Workers clean spilled oil from Australian beaches

Photo taken on March 12, 2009 shows the beach polluted by an oil spill from a cargo ship that was damaged in stormy seas off Australia's east coast in Queensland. [Xinhua]

BRISBANE, Australia -- Wildlife workers rescued turtle eggs and captured a few oil-coated pelicans off Australia's east coast Thursday while state officials assessed the extent of an oil spill fromThe Pacific Adventurer's fuel stores were punctured when 31 containers of ammonium nitrate fertilizer slipped off the ship early Wednesday as the ship rocked in Australia's rough eastern waters, where a cyclone had stormed for the past week.

The spill of up to 34 US tons (30 metric tons) of oil created a slick spanning six miles (10 kilometers), and some of the oil had begun to wash up on beaches in Queensland state, leaving a black, sticky mess as the tide receded.

At Marcoola Beach, lifeguard official David McLean said oil globules stretched for about 1,000 yards (one kilometer) along the beach, which was closed due to the spill.

"As you walk along it sticks to the bottom of your shoe like glue," he said.

About 100 turtle eggs were collected from the beach by wildlife rescuers.

Five oil-coated pelicans flew in and joined a daily feeding session at Tangalooma Resort on Moreton Island. Workers managed to catch three of them and the Environmental Protection Agency planned to evacuate them for chemical cleaning treatment, Trevor Hassard, from the resort's Dolphin Education Centre, told the Brisbane Times newspaper.

"It just makes you want to cry," Hassard was quoted as saying. "This stuff is so hard to remove. If an animal like a bird gets oil on it, it basically dies. There's nothing we can do."

He said the oil would obstruct the insulating effects of the birds' feathers, and that they could be poisoned when they try to clean themselves.

Maritime Safety Queensland said it would take more than a week to clean up the spill. a cargo ship that was damaged in stormy seas.

An inquiry is being conducted into how the ship lost the containers, which held 694 US tons (620 metric tons) of ammonium nitrate, a fertilizer that can be used to make explosives. The containers have not been found.

State officials inspected the coast by air Thursday, and about 50 people checked for oil pollution on land and cleaned oil from soiled beaches on the east and northern shores of Moreton Island and Marcoola Beach.

Mike Short of the Environmental Protection Agency said the fertilizer in the lost containers would be diluted enough to avoid major problems. Ammonium nitrate can be explosive when exposed to heat or chlorine.

"The oil is our greatest concern, both to the environment and wildlife," Short said. "Spills and wildlife don't mix."

Marine expert Mike Kingsford, from James Cook University in Queensland, said the spill was small by global standards but that the oil would sit in the sand for some time before it turned to tar and became benign. He said the toxic effects would show within a few days, when plants, crustaceans and birds would probably die.
from http://www.chinadaily.net

Wen: China ready to put forward new stimulus package

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao answers questions during a press conference after the closing meeting of the Second Session of the 11th National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing, capital of China, March 13, 2009. [Xinhua]

BEIJING -- China has prepared plans to cope with even bigger difficulties amid the financial crisis and is ready to put forward new stimulus package at any time, said Premier Wen Jiabao here Friday.

Wen, while meeting press after the annual parliament session, said China has made long-time preparations to tackle the impact of the international financial crisis.

The country has formulated plans to cope with even worse conditions and has reserved plenty of "ammunition", he said.

"We are ready to put forward new stimulus policies at any time," Wen said.

All investment plans in China's four-trillion yuan stimulus package have been fully debated, and would be open for public supervision, Wen said.

He said the stimulus package included many new projects, such as the housing projects for low-income urban residents.

"We will provide housing to 7.5 million low-income Chinese in three years, and provide better shelter for 2.4 million Chinese who still live in shacks," the premier said.

Meanwhile, he admitted that some projects in the stimulus package, such as roads and railways, were included in the country's 11th five-year plan.

The 1.18 trillion yuan from the central government is totally new investment in China's stimulus package, said Premier Wen.

He that the central government fund will be spent on promoting the people's well-being, environment protection, key facilities and technology upgrading.

