Press Interpreter

02/19/10 -- Vietnam -- At 9 am this morning, the Huong pagoda festival, which will last 3 months, opened with 60,000 tourists and others in attendance.

In an interview with VnExpress.net, Mr. Nguyen Chi Thanh, head of the pagoda’s Relic Management Board, said that from just the 5th day of the Tet holiday [February 18] to the 6th [February 19], 16,000 pilgrims and tourists visited Huong pagoda.

02/15/10 -- Controversy shows no signs of subsiding at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris since Wednesday 10th February, when they decided to remove a work of art by the Chinese artist Ko Siu Lan from the front wall on the Malaquais embankment in the 6th arrondissement. The piece in question, which was on show for a few hours before being taken down, was part of a collective exhibition running until 21st February. The piece twists the words of Nicholas Sarkozy, “Work more to earn more”. It is made up of four black banners, each with the following words in white lettering; “Work”, “More”, “Earn” and “Less”. Depending on where they were standing passers-by could read it as “Earn more” or “Work less”.

04/29/09 -- “Below the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge, there's a corpse of a Yangtze River Dolphin!*” Yesterday afternoon, city residents discovered the corpse of an aquatic mammal beside a pier on the south bank of the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge, but after expert examination, the animal did not turn out to be the long-missing Yangtze River Dolphin, but a finless porpoise**, or 'river pig' as it is called colloquially.

04/20/09 -- Late at night, a stylish young man and another boy entered a construction site. Suddenly, two other young guys jumped out from the darkness and robbed the well-dressed youth. Only then did the fashionable young man realize that he'd fallen into a trap. As it turns out, the guys that mugged him had figured him for a homosexual and had purposely sent someone to strike up a conversation with him and, under the guise of 'making friends'*, lured him to a secluded area while they waited for an opportunity to jump him.

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.

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.

03/12/08 -- Yesterday, the Yunnan Forestry Department held a media conference on the "Yunnan Province 'Sabre 2008' Yunnan, Guizhou, Sichuan, Chongqing, and Tibet Forest Vegetation Joint Quarantine Implementation Action Program," giving a report on the status of Yunnan Province's efforts to prevent incursions of invasive species. It is reported that last year over thirty counties in Yunnan implemented targeted control programs for the bark beetle, which is causing a severe degree of harm. The prevention area covers over 800,000 mu (53,000 ha), and the program has brought about initial containment of the bark beetle infestation.

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.

12/10/07 -- The price has yet to be confirmed, but the first space suit aimed at the general public has enjoyed its debut fashion show. The designer, Chris Gilman, officially launched the suit at the X Prize Cup 2007 - a space innovation competition held every year at the Halloman Air Force Base in New Mexico. So will we now see tourists clad in space suits as they holiday in the Great Outer Space?

12/09/07 -- On Friday 7th December the European Union's Ministry of Justice passed a unanimous vote for a European Anti Death Penalty Day. The vote was made possible due to a change in the Polish government. The country's current governer, leader of the Right Donald Tusk, lifted the veto imposed by his predecessor, the ultra-conservative Jaroslaw Kaczynksi.

New Left party rides high in polls

Christian-Democrats warn of post-communists; liberals see new threat

06/18/07 -- Berlin -- The new chiefs of the "Left", Lothar Bisky (65) and Oskar Lafontaine (63), want to change Germany completely. But the Christian-Democratic Union (CDU), the Social-Democrats, the liberal FDP, the Greens, and industry are all siding forcefully against the plans of the new party.

05/24/07 -- President Wiktor Juszczenko said on Thursday that Ukraine is undergoing “a silent coup d’état". The national leader made his announcement during a press conference after a meeting with chiefs of governmental force departments.

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.

09/15/06 -- 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.