Hakka tourism "ambassadors" selected

Winner Li Zhimin (C), first runner-up He Lisha (L) and second runner-up Zhang Li wave to the audience at the awarding ceremony for the Hakka tourism ambassador contest, Feb. 13, 2006. The final was held in Meizhou city of south China's Guangdong Province. Totally 19 girls present the new image of modern Hakka girls in the contest through dancing, folk song, and night gown show.

S. Korean FM runs for UN's chief

South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki Moon announced at the regular press conference on Feb. 14 in capital Seoul that he would run for the top job at the United Nations with an aim to bring new hope to the stalled DPRK's nuclear issues. It is said that no Asians have run for the post in the past 30 years.

China finish 2-3 in women's 500m speed skating

Chinese Wang Manli clocked in an accumulated timing of 76.78 seconds for the silver medal in the women's 500m speed skating at the Turin Winter Olympics on Feb. 14, 2006.

Haiti sees violence with election results unveiled

Supporters of Haitian presidential candidate Rene Preval protest by the street of Port-au-Prince, capital of Haiti on Feb. 13, 2006. Thousands of Haitians took to the streets on Feb. 13 after the authorities announced that Preval, representing the Hope Party, had not won the presidency outright in the first round. Preval had a 48.7 percent with 90 percent of the votes counted, he needed 50 percent plus one vote to win the first round. Port-au-Prince had been turned into a disordered city due to the reasonless action of Preval's supporters.

Istanbul supermarket blast wounds 6

A wounded man is taken to the hospital after an explosion ripped through a supermarket in Istanbul, February 13, 2006. Six people were wounded on Monday by an explosion at an Istanbul supermarket, the second blast in Turkey's largest city in four days, and Turkish television said it had been caused by a bomb.

Chinese leaders meet with Togolese President

Wu Bangguo (R), chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, shakes hands with Togolese President Faure Essozimna Gnassingbe during their meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Feb. 14, 2006.

Senior couple celebrates Valentine's Day

Li Bingxiang (L), 101, presents his 97-year-old wife Zhang Liying a bouquet of roses in Jinan, Shandong Province on Valentine's Day. The couple have been married for 73 years.

Construction of a new Disney hotel starts in Tokyo

Disney characters perform during a ceremony marking the start of a new hotel's construction at Tokyo Disneyland, Japan, Feb. 14, 2006. The nine-storey hotel is scheduled to open in 2008.

Nigeria takes actions to curb bird flu spread

Workers carry killed chickens to prepared pits before burning at the Phed farm in Kano State, north Nigeria, Feb. 13, 2006. Nigeria was confirmed to have the first outbreak of the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus in Africa on February 8. The following day, the disease was confirmed in three farms in the northern state of Kaduna and Kano, and the central state of Plateau. At present, the bird flu has claimed 150,000 birds in more than 30 farms in the northern state of Kano.