Dog nurses tiger triplets at Jinan zoo

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A dog feeds tiger triplets and her own puppy, right, at the Paomaling Zoo in Jinan, capital of east China's Shandong Province, Wednesday, May 16, 2007. [Xinhua]

The cubs, whom officials at the Jinan Paomaling Wild Animal World in Shandong province are so far just calling "One," "Two" and "Three," have been nursed by a dog since they were rejected by their tiger mother shortly after birth, said Paomaling manager Chen Yucai.

The trio's adoptive mother, a mixed breed farm dog called "Huani," is expected to nurse them for about a month or until their appetites outpace her supply, Chen said.

Chen said it is common for Chinese zoos to use surrogate dog mothers to nurse rejected tiger cubs and that Huani has nursed tigers before.

In the past, Paomaling put dog urine on their rejected cub's fur to make the surrogate think she was nursing one of her own puppies but the zoo didn't bother with Huani because she seemed not to mind nursing the tigers, he said.

"The family is getting along well and seems to enjoy each other," Chen said.

China, Vietnam vow to properly handle border issues

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Chinese President Hu Jintao (R) meets with Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet in Beijing, capital of China, on May 17, 2007. (Xinhua Photo/Ma Zhancheng)

BEIJING, May 17 (Xinhua) -- China and Vietnam on Thursday vowed to properly handle border issues, and maintain peace and stability in border areas.

Meeting with Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet, Chinese President Hu Jintao urged the two sides to properly handle the border issues so as to create good conditions for both countries' reform and development.

Triet said that Vietnam was keen to develop relations between the border provinces, so as to create peace, friendship and common development in the frontier area.

He pledged to deal with the land demarcation in a timely way and increase bilateral cooperation in the Beibu Bay area.

As for bilateral relations, Hu said China-Vietnam relations have maintained a good momentum in recent years with frequent high-level visits and fast-growing economic and trade cooperation. The two sides also coordinate in international and regional affairs.

Hu put forward five proposals to further promote bilateral relations -- bilateral exchanges at various levels, enhanced economic, trade and technological cooperation, more personnel exchanges between the two countries, careful management of border issues, and closer coordination and consultation in international and regional affairs, especially within multilateral frameworks.

Hu spoke highly of Vietnam's support for the one-China policy and China's reunification.

Triet agreed with Hu's remarks on bilateral ties, adding the two countries are facing the same development tasks, and share common strategic interests.

Relations with China are a priority of Vietnam's foreign relations, Triet stressed.

He said that Vietnam was keen to maintain exchanges with China at all levels, further increase mutual understanding and trust, and deepen cooperation in areas such as trade, technology, agriculture, culture and tourism.

Triet reiterated that Vietnam would firmly adhere to the one-China policy, support China's reunification and oppose "Taiwan independence separatist activities" in any form.

Killer gunman stuns Japan

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Police officers gather near a house where a gunman holed up after he shot three people in Nagakute town, central Japan May 18, 2007. A former Japanese gangster shot a policeman dead after wounding his son, daughter and another police officer and was still holed up in his home with a hostage after more than 15 hours. In the latest shoot-out to rattle tranquil Japan, the policeman was shot on Thursday evening as he rescued a colleague who had also been shot by the gunman. The policeman died a few hours later, a police official said, but the condition of the rescued officer was not life-threatening. The son and daughter were taken to hospital.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

I'm An Eighth Route Army Soldier Too

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On Wednesday, May 16 students from Houzaimen primary school in Xi'an city, Shaanxi province, learn how to spin yarn as part of the cities efforts to promote patriotism among young students. [Photo: xinhua]


The Xi'an branch of the Eighth Route Army museum, on Wednesday held an activity to help promote patriotism among the city's primary school students.

During the activity, called "I'm an Eighth Route Army soldier", students from Houzaimen primary school dressed themselves in soldiers' uniforms and undertook activities to experience life as a war time soldier. They were taught how to use guns and understand military information. On a lighter note, they also learnt how to spin yarn and sing various soldier songs.

The Eighth Route Army, or Balujun in Chinese, was one of the main military forces for the Communist Party of China, active during the Chinese Civil War and the Anti-Japanese War of Resistance. The two main Communist forces at that time were the New Fourth Army and the Eighth Route Army.

Bus accident killed three in Jiangxi

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Chinese firemen evacuate the passengers after a bus plunged into a lake from a bridge in Fengcheng, East China's Jiangxi Province, May 16, 2007. The accident left three dead and 34 injured.[Xinhua]

Genome of yellow fever, dengue fever mosquito sequenced

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An international team of researchers reported Thursday that they have sequenced the genome of Aedes aegypti, the mosquito responsible for transmitting yellow and dengue fevers, which are a major burden in Africa and other parts of the developing world. (File Photo)


WASHINGTON, May 17 (Xinhua) -- An international team of researchers reported Thursday that they have sequenced the genome of Aedes aegypti, the mosquito responsible for transmitting yellow and dengue fevers, which are a major burden in Africa and other parts of the developing world.

These findings, which will be published in the May 18 issue of journal Science, may provide new leads for controlling the spread of these diseases, and they offer the opportunity to compare this genome with those of Anopheles gambiae, the mosquito that transmits malaria.

Based on the draft sequence, the researchers reported that the two mosquito genomes have much in common but differ in overall size, the amount of mobile sequences called "transposable elements," and the average lengths of "introns," which are sequences that do not code for protein. Other differences involve gene density and the composition of gene families.

These insects represent the two major mosquito subfamilies, and the differences between them should reflect inherent biological properties, such as blood feeding preferences, host-seeking behavior and individual abilities to transmit certain pathogens.

The authors also compared the A. aegypti genome to that of the more distantly related Drosophila melanogaster and identified differences that should help clarify which genes and gene activities are specific to mosquitoes. 　

Policemen Defuse Car Bomb Threat

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Policemen evacuate residents as they prepare to defuse a car bomb on a street in Lanzhou, northwest China's Gansu Province May 15. It took the bomb disposal specialists six hours to defuse

220-m tall swing in Harbin

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A swing in the air of about 210 m from ground is put up in Harbin. Many citizens have been there to try the "game of courage". The picture was taken on May 14, 2007.