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Top News

Statement consolidates partnership
TOKYO: President Hu Jintao and Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda yesterday signed a joint statement calling for the promotion of a mutually beneficial strategic relationship between China and Japan.

Leaders agree on early solution to gas disputes

Warning on disease as death toll hits 28

1m left homeless as aid trickles in

Medvedev sworn in as Russian leader

Chinese artists perform for Pope

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Top News

Medvedev to continue strategic partnership
With Dmitry Medvedev sworn in as Russia's president yesterday, all eyes will be on how the 42-year-old leads the Kremlin.

Veterans reminisce over wartime brotherhood

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Nation

Hu talks of friendship, goodwill
TOKYO: On the second day of his first visit to Japan as President of China, Hu Jintao continued to promote friendship and goodwill with Japanese politicians.

Food before biofuels: Minister

Airplane JV firm to takeoff on Sunday

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Nation

Rules on elevators tightened
Helen Sun, who works for a media company in Beijing, and two others were trapped in an elevator two weeks ago. An experience she would not like to go through again.

Bus safety ramped up in wake of tragedy

Olympic ticket scalpers move in

Firm admits fining workers

Railway 'has not' affected antelopes' migration

Across China: Guangxi

Across China: Beijing

Across China: Tibet

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China Scene/Insight

Revisiting a rail tragedy on the fast tracks
A deafening sound jolted the small city of Zibo out of sleep at 4:42 am on April 28. Minutes later, people saw what had caused that sound as cars of the T195 Beijing-Qingdao and 5034 Yantai-Xuzhou trains lay scattered across the tracks in the Jaoiji railway division.

China Scene: North

China Scene: East

China Scene: Central

China Scene: West

China Scene: South

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Special Supplement

Improving quality of life a priority in Shenzhen
As Shenzhen became the first mainland city to pass the benchmark of $10,000 per capita gross domestic product (GDP) last year, improving the quality of life for residents has been first on the city government's agenda.

Outlook for growth falls, yet remains double digit

Work begins on massive transport projects

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Special Supplement

City set to host its own international sports gala
While the nation eagerly awaits the coming 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, Shenzhen, a young and energetic southern city bordering Hong Kong, is also making preparations for an international sporting event - the 2011 Universiade, whose name combines the words "University" and "Olympiad".

Plans call for a seamless cross-border environment

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Comment

Time to stop building cities without souls
At his first sight of Las Vegas, a Chinese student of community participation in urban development remarked, "I feel as if I am back in Beijing's second ring road!"

Cartoon

Hour of compassion

Civil service reforms

Hot Words

Which Dalai Lama to trust?

An ethnic fiction

Gold medals galore for not lighting up

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Opinion

Storm clouds over dollar system
The subprime credit crunch has become a major headache for US President George W. Bush.

Letters and Blogs

Airships may not be green flight of fancy

Soaring costs hit life in Japan

From our archives

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International

Obama takes big step ahead in race
Barack Obama took a big step toward the Democratic presidential nomination with an easy victory in North Carolina on Tuesday, as Hillary Clinton vowed to keep her struggling campaign alive after narrowly winning Indiana.

EU postpones decision on genetically modified crops

Political conflict takes violent turn in Beirut

1st US execution after moratorium

Around the World: Slovakia

Around the World: Ukraine

Around the World: United Kingdom

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International

Leads found in pedophile case
Interpol says it has received more than 200 leads in the first 24 hours after launching a worldwide public appeal for help identifying a man seen sexually abusing young Southeast Asian boys in photos posted on the Internet.

Govt was 'gullible' in incest scandal

News Makers

World Scene: Health

World Scene: United Kingdom

World Scene: Australia

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Torch Relay

Citizens' love for flame burns bright
After following the torch relay in Guangzhou, Shandong's Li Ruitao, who has been living in Guangdong's capital city for the past three years, arrived late last night with friends in Shenzhen to catch the start of the torch relay early this morning.

City of Rams feels pulse of festival excitement

Past, future of Cantonese culture

Foreign runners fluent in Chinese

Swede lessons in life: Never give up

Front-running city

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Business

Earnings shadow on stocks
SHANGHAI: The mainland stock market slid 4.13 percent yesterday, led by financial companies and real estate developers, amid investor concerns about sliding corporate earnings.

KFC banks on China amid US slowdown

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Business China

Shanghai oil futures hit all-time high
Shanghai fuel oil futures yesterday shot to an all-time high since trading began in 2004, following the surge of international crude oil price that hit a record high of $122 per barrel on Tuesday.

Guodian will dig deeper into coal

Booster shot for Taiwan property

IN BRIEF (Page 14)

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Sino-Japanese Special

Fruitful season for bilateral relations
It is the time of year when grass turns green and flowers bloom - and spring might also be in the air for a Sino-Japanese relationship that has had some stormy times over the past few years.

Economics and culture nurture ties

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Business International

Roche eyes up diabetes market
Cancer drugs have propelled Roche Holding AG's profit by more than 20 percent a year since 2004. To continue the pace, the Swiss company is racing to break into the fast expanding, $21 billion-a-year diabetes market.

Carlsberg suffers loss on costs

Indian govt hopes to open nation's insurance sector

Ambani sells artworks to assist wife's charity

IN BRIEF (Page 16)

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Business International

Stocks rise in European markets
European stocks rose for the first time in three days after earnings from Lafarge SA, Deutsche Boerse AG and British American Tobacco Plc beat analysts' estimates. US index futures and Asian shares retreated.

Sprint Nextel unveils wireless network venture

Retailers feeling pinch

How much is NYSE really worth?

IN BRIEF (Page 17)

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Special Supplement

District central to Shanghai - and its growth
Rapid economic and social development in Zhabei district has made it one of the fastest-growing zones in central Shanghai.

Zhabei makes moves to become transport hub

Passengers, cars and cargo travel from heart of the city

Tourism still thriving in 'old' neighborhood

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Special Supplement

S.H. Bay, emerging star on the Shanghai skyline
SHANGHAI: Nearly all famous cities in the world have developed along the banks of equally renowned rivers. Paris has the Seine, London the Thames and New York has the Hudson River, to name just a few. These beautiful rivers flow peacefully through the cities and have given rise to rich civilizations.

Suzhou Creek brings to life its history, cultural legacy

Plots in golden area beckon investors

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Life Pulse

Lady and the torch
On April 26, 2007, each mobile phone subscriber of Guanghan, a city in Southwest China's Sichuan province, received a short message from the local government, reading: "Guanghan, hometown of Sanxingdui Ruins and birthplace of Yangtz River culture, will be one of the torch relay cities for the 2008 Olympics."

A taste of real farm labor on Labor Day

Reviews

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Sports

Bolt in fast lane to 100m success
SALVO, North Carolina: World 200m silver medallist Usain Bolt always thought he could be a fast 100m runner. Convincing his coach took some time.

Capello vows to deliver success at major tournaments

'Alexander the Great' plays hard, exceeds expectations

Top shot

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Sports China

China's curlers are calling the shots
China's remarkable achievements at the Curling World Championships last month have boosted hopes of a medal from the sport at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games.

Let preparations for Vancouver Winter Games begin

Liu Xiang comfortably 'numb' ahead of Osaka Grand Prix

Score board

IN BRIEF (Page 23)

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Sports

Celtics edge Cavs in series opener
BOSTON, Massachusetts: In a game where some of the top scorers in the National Basketball Association struggled to find the mark, the Boston Celtics proved they could defeat Cleveland even on a bad night.

Lakers' Bryant finally handed MVP award

Ghei gears up for a blast at Beijing Open

IN BRIEF (Page 24)