China's first dominoes festival for young people

The first dominoes festival for young people from Chinese mainland and Taiwan opens in Xiamen, southeast China's Fujian Province on August 7, 2006. Thousands of young people across the Straits took part in the activity.

Atlantis crew for practice countdown

The crew of the space shuttle Atlantis arrives at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, August 7, 2006. They are (L to R) mission specialist Daniel Burbank, Canadian Space Agency Steven MacLean, mission specialist Joe Tanner, Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper, commander Brent Jett and pilot Christopher Ferguson. A launch is planned for Atlantis and the crew of six on August 27. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

Protest against Israeli attacks in Lebanon in Finland

Two girls hold photos which show the dead lebanese children during a protest against the Israeli attacks in Lebanon, in Helsinki, capital of Finland, Aug. 7, 2006.Over 300 Finnish citizens took part in the rally.

Emergency meeting held by Arab countries

Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora (C), flanked by United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan(L) and Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa, speaks at the meeting hall during the emergency meeting in Beirut, August 7, 2006. The foreign ministers from Arab countries who held the emergency meeting expressed their support for the seven-point plan presented by Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Seniora at the Rome conference on July 26.

Sand Sculptures Festival shows in Belgium

A woman poses with sand sculptures during the Sand Sculptures Festival in Blankenberge, northern Belgium, August 7, 2006. A team of over forty sand sculptors from around the world spent five weeks building a giant sculpture representing the world of Sheherazade and the giant book of Thousand and One Nights which attracted lots of visitors.

Special performance on stilt in Henan

Villagers walking on stilt carry a sedan chair in Wanshan Village of Qinyang City, central China's Henan Province, August 7, 2006. The breathtaking performance, a special art form of the village, dates back to ancient China's Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

A huge yuhua pebble in Nanjing

Photo taken on August 7, 2006 shows a huge yuhua pebbles at a store in Nanjing,capital of east China's Jiangsu Province. The pebble measuring 50 centimeters in longest diameter was collected by a citizen.Yuhua pebbles, a kind of colorful fine-grained pebbles, