Press Interpreter

05/15/08 -- After a severe earthquake hit Wenchuan County in China's Sichuan Province, the Chinese government's swift deployment of earthquake relief has become a positive example for the international community.

So far 1520 cases of infection in Fuyang*; Jiangsu** requires kindergartens and elementary schools to carry out morning physical examinations

Cases of EV71 reach 1520

04/30/08 -- Yesterday afternoon at 2:00, the Fuyang Newsroom held their second press conference about the children infected with enterovirus type 71 (EV71)***. Leaders and experts from the Fuyang Health Department and the Fuyang People's Hospital made an announcement concerning the city's control and prevention efforts against the enterovirus epidemic. "As of 11:00 on the 28th, the city has reported 1520 pediatric cases of enterovirus type 71." The Fuyang Health Department spokesman and Deputy Director Yan Wei announced that the city's most recent statistics on hospitalizations show that from 11:00 on the 27 to 11:00 on the 28th, there were 321 reports of enterovirus--37 more cases than the day before. Of these, 216 cases were seen in clinic and 105 were hospitalized; 34 patients were released from the hospital.

Highly infective -- in one year a single person can infect 15 others; even more frightening is that many TB sufferers still socialize

04/08/08 -- Yesterday, the Jiangsu Province Department of Health published the March 2008 provincial report on infectious disease as mandated by law. The report indicated that tuberculosis (TB) is still the leading cause of new infections and of death from infection [in the province]. In the course of interviews [for this story], this reporter found out that some individuals who know that they have tuberculosis take buses without wearing masks, continue to eat at restaurants as usual, and certainly will not publicly reveal their infection status. Some patients do not comply with treatment once they are diagnosed with TB. Experts say that behind these problems is the current legal vacuum for supervision of those with TB.

Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital treats three cases of Leptospirosis and stroke

03/06/08 -- Five years ago, Old Wang* never imagined that a careless cut on his hand from washing snails would lead to long-term high blood pressure and a sudden stroke that left him in the hospital and nearly crippled. Zhang Jun, the director of Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital’s Emergency Department, told reporters that beginning in January, the hospital had seen a series of three stroke cases brought on by Leptospira**. The other two cases besides Old Wang may have been infected from contaminated water that came into contact with their broken or injured skin.

One just born, another just married

03/05/08 -- “It’s so unusual that we would see two ‘stone maidens’* in such a short time!” said a doctor from the Nanjing Maternity and Child Health Care Hospital, absolutely flabbergasted by the situation. In recent days, the hospital saw two rare ‘stone maidens’, one a young woman that had just gotten married and another a newborn infant girl.

7600 kg of rat poison waits for them to feed

03/16/07 -- When winter is mild, rats reproduce quickly. The Nanjing City Patriotic Health Campaign Committee Office’s (PHCCO) most recent survey indicates that the average density of Nanjing’s rats is 3.5%, already much higher than the 2% national standard. Action cannot be delayed. The PHCCO revealed to the Modern Bulletin yesterday that a campaign across the entire city to eradicate the rats has already begun and that 7600 kg of rat poison will be unleashed in every district next week.

03/10/07 -- During the ‘two sessions’*, delegates** occasionally spouted some startling words, including many that went against ‘popular opinion and common sense’, comments that made more than a few uncomfortable. For instance, there was the suggestion that Tai Mountain be designated the National Mountain***, the comment that price gouging during the peak travel times of the Lunar New Year was part of the laws of the market, a proposal for renaming Ladies’ Day as Womyn’s day****, and the claim that a ban on smoking would undermine social stability. There was even a representative that wrote a draft of a resolution entitled, “Environmental Protection Begins With Me,” decried by netizens as “the work of a seven-year-old.”

"Life is most precious under heaven"

The change gives new meaning to the old phrase: "Human life is matter of 'heavenly' concern." Now, the word "heaven" refers to the Supreme Court.
　　
01/04/07 -- On December 31st, 2006, chief justices of the Hunan and Sichuan Higher People's Courts signed the last batch of death sentences. Just one day later, the authority to decide life or death would lie solely with the Supreme Court.

10/12/06 -- Q: State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan visited the United States yesterday. What was the purpose of this visit? What important officials accompanied him on the visit?

