Philippine navy pays first visit to China

Two warships - Rajah Humanbon and BRP Rizal - and 198 marine officers and soldiers from the Philippines visit Shanghai on June 22. This was the first time the Philippine navy paid a visit to China.

SHANGHAI

Notary cases on rise

LATEST statistics show that Shanghai's notary offices are handling around 1,400 cases, almost four times that over the past five years. Insiders said the increase not only reflects economic growth, but also people's growing legal awareness. Last year, more than 510,000 notary cases were handled, and 240,00 were foreign-related such as study abroad, visiting and travel. The other 260,000 were domestic notarizations on houses, wills and donations. Recently, more local people have solicited services for medical notarization and premarital notarization.

Device to boost pipe safety

AN advanced electronic device which can detect holes on underground pipes will be put into use around the city soon. Now, a network of over 7,000 kilometres in water pipes is scattered under the city, and more than 100 kilometres are a century old. Thus, these pipes need frequent examination in case of sudden breaks. According to related officials, the running machine put on a vehicle can detect blemishes by collecting vibrating wave from underground. Now, the machine has been used in some northern parts of the city for more than a year, and has found 800 little holes in pipes.

Criminals nabbed on plane

PUDONG International Airport caught three Canadian Chinese snakeheads and a woman stowaway recently, reported the Shanghai Morning Post. On the afternoon of June 23, a policeman found a suspicious woman on a flight to Canada, and detected that the woman surnamed Chen was holding a counterfeit United States passport. Several minutes later, a snakehead who tried to help Chen broad the plane was caught. Five minutes later, two other snakeheads were nabbed on another flight to the Philippines.

Vegetable prices up

THE continuous rainy days after the city entered the plum rain season have brought a rise of more than 50 per cent in vegetable prices over the last month. Now, the supply of vegetables totals 2,900 tons each day, almost as much as last year, yet the price increased by 20 per cent over last year. Insiders said the soaring price resulted from the lower weight of vegetables in neighbouring areas. This year, there was abnormally more rain in the areas around the middle and lower reaches of Yangtze River, which greatly affected the growth of vegetables.

Jaywalkers cause accidents

TRAFFIC police reveal that last year, 253 people died in 1,364 accidents caused by jaywalking, with another 1,209 wounded. In the first three months of this year, 18 died of the same cause, and police again called on local residents to observe the traffic rules. Early in 2000, local police stipulated that jaywalkers take responsibility for accidents. This year, police will enhance the publicity of traffic rules, to increase the rate of observing rules to 82 per cent.

Parents going on-line

SOME 70 per cent of parents with young children are now keen on connecting to the Internet to get advice on children's education. On a local website catering to the education of preschool age children, many parents exchange experiences. Those with children under the age of three would like to talk about babies' diet and sleep. Parents with children around five years old mainly want to discuss preschool courses. Many parents said that they lack the time to care for children's lives and health due to a heavy workload, and the Internet is a good way to find information.

Glacier water

THE Sinking Bkel Food Co Ltd has donated 110,000 bottles of oxygen-enriched glacier water to Shanghai students taking the college entrance exam on July 7. The company, which takes water melted from glaciers formed 230,000 years ago, has been steadily building its presence in Shanghai for the high-end market.

GUANGDONG

Fire kills 9

A FIRE at a beauty parlor in Zhanjiang city has claimed the lives of nine people and injured eight. Witnesses said on Monday morning the fire started from the first floor at around 3:00am, and quickly enveloped the second floor and then the whole building. The fire wasn't put out until 5:30am. Among the nine dead, three were killed because of suffocation. Five died after jumping from the building. The cause is still under investigation.

ZHEJIANG

Hydrogen balloon explodes

A SUDDEN explosion of an advertising hydrogen balloon on Saturday afternoon injured three people in Huzhou. The three injured are the staff from Manabe Cafe, which bought the balloon for its opening ceremony. When the three staff came to take the balloon on the ground, it suddenly exploded. The most seriously injured victim got all her dresses, except the underwear, rushed away by the strong shockwaves from the explosion. The skin on her arms was also lost due to the strong waves. The cause of the explosion is still under investigation.

BEIJING

Computerized roast duck

THE famous Beijing Roasted Duck will have to change its old baking methods and adopt a more environmentally friendly way in baking the ducks with computerized ovens. The traditional method, which involves burning the fruit trees to bake the duck, has resulted in a lot of air pollution. So far in Beijing, there are over 1,000 Beijing Duck restaurants. That is to say, everyday there are over 1,000 chimneys puffing away waste gases. However, considering the several years' history of the old baking method, local people may feel it is hard to accept the sudden change. The Beijing government has allowed a six-year interim term to the restaurants. By 2008, all the restaurants should get rid of the old baking ways and adopt computerized ovens.

HEBEI

Flood strands miners

AT least 26 people died of flood caused by heavy rain in two coalmines of Weixian County, Hebei Province, on Monday afternoon. The flood poured into the two coalmines when the coal miners were working inside the mines. Some 16 people are still stranded in the mines, according to Wednesday's report. The flood has also washed away 600 sheep. A shepherd boy and a girl were missing in the floods.

WORLD

Israel operation

JERUSALEM - Israel kept Palestinians in seven West Bank cities under the gun on Wednesday and threatened to expand the operation to the Gaza Strip after a policy speech by US President George W. Bush dealt another blow to Yasser Arafat.

Rail disaster

DODOMA, Tanzania - Rescuers struggled on Tuesday to pull more victims from the mangled wreckage of Tanzania's worst rail disaster amid fears the death toll could mount above 200.

Fresh attacks

DUBAI - A known al Qaeda spokesman said in a voice recording broadcast on Sunday that the militant group was behind a deadly suicide attack at a Tunisian synagogue and warned of fresh attacks against the United States in "months".

Death toll

AVAJ, Iran - Iran's Red Crescent on Sunday revised down the number of dead in a powerful earthquake in northern Iran to 222 from an earlier estimate of 500 as rescuers picked through rubble to find any remaining survivors.

(Agencies via Xinhua)