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This is Special English. I&`&m Ryan Price in Beijing. Here is the news.
Police have smashed a major human trafficking ring and rescued 36 children who were abducted to be sold.
Police in east China&`&s Fujian Province received information in May about a suspect surnamed Tan who was believed to be involved in child trafficking.
Further investigations found a major child trafficking ring spanning seven provinces and municipalities. Tan and other suspects were found to be responsible for the trafficking of dozens of infants since 2014.
In another case, police in several other provinces coordinated their efforts to crack down on another child trafficking ring, and 160 people were arrested.
The Ministry of Public Security said China has a zero tolerance policy when it comes to the trafficking of women and children, and it will continue to pursue these traffickers.
The ministry will also target the "buyers" in human trafficking cases.
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China has issued a guideline on improving work safety, seeking to plug the holes in its supervision mechanism, laws and safety standards to effectively prevent accidents.
It has vowed to optimize its supervision and management mechanism as well as laws and regulations to "significantly" reduce workplace accidents by 2020.
The guideline was jointly issued by the Party Central Committee and the State Council. It said China will not sacrifice safety for development.
The guideline has clarified the definition and division of responsibilities concerning workplace safety. Meanwhile, China has plans to amend its criminal law to include workplace malpractices that easily lead to major accidents.
It noted the country will increase financial input to enhance workplace risk control and prevent work-related illness, while improving management and auditing to make sure the money would be wisely spent.
It said China&`&s work safety has been improving, but more efforts are needed as many problems remain.
The guideline came after a series of deadly accidents, including mining disasters and power plant collapse. In one of the accidents in November, 74 people were killed when a platform for a cooling tower being constructed as part of a power plant collapsed in east China&`&s Jiangxi Province.
You&`&re listening to Special English. I&`&m Ryan Price in Beijing.
Scientists claimed they have figured out how the world&`&s biggest and most-valuable diamonds formed.
In a study published in the U.S. journal of Science, scientists said large gem-quality diamonds, including the world-famous Cullinan and Lesotho Promise, may be born in metallic liquid deep inside Earth&`&s mantle.
The research team, led by Evan Smith of the Gemological Institute of America, reached the conclusion after examining so-called "offcuts" of massive diamonds, which are the pieces left over after the gem&`&s facets are cut for maximum sparkle.
They found tiny metallic grains trapped inside in more than 30 exceptionally large stones, which are made up of a mixture of metallic iron and nickel, along with carbon, sulfur, methane and hydrogen.
The inclusions led the researchers to reach the conclusion that diamonds formed in the Earth&`&s mantle, but they did so under conditions in which they were saturated by liquid metal.
Most diamonds formed at depths of 150 to 200 kilometers under the continents and shoot to the surface in volcanic eruptions. But the large, rare stones formed at extreme depths, likely within 360 to 750 kilometers in the convection mantle, where rocks are known to be mobile.
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U.S. researchers have taken inspiration from the human brain in creating a new "deep learning" method that enables computers to teach themselves about the visual world largely on their own, much as human babies do.
In the test, the new image-processing system "deep rendering mixture model" can learn largely on their own about how to distinguish handwritten digits using a standard data-set of 10,000 digits written by federal employees and high school students.
In results, the researchers said they trained their algorithm by giving it just 10 correct examples of each handwritten digit between zero and nine and then presenting it with several thousand more examples that it used to further teach itself.
You&`&re listening to Special English. I&`&m Ryan Price in Beijing.
The world&`&s first cloned goat bearing superfine cashmere wool was born in north China&`&s Inner Mongolia.
The goat was born and is raised in a base for animal husbandry research conducted by experts from agricultural universities and academies in Inner Mongolia and southwest China&`&s Yunnan Province.
The cashmere fiber from the goat is less than 14 micrometers thick, much finer than the average of 16 micrometers grown by the famous Erlang Mountain goats in Inner Mongolia.
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Every day, trains full of laptops and other electronics products as well as auto parts depart a remote village in southwest China heading for Europe.
For five years, trains have delivered laptops for Hewlett-Packard, car window regulators and semi-conductors, from Chongqing Municipality to Europe.
Since the trains started in 2011, there has been a business boom in the mountain city. It imported more than 2,000 cars on the international rail network in the past two years.
Six years ago, the city was struggling to attract businesses which mostly centered on China&`&s coastal areas where there are convenient shipping.
With the launch of the trains, the city got more deals because train transport costs only around one-fifth of air transport, and one-third faster than shipping by the sea.
As prices along the eastern seaboard rose, industries began to move inland. In 2010 Hewlett-Packard established a computer production line in Chongqing, seeking government help to launch a rail network to transport products overseas. That was when the China-Europe rail network was launched.
Following the footsteps of Hewlett-Packard, other brands including Acer, Toshiba and Apple set up bases in Chongqing to take advantage of the rail line.
You&`&re listening to Special English. I&`&m Ryan Price in Beijing. You can access the program by logging on to newsplusradio.cn. You can also find us on our Apple Podcast. If you have any comments or suggestions, please let us know by e-mailing us at [email protected]. That&`&s [email protected]. Now the news continues.
When it comes to surgical procedures to enhance beauty, Chinese women are twice as generous than their global peers.
According a report based on a survey by Insightful Engineers, a market research consultancy in the United Kingdom, the survey found that Chinese women spent the equivalent of around 580 yuan, roughly 84 U.S. Dollars, per month. That&`&s more than twice the global average of about 250 yuan, and 150 yuan higher than the second group on the list, women from South Korea.
A plastic surgeon from Shanghai said Chinese women are displaying an increasing interest in a range of surgical procedures, mainly to look prettier, rather than fighting aging, which may help explain why the population of plastic surgery receivers in the country is much younger than in other places.
The report also said that 74 percent of Chinese respondents associate beauty directly with facial appearance, the highest of all surveyed countries. The biggest concern for Chinese women is flabby skin and crow&`&s feet, the little wrinkles at the corner of the eyes.
The survey interviewed 7,700 "aesthetically aware" women from 16 countries, who were between 18 and 65 years of age.
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Paris&`& first perfume museum, the Grand Musee de Parfum, has opened its doors, inviting visitors to discover perfume history through a quite innovative sensory and olfactory exhibition.
The museum&`&s president said the Grand Musee du Parfum was created after noting the absence of an emblematic place for French perfumery in Paris despite the sector&`&s flourishing influence abroad.
The museum gathered major players in French and international perfume industry, including the Federation of Beauty Enterprises, the French Syndicate of Perfumery and the International Flavors and Fragrances.
It has three spaces with one area dedicated to the history of perfumes.
Alongside the permanent exhibition, many events and workshops for young people are planned at the museum and intend to bring together the visual arts, gastronomy, live entertainment, literature and cinema around perfume.
France has the world&`&s leading cosmetics-perfumes sector and its turnover totaled 25 billion euros, roughly 26 billion U.S. Dollars, in 2014.
You&`&re listening to Special English. I&`&m Ryan Price in Beijing.
British actor Colin Firth dwells on the virtue of restraint in a wide-ranging conversation with Raymond Zhou on the art of acting.
Colin Firth joked that he was looking for offers in Chinese films, adding that he hoped to work with Chinese directors including Zhang Yimou.
The light-hearted revelation came at the end of an hourlong talk, moderated by yours truly, which was designed to encompass the highlights of an illustrious career of the much honored British actor.
Titled "A Colin Firth Retrospective", the conversation was, in turn, part of a program for the 2016 China-Briton Film Festival held in the Beijing suburb of Langfang.
Firth received a lifetime-achievement award at this festival when it opened on Dec 12.
The 2010 Academy Award winner for best actor, for The King&`&s Speech, did not randomly pick a few big names from China&`&s booming film industry to please the host country. But he did his due diligence.
Firth said he was impressed by how seamlessly American actors Tim Robbins and Adrien Brody fitted into the epic tale on the 1942 famine. He also liked the 2012 movie Mystery, and said Farewell My Concubine was one of the best movies in world of cinema.
And he was plugged in to the latest in Chinese showbiz, aware of the publicity blitz whipped up by The Great Wall, the epic tale of fighting monsters on the best-known Chinese landmark, which is a Sino-US co-production that stars Matt Damon.
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China&`&s northernmost province of Heilongjiang will hold an "Ice and Snow Day" to warm up its winter tourism industry and sluggish economy.
The provincial legislature adopted a decision to hold the event on Dec. 20 each year, starting this year. State-owned winter sports facilities will be open to the public for free during these event.
Travel agencies and key scenic spots will offer discounted tickets to tourists on Ice and Snow Day.
The province&`&s bitter winter, which lasts 120 days, used to be an obstacle to the area&`&s development. However, Heilongjiang has taken measures to turn the cold, snowy season into a resource to boost its economy, which has slowed in recent years amid the country&`&s economic restructuring.
The "Ice and Snow Day" will make more people to enjoy ice and snow, creating a favorable environment for developing the winter economy and tourism.
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The Maldives tourism industry has seen a remarkable growth in 2016, contributing to strengthening the island&`&s economy.
A press statement by the Maldives Embassy in Colombo said the growth has been achieved with the dynamic economic policies introduced by the country to transform the economy of the Maldives.
