Beijing in mood for Christmas

This is the counter for Christmas toys at the Beijing Department Store in Wangfujing Street on Dec. 20. As the Christmas is drawing near, the Wangfujing Street, which is called a "golden street", is in a growing festive mood.

Computer technology used to reproduce Kangxi's portraits

The image of Emperor Kangxi (1654-1722) of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) came back to life on computer's screen on Wednesday. "The portrait is 99 per cent close to Kangxi at the age of 50", said Zhao Chengwen, chief professor with the Chinese Criminal Police Institute. It is the first of its kind that China has made for an emperor's portrait on computer. The image is reproduced on the basis of many portraits preserved at palaces with special computer software, said Zhao who once produced pictures of a well-reserved corpse unearthed at Mawangdui in Changsha, central China's Hunan Province and pictures of a princess who lived more than 500 years ago in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). The use of painting for making portraits is also the first of its kind in the country.

They are my family

An old man carrying his cat and goose trudges through the water in north Malaysia's Pulau Pinang state on Dec 20. Floods in four states have killed at least four and forced some 20,000 to leave their homes.

Anti-hijack drill conducted in Chongqing

An anti-hijack drill is held at Beijiang Airport in southwest China's Chongqing Dec 21. The drill comprises three parts: air transportation of the anti-hijack team, attack and emergency rescue. More than 600 people from departments including civil aviation, armed police, public security, health and fire prevention participated in the drill. The drill aims to examine China's ability in decision-making, organizing and coordination in handling hijack.

Beiijing reaches blue-sky target

Two youngsters fly a kite outside the Forbidden City in Beijing. By Dec 21, Beijing municipal government has reached the blue-sky target that the air quality in the city will reach Grade II in 230 days in 2005.

US to reduce troops in Afghanistan

US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld speaks at a news conference in presidential palace in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, Dec. 21, 2005. US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is paying a surprised visit to Afghanistan on Wednesday, and signed orders on Monday that will reduce the American troops in Afghanistan from 19,000 to 16,000 by next spring.

"Container protest" held against Israel's intrusion

A villager waves the Palestinian flag on a container in Bil'in, western suburb of the West Bank city of Ramallah in Palestine, Dec. 21, 2005. Dozens of local villagers and peacelovers from Israel and other countries locked themselves in a container to protest Israel's intrusion to the village to build fences and Jewish settlements.

Heavy snow hits eastern Chinese cities

A driver looks out through the windshield covered with heavy snow on a street in Weihai of east China's shandong province. The heavy snow has already fallen for 16 hours incessantly only two day after the last snowfall said to be the heaviest since the city had meteorological records in 1959. The local meteorological bureau has issued a "red" warning (the most severe in the local weather warning system) for the snow and another "red" warning for frozen road conditions.

Bangladeshi stage anti-terror demonstration

Bangladeshi actors perform during the anti-terror demonstration on the street of Dhaka, capital of Bangladesh, Dec. 21, 2005. Hundreds of thousand Bangladeshi gathered here to protest the banned Islamist organization the Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) which made a series of suicide bomb attacks in the country which left at least 20 people killed in the last three weeks.

Saddam shows up for resumption of trial

Video grab shows the trial of toppled Iraqi president Saddam Hussein (bottom right) and seven of his co-defendants in Iraq's capital Baghdad on Dec. 21, 2005. The trial resumed in Baghdad on Wednesday, two weeks after Saddam refused to appear in what he said "unjust court".