Party, gov't officials donate to the needy

Dec. 13, 2005, following the top leaders, Party members, officials and workers of institutions directly under the CPC Central Committee participated enthusiastically in the donation to natural disaster victims and poverty-stricken people of the country, bringing with them woollen clothes, cotton-padded clothes, quilts and mattresses, and cash, to the collection stations.

Britain oil depot fire put out

Firefighters extinguished on Tuesday afternoon massive container tank fires that had raged for three days in a key oil depot northwest of London, fire officials said Tuesday. About 180 firefighters had battled to put out the fire, with 26fire engines and 30 kilometers of hose used in the effort.

6th WTO Ministerial Conference opens in Hong Kong

Donald Tsang, Chief Executive of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the 6th World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong on Dec. 13, 2005.

Huge porcelain shoes debut in Jingdezhen

A 14-year-old girl with the height of 145 centimeters poses for a photo with two huge porcelain shoes in Jingdezhen, a city famous for its porcelain in China's Jiangxi Province Dec. 13, 2005. The left one for man is 122 centimeters long and 44 centimeters high, while the right one for woman is 122 centimeters long and 52 centimeters high.

Liu Xiang joins torch relay in Italy

Summer Olympic champion Liu Xiang (second right) and Winter Olympic silver medallist Yang Yang (S) (second left) pose with the Olympic torch and the national flag before leaving for Florence, Italy, to run the torch relay for the 2006 Turin Winter Olympic Games Dec. 13.

LA gangster denied clemency

California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger Monday denied clemency for convicted murderer Stanley Tookie Williams, former leader of the notorious Crips in Los Angeles who is scheduled to be executed early Tuesday.

China marks the 68th anniversary of Nanjing Massacre

Chinese soldiers carry wreaths in memory of the victims during a gathering to mark the 68th anniversary of Nanjing Massacre in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu Province, December 13, 2005. On December 13, 1937, Nanjing fell to the hands of invading Japanese troops who launched a ruthless masscre, known as Nanjing Massacre, in which more than 300,000 Chinese were killed.