A: State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan acted as Chairman Hu Jintao’s special representative yesterday afternoon opening Beijing’s engaging in making visits to the U.S. and Russia. His important responsibility for this visit was to exchange opinions with the U.S. and Russia regarding current situation on the Korean Peninsula. Important people accompanying him included Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei, Deputy Chief of Mission He Yafei, and some other high level State Department officials.

10/04/06 -- Tehran -- According an Iranian National Television Station report, the Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad issued an order yesterday requiring related agencies to open the gates of Iran’s nuclear facilities, allowing foreign tourists to visit.

09/26/06 -- The Government increased the monthly bonus to be given to the workers that chose to keep working after completed 40 years of deductions, according to the agreement proposal about the Social Security reform, to which Lusa* had access.

09/15/06 -- Pope Benedict XVI has stirred a wave of criticism in the Muslim world with comments he made regarding Islam and the Prophet Muhammad, PBUH. Among those criticisms are calls for him to apologize regarding the insulting fallacies.

08/17/06--Between those who underline that she is a woman and those who mainly point out that she is Indian by birth, the appointment of Indra Nooyi at the head of PepsiCo did not go unnoticed. As announced by the firm through a press release on Monday, August 14th, she is to take up her duties as general manager as soon as October 1st. She will take the chair on the month of May 2007. Mrs Nooyi will then be at the head of the 61st company in the country, a group which makes a 33 billion dollar (26 billion euro) turnover.

The organisation monitors cases of abuse and violation of children’s rights in armed conflicts of which children become victims

07/25/06 -- Two million children have died in various conflicts in recent years, whereas millions more have been forced to flee their homes, according to the figures given by the UN. The Security Council has recently held a meeting, open to the general public, to commemorate the 1st anniversary of the adoption of the 1612 Resolution, which laid foundation to the system of monitoring and compiling data to prevent abuses and violations of which children become victims in armed conflicts.

06/17/06 -- After two weeks of debate, on Thursday night the Senate passed the bill on immigration on the first reading, fought every step of the way by the opposition Socialist and French Communist Parties.

06/01/06 -- Labour Party leader Bos thinks the Christian-Democratic CDA puts the relationship between the secular majority and religious minorities in our society at risk.

He attributes this to internal division among the Christian-Democrats in the integration debate and Islamophobia on the part of parliamentary CDA-leader Verhagen.

04/30/06 -- Several tens of thousands of peopled marched on Saturday in New York, to demand the immediate withdrawal of American forces from Iraq, and announced their intention to pursue this campaign until the American Parliamentary elections in November.

04/21/06 -- WASHINGTON -- After the announced judgment of the Supreme Court, the American administration formally acknowledges that the new parliamentary majority belongs to the Union* -- For the first time, the American administration has officially recognized the results of the Italian elections of April 9: "We intend to work with the Prodi government," declared the spokesman of the State Department, Sean McCormack. There still hasn't been a congratulatory phone call from President George W. Bush, but, as well-informed diplomatic sources at the White House assure, it's only a matter of time.

04/11/06 -- ROME - The result from the polls is "a victory of Italian democracy," and now the main challenge has arrived for the center-left: to govern. This is the thought of the leader of the center-left, Romano Prodi. "We've won after a close race," said the Professor [Prodi], "but with a majority in both the Camera* and the Senate, allowing us to govern with the coalition we represented during the campaign." At this point, Prodi also responded to a question from reporters who had approached him at Ulivo** headquarters: "I'm waiting for a phone call from Berlusconi because this is the custom of modern democracies." In fact, a call had already come in from the Quirinale***: "[The call] with Ciampi," Prodi emphasized, "was purely institutional."

03/31/06 -- The day after the call for help from the teachers – how the pupils react to the public commotion and what makes this city district into a flashpoint. -- Berlin, 31 March –- If one wants to understand how a wave emerges that towers up into something of a Tsunami real quickly, one can visit the Rütli School in Berlin-Neukölln. Nothing much happens here, on normal days; the street is short and traffic is shut out, blocked by colourful sculptures. There are a few allotment gardens and a new youth club. And there is this freshly painted school building from the Emperor’s times, from which erupts, on Friday morning, a furious flood.

03/29/06 -- Military operations in Afghanistan -- Another Canadian Soldier is Killed -- A Canadian soldier was killed in the Kandahar region, in Afghanistan, on Wednesday morning.