This year, the Maldives unveiled seven new resorts, featuring the world&`&s largest underwater restaurant.
The government said 20 new resorts will be unveiled in 2017.
With the opening of the new resorts and influx of tourism investments, the tourism industry has become a catalyst for the governments&`& key pledge of youth employment.
That is the end of this edition of Special English. To freshen up your memory, I&`&m going to read one of the news items again at normal speed. Please listen carefully.
（全文见周日微信。）

This is Special English. I&`&m Mark Griffiths in Beijing. Here is the news.
Chinese lawmakers have called for stricter management of traditional Chinese medicine production.
During panel deliberations recently, legislators discussed a draft law on Traditional Chinese Medicine, tabled for a third reading at the bimonthly session of the National People&`&s Congress Standing Committee. The legislators agreed that the quality and safety of Traditional Chinese Medicine materials should be ensured with improved regulations.
Legislator Jia Chunmei said during the discussion that bad materials lead to ineffective treatments, and cause people to mistrust Traditional Chinese Medicine.
Legislators applauded the draft as it stresses enhanced supervision over farms producing Chinese medicine materials, adding that growth hormones used for herb cultivation should be brought under control.
Legislator Zhang Boli said the overuse of growth hormones will sacrifice quality for quantity.
Meanwhile, legislators urged specific rules that clarify the civil and criminal responsibilities of those who violate the Traditional Chinese Medicine law.
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Anhui Province in eastern China will be the first in the country to drop the Public English Test System, an English proficiency test for Chinese students. The province will stop using the system this year and more areas will follow suit.
China plans to finally combine the two most popular English proficiency tests into one by 2020.
China has around 300 million English learners who often have to take multiple, overlapping English tests.
The Ministry of education has revealed that a new English proficiency evaluation system will be put into use this year and may be put forward across China by 2020.
The new system will correspond with international standards and set nine grades for testers ranging from elementary school graduates to English majors and exceptional talents.
You&`&re listening to Special English. I&`&m Mark Griffiths in Beijing.
Facebook is taking new measures to curb the spread of fake news on its huge and influential social network. Focusing on the worst offenders, Facebook will partner with outside fact-checkers and news organizations to sort honest news reports from made-up stories that play on people&`&s passions and preconceived notions.
Facebook will make it easier for users to report fake news, in only two steps when they see it. If enough people report a story as fake, Facebook will pass it to third-party fact-checking organizations that are part of the nonprofit Poynter Institute&`&s International Fact-Checking Network.
Five fact-checking and news organizations are working with Facebook on this, including ABC News and The Associated Press, and the group is likely to expand.
Stories that failed the fact check won&`&t be removed from Facebook, but they&`&ll be publicly flagged as "disputed", which will force them to appear lower down in people&`&s news feeds. Users will be able to click on a link to learn why that is. And if people decide they want to share the story with friends anyway, they can, but they&`&ll get another warning.
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German officials are stepping up their criticism of Facebook, saying the social network is doing too little to stop hate speech and could face stiff fines unless it deletes illegal content faster.
In an interview published recently, Justice Minister Heiko Maas said his ministry was checking whether it would be possible to make social networking sites legally liable for illegal posts.
Maas told media that if other measures fail to work, they have to think about fines in the end, and that would be a strong incentive to act quickly.
Germany has seen a sharp increase in vitriolic posts on social media in recent years amid a heated public debate over the influx of more than a million migrants since the start of 2015.
The country has laws against speech deemed to be racist, defamatory or inciting violence, a response to Germany&`&s Nazi legacy. But authorities have struggled with the deluge of often anonymous postings on foreign-owned websites.
Facebook, based in California in the United States, says it takes the issue seriously and has hundreds of contractors reviewing posts at a Berlin office. But it is reported that staff members there complain of inconsistent rules and overwork.
You&`&re listening to Special English. I&`&m Mark Griffiths in Beijing.
The United Nations children&`&s fund and its partners have kicked off a mass measles vaccination drive, aiming to vaccinate 54,000 children under 10 years of age in southern Somalia.
The United Nations Children&`&s Fund, UNICEF, says the vaccination drive follows a serious of outbreaks in southern Somalia.
A UNICEF representative in Somalia says measles is one of the most deadly vaccine-preventable diseases but sadly, it is far from being the only one in Somalia.
Many of the children suspected of suffering from measles in Kismayo had not been vaccinated against the disease, although there are 16 free vaccination posts in the area.
The U.N. agency has supported the swift delivery of 55,000 doses of measles vaccine to the area along with Vitamin A supplementation to boost immunity. The vaccines are funded by the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance, and Japan.
According to UNICEF, measles is a key indicator of the strength of a country&`&s immunization systems. Somalia has one of the lowest immunization rates in the world.
Measles is a highly contagious viral disease and a leading cause of death among young children in Somalia.
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U.S. researchers have found that a low-dose of aspirin may inhibit the normal function of blood platelets and reduce their ability to up-regulate a protein which plays an important role in cancer cell proliferation and survival.
The mechanism means that low-dose aspirin, or "baby aspirin", may have some benefits in helping cancer prevention, especially colon cancer, in addition to protection against cardiovascular disease.
The researchers from Oregon State University say the benefit of aspirin may be due to its effect on blood cells called platelets, rather than acting directly on tumor cells.
Early cancer cells live in what&`&s actually a pretty hostile environment, where the immune system regularly attacks and attempts to eliminate them. Platelets can play a protective role for those early cancer cells. Inhibition with aspirin appears to interfere with that process.
For the first time, the study shows the ability of platelets to regulate cancer cells.
The anti-cancer benefit of aspirin occurs at very low doses. Higher doses are used to treat inflammation, headaches or pain. The new findings have enabled doctors to use low doses of aspirin, to minimize the risk of inner bleeding. Inner bleeding is a serious concern with any anti-platelet medication.
You&`&re listening to Special English. I&`&m Mark Griffiths in Beijing. You can access the program by logging on to newsplusradio.cn. You can also find us on our Apple Podcast. If you have any comments or suggestions, please let us know by e-mailing us at [email protected]. That&`&s [email protected]. Now the news continues.
French car maker Renault has opened China&`&s first experimental zone for self-driving cars in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.
An electric autonomous driving, or AD, car by Renault has started operating on a 2-kilometer-long lakeside road in the Sino-French Wuhan Ecological Demonstration City.
Visitors are allowed to experience the autonomous vehicle in the zone, which was jointly built by Renault and its Chinese cooperation partner, the Dongfeng Company.
Autonomous systems can make car travel safer and passengers less stressed. It will make driving more enjoyable in tedious conditions, including traffic congestion.
The Renault Group plans to gradually introduce the "eyes off" technology in its core range of vehicles by 2020. Drivers are also expected to be able to take advantage of in-car connectivity safely when conditions and the law permit.
You&`&re listening to Special English. I&`&m Mark Griffiths in Beijing.
Babies born with congenital Zika virus infection may develop microcephaly, or abnormal smallness of the head, months after birth.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published its latest Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The report described 13 infants in Brazil with congenital Zika virus infection who did not have microcephaly at birth, but experienced slowed head growth as early as five months after birth.
Among the infants, 11 later developed microcephaly.
Congenital Zika virus infection without microcephaly at birth has been reported previously.
However, this is the first series of infants with laboratory evidence of congenital Zika virus infection documented to have poor head growth with microcephaly developing after birth.
The new findings have raised the alarm for the seemingly healthy babies born to mothers who were infected with the Zika virus worldwide.
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A report has found that Australia&`&s use of illegal methamphetamines including ice is at an all-time high.
Odyssey House, one of Australia&`&s largest drug rehabilitation organizations based in Melbourne released its annual report recently. It said the number of people who admitted to amphetamine use went up 53 percent in 2016.
The report said that half of the amphetamine users in Australia were seeking help for their addiction while heroin and opium use went down 45 percent last year.
The report says the growth in ice addiction was proof that the Australian government needed to increase long-term funding to fight ice addiction.
The report found that two thirds of Australian drug users last year were over the age of 30, with users reporting their first intoxication at a much earlier age than a decade ago.
You&`&re listening to Special English. I&`&m Mark Griffiths in Beijing.
The surgeon who created the life-saving Heimlich maneuver for choking died in Cincinnati in the United States recently. Dr. Henry Heimlich died of a heart attack at the age of 96.
Heimlich&`&s son, Phil Heimlich, said his father was a great man who saved many lives, and he will be missed not only by his family but by all of humanity.
Dr. Heimlich was director of surgery at the Jewish Hospital in Cincinnati in 1974 when he devised his treatment to reverse choking that made his name a household word in the United States.
Rescuers using the procedure abruptly squeeze a victim&`&s abdomen, pushing in and above the navel with the fist to create a flow of air from the lungs. The flow of air can then push objects out of the windpipe and prevent suffocation.
The maneuver has saved the lives of thousands in the United States alone. It earned Dr. Heimlich several awards and worldwide recognition.
The maneuver was adopted by public health authorities, airlines and restaurant associations across the world.
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Lights, baubles and other decorations are often used to decorate Christmas trees in Australia during the festive season, but one local woman was shocked to find a tiger snake playing the part of the tinsel.