Wen said Friday that China's stimulus package plan was not fully understood by the world.
"Rumors and misunderstanding set the world stock market on a roller coaster ride," Wen told reporters after the National People's Congress closed its annual session.

China has announced a 4 trillion-yuan (585 billion US dollars) two-year economic stimulus package to boost growth and domestic demand, 1.18 trillion yuan of which will be funded by the central government.
from http://www.chinadaily.net

My Favourite Store

Now there are many stores in Suzhou. Every one has their own favourite store or brand. Yes, that's right. I also has my favourite store----OUTLETS.

OUTLETS is a American chain discount which was opened up in Suzhou Ligong bank last year. It is a premium store that sells many sport brands, such as Lining、Nike、Addidas and Kappa. What attracts me is that they always offer discount to attact customers. For example, last Friday I went to the store, and found if you buy two Nike products, they will offer you 60% discount. Naturally I buy one pair of shows and a sports shorts. Though they are selling the old designs, I think they are also very attactive.

Not only they can offer discount, but also they have a good service. If you go shopping there, you well find a good shopping environment. The salespeople can hospitally introduce all kinds of products to you, and you can feel very well.

So if you have spare time, you can go around there.

All escape an emergency landing safely

Airport workers stand around a Romanian Carpatair Saab 2000 plane following an emergency landing after developing trouble with its landing gear at "Traian Vuia" airport in Timisoara, western Romania February 28, 2009. All 47 passengers and 4 crew escaped safely.[Agencies]

Chang'e I ends lunar mission with a bang

China's lunar probe ended its 16-month mission with a controlled crash onto the moon Sunday, officials said.
Chang'e I hit the moon surface at 4:13 pm Beijing time Sunday after completing its tasks, sources with the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense said.

The controlled crash of Chang'e I is seen from this graphics, March 2, 2009. [China Daily]

Chang'e I began to reduce its speed at 3:36 pm with two observation and control stations in Qingdao and Kashgar controlling it remotely.

The mission was to gather experience for a moon landing and launch of a lunar rover - the next stage of China's three-stage moon mission - in 2012, sources with the administration said.

The third phase features another lunar rover, which will land on the moon and return to Earth with lunar soil and stone samples for scientific research, in 2017. It will be followed by a manned lunar landing, expected before 2020.

The country's first planetary probe, Chang'e I completed its tasks in October after a year in space.

Chang'e I, which spent 494 days in space, was launched from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center atop a Long March 3-A carrier rocket on October 24, 2007.

The 2,350-kg satellite carried eight surveying facilities, with which it conducted a three-dimensional survey of the moon's surface. A full map of the lunar surface - China's first - was transmitted back in November 2007.

China will launch its second lunar probe, Chang'e II, in 2010 or 2011. Chang'e is named after a legendary Chinese moon goddess.



The former Soviet Union's Luna 2 became the first spacecraft to hit the lunar surface on September 12, 1959.

Space module

China will launch a space module next year and carry out the nation's first space docking in 2011 as a step toward its goal of building a space station.




A full map of the lunar surface, China's first of this kind, is seen in this picture released on November 12, 2008. [Xinhua]


The Tiangong I, or "Heavenly Palace I" is scheduled for launch in late 2010 and will dock with a Shenzhou VIII spacecraft early the following year, Xinhua News Agency said, citing officials with China's space program.

"The module, named Tiangong I, is designed to provide a 'safe room' for Chinese astronauts to live and conduct scientific research in zero gravity," the report said.

"Weighing about 8.5 tons, Tiangong I will be an essential step toward building a space station."
Space program officials have previously said China is expected to place in orbit several modules like the Tiangong and link them up to form a semi-permanent space platform.

China Daily - Agencies

China rejects US rights report as interference

BEIJING – China on Thursday blasted a U.S. State Department report criticizing its human rights record, calling the claims groundless and accusing Washington of interfering in its internal affairs.

The report issued in Washington on Wednesday accuses China of stepping up cultural and religious repression of minorities in Tibet and elsewhere and increasing the detention and harassment of dissidents.