03/24/06 -- In The Draft Proposal, Petty Loan Companies Are Not Allowed to Receive Public Deposits -- “Under the circumstances wherein China’s credit environment is still imperfect, if individuals or specialized companies were allowed to use equity capital to make small loans, in accordance with laws drafted by regional governments and subject to the constraints of contract law, then perhaps the normalization of private finance will slowly become a realistic alternative.�? On March 22 at the Asia-Pacific Regional Small Loan Forum, Wu Xiaoling, a vice president at the People’s Bank of China, spoke thusly. Yi Gang, the Assistant to the President of the People’s Bank of China, read the statement aloud on her behalf.

01/18/05 -- I am rarely amused by the jokes or video clips that friends email me, but not long ago I could not help but smile at a clip of a Swedish commercial I received. In the commercial a young father is strolling through a supermarket with his son. Suddenly the child is attracted by some chocolate on a store shelf. Tugging on his father's sleeve, he says, "Dad, can I have some chocolate?" "Not now! It's almost dinnertime." Hearing this, the little fellow wrinkles his eyebrows. "But I want some! I want some!" His yawping grows louder and louder. He lies down on the ground crying and making a scene. The crowd of onlookers grows. The young father is completely embarrassed. He looks as if he wishes he could find a crevice to hide in. The camera turns away and the following message appears: "Please use condoms."

• The government obtained parliamentary approval in May 2005 to open a dialogue with ETA* if it laid down its arms.

• The daily "Gara" will publish a new statement by the terrorist organization tomorrow.

03/22/05 -- MADRID -- The terrorist organization ETA has announced a "permanent cease-fire" in a statement sent to Basque Public Television (EITB). "The object of this decision is to motivate a democratic process in Euskal Herria,**" added the "message" delivered "to the Basque people." "Overcoming the conflict, here and now, is possible. This is the desire and the will of ETA," the group affirmed.

The Beginning and End of the “Third Debate on Reform�? 2004-2006
2004-2006 "第三次改�?�论争"始末 　

Would it be Possible to Disclose All the Cases Brought to the People’s Congress?

03/19/06 -- After the CPE* opponents' newest show of force on Saturday, Dominique de Villepin still seemed determined not to back down on Sunday despite the ultimatum of the unions, which are calling on Jacques Chirac and are starting to raise the specter of a multi-industry strike.

03/09/06 -- On July 9, 2005, after killing his factory supervisor, A-xing, accompanied by reporters from this paper, turned himself in to the authorities. The A-Xing murder case and the subsequent murder case of worker Wang Binyu aroused widespread interest. In the coming days, the A-Xing murder case will be tried in the Shantou, Guangdong court. (This is a follow-up to a story first reported on in the July 14, 2005 edition.)*

03/15/06 -- After an operation in the Rocinha [neighborhood], the arms were located in a track on the "Road of the Canoes" -- It took twelve days of searches in 16 slums of the city, more than five clashes with traffickers and four blockades of access roads to Rio [de Janeiro]. Early last night, after more than nine hours of occupation in Rocinha, in São Conrado, the Military Command of the East (CML)* announced the recovery of the ten rifles and 9mm pistol stolen on March 3 from the Central Establishment of Transports (ECT)** of the Army, in São Cristóvão. According to military officials, the weapons were found with the help of the interception of anonymous reports by the sector of intelligence of corporations.

03/12/06 -- Robert Feliciaggi, 63, Corsican elected representative and shareholder in many gaming businesses in France and Africa, was cut down by multiple bullets on Friday, March 10 at about 11pm, while he was picking up his vehicle at the Campo dell'Oro airport near Ajaccio. According to initial witness accounts, the shooter appears to have acted alone, his face masked by a hood. "Mr. Feliciaggi had landed on a flight from Paris and was leaning over the trunk of his car when the assassin hit him in the head with at least three bullets from very short distance," specified a police source. Mr. Feliciaggi had been about to take the wheel of his car in an isolated part of the airport. The shooter escaped in a car that appeared to have been waiting for him not far away. Mr. Feliciaggi was quickly taken to the Ajaccio hospital, where he succumbed to his wounds an hour later.

The Chinese Countryside Emerges

Coming to a Consensus on the Meaning of Reform

China’s Development Strategy Formally Changes Course

“The Master of Great Potential�? and the Myth of Instant Wealth