming bio-ethanol would affect the supply of meat and eggs," said energy expert Han Xiaoping.

The government would rather use non-grain plants that commonly grow in the wild and salt land to produce bio-ethanol, so as not to take away farmland and reduce grain production, the NDRC said.

Currently, the country is producing 750,000 tons of bio-ethanol annually, and it is scheduled to boost output to 5 million tons by 2010.

Apart from restricting grain-consuming bio-ethanol projects, the country is actively promoting alternative and clean power, such as nuclear, wind and solar energies.

Twenty-six million households in the country's rural areas were using methane for cooking and heating by the end of last year, and another 5 million households will join the group this year.

China ranked second worldwide in energy output and consumption last year.

Almost half of the country's crude oil demand depends on imports.

The international energy crisis is seen as likely to pressure China to scale up its development of alternative energies.

But, as Agricultural Minister Sun Zhengcai said recently, any problem in food and agriculture would be perilous to a country with 1.3 billion mouths to feed

for more news.please click: http://www.in-brands.com
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/may12/1/1210406100/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/may12/1/1210406100/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/may12/1/1210406100/tpod.html Sat, 10 May 2008 03:57:13 -0400 Lovely story

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China, China

How do you think i model this Bikinis?
hello,dear
how do you think i model this Bikinis?

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do you think i can wear it to Attend to a TV Programs?
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/may12/1/1209974880/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/may12/1/1209974880/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/may12/1/1209974880/tpod.html Mon, 05 May 2008 04:09:55 -0400 Lovely story

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China, China

Ohio State University has suspended an assistant vice president for student housing who was arrested on Friday on charges of drug possession, The Columbus Dispatch reported.
According to the newspaper, the administrator, Ronald T. Kochendoerfer, was arrested by Franklin County deputies who found less than one ounce of methamphetamine in a search of his home. The search was related to an investigation of drug smuggling at the county jail. Mr. Kochendoerfer has not been charged in connection with the smuggling.
The university suspended Mr. Kochendoerfer with pay pending an investigation, a spokeswoman told the Columbus newspaper.

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]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/may12/1/1209362520/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/may12/1/1209362520/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/may12/1/1209362520/tpod.html Mon, 28 Apr 2008 02:04:00 -0400 Lovely story

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China, China

BEIJING, China (AP) -- A pre-dawn collision Monday between two passenger trains in eastern China killed at least 43 people and injured 247, a state news agency reported.


Witnesses said a train traveling from Beijing to the coastal city of Qingdao derailed and hit a second train at about 4:40 a.m., Xinhua News Agency said.
The crash happened in the city of Zibo in Shandong province. The second train had been traveling from Yantai to Xuzhou.
News photos showed the derailed train laying at the bottom of a ditch, with rescuers removing passengers from a carriage that had fallen onto its side.
Survivors with white sheets wrapped around their shoulders stood or sat near the wreckage. The second train did not fall into the ditch, but a news photo showed one of its carriages resting perpendicular to the track.
The head of the Ministry of Railways, Liu Zhijun, was headed to the site to oversee rescue efforts, the Web site of the Shandong government said.

In January, 18 people died when a train hurtling through the night at more than 120 kilometers per hour (75 mph) slammed into a group of about 100 workers carrying out track maintenance near the city of Anqiu in Shandong province.
Xinhua said the latest accident had cut traffic on the Jinan-Qingdao railway, which links the provincial capital of Jinan with Qingdao

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