1st high-speed railway in northeast China to begin operation in 2012

12-28-2010 13:30 BJT

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After three and a half year's construction, the tracks have been laid for a new high speed railway between the northeastern Chinese cities of Harbin and Dalian. It's part of the region's first high speed railway.

The entire line will stretch over 900 kilometers, over half in Liaoning province, and the rest through the two provinces of Jilin and Heilongjiang. Train speed will be 200 kilometers an hour. Investment has reached nearly 70 billion yuan to date. Operation is expected to begin in 2012.

Editor:Zhang Ning |Source: CNTV.CN

Oil refinery blast rocks southeastern Russia

12-28-2010 11:15 BJT

5 Chinese killed in oil refinery blast in Zabaikalsky in Russia

MOSCOW, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- Five Chinese were presumably killed early Monday after an oil refinery blast rocked a settlement in the Zabaikalsky Kray in eastern Russia, news agencies reported.

The executive director of Zabaikalsky Refining Company, Arkady Chuprov, and a total of 18 Chinese were working at the oil refinery in the village of Dauria at around 4:25 a.m. local time (1925 GMT Sunday), when an explosion occurred inside the pumping station. Full Story>>

Photo taken on Dec. 27, 2010 shows the site of an oil refinery blast in the Zabaikalsky Kray in southeastern Russia. One person was killed early Monday after the oil refinery blast rocked a settlement in the Zabaikalsky Kray in southeastern Russia, news agencies reported.(Xinhua)

Package bomb found at Greek embassy in Rome

12-28-2010 08:24 BJT

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Italian police have found a bomb parcel at the Greek Embassy in Rome. The device was defused and no one was injured.

Police say the bomb was similar to the ones that exploded Thursday at the Chilean and Swiss embassies. An anarchist group with reported ties to Greek anarchists claimed responsibility for those blasts.

On Monday, police responded to suspicious packages at the embassies of Venezuela, Monaco and Denmark; which turned out to be false alarms. Police have told all foreign diplomatic missions in the capital to be on alert.

Cities at night, northern China

12-28-2010 11:53 BJT

Nighttime images have a way of dramatically revealing the amount of land development in metropolitan areas. This astronaut photograph features two of China’s most populous cities—Beijing and Tianjin—both in the northeastern part of the country near the Bohai Gulf. The United Nations estimated the 2010 population of the Beijing metropolitan area to be approximately 12 million, with the population of Tianjin estimated at more than 7 million.

The smaller city of Langfang, located midway between Beijing and Tianjin, is also clearly visible, as are several smaller developments to the northeast. The dark regions are mainly agricultural fields, with wheat and corn being the major crops.

Beijing (also known as Peking) is the capital of China. Its regular grid pattern is clearly visible at image upper left; concentric rings of major roadways around the city have been added as the metropolitan area has expanded. Tianjin is a major trade center linked to seaports on the Bohai Gulf. The city lies along the Grand Canal of China, a major artificial waterway extending southward for 1,176 kilometers (1,103 miles) from Beijing to Hangzhou.

This photograph was acquired by astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) when it was located approximately 630 kilometers (391 miles) away, over the Yellow Sea near the western coastline of North Korea. The flattened perspective of the urban areas is the result of the viewing angle and distance from the ISS. The city light patterns are very clear, indicating that there was little cloud cover or haze in the region at the time.

Editor:Du Xiaodan |Source: CNTV.CN

Gallup: Obama, Hillary become Americans' "most admired" people

12-28-2010 09:34 BJT

BEIJING, Dec. 28 (Xinhuanet) -- U.S. renowned research organization Gallup unveiled on Monday its annual list of Americans’ "Most Admired" men and women, which is based on a poll held around the country.

Since the organization started the survey in 1946, U.S. presidents have occupied the No.1 spot for men 52 times. And how about President Obama in the 2010 rankings?

Following are the top 5 spots for both men and women on the list:

No. 5 Bill Gates and Condoleezza Rice

Chairman of Microsoft, philanthropist and former U.S. Secretary of State

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates addresses a session of the 18th World Aids Conference in Vienna July 19, 2010. (Xinhua/Reuters File Photo)

Condoleezza Rice (Xinhua/Reuters File Photo)

Blizzard causes travel chaos in U.S.

12-28-2010 08:33 BJT

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A snow storm has blanketed the northeastern United States with up to 74 centimeters of snow, disrupting air and rail travel and challenging motorists at the end of the busy Christmas weekend.

New York and surrounding areas were the hardest hit. Its three main airports, JFK, La Guardia and Newark's Liberty, were closed Sunday night and at least 2,000 flights cancelled.

More than 2,400 sanitation workers are working 12-hour shifts to clear streets. Mayor Michael Bloomberg urged New Yorkers to stay at home.

Michael Bloomberg, New York Mayor, said, "And to minimize inconvenience for themselves and others, New Yorkers, I would just urge should refrain from travel today, if they can avoid it and by tomorrow things will be a lot better, but it's a nice time to stay at home and enjoy the family and that will let our city workers, who are trying to clean the streets, have a little more flexibility."

Dai-ichi to take over Australia's Tower for $1.2 billion

By Junko Fujita and Isabel Reynolds

TOKYO | Tue Dec 28, 2010 5:04am EST

TOKYO (Reuters) - Dai-ichi Life Insurance Co will take full control of Tower Australia Group Ltd for $1.2 billion in cash, the latest in overseas acquisitions by Japanese insurers keen to move away from a stagnant home market.

It is the first major purchase by Japan's No.2 life insurer since its $11 billion stock market debut in April, and is another deal for Australia's $1.2 trillion wealth management sector, which is growing thanks to compulsory private pension schemes.

While Dai-ichi did not raise any money through its IPO, it said it would use it as a springboard to push into overseas markets to address concerns about its growth prospects in Japan, where the population is shrinking.

It will pay A$4.00 per share for all the shares it does not own in Tower Australia, a 47 percent premium over Tower's latest closing price. Dai-ichi is currently the biggest shareholder in the midsized life insurer, with a 29 percent stake.

"This is a positive move," said Ryosuke Okazaki, chief investment officer at ITC Investment Partners in Tokyo.

"Top management is being decisive and if it did not take steps like this there wouldn't have been any point to it becoming a listed company."

The buyout ranks as the Japan's third biggest insurance acquisition after Tokio Marine Holdings, Japan's No. 2 non-life insurer, spent $4.7 billion to buy U.S. insurer Philadelphia Consolidated and 442 million pounds to buy Lloyd's of London insurer Kiln Plc.

Overseas acquisitions made by Japanese insurers hit a peak in 2008 with 547 billion yen worth of deals struck. This year there has been 109 billion yen worth of transactions made.

Dai-ichi said the deal will increase the amount of net profit derived from overseas to 9 percent from 3 percent. It had 55.6 billion yen net profit for the year ended March 2010.

Dai-ichi also has minority stakes in Ocean Life Insurance Co in Thailand and Star Union Dai-ichi Life Insurance Co in India.

AUSTRALIAN MARKET

Australia's wealth management sector is the world's fourth-largest and has recently seen much M&A activity, with Australian wealth manager AMP and French insurer AXA SA launching a new $13.1 billion-plus bid for AXA Asia Pacific last month.

Private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co offered $1.7 billion for wealth manager Perpetual, although the deal fell through this month.

Tower Australia's principal activities include life insurance, funds management, superannuation, financial planning, and investment management.

Dai-ichi's shares rose 2.1 percent to 133,600 yen in Tokyo after the Nikkei business daily first reported the deal earlier on Tuesday.