BEIJING

'Snail' patients rise to 87

The number of people confirmed to have fallen ill after eating raw or half-cooked snails contaminated with parasites at a Beijing restaurant has risen from 70 to 87, the Beijing Health Bureau reported yesterday.

Meanwhile, the Beijing restaurant that sold parasite-contaminated snails made an official apology to customers yesterday.

Qu Chuangang, spokesman for Shuguoyanyi Restaurant, which serves Sichuan-style dishes, said it will assume responsibility for the incident and try to deal with the problems caused.

The restaurant admitted that the snails had not been processed correctly, which was the main reason customers had fallen sick.

The spokesman said his restaurant is ready to compensate those who fell ill after eating the snails.

Five dead from rabies

Five people have died from rabies in Beijing as of Monday this year, with close to 70,000 people in the capital reporting being bitten by dogs in the first half of this year, said local health authorities.

Only one of the five people who died in Beijing contracted rabies in the city. The four others came down with the disease in other parts of the country and were rushed to the capital for treatment.

IPR violations survey

Seventy-five per cent of university-educated Chinese violate intellectual property rights (IPR) by doing things such as buying counterfeit software. The percentage of infringers is much higher among well-educated than less educated people, a survey showed.

The Horizon Research Group survey, released yesterday, sampled 2,180 urban and rural residents in regions like Beijing, Shanghai and Sichuan.

Most of the IPR violations relate to purchasing pirate software, CDs, counterfeit name brands, and uploading and downloading pirated software and AV products.

Joint Mars probe mission

China and Russia are planning a joint mission to Mars that will not only bring samples back to Earth but also land on one of red planet's tiny moons, a Chinese space scientist said.

Ye Peijian, a leading scientist with the Chinese Research Institute of Space Technology, made the announcement at an ongoing forum on China's space technology development in Beijing.

Ye said Russia will launch the spacecraft in 2009 and it will carry Chinese-made survey equipment. It will collect samples on Mars and the planet's nearest moon.

Shanxi

Iridium satellite phone

China Eastern installed an Iridium satellite phone on one of its Boeing 737 planes in its Shanxi branch to provide dependable communications and help improve safety in an emergency, said Yang Huiming from the Shanxi branch of China Eastern, yesterday.

It is the first civil airplane in China to be fitted with the technology.

"The system will be very useful when the airplane's radio does not work because of weather, distance or other reasons," he said.

China Eastern plans to install Iridium satellite phones on all 14 of the Boeing 737 planes at its Shanxi branch.

Jilin

Film festival opens

The eighth China Changchun Film Festival opened yesterday at Changchun Culture Square in the capital of Northeast China's Jilin Province.

During the three-day festival, 187 films both from home and abroad will compete for eight Golden Deer awards, including best actor, actress and director.

Changchun citizens will have the chance to come face to face with dozens of film stars, directors and playwrights.

The opening ceremony was held outdoors for the first time, attracting 10,000 fans.

The film festival has been held every two years since 1992.

(China Daily 08/24/2006 page2)