After spotting the stowaway snake wrapped around the tree in her home, the woman called a professional snake handler Barry Goldsmith who happily relocated the "moving decoration".
Goldsmith&`&s photo of the slippery critter went viral on Australia&`&s social media overnight. He told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that he&`&d never seen anything quite like it.
He said that although he has found snakes around the base of Christmas trees in amongst the presents in the past, he has never found one up inside a Christmas tree.
Goldsmith said it is a one-off thing, like lightning striking, and it&`&s not going to happen again for sure, not this year.
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This is Special English. I&`&m Ryan Price in Beijing. Here is the news.
Almost 700 Chinese officials have been held accountable for their poor environmental protection records in ongoing environmental inspections.
The central government dispatched seven teams in a second round of inspections to seven provincial-level regions including Beijing and Shanghai to review local government work in late November.
These teams have looked into 2,000 cases, and imposed fines totaling 66 million yuan, roughly 10 million U.S. dollars, in 1,500 cases.
A total of 3,000 officials in eight provincial-level areas were held accountable during the first round of inspections in 2016. Their offences included allowing construction in nature reserves and worsening pollution. Punishments included some being removed from their posts.
China is fighting pollution and environmental degradation after decades of economic growth that have left the country saddled with problems including smog and contaminated soil.
The central government has released a national plan on environmental improvements for the period spanning 2016 and 2020, with detailed tasks on air pollution, water and soil.
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North China&`&s latest bout of air pollution has been less serious than expected, thanks to counter measures adopted by local authorities.
China&`&s top environmental watchdog said at least 23 cities in north China, including Beijing and Tianjin, have activated red alerts as the air began to turn hazy starting Friday, prompting local governments to impose car restrictions on roads and cut emissions for factories.
The heavy smog came a bit later than previously forecast as efforts paid off, and pollutant density in the air has somewhat been reduced in the cities.
The Ministry of Environmental Protection said that however, further observation is needed to confirm the actual effects of the measures, and air pollution is still likely to worsen as weather conditions continue to be unfavorable.
The ministry has sent a dozen inspection teams to check whether local governments have taken appropriate measures to address heavy pollution and sanction illegal factory emissions.
China has a four-tier warning system for severe weather, the red being the most serious, followed by orange, yellow and blue.
You&`&re listening to Special English. I&`&m Ryan Price in Beijing.
China&`&s 81 million science and technology workers will have their own festival to celebrate, and it&`&s going to be called the "Sci-Tech Workers&`& Day" which has been designated on May 30 each year.
The State Council, China&`&s Cabinet, has designated the day to be celebrated starting in 2017.
The date was chosen because May 30, 2016 was when the country&`&s top two science and technology conferences convened.
During the events, the authority set the target for China to become a world science and technology powerhouse by the middle of this century.
The "Sci-Tech Workers&`& Day" aims to encourage all workers in the sector to remember their mission and play their roles in innovation.
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The Ministry of Culture is making it compulsory for presenters of online streaming to register with their real names.
The rules require operators of online streaming to identify presenters via interview or video calls. Their licenses will be issued by provincial-level cultural authorities.
The regulation also states that operators should obtain a permit from the ministry before offering channels to presenters from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, as well as from other countries.
Operators must carry out real-time supervision of online streaming and keep records of all the content.
A mechanism for handling emergencies should be established. Once an offender is found to have violated laws and regulations, the operator must suspend service, preserve relevant data, and report to the authorities.
A blacklist will be created to strengthen management of online performances and ensure the sector&`&s healthy and orderly development.
The regulation is scheduled to take effect on Jan.1.
You&`&re listening to Special English. I&`&m Ryan Price in Beijing.
The First India-China Think Tank Forum has been held in New Delhi in India.
The forum was jointly organized by the Institute of Chinese Studies, the Indian Council of World Affairs, and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
The forum is a bilateral platform established by a Memorandum of Understanding concluded between the Chinese Ministry of External Affairs, the India government, and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Under the theme "Towards a Closer India-China Developmental Partnership", the forum carried out an in-depth discussion on various issues, including major country relations between India and China, as well as strengthening India-China strategic communication, and promoting economic ties.
The forum saw participation from prominent strategic thinkers, economists, academics, and social scientists from both countries.
The next India-China Think Tank Forum will be held in Beijing in 2017.
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North China&`&s Hebei Province has approved a set of measures aimed at tightening protection of the sections of the Great Wall lying within the province.
The regulation stipulates the responsibilities of local governments in protecting the Great Wall within their jurisdiction. It also covers employment and management of protection workers, and social participation in protection.
The regulation prohibits adding new stretches to the wall in the name of protection. It also elaborates acts considered harmful to historical sites and lists punitive measures.
The Great Wall was built between the third century BC and the Ming Dynasty which ended in 1644. The existing sections of 8,800 kilometers were mostly built in the Ming Dynasty. The Great Wall was recognized as a World Heritage Site by the United Nations in 1987.
Hebei Province is home to a combined stretch of over 1,300 kilometers of the Ming-Dynasty wall, passing eight cities.
Officials say the protection work is less than satisfactory as it faces severe natural damage and vandalism in the wake of underfunding and poor management.
You&`&re listening to Special English. I&`&m Ryan Price in Beijing. You can access the program by logging on to newsplusradio.cn. You can also find us on our Apple Podcast. If you have any comments or suggestions, please let us know by e-mailing us at [email protected]. That&`&s [email protected]. Now the news continues.
Hepatitis C patients in China will soon be able to access direct-acting antiviral treatments, which can thoroughly cure the liver infection.
A senior liver disease specialist said several medicines are expected to get approval from the top drug authority and enter the Chinese market early in 2017. It will bring China&`&s hepatitis C treatment in line with international mainstream practices.
Currently, most patients with the condition are on injection interferon therapy, which takes longer and may cause serious reactions for some recipients.
By contrast, DAA medicines, are taken orally and can usually get rid of the virus and cure the disease in around 12 weeks.
A patient surnamed Bai is one of those who cannot handle the major side effects from interferon treatment. To survive, he bought DAA drugs from overseas and was cured last year.
DAA medicines have been readily available elsewhere worldwide for many years. But China, the country with the most patients, has no such drugs, largely due to "complex and lengthy drug registration processes". That&`&s according to the World Health Organization&`&s China Representative Bernhard Schwartlander.
In April, the China Food and Drug Administration announced an acceleration of the registration for DAA. Bai said Chinese patients will be able to access world-class treatments at home.
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The U.S. state of Texas has launched what it calls the largest effort ever in the state to track brain injuries among young athletes.
The University Interscholastic League, Texas&`& governing body for public high school sports, is partnering with the O&`& Donnell Brain Institute at UT Southwestern Medical Center for the project, from which they hope to gauge whether rules or equipment changes are improving player safety and what more can be done to protect athletes.
Officials say that a state as large as Texas, which has more than 800,000 public high school athletes, would be a key step in developing a national database of brain injuries in youths. Already, the federal Center of Disease Control and Prevention is seeking federal funding for such a database.
All 50 states in recent years have passed rules or laws to address concussions in young athletics from research to protocols for identifying concussions and setting rules for return to play. The CDC has estimated that up to 3.8 million concussions occur in sports and recreational activities each year, but some experts wonder if those numbers underestimate total brain injuries, as some individuals may not seek treatment for mild or moderate symptoms.
The Texas program will track about two-dozen sports, from football to girls&`& soccer, recording what caused an injury, recovery time and other data.
You&`&re listening to Special English. I&`&m Ryan Price in Beijing.
A DNA test has confirmed that the remains of a male found recently in a desert in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region belonged to a native of Sichuan province, who went missing more than 50 years ago.
The test results were published by police in neighboring Qinghai province.
The remains were found by a group of rock collectors near the Lop Nor basin at the junction of Xinjiang and Qinghai in November.
Police officers found the remains and personal belongings of the deceased at the site including a newspaper. Police said high temperatures and a lack of rainfall was the reason why the belongings were intact.
Among the items that were found are a newspaper that was published in 1960 and letters that suggest the remains were that of a man surnamed Li, who was reported missing in the 1960s.
Police contacted Li&`&s wife, who is now 88-year-old. She remarried after Li was confirmed missing.
The couple married in 1949, a year before he was enrolled in the army to fight the Korean War. He was wounded in the war and returned home in 1951. He left home five years later, saying he would find work outside the province, and lost contact with his family.
Police said it is not known why he perished in the desert, adding that he might have also passed away in April 1961.
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Unable to find out who threw a yogurt bottle out of a window, the parents of a 2-year-old girl who was hurt by it sued 450 suspected homeowners.
The local court in Chongqing ruled that all of them must split the compensation and each pay 360 yuan, roughly 51 U.S. dollars.
All the homeowners who attended the court hearing accepted the ruling.
On the evening of Sept 16, 2014, the girl was playing in the neighborhood where a yogurt bottle was thrown out of a window of a nearby building and it hit the girl&`&s head.
The girl was knocked unconscious and was taken to the hospital. Her family spent more than 80,000 yuan on medical treatment for the girl&`&s skull fractures and related injuries.
