Guest guest Posted March 17, 2003 Report Share Posted March 17, 2003 BEIJING ... 03/17/2003 South China Morning Post 2 © Copyright 2003 South China Morning Post Publishers. All Rights Reserved. BEIJING Women choosing to abort year-of-the-goat babies Women are having abortions this year because they do not want to have a child in the year of the goat, Xinhua reports. Doctors in abortion clinics say there is a significant increase in the number of women having abortions this year, as many people believe that those born this year will be weak. Before the Lunar New Year, hospitals had also reported that many pregnant women had asked to be induced before the end of the year of the horse. Classics soothe pigs before they meet their maker The largest pig abattoir in Beijing has introduced a range of soothing measures to ease the anxiety of the animals before they are slaughtered, China News Service reports. After the pigs are trucked into the centre from different parts of the country, they are left in a bathing area for about 12 hours where they listen to the mellow sound of classical music. When their time is up, carbon dioxide is released into the room so the animals drift out of consciousness before they are killed. The moves have been introduced at a time when the government is drafting regulations which are designed to ensure that animals are slaughtered in a more humane fashion. Brain deaths soon to be legally recognised New laws will soon be introduced to recognise " brain deaths " as a legal concept, according to Huang Jiefu, Vice-minister of Health, China News Service reports. The legislation is devised to facilitate more organ transplants. Under current legislation, a person can only be pronounced dead when their heart stops beating. In stable marriages men earn more, university claims Equality is not good for a stable marriage, according to recent research conducted by the Beijing Normal University, the Yangtze Evening News reports. Their survey found that in the marriages that tended to be most stable, the husband earned at least twice the salary of the wife. Marriages where the husband and wife earned similar salaries, or where the wife earned more than the husband, tended to be less stable, the survey said. Journalist kicked out for asking question A reporter for a local Web site had his accreditation revoked at the NPC and CPPCC for standing up and asking a question about environmental protection, the China Youth Daily reports. Officials said that online journalists could attend the meetings but only reporters from the traditional media were permitted to pose questions. Colleagues suspected he had really been punished for publicly asking a controversial question, the report said. NORTH/NORTHEAST If you want to stop smoking, just stop breathing HEILONGJIANG - Smokers in Harbin do not have to incur the expense of buying cigarettes. They can just take a deep breath. More than 460,000 packs of confiscated fake cigarettes were sent to a local power plant and burnt over the weekend, the Harbin Evening News reports. Officials say that this is safer than burning the seized cigarettes in the open air and it generates more than 10,000 kilowatts per hour of electricity. Girl dies after studying for 18 hours a day JILIN - A 14-year-old girl who studied intensively in the face of huge exam pressure fell into a coma and died, the Beijing Star Daily reports. Zhou Xiaoxu, from Changchun, was one of the top students in her school and studied every day from 4am to 10pm. The teenager suffered a blood clot in her brain and died after spending eight days in a coma. EAST/SOUTHEAST Platinum set to be traded on gold exchange SHANGHAI - Platinum will be traded on the Shanghai Gold Exchange this year, the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Co-operation said. China imports 55 per cent of the global platinum output. Girls drugged tourists and stole 1.2m yuan, court hears JIANGSU - Two prostitutes drugged two Japanese clients and stole cash and items worth more than 1.2 million yuan, a Nanjing court heard. The girls made off with cash, expensive watches and a diamond-encrusted belt, according to a report in the Jiangnan Times. Titanic to sink five times a day in central square SHANGHAI - A lifesize replica of the Titanic will be on permanent display in Shanghai by 2005, the Shanghai Evening News said. It will be placed in a " man-made sea " in Xiehe World Square in Nanjing West Road and will sink five times a day. The project is expected to cost 7.5 billion yuan. SOUTH/CENTRAL Touring Terracotta Warrior exhibits found to be fake GUANGDONG - An exhibition of the Terracotta Warriors that has been touring the country for six years has been found to be made up entirely of fake statues, the New Press reports. The 400 exhibits were purportedly from Emperor Qin Shihuang's tomb in Xian, but experts who examined them when they were on display in Huiyang in Guangdong discovered that they were fake. A police investigation is now under way. Son-in-law of corrupt deputy mayor charged GUANGDONG - The son-in-law of a former Shenzhen deputy mayor has been charged with a range of corrupt activities involving more than 25 million yuan, the Information Times reports. Xian Wei, son-in-law of former deputy mayor Wang Ju, has been charged with paying bribes, embezzlement and tax evasion. Wang Ju was arrested on corruption charges in 2001. Xian Wei's wife, Wang Tao, is also wanted by police for questioning but is still at large. Dragonair plane forced to land after crack found GUANGXI - A Dragonair plane flying from Hong Kong to Chengdu had to make an emergency landing in Guilin after a crack was discovered in a window in the passengers' compartment, China News Service reports. The plane, which had 140 passengers and crew on board, landed safely and an investigation is under way. WEST Foreign place names banned in western province XINJIANG - Place names in Xinjiang that have been called after foreign cities or countries will be renamed, the Xinjiang City News reports. Street names such as Paris Road or New York Street will be forbidden in the province's 22 major cities, officials said, as they affected the development of tourism. Fertility doctor to help produce a test-tube tiger CHONGQING - The zoo in Chongqing hopes to produce a test-tube tiger, Southern City News reports. Huang Guoning, a renowned human fertility expert, has offered his services to the zoo to help a South China Tiger reproduce. Staff translators Folder Name: Asia Conservation Tiger Relevance Score on Scale of 100: 85 ____________________ To review or revise your folder, visit http://www.djinteractive.com or contact Dow Jones Customer Service by e-mail at custom.news or by phone at 800-369-7466. (Outside the U.S. and Canada, call 609-452-1511 or contact your local sales representative.) ____________________ Copyright © 2003 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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