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Top News

HK puts on glitzy show for torch run
HONG KONG: More than 1 million residents and visitors ignored light showers on Friday to cheer the Olympic torch relay - many waving from apartment windows and rooftops of high-rise buildings.

Tea with Greenspan a bargain at $11,000

Japan PM wants to attend Games opening ceremony

Large SOEs told to be ready for tough times

GDP could be 2.5 times that of the US by 2030

Virus claims life of one more child

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News

Guangdong cracks down on child labor in factories
The Guangdong government has vowed to launch a province-wide investigation to end child labor after local newspapers reported that more than 1,000 children from Liangshan, Sichuan province, were working at factories of Dongguan.

History exhibition creates a stir

Tibet open to Chinese tourists

IN BRIEF (Page 2)

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Special Supplement

Hainan blossoms over 20 years as province
Once on the fringes of China's economy, tropical Hainan Island has blossomed into a prosperous province in the two decades following its designation as a special economic zone.

Education, healthcare and culture facilities maturing

Yalong beachfront has highest concentration of five-star hotels

Tropical island on course to be awash in visitors

Tourism to boost other sectors

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International

Afghanistan reels from food crisis
Hungry Afghans looking for their next meal eye bread scraps piled up like heaps of trash at a Kabul market. A vendor weighs out fistfuls of the stale crusts with hand-scales. A Pashtun woman waits with an empty plastic sack.

Brown mauled in local elections

May Day protests turn violent

S. Korea allays US beef fears

In Japan, love knows no age

World Scene: Russia

World Scene: Japan

World Scene: Austria

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Beijing Weekend Guide

My hero
There have been many successful big screen comic hero adaptations to the delight of both audiences and film companies. We've seen many versions of Batman, the Spiderman trilogy and different renditions of Superman.

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Beijing Weekend Guide

Strokes of age-old genius
The Palace Museum is inaugurating a regular-series exhibition at the Hall of Martial Valor, unveiling its trove of ancient paintings and calligraphy works, from the end of April.

Spring into Tianjin

The Butterfly effect

It's in the post

One with everything

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Beijing Weekend Guide

Towering above the pack
After a recent revamp of its menu and decor, CCTV Tower's rotating restaurant (中央电视塔旋转餐厅) has enhanced its offerings to include more than 300 choices, and also greatly improved the service.

Water Buffalo

Cool Q-usine

Chi fan le ma?

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Beijing Weekend Guide

Passion vs perseverance
"Whatever the inspiration, you've got to dream your dream," says Sun Jian (pictured), a 25-year-old graduate student of Peking University. The city planning major believes he has a yen for the arts even though he is a student of science.

Cross talk: Do smoking bans really deter smokers from their habit?

People

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Sports

Pistons advance with emphatic victory
PHILADELPHIA: The Detroit Pistons booked their second-round berth in the National Basketball Association playoffs on Thursday with an emphatic 100-77 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers.

Tigers complete rare 3-0 sweep of Yankees

Rangers blank Pens to survive

Nadal claims clay-court winning century

IN BRIEF (Page 10)

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Sports

Zenit stuns Bayern to make final
LONDON: Unheralded Zenit St Petersburg, which crushed favorite Bayern Munich 4-0 on Thursday, will face coach Dick Advocaat's former club Rangers in the UEFA Cup final.

Race for Premiership cash bonanza heats up

Score board

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Torch Relay

Squad named for Qomolangma relay
MT QOMOLANGMA, Tibet: Zhang Zhijian, spokesman for the Chinese Mountaineering Team, yesterday announced a squad that will carry the Olympic flame to the top of Mount Qomolangma.

Speed skater will be first mainland torchbearer

Torch on home soil in HK