It said authorities continued to limit citizens' right to privacy, freedom of speech, assembly, movement and association. Authorities also committed extrajudicial killings and torture, coerced confessions from prisoners and used forced labor, the U.S. report said.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said China favored a rights dialogue but opposed "any countries interfering in China's internal affairs under the pretext of human rights.
"We urge the U.S. side to reflect on its own human rights problems, stop acting as a human rights guardian, stop interfering in others' internal affairs by issuing such human rights reports," Ma told reporters at a regularly scheduled news conference.

Both Ma and the official Xinhua News Agency said the report ignored China's achievements in human rights, which Beijing defines mainly as improvements to living standards.

"It willfully ignored and distorted basic facts, groundlessly assailing China's human rights conditions and making random and irresponsible remarks on China's ethnic, religious and legal systems," Xinhua said in a report issued early Thursday.

The exchange comes just three days after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton charted a moderate path for relations in her first visit to Beijing in office.

Clinton drew criticism from rights groups and Republican members of Congress by saying on her Asia trip that human rights was just one of several issues that China and the U.S. needed to discuss.

The State Department report covers 2008 and was largely drafted during President George W. Bush's administration, although Clinton signed off on the findings.

After criticizing Clinton's comments last week, rights group Amnesty International praised the report for what it called its "candid review of the worsening human rights situation in China."
It called on the new administration of President Barack Obama to integrate the findings into a "foreign policy that not only acknowledges and denounces, but also takes concrete steps to effectively address the unacceptable state of human rights in its bilateral and multilateral forums with China."

China and the U.S. have carried out a sporadic dialogue on human rights, with the most recent meetings — the first in six years — held in Beijing last year. However, the new administration has yet to appoint a replacement to Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor David Kramer, and it isn't clear when the next round will be held.

Beijing last year carried out a massive crackdown on sometimes violent anti-government protesters in Tibetan areas and reported a nearly doubling of arrests for state security crimes in the volatile Muslim western region of Xinjiang. Authorities rejected requests to stage peaceful protests during the August Beijing Olympics and have harassed and detained intellectuals who signed a call for greater political freedoms titled "Charter '08."

One of the country's best-known human rights activists, Hu Jia, was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison last April.

Activists also tell of a massive security presence in areas of Tibet ahead of the upcoming anniversary of last year's riots and protests, as well as the anniversary of a failed 1959 uprising against Chinese rule. China has sealed the area off to foreigners and journalists.

China calls on Russia to investigate ship incident

(The cargo ship "New Star" is seen near the Russian far eastern port of Nakhodka in this February 14, 2009 picture taken by Russia's border patrol. [Agencies] )

The three Chinese sailors rescued from a cargo ship that sank Sunday in the Sea of Japan near Russia's far-eastern port of Vladivostok are in good health, but seven other crew members remain missing, an official with the Chinese Consulate in Vladivostok told Xinhua Thursday.
China's Foreign Ministry has urged Russia on Thursday to investigate the incident.

Chinese consulate officials in the city of Khabarovsk arrived at the port of Nakhodka to visit the rescued sailors shortly after the incident, said Wang Pengbo, a Chinese consulate official in Vladivostok.

The officials have met with Russian border guard officials regarding the search for the missing crew members, Wang said.

The cargo ship "New Star" on Sunday sank off the waters near Russia's far-eastern port of Vladivostok. Three Chinese crew members were rescued and seven others were missing, said Jiang Yu, spokeswoman for China's Foreign Ministry during a regular press conference in Beijing.
"The Foreign Ministry and the Chinese consulate in Russia have already respectively raised representations to the Russian Embassy in China and other related Russian departments, urging the Russian side to spare no effort to help search for the missing crew members and quickly find out the causes of the incident," Jiang said.

The Global Times, a Chinese language newspaper based in Beijing, said the ship was fired on by the Russian navy before it sank, citing a Russian newspaper. Three of the missing sailors are Chinese while the other five came from Indonesia, the report said.

According the International Maritime Organization, the owner of New Star is a shipping company of Zhejiang, while the operator is a company based in Guangzhou.