Castro meets Chavez

Cuban President Fidel Castro (L) and his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez stand together during the official reception at the Palace of the Revolution in Havana, December 14, 2004. Chavez is in Cuban on an official two-day visit.( REUTERS Photo)

World's highest bridge inaugurated

The Millau Viaduct is inaugurated December 14, 2004 in France. The bridge is 270 meters high and 2.46 kms in length. Hence the world's highest bridge. It is designed to end a traffic bottleneck in southern France.

Leaps in infrastructure construction 2004

Oil pump running at Xifeng Oil Field in Qingyang city of Gansu Province, June 18, 2004. China drew world's attention for its infrastructure construction in 2004. The project of "West-East Gas Transmission" was completely put into operation, orderly construction of Qinghai-Tibet Railway pushed forward, power generation at the Three Gorges progressed smoothly and Qinshan nuclear power plant fully put into production.

Train crash in India kills 34, injures 50

Resuers and soilders clear up debris of the damaged train at the village of Mansar, 120 Km (75 miles) northeast of the northern Indian city of Amritsar, December 14. Thirty-four people, including 11 women and a child died and about 50 others injured in a head-on collision between two passenger trains in Hoshiarpur district of Punjab state in north India, the Press Trust of India reported.

World Sculpture Park in Changchun

Photo taken on Dec. 14, 2004 shows a sculpture "playing violin" in snow in the World Sculpture Park in Changchun, capital of northeast China's Jilin Province. A snowfall hit Changchun on Tuesday, a rare phenomenon in this warm winter.

Dense fog delays airlines in Chengdu

A truck runs in heavy fog in downtown Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, Dec. 14, 2004. The city was hit by an exceptionally dense fog on Tuesday, causing more than 30 airliners delayed.

Chinese surname board

Wu Jiancheng, originator of a Chinese surname board, introduces his work in Changchun, capital of northeast China's Jilin Province, Dec. 14, 2004. The 25-meter-long and 1.83-meter-high board is composed of 125 smaller boards, with 503 Chinese surnames calligraphed on them. Wu spent six years to make it.

Five miners killed in coal mine fire in Hunan

An ambulance awaits at Xinli coal mine which was hit by a fire in Xiangtan County, central China's Hunan Province Dec.14, 2004. The coalmine fire occurred at around 6:30 p.m. on Monday. Five miners have been confirmed dead as of Tuesday noon with 13 others still trapped underground. Rescue operations are still going on.

Americans spend more on pets

A puppy caprioles in a hurdle relay race in New York Dec.13, 2004. People in the United States are spending more and more money on domestic pets as the Christmas is approaching. According to statistics, some 34.3 billion US dollars were spent on pets in US in 2003 and the amount of money spent on pets will increase by 6% in 2004.

Basescu wins Romanian presidential election

Romanian elected president Traian Basescu (R) prepares to throw a hat into crowds of supporters gathered in the Constitution Square in the front of People's House in Bucharest.

Yao Ming new brand ambassador of Tag Heuer

Yao Ming (L), new brand ambassador of watchmaker Tag Heuer, shakes hands with Tag Heuer President and CEO Jean-Christophe Babin in the signing ceremony in Houston, the United States, Dec. 13, 2004. Tag Heuer announced on Monday that Yao became one of the brand ambassadors of Tag Heuer, a unit of luxury goods company LVMH, with US golfer Tiger Woods, Finn F1 pilot Kimi Raikkonen and Russia's tennis player Maria Sharapova.

Representatives of laborers leave for Japan for compensation

Yao Zuoxiang (L), a former Chinese laborer in Japan during World War II, and Li Suzhen, a relative of a deceased Chinese laborer, say goodbye to people seeing them off in Tangshan, north China's Hebei Province, Dec. 14, 2004.