As the parents could not find who was responsible, they had to sue all homes from the second to the 33rd floors and asked for a total of 300,000 yuan in compensation.
In recent years, news about objects falling from tall buildings and hitting passer-byers has drawn public attention. But most victims with minor injuries just let it go since it is so difficult to identify the person who threw the object.
However, under Chinese civil law, victims in these kind of case can be compensated by all users of a building if nobody is found responsible.
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This is Special English. I&`&m Mark Griffiths in Beijing. Here is the news.
China&`&s first overseas land satellite ground receiving station has been put into trial operation.
The China Remote Sensing Satellite North Polar Ground Station is above the Arctic Circle, half an hour&`&s drive from Kiruna, a major mining town in Sweden.
Scientists say Kiruna is an ideal place for remote sensing satellite data reception. With this location and a high-performance antenna, China&`&s Earth observation satellites will acquire global data more efficiently, and respond to user application requirements including disaster monitoring more quickly and effective.
China has ground stations in Beijing, Hainan province, the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region and Yunnan province. The four ground stations receive satellite signals covering 70 percent of the Asian continent.
Domestic stations can receive a signal from each satellite five times a day when they pass overhead, while the new station can receive signals up to 12 times a day.
In addition, the new station can acquire satellite data in any part of the world within two hours. It is capable of receiving all-weather, all-time and multiple resolution satellite data, being an important complement to the four domestic stations.
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The Information Office of the State Council, China&`&s Cabinet, has launched an application with an online briefing area to provide the latest, most authoritative information about China and to offer better services for journalists from home and abroad.
The app is available in Chinese and English. In addition to broadcast news conferences organized by the State Council Information Office, central departments, ministries and local governments, the app will provide updated information about the latest news events in China.
The online briefing area provides services for users to book online or face-to face interviews with the office.
The Information Office held 120 news conferences in 2016.
By strengthening communication with the media and offering better services, the office says it will be more open in 2017 and play a bigger role in connecting China with the rest of the world.
You&`&re listening to Special English. I&`&m Mark Griffiths in Beijing.
A rising number of government officials have been placed under investigation for alleged misuse and embezzlement of poverty relief funds.
Between January and October, national prosecuting departments investigated 1,600 government officials relating to crimes involving poverty relief funds, a 94 percent increase compared with the same period last year.
Officials say supervision loopholes and efforts to crackdown on such illegal activity have contributed to the sharp increase in the number of cases found in such crimes.
Most of the suspects are grassroots officials, including directors and accountants at village and township level, who allegedly abused their power to withhold or embezzle funds, or fabricate documents to falsely claim such funds.
One such case was uncovered in May, when a local village Party chief in Henan province was investigated for alleged graft.
When serving as the village head, the suspect abused his power, using names of his family members to falsely claim subsidies for returning farmland to forests totaling 180,000 yuan, roughly 26,500 U.S. Dollars.
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More than 66 percent of children in southwest China&`&s Tibet Autonomous Region have received preschool education, more than double that of six years ago.
According to the latest figures from the local education department, the gross kindergarten enrollment ratio rose to 66 percent in 2016 from 24 percent in 2010.
A total of 97,000 children were attended 1,000 kindergartens in Tibet in 2016.
All children in Tibet&`&s agricultural and pastoral areas or children in low-income urban families are entitled to free tuition and accommodation fees, plus a 3,200 yuan-, roughly 470 U.S. Dollar-, pre-school education subsidy each year.
The educational authorities are also promoting preschool classes taught in both Mandarin and Tibetan for children in Tibet.
You&`&re listening to Special English. I&`&m Mark Griffiths in Beijing.
Chinese scientists have developed a device which may instantly detect esophageal cancer by breath analysis.
In a recent experiment, scientists with Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, used a device known as proton transfer reaction mass spectrometer to analyze breath samples of 29 cancer patients and 58 healthy volunteers.
More tests are needed to confirm the findings.
The current spectrometry takes only three minutes and the accuracy rate has reached 85 to 90 percent.
In China, esophageal cancer kills 370,000 people a year. Both the prevalence and the death rate of the cancer in China are among the highest in the world. Common screening methods contain barium meals, computed tomography scans, endoscopy, and lab testing of biopsy samples. However, these invasive methods are not suitable for regular health exams or the very vulnerable.
Non-invasive screening methods help in early detection and intervention, lowering the death rate.
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A total of 1,800 people died as a result of infectious diseases on the Chinese mainland in November.
According to the National Health and Family Planning Commission, there were 600,000 cases of infectious diseases reported on the mainland in November.
More than 280,000 cases were classified as Class B infectious diseases under China&`&s Law on the Prevention and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, and they resulted in 1,800 deaths.
Viral hepatitis, tuberculosis, syphilis, and bacterial dysentery accounted for 93 percent of cases in this category.
Category C diseases were responsible for close to 320,000 cases, and eight deaths. Foot and mouth disease, infectious diarrhea, and influenza were the most prevalent in this category, accounting for 94 percent of cases.
You&`&re listening to Special English. I&`&m Mark Griffiths in Beijing. You can access the program by logging on to newsplusradio.cn. You can also find us on our Apple Podcast. If you have any comments or suggestions, please let us know by e-mailing us at [email protected]. That&`&s [email protected]. Now the news continues.
Calendars have turned into luxuriously illustrated books which are highlights of China&`&s book scene at the end of the year.
One of the most popular of such products is the Palace Museum Calendar, which has sold more than 1 million copies since it was first issued in 2010. The first printing of the 2017 version of 300,000 copies has sold out, and four more print runs are underway.
For its 2017 calendar, the Palace Museum, or the Forbidden City, is offering a bilingual version in both English and Chinese.
The Palace Museum said they did not expect people to buy the publications as collectibles. A 2010 version of the calendar of the Forbidden City is now worth 80 times its original price.
The new 2017 calendar is inspired by Chinese zodiac animals and is illustrated with photos of relics from the Palace Museum&`&s collection of some 2 million antiques.
The success of the Palace Museum Calendar has inspired more publishing entities to follow suit. A Plants and Animals Calendar and the One Way Street Calendar are among the best cellers in the new year&`&s market.
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A salt water well, believed to have been built during the Tang Dynasty 1,000 years ago, has been unearthed in north China&`&s Hebei Province.
The salt well is the first to be discovered in a northern coastal area. The excavation is part of an ongoing project in Huanghua, a small city on the Bohai Sea coast.
The well is 2-and-a-half meters in diameter. It was built with distinctive grooved bricks, which over time have come into contact with cinders and ash, and have turned black in color. Pieces of wooden and woven items were also found at the bottom of the well.
Archaeologists believe that the well was constructed at a saltwater-rich offshore site, and the water from the well was used to produce salt.
Other ruins have been discovered nearby including brine ditches, salt pans, brine pits, fire pits, and stoves, but their functions remain to be confirmed.
One professor at Shandong University said this is the first Tang Dynasty salt well found in north China. And the ruins are evidence of advanced salt production featuring clear processing procedures.
The findings have been welcomed by researchers of ancient salt-making techniques as well as those interested in Tang socioeconomic development.
The 1,500-square-meter site is three kilometers from the ruins which are thought to be the northern tip of the ancient Maritime Silk Road.
You&`&re listening to Special English. I&`&m Mark Griffiths in Beijing.
An 18th-century Chinese imperial seal was auctioned for 21 million euros, roughly 22 million U.S. Dollars, in Paris, establishing a new world record for this type of bid.
During the bidding, potential buyers raised the seal&`&s price more than 20 times its estimated price.
According to the auction house, the seal in red and beige nephrite jade was used by Emperor Qianlong, the second longest serving emperor in Chinese history.
The emperor&`&s reign in China more than 200 years ago was one of the peak periods of the country&`&s prosperity, with a large population and a vast territory.
The seal was decorated with nine dragons, a symbol of supreme authority. It was used to go with the signature of Qianlong&`&s calligraphy and paintings.
The seal was reportedly acquired by a French naval doctor who traveled many times to China in the late 19th century, and has remained in his family ever since.
The new owner of the imperial seal is an unnamed Chinese collector.
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An exhibition of traditional Chinese hand-painted fans is underway in Buenos Aires, representing the most important Chinese art show held in the Argentine capital in a decade.
The show is entitled "Chinese style", and features 60 works selected from the China National Academy of Painting.
China&`&s Ambassador to Argentina Yang Wanming attended the opening ceremony, together with officials from Argentina&`&s Ministry of Culture, and representatives from the China National Academy of Painting.
The fan paintings range from landscapes to scenes of daily life, which are part of an artistic heritage dating back thousands of years in China.
Fans are an essential element in China&`&s theatrical presentations. This type of art work used to be seen as a type of portable painting with images of landscapes, flora and fauna, or personalities.
As the Year of China-Latin America Cultural Exchange, 2016 saw a significant number of Chinese art exhibitions, as well as stage performances and literature-related events, throughout the region.
"Chinese Style" will continue through until mid-March.
You&`&re listening to Special English. I&`&m Mark Griffiths in Beijing.
The historic story of the Six-inch Lane, rendered in the opera "Prime Minister of the Qing Dynasty" was warmly received at culture publicity week held at the Shanghai International Arts Festival lately.
The Huangmei opera, a local form of opera from east China&`&s Anhui province, traditionally tells tragic love stories to win tears. However, "Prime Minister of the Qing Dynasty" features state politics and a corruption crack-down in the Qing Dynasty.
The story is set over 100 years ago. Two state officials happened to have their family mansions built very close to one another, sharing a passageway between their courtyards.
One of the families planned to enlarge their yard and attempts to encroach on the narrow passageway. A dispute erupts between the two families, and they decide to take the case to court.
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This is Special English. I&`&m Ryan Price in Beijing. Here is the news.
Almost 700 Chinese officials have been held accountable for their poor environmental protection records in ongoing environmental inspections.
The central government dispatched seven teams in a second round of inspections to seven provincial-level regions including Beijing and Shanghai to review local government work in late November.
These teams have looked into 2,000 cases, and imposed fines totaling 66 million yuan, roughly 10 million U.S. dollars, in 1,500 cases.
A total of 3,000 officials in eight provincial-level areas were held accountable during the first round of inspections in 2016. Their offences included allowing construction in nature reserves and worsening pollution. Punishments included some being removed from their posts.
China is fighting pollution and environmental degradation after decades of economic growth that have left the country saddled with problems including smog and contaminated soil.
The central government has released a national plan on environmental improvements for the period spanning 2016 and 2020, with detailed tasks on air pollution, water and soil.
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North China&`&s latest bout of air pollution has been less serious than expected, thanks to counter measures adopted by local authorities.
China&`&s top environmental watchdog said at least 23 cities in north China, including Beijing and Tianjin, have activated red alerts as the air began to turn hazy starting Friday, prompting local governments to impose car restrictions on roads and cut emissions for factories.
The heavy smog came a bit later than previously forecast as efforts paid off, and pollutant density in the air has somewhat been reduced in the cities.
The Ministry of Environmental Protection said that however, further observation is needed to confirm the actual effects of the measures, and air pollution is still likely to worsen as weather conditions continue to be unfavorable.
The ministry has sent a dozen inspection teams to check whether local governments have taken appropriate measures to address heavy pollution and sanction illegal factory emissions.
China has a four-tier warning system for severe weather, the red being the most serious, followed by orange, yellow and blue.
You&`&re listening to Special English. I&`&m Ryan Price in Beijing.
China&`&s 81 million science and technology workers will have their own festival to celebrate, and it&`&s going to be called the "Sci-Tech Workers&`& Day" which has been designated on May 30 each year.
The State Council, China&`&s Cabinet, has designated the day to be celebrated starting in 2017.
The date was chosen because May 30, 2016 was when the country&`&s top two science and technology conferences convened.
During the events, the authority set the target for China to become a world science and technology powerhouse by the middle of this century.
The "Sci-Tech Workers&`& Day" aims to encourage all workers in the sector to remember their mission and play their roles in innovation.
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The Ministry of Culture is making it compulsory for presenters of online streaming to register with their real names.
The rules require operators of online streaming to identify presenters via interview or video calls. Their licenses will be issued by provincial-level cultural authorities.
The regulation also states that operators should obtain a permit from the ministry before offering channels to presenters from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, as well as from other countries.
Operators must carry out real-time supervision of online streaming and keep records of all the content.
A mechanism for handling emergencies should be established. Once an offender is found to have violated laws and regulations, the operator must suspend service, preserve relevant data, and report to the authorities.
A blacklist will be created to strengthen management of online performances and ensure the sector&`&s healthy and orderly development.
The regulation is scheduled to take effect on Jan.1.
You&`&re listening to Special English. I&`&m Ryan Price in Beijing.
The First India-China Think Tank Forum has been held in New Delhi in India.
The forum was jointly organized by the Institute of Chinese Studies, the Indian Council of World Affairs, and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
The forum is a bilateral platform established by a Memorandum of Understanding concluded between the Chinese Ministry of External Affairs, the India government, and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Under the theme "Towards a Closer India-China Developmental Partnership", the forum carried out an in-depth discussion on various issues, including major country relations between India and China, as well as strengthening India-China strategic communication, and promoting economic ties.
The forum saw participation from prominent strategic thinkers, economists, academics, and social scientists from both countries.
The next India-China Think Tank Forum will be held in Beijing in 2017.
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North China&`&s Hebei Province has approved a set of measures aimed at tightening protection of the sections of the Great Wall lying within the province.
The regulation stipulates the responsibilities of local governments in protecting the Great Wall within their jurisdiction. It also covers employment and management of protection workers, and social participation in protection.
The regulation prohibits adding new stretches to the wall in the name of protection. It also elaborates acts considered harmful to historical sites and lists punitive measures.
The Great Wall was built between the third century BC and the Ming Dynasty which ended in 1644. The existing sections of 8,800 kilometers were mostly built in the Ming Dynasty. The Great Wall was recognized as a World Heritage Site by the United Nations in 1987.
Hebei Province is home to a combined stretch of over 1,300 kilometers of the Ming-Dynasty wall, passing eight cities.
Officials say the protection work is less than satisfactory as it faces severe natural damage and vandalism in the wake of underfunding and poor management.
You&`&re listening to Special English. I&`&m Ryan Price in Beijing. You can access the program by logging on to newsplusradio.cn. You can also find us on our Apple Podcast. If you have any comments or suggestions, please let us know by e-mailing us at [email protected]. That&`&s [email protected]. Now the news continues.
Hepatitis C patients in China will soon be able to access direct-acting antiviral treatments, which can thoroughly cure the liver infection.
A senior liver disease specialist said several medicines are expected to get approval from the top drug authority and enter the Chinese market early in 2017. It will bring China&`&s hepatitis C treatment in line with international mainstream practices.
Currently, most patients with the condition are on injection interferon therapy, which takes longer and may cause serious reactions for some recipients.
By contrast, DAA medicines, are taken orally and can usually get rid of the virus and cure the disease in around 12 weeks.
A patient surnamed Bai is one of those who cannot handle the major side effects from interferon treatment. To survive, he bought DAA drugs from overseas and was cured last year.
DAA medicines have been readily available elsewhere worldwide for many years. But China, the country with the most patients, has no such drugs, largely due to "complex and lengthy drug registration processes". That&`&s according to the World Health Organization&`&s China Representative Bernhard Schwartlander.
In April, the China Food and Drug Administration announced an acceleration of the registration for DAA. Bai said Chinese patients will be able to access world-class treatments at home.
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The U.S. state of Texas has launched what it calls the largest effort ever in the state to track brain injuries among young athletes.
The University Interscholastic League, Texas&`& governing body for public high school sports, is partnering with the O&`& Donnell Brain Institute at UT Southwestern Medical Center for the project, from which they hope to gauge whether rules or equipment changes are improving player safety and what more can be done to protect athletes.
Officials say that a state as large as Texas, which has more than 800,000 public high school athletes, would be a key step in developing a national database of brain injuries in youths. Already, the federal Center of Disease Control and Prevention is seeking federal funding for such a database.
All 50 states in recent years have passed rules or laws to address concussions in young athletics from research to protocols for identifying concussions and setting rules for return to play. The CDC has estimated that up to 3.8 million concussions occur in sports and recreational activities each year, but some experts wonder if those numbers underestimate total brain injuries, as some individuals may not seek treatment for mild or moderate symptoms.
The Texas program will track about two-dozen sports, from football to girls&`& soccer, recording what caused an injury, recovery time and other data.
You&`&re listening to Special English. I&`&m Ryan Price in Beijing.
A DNA test has confirmed that the remains of a male found recently in a desert in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region belonged to a native of Sichuan province, who went missing more than 50 years ago.
The test results were published by police in neighboring Qinghai province.
The remains were found by a group of rock collectors near the Lop Nor basin at the junction of Xinjiang and Qinghai in November.
Police officers found the remains and personal belongings of the deceased at the site including a newspaper. Police said high temperatures and a lack of rainfall was the reason why the belongings were intact.
Among the items that were found are a newspaper that was published in 1960 and letters that suggest the remains were that of a man surnamed Li, who was reported missing in the 1960s.
Police contacted Li&`&s wife, who is now 88-year-old. She remarried after Li was confirmed missing.
The couple married in 1949, a year before he was enrolled in the army to fight the Korean War. He was wounded in the war and returned home in 1951. He left home five years later, saying he would find work outside the province, and lost contact with his family.
Police said it is not known why he perished in the desert, adding that he might have also passed away in April 1961.
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Unable to find out who threw a yogurt bottle out of a window, the parents of a 2-year-old girl who was hurt by it sued 450 suspected homeowners.
The local court in Chongqing ruled that all of them must split the compensation and each pay 360 yuan, roughly 51 U.S. dollars.
All the homeowners who attended the court hearing accepted the ruling.
On the evening of Sept 16, 2014, the girl was playing in the neighborhood where a yogurt bottle was thrown out of a window of a nearby building and it hit the girl&`&s head.
The girl was knocked unconscious and was taken to the hospital. Her family spent more than 80,000 yuan on medical treatment for the girl&`&s skull fractures and related injuries.
As the parents could not find who was responsible, they had to sue all homes from the second to the 33rd floors and asked for a total of 300,000 yuan in compensation.
In recent years, news about objects falling from tall buildings and hitting passer-byers has drawn public attention. But most victims with minor injuries just let it go since it is so difficult to identify the person who threw the object.
However, under Chinese civil law, victims in these kind of case can be compensated by all users of a building if nobody is found responsible.
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用声音，在一起

用声音，在一起

This is Special English. I'm Mark Griffiths in Beijing. Here is the news.
China will appoint local government heads as river chiefs across the country to clean up and protect its water resources.
Guidelines published by the Chinese central authorities say the river chiefs will be responsible for the management and protection of the watercourses, much as mayors and county heads are responsible for their beats.
The central government expects to turn such practices into a nationwide mechanism by the end of 2018.
China firstly appointed local government officials as river chiefs in 2007 to address pollution woes of a blue algae outbreak in Taihu Lake in eastern China.
The practice was later adopted in several regions rich in water resources to ensure strong enforcement of environmental policies and enhance coordination.
Provincial governors will be general chiefs that are responsible for all rivers and lakes in the region, while officials at various levels will be appointed as chiefs of particular rivers and lakes.
For large rivers and lakes that span across more than one administrative region, river chiefs will be responsible for different parts of the water bodies and cooperate on management.
The responsibilities of the river chiefs will include water resource protection, pollution prevention and control, and ecological restoration. Their job performance will be assessed and they will be held accountable if environmental damage occurs in the water bodies they take charge of.
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The Ministry of Education says the country will further open-up its educational sector to the world and raise its cultural exchange sector to a national strategic level.
Efforts will be exerted to serve both overseas students in China and Chinese students studying abroad. It will support schools jointly-run by China and other countries.
China planned to send 29,000 government-sponsored students this year as part of an initiative to train talent with global vision.
Around 520,000 Chinese people studied abroad in 2015, making China the world's top source of international students. Meanwhile, China is the world's third largest study destination, following the United States and the United Kingdom. Almost 400,000 foreign students studied in China last year.
Sino-foreign cooperative education has progressed rapidly in China in recent years. China has established more than 2,400 cooperative programs with 700 overseas universities. The country has signed agreements on the mutual recognition of academic degrees and diplomas with 44 countries and regions.
China has begun national-level educational cooperation with countries including the United States, Russia, the U.K, and France. China plans to raise such exchanges to a national strategic level in the future.
You're listening to Special English. I'm Mark Griffiths in Beijing.
A freight train loaded with meat from Germany has arrived in Chengdu, the capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province.
The train took 13 days to travel 12,000 kilometers from Nuremberg, Germany, to Chengdu, and was loaded with 22 tonnes of German pork. All the meat products will be put on the Chinese market after passing quarantine inspection.
The train saves 45 days of transport time compared with shipping by sea, and saves costs of 10,000 yuan, roughly 1,500 U.S. dollars, per ton when compared with air freight.
The China-Europe freight train marks the opening of the railway channel for China to import meat products from Europe.
The train's terminal, an international railway depot in Chengdu, is the first meat import inland depot in western China.
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China has implanted artificial cochleae free of charge for more than 20,000 impoverished, severely hearing impaired children since 2009.
China's health authority told the Xinhua News Agency that the work is part of a special program launched in 2009, with a total investment of 2 billion yuan, roughly 330 million U.S. dollars.
The National Health and Family Planning Commission said at a meeting organized by the World Health Organization that China sets great store in the health of people's hearing, making significant efforts in the area.
The commission said the health authority will strengthen its efforts in this regard, especially in the prevention of birth defects and newborn screening, as well as improving the capabilities of rural health institutions.
You're listening to Special English. I'm Mark Griffiths in Beijing.
Scientists have announced that a fossilized-feathered dinosaur tail has been discovered in a piece of amber, complete with bones and feathers.
Researchers believe that the tail belongs to a tiny dinosaur that lived around 99 million years ago during the mid-Cretaceous period.
A paper on the findings, co-authored by Chinese paleontologist Xing Lida, Canadian scientist Ryan C. McKellar and others, has been published in the journal "Current Biology".
This is the first time dinosaur material has been found fossilized in amber.
The specimen has been named "Eva".
The tail is six centimeters long, by which scientists estimate that the dinosaur was 18 centimeters long. The feathers on the tail appear to be brown on the top and pale white on the underside.
Xing said the specimen has been so well preserved that they believe it is very close to what it would have looked like when the dinosaur was alive.
The amber was found in Hukawng Valley in northern Myanmar.
Philip J. Currie, from the Academy of Science under the Royal Society of Canada, said he had never expected to see such a well preserved dinosaur specimen.
Scientists cannot confirm if Eva was a juvenile or adult based on its bones. There were no obvious signs of a violent struggle leading to the animal being encased by the sap upon death. The cause of death cannot be confirmed either.
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Chinese scientists say they found a new way to effectively inhibit a person's fearful memories arising from traumatic events including domestic violence and war.
Animal testing found that fear can be effectively removed by transplanting a special kind of nerve cell into the brains of an adult mouse. The study was led by Yu Yongchun, a researcher at Fudan University in Shanghai.
The findings are expected to shine new light on the treatment of severe mental conditions, including post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. The study results have been published online by Neuron, an influential journal in the field of neuroscience.
The research is expected to help explore new strategies for treating PTSD, which is caused by indelible and traumatic memories including traffic accidents, hairy spiders, a nasty breakup or military combat.
Patients with PTSD often exhibit anxiety, depression, chronic pain, cardiovascular disease, metabolic disorders, drug abuse, and alcohol addiction.
Statistics show that around 80 percent of adults have experienced a traumatic event at least once in their lifetimes, while 5 to 10 percent have experienced severe psychological trauma that can be diagnosed as PTSD.
So far, the treatment of PTSD involves a combination of psychology and medication. However, mental symptoms often return after the treatment is stopped.
You're listening to Special English. I'm Mark Griffiths in Beijing. You can access the program by logging on to newsplusradio.cn. You can also find us on our Apple Podcast. If you have any comments or suggestions, please let us know by e-mailing us at [email protected]. That's [email protected]. Now the news continues.
A new book on the Nanjing massacre in World War Two has been released in China's eastern city of Nanjing in Jiangsu Province.
The book is called "Human Memory: the Solid Evidence of the Nanjing Massacre". It consists of around 200 documents and images from China, Japan and other countries which participated in the post-war trials.
Editor-in-chief of the book, Zhang Xianwen from Nanjing University said that only when a nation keeps its memory intact can it learn lessons and be inspired.
A research institute on the Nanjing Massacre and world peace was established by Nanjing University and other bodies in March. It selected the documents from archives and libraries in China, the United States, Germany, Britain and Japan.
The provincial government has granted peace medals to descendants of six foreigners, including John Rabe from Germany, who helped save civilians during the massacre.
Japanese troops occupied Nanjing on December 13, 1937, and began a six-week massacre. Records show that more than 300,000 people, including disarmed soldiers and civilians, were killed.
Since 2014, China has marked December 13 as National Memorial Day.
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China has vowed to strengthen the management of online streaming, prohibiting unlawful and obscene content.
The country's media watchdog says authorities will crack down on activities that use live streaming to break the law or undermine people's interests.
In 2016, the authority handled more than 100 cases suspected of violating laws and regulations. The cases included online dramas, films and other audio-visual products.
A regulation on live streaming has been in effect since December 1. It requires presenters to register with their real names and service providers to censor content and blacklist users who break the rules, prohibiting them from registering again.
It also bans the use of live streams to undermine national security, destabilize society, or infringe upon others' rights and interests.
Online streaming has grown rapidly in China in recent years, generating huge business opportunities while bringing challenges to regulators.
By the end of June, the number of streaming service users reached 500 million, accounting for 70 percent of China's Internet population.
Reports show that watching video online has become the primary form of entertainment in China, followed by gaming and reading literature online.
You're listening to Special English. I'm Mark Griffiths in Beijing.
A survey has found that female employees in China are more loyal to their employers and have higher brand satisfaction than their male counterparts.
The survey, entitled China Best Employers 2016, is based on feedback from more than 4 million respondents, around 53 percent of whom were women. The results were jointly published by Peking University's Institute of Social Science Survey and Zhaopin.com, a Chinese human resources website.
The report found that 38 percent of the female respondents have never changed their jobs, 11 percent higher than male respondents. Twenty percent of the females have been in their current job for more than five years, while for males, it was half that number, 10 percent.
The survey also found that female employees care more about soft aspects of the workplace, including a positive and comfortable work environment, while at the same time, they desire equal pay for equal work.
While female employees attach great importance to learning vocational skills as their career develops, the survey found that male employees care more about promotions. Women with work experience of less than one year are the most eager to improve their skills. The survey found that 56 percent of such women think improving their skills is the most important aspect of their career over the next three years.
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China has more than 20,000 civilian drones, or unmanned aircraft vehicles, and half of them are operating without a license.
Officials suggest that an electric fence could be built in order to supervise and contain unlicensed drones.
They suggest that a new technology called U-Cloud would also be useful. The U-Cloud is similar to the black boxes in planes and can be used to supervise the data of civilian drones in real time.
Experts say that by registering drones and implementing effective technology, it will be possible to track the drones and the owners down.
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This is Special English. I&`&m Ryan Price in Beijing. Here is the news.
China has released a national plan on environmental improvements for the five years spanning 2016 and 2020, detailing tasks to cleanse polluted air, water and soil.
The plan set the goals of a more environmentally friendly way of living, considerable reduction of major pollutants, effective control of environmental risks, and a sounder ecological system by 2020.
To achieve those targets, the State Council has asked Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei, as well as regions along the Yangtze River Economic Belt to draw up a bottom line, for ecological protection by the end of 2017. Meanwhile, other areas should come up with a red line before the end of 2018.
Consumption of coal, which is a major source of pollution in China, will be strictly controlled.
China&`&s environmental protection still lags behind its economic status, and decades of breakneck growth have left the country saddled with problems including smog and contaminated waterways and soil.
Northern China has frequently been choked by winter smog, showing the war on pollution is an urgent and arduous task.
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A mysterious banging noise on the surface of a spacecraft that baffled a Chinese astronaut turned out not to be aliens, but the result of air pressure changes.
Yang Liwei, China&`&s first astronaut, aroused public attention when he revealed in a television interview in late November that he heard an unexplained sound like "knocking an iron bucket with a wooden hammer" from outside his capsule during his maiden mission in 2003, leaving him very puzzled.
When the famed astronaut attended an event at a school in the eastern city of Ningbo in Zhejiang Province recently, the question of the mysterious noise was raised by students.
Yang replied that according to what he learned, the knocking sound was a result of decreasing air pressure that caused changes in the structure of the spacecraft as it left Earth for space.
He said air leaking out of the objects in the capsule could also cause the noise.
Yang said he thinks it was normal, and it is necessary to carefully identify the cause.
Yang&`&s explanation echoed with space scientist Liu Hong, who wrote an article for a popular Chinese science website, saying that she believes the sound comes from tiny deformations in the space capsule&`&s inner wall to changes in pressure.
You&`&re listening to Special English. I&`&m Ryan Price in Beijing.
It is time to go skiing as authorities in Beijing aim to attract as many as 5 million residents to take up winter sports by 2020 as it prepares to host the upcoming winter Olympics.
Beijing, along with the city of Zhangjiakou in Hebei Province, won the bid to co-host the 2022 Winter Olympics.
The Beijing municipal government approved a five-year plan spanning 2016 and 2020 on public fitness, pledging "vigorous efforts" to introduce winter sports to the public. The sports include alpine skiing, speed skating, figure skating and curling.
According to the plan, the government will use sports lottery revenue and other fiscal funds to build sporting venues, set up sports associations, and organize competitions and festivals.
It will particularly attract student enthusiasts with winter camps, sports schools, recreation centers and clubs. The amount of investment and details of the project are not yet disclosed.
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China&`&s "24 solar terms" has been added to UNESCO&`&s world intangible cultural heritage list.
The announcement was made in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, during the 11th session of UNESCO&`&s Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritages.
China&`&s "24 solar terms" is a knowledge system and social practice formed through observations of the sun&`&s annual motion, as well as cognition of the year&`&s changes in season and climate.
The terms include Start of Spring, Awakening of Insects, Start of Summer, as well as Winter Solstice, Minor Cold and Major Cold.
The collective terms are among the 37 requests for inscription on the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
The Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage is in its 10 years of service. It has inscribed 336 items onto the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
You&`&re listening to Special English. I&`&m Ryan Price in Beijing.
The island of Utopia, created 500 years ago, and the futuristic outer space, which seem far away from each other, came together at a conference in Beijing recently.
The International Conference of Utopian and Science Fiction Studies has been held to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the publication of "Utopia".
In 1516, English philosopher and writer Thomas More published his famous book "Utopia", depicting an almost perfect fictional society, and the term has been widely used and discussed since then.
Among various anniversary activities around the world at this time of this year, the conference in Beijing commemorates the well-known novel in a special way by discussing it together with sci-fi works, with the participation of experts and scholars from China, the United States and Japan.
While Utopia is always regarded as a political and philosophical concept, and science fiction normally focuses on technology, Kim Stanley Robinson, an American sci-fi author famous for his "Mars trilogy", said at the conference that the two are connected naturally.
According to Robinson, Utopia was initially set on an isolated island, and such a background could not be used anymore after the world was completely explored, so the background had to be switched to the future.
Guo Changbao, dean of the School of Chinese Language and Literature of Beijing Normal University, said the vast space inspired by Utopia would bring meaningful perspectives for Chinese science fiction and its studies.
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Taiwan investigators said they had solved the island&`&s biggest-ever drug-trafficking case and seized more than 200 kilograms of cocaine.
The market value of the seized cocaine is estimated to exceed 2 billion new Taiwan dollars, roughly 62 million U.S. dollars. Investigators said they had also seized more than 50 kilograms of meth.
Investigators received tip-offs that a Taipei company had, on multiple occasions, exported "large vehicle batteries" by sea or air to Australia at unreasonably high freight costs.
On Dec. 1, they found around 51 kilograms of meth transported along with the company&`&s 11 exported vehicle batteries.
Later they seized around 218 kilograms of cocaine transported with 30 similar batteries that the company imported from Brazil.
You&`&re listening to Special English. I&`&m Ryan Price in Beijing. You can access the program by logging on to newsplusradio.cn. You can also find us on our Apple Podcast. If you have any comments or suggestions, please let us know by e-mailing us at [email protected]. That&`&s [email protected]. Now the news continues.
Michael Phelps wants to dive into the Silicon Valley&`&s investment opportunities as he tries to make the transition from Olympic swimming star and product pitchman to entrepreneur.
Phelps says he would love to get involved, whether it&`&s in a couple little startups here and there, take a little risk, have some fun and see where it goes.
For now, Phelps isn&`&t providing any details about what he is going to do, though he says he has been getting advice from venture capitalists and other experienced investors in Silicon Valley startups.
Getting into tech investing would be a new direction for Phelps, whose business experience to date consists mostly of his own line of swimwear and endorsement deals with the likes of Under Armour, Visa and Wheaties.
These and other big brands have paid him an estimated 75 million dollars during his career. That&`&s far more than the 1.6 million dollars that he received from the U.S. Olympic Committee and Speedo for winning a record 28 medals, including 23 golds, in five Olympics. He&`&s still promoting products; he is currently doing commercials for computer chipmaker Intel in a campaign that began in October.
You&`&re listening to Special English. I&`&m Ryan Price in Beijing.
A transgender student whose battle over the right to use a girls&`& bathroom has led to a landmark court ruling in Maine, and is being featured in a new HBO documentary.
"The Trans List" explores what it means to be a transgender in America.
Nicole Maines is one of several individuals featured in the documentary.
Maines says her entire family got behind her after she was bullied over a bathroom while in secondary school. The state supreme court ultimately ruled that her rights were violated.
Maines now encourages young people to advocate for themselves. In her words, "slay your own dragon, you can do it". She is currently a student at the University of Maine.
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Buzz Aldrin said he was evacuated from the South Pole because he became short of breath and began showing signs of altitude sickness.
The 86-year-old adventurer, who was the second man to walk on the moon, released details of his dramatic medical evacuation. He was continuing to recuperate in a hospital in Christchurch in New Zealand.
Because of the thick ice, the South Pole sits at an elevation of 2,800 meters, or 9,300 feet.
Aldrin, his son and his manager had been visiting the South Pole as tourists on a trip organized by the White Desert tour company.
Aldrin said the trip began well, and that he&`&d been planning on spending time with scientists who were studying what it would be like to live on Mars because conditions in Antarctica are similar.
After the group ventured further south, Aldrin started to feel a bit short of breath so the staff decided to check his vitals. After some examination, they noticed congestion in his lungs and that his oxygen levels were low, which indicated symptoms of altitude sickness.
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Infrared cameras have captured incredible scenes of wild Amur leopards and Siberian tigers this year after being installed at a national nature reserve in northeast China&`&s Heilongjiang Province.
Amur leopards were spotted 17 times this year at a nature reserve, equaling the total number from 2012 to 2015.
Siberian tigers were spotted five times, including twice when they were found roaming during the daytime.
The nature reserve said more animal activities, especially in daytime, show the rare species have become more active thanks to human retreat.
Siberian tigers were rarely found in the daytime for fear of human-related noise, including logging saws and vehicle engines at the reserve, which used to be a timber base.
In 2011, the local forestry bureau banned logging and initiated a program to build a nature reserve for wild tigers. In 2014, the reserve was upgraded to the national level.
Since the creation of the reserve, prey for carnivores, including boars and deer, have increased, which helped the big cat population rebound.
At least four Siberian tigers and seven Amur leopards currently live at the reserve. The numbers change as the animals often roam back and forth across the China-Russia border.

As one of the world&`&s most endangered species, the Amur leopard was put under top national protection in 1983. There are less than 70 left in the world. They are mostly found in Russia&`&s Far East, northeast China and the northern part of the Korean Peninsula. Around 500 Siberian tigers are believed to survive in the wild, in those same areas.
This is the end of this edition of Special English. To freshen up your memory, I&`&m going to read one of the news items again at normal speed. Please listen carefully.
This is the end of today&`&s program. I&`&m Ryan Price in Beijing, and I hope you can join us every day, to learn English and learn about the world.
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This is Special English. I&`&m Mark Griffiths in Beijing. Here is the news.
A scientist known as China&`&s "father of hybrid rice" has developed a new strain that could enable the plant to adapt to more varied growing environments at a significantly lower cost.
The strain is designed to be hardier and able to withstand lower temperatures during the plant&`&s reproductive phase. It is the third generation of hybrid rice that Yuan Longping has developed.
Yuan told the China Daily that the third generation will also incorporate the merits of the previous two generations, and its adaptability to low temperatures will increase significantly.
Low temperatures during the reproductive phase resulted in crop failure for the second generation of hybrid rice in Anhui province in 2014, triggering government scrutiny over the adaptability of the strain. It also infuriated farmers, whose yields plummeted from an expected 7.5 metric tons to 750 kilograms per hectare, or even to zero.
Yuan said the cost of breeding the new strain has also decreased significantly, making its commercial use viable in the short term.
Yuan is also developing a new strain of saltwater-resistant rice that could yield up to 4.5 tons per hectare - around 60 percent of the yield from regular paddies.
Meanwhile, his team is looking to sell the new strain to the world&`&s major rice-growing countries.
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Another big name is joining the world&`&s pursuit for self-driving cars, with Apple acknowledging for the first time that it is investing "heavily" in building such a car.
According to a letter from the company to the U.S. transport regulator which was revealed in the media recently, Apple declared its interest in self-driving vehicle technology, adding that the company "is excited about the potential of automated systems in many areas, including transportation".
The letter was written by Apple&`&s Director of Product Integrity Steve Kenner on Nov. 22 to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. It urges the U.S. regulator not to introduce too many rules on the testing of self-driving cars.
The letter said established manufacturers and new entrants should be treated equally.
There has long been speculation about the computer and iPhone maker&`&s plans for expanding into transportation but it has not publicly admitted them.
A few companies are currently investing in self-driving cars, including Google which is reportedly already testing its cars on the roads, and the electric car maker Tesla, which has announced that all the cars it now builds will have the hardware installed to drive on their own.
You&`&re listening to Special English. I&`&m Mark Griffiths in Beijing.
A British Council program aiming to inspire girls and young women about the world of work has launched its online platform.
The program is entitled "Inspiring Women China". It is based on an initiative in Britain. Its online platform will enable this initiative to grow in scale across China with teachers able to connect with and invite volunteers in any chosen field or area to talk with students in their school or college.
The program is expected to inspire young people, girls and young women in particular, to raise their confidence and aspirations and enable them to make better informed choices about their career options.
At the heart of this program is a network of successful women from a broad range of backgrounds who volunteer their time to talk to students about their job, career and the path they took to get there.
Carma Elliot, head of the British Council China, says she agrees with the Chinese saying of "women hold up half the sky".
She said the program is also about inspiring the next generation of girls to fulfill their potential in society, and to make the greatest possible contribution to social and economic development.
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Member countries of the European Space Agency have approved an additional 440 million euros, roughly 470 million U.S. Dollars, to fund the agency&`&s next mission to Mars.
As part of the ExoMars mission, the agency sent an orbiter and a test lander to the red planet this year. The Trace Gas Orbiter was successfully deployed but the lander malfunctioned and crashed on the surface of Mars, raising fears about the next stage of the mission.
Despite the crash, officials meeting in Switzerland recently approved the budget that the agency said it requires to send a rover to Mars in 2020.
In all, member states approved 10 billion euros in funding for the agency, which will also allow it to continue participating in the International Space Station program until at least 2024.
You&`&re listening to Special English. I&`&m Mark Griffiths in Beijing.
Australian researchers have developed a world-first vaccine for gum disease.
The vaccine, developed by a team from the University of Melbourne, will eliminate, or at least significantly reduce, the need for surgery and antibiotics for severe gum disease.
Gum disease affects one in three adults worldwide and more than 50 percent of Australians over the age of 65.
The disease is commonly associated with diabetes, heart disease, rheumatoid arthritis, dementia and certain types of cancer. It is a chronic condition that destroys gum tissue and bone supporting teeth, leading to tooth loss.
The vaccine targets enzymes produced by the bacteria to trigger an immune response which in turn produces antibodies that neutralize the pathogen&`&s destructive toxins.
Eric Reynolds, CEO of the Oral Health Cooperative Research Center at the University of Melbourne, said the vaccine would greatly reduce the tissue destruction caused by the pathogen.
Reynolds said the methods are helpful, and he holds high hopes for this vaccine to improve the quality of life for millions of people.
Clinical trials of the vaccine in humans are expected to begin in early 2018.
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Patients in an Australia state are being recruited in what is touted as the world&`&s first medicinal cannabis trial for the prevention of nausea and vomiting from chemotherapy.
The clinical trial will involve 80 patients in the first stage and could expand to another 250 patients across New South Wales.
According to a statement from the office of the New South Wales Minister for Medical Research, the trial will play a critical role in developing a better understanding of how cannabis products may provide relief for cancer patients.
A new oral plant-derived, pharmaceutical-grade capsule will be used in the trial.
A lead researcher of the trial, associate Professor Peter Grimison said there was very limited high-quality research available on the role of cannabis-derived medicines in treating nausea and vomiting from chemotherapy.
He said they have come a long way with conventional anti-nausea medication, but one-third of patients continue to suffer during and after chemotherapy.
The professor said the role of cannabis medicines in alleviating chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting is still unclear, and this study aims to provide a definitive answer to this question.
You&`&re listening to Special English. I&`&m Mark Griffiths in Beijing. You can access the program by logging on to newsplusradio.cn. You can also find us on our Apple Podcast. If you have any comments or suggestions, please let us know by e-mailing us at [email protected]. That&`&s [email protected]. Now the news continues.
Hollywood writers will be hired to train the winners of a young Chinese scriptwriters program.
The program, "Ju Ben Hui", which means "alliance of scripts", is the name of the project that was jointly developed by three Beijing-based entertainment companies.
Top Chinese directors are on the panel that will select three young scriptwriters from candidates across the country. They will be selected for a grant of up to 1 million yuan, roughly 147,000 U.S. dollars, and a chance to be coached by a Hollywood scriptwriter at a venue in North China&`&s Hebei province.
The first winners will be announced next year and the date has yet to be released.
An actor-director who is on the panel said China needs more high quality screenplays, and Hollywood&`&s rich experience in storytelling can be an inspiration.
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Ten foreigners who have significant influence in their social media circles including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram, have gathered in Beijing to experience traditional Chinese medicine.
During the event, the foreigners experienced massage, acupuncture, hot spring treatments, and watched tai chi performance.
The event was co-sponsored by the Beijing Municipal Commission of Tourism Development and China&`&s biggest online travel agency C-trip. It is part of a campaign to showcase traditional Chinese medicine to foreign visitors.
Meanwhile, C-trip has launched traditional medicine tours on its website.
Beijing has rich tourism resources, with 35 tourism destinations dedicated to
Traditional Chinese Medicine tours.
You&`&re listening to Special English. I&`&m Mark Griffiths in Beijing.
A big-budget television drama about the early life of William Shakespeare is being filmed in Wales in western Britain.
The drama will be the largest budget film ever shot in Wales. The series is being made for U.S. television.
Backed by financing from the Welsh Assembly, the production is expected to generate almost 23 million U.S. dollars for the Welsh economy.
The first series of nine episodes has been commissioned following the success of an initial pilot program that was filmed in London.
Welcoming the news, the Welsh Assembly&`&s Economy Cabinet Secretary Ken Skates described it as a great win and a huge boost for the creative industries sector in Wales.
He said the event supports the sector strategy to attract high-end drama to Wales with a specific focus on the lucrative U.S. market and with the probability of repeat series.
TNT is the American cable and satellite television channel owned by the Turner Broadcasting System division of Time Warner. The channel has ordered 10 episodes of the drama that tells the wild story of a young William Shakespeare.
Shakespeare is played by newcomer Laurie Davidson. The series is scheduled to air on U.S. television in 2017.
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A couple tried to hide in a Shanghai IKEA store to live broadcast their late night adventure on Saturday, December 3. IKEA security discovered them and called the police.
The police said the couple would be detained for several days.
On Friday, the man announced his plans on Weibo, saying he would invite a lady to hide in an IKEA store for the night.
The pair arrived at IKEA, hid in a cupboard and put out a live broadcast in the darkness. Later in the evening, a security guard discovered them and called the police.
Police officers came soon afterwards and found another man with the couple. The three said they wanted to experience the childhood feeling of hiding in a cupboard and meant no harm.
The live broadcaster apologized on Weibo the following day.
Live web broadcasting is becoming increasingly popular in China. The authorities published a regulation on live streaming one month ago, urging providers to obtain qualifications and act according to rules.
The regulations banned the use of live streams to undermine national security, destabilize society, disturb social order, infringe upon others&`& rights and interests, or disseminate obscene content.
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