Beijing

Ministry denies raising combat status

China's Defense Ministry on Saturday denied reports that the People's Liberation Army units had raised its official level of combat readiness.

Online media reports said on Friday that the PLA's Guangzhou Military Area Command and the South China Sea Fleet have entered Level 2 combat readiness.

China has maintained a month long maritime standoff with the Philippines in the South China Sea in the dispute over Huangyan Island.

Jia urges deeper cross-Straits trust

China's top political adviser Jia Qinglin on Friday said efforts to deepen political mutual trust between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan should always be a primary condition for the peaceful development of cross-Straits ties.

Jia, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, spoke at the opening ceremony of the second forum of social groups of Taiwan compatriots.

Social groups of Taiwan compatriots on the two sides of the Strait as well as those around the world are important forces to advance the peaceful development of cross-Straits ties, Jia said.

Harbin

Teacher loses legs after saving kids

A 29-year-old middle school teacher in northeast China's Heilongjiang province was run over and lost both of her legs after pushing two students out of the way of an oncoming bus on Tuesday.

Zhang Lili, a teacher at the No 19 middle school in the city of Jiamusi, was crossing the road just outside the school's gate when a school bus suddenly came rushing toward nearby students on Tuesday evening.

Five students were also injured and sent to Jiamusi Zhongxin Hospital. The five students sustained minor injuries, but Zhang was seriously injured, suffering lumbar and pelvic fractures. She is still in a coma, said Cao Hongtao, head of the hospital.

Her pulse and blood pressure are improving, but she is still in critical condition and the risks of infection after the operation remain high, Cao said.

Lhasa

3 rescued after Tibet avalanche

Three people trapped in Yarlung Tsangpo River Canyon in western China's Tibet autonomous region were rescued on Saturday and are in stable condition, the rescue headquarters said.

The three people received emergency treatment, and their condition is not life-threatening despite being trapped by an avalanche in the canyon since April 30, rescuers said.

They are now being sent to Mainling county.

Sun Huitao and Wei Feng, a pair of tourists from central China's Henan Province, entered the canyon on April 19 with five local residents of Mainling County without permission, according to the county government.

The avalanche 11 days later left two dead and injured two others.

Australia

Chinese innovator wins botany medal

Australia's inaugural Lachlan Macquarie Medal has been awarded to Professor Hong Deyuan from Beijing in recognition of his outstanding achievement in helping protect plant biodiversity.

State Environment Minister Robyn Parker applauded Hong and the awarding of the medal, presented by Marie Bashir, governor of New South Wales, and bestowed by the Royal Botanic Gardens & Domain Trust.

The medal is a new award for individuals who have demonstrated excellence in any aspect of modern botany: conservation, plant or environmental science, horticulture or landscape management, public education involving plants or environmental science.

Parker said Hong was one of the first botanists to carry out studies on conservation biology of endangered and threatened plant species in China.

The Lachlan Macquarie Medal, to be awarded in even-numbered years, honors Governor Lachlan Macquarie, who set aside land for Sydney's Royal Botanic Garden in 1816. It was the nation's first botanic garden and is the site of the country's first scientific institution.

Greece

Socialist fails to form government

Greek Socialist leader Evangelos Venizelos on Saturday becomes the last political leader to throw in the towel after failing to cobble together a government, leaving the country's president with one final chance to avoid new elections.

Greece's political landscape is in disarray after voters humiliated the only parties backing a rescue plan tied to spending cuts, leaving no bloc with enough seats to form a government to secure the next round of financial aid. Without the aid, the debt-stricken country risks bankruptcy in weeks and a potential exit from the euro zone.

Italy

TCM, Western medicine move closer

A Declaration of Friendship between the Traditional Chinese Medicine and Western Medicine was inked on Friday in Italy's Bologna to foster future cooperation.

Former vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China Xu Jialu and former president of the EU Commission and former prime minister of Italy Romano Prodi signed the agreement during a conference organized to promote mutual understanding between the Chinese and Western medical traditions.

Venezuela

Chavez says he's beaten cancer

President Hugo Chavez strode, sang and gave a rousing speech on Friday in a careful show of vigor after his latest cancer treatment in Cuba fanned rumors he was dying five months before an election.

Chavez, who had only been seen live in public once in the previous month, addressed the nation after flying back from Havana where he has completed six rounds of radiation therapy.

Xinhua-Reuters

(China Daily 05/13/2012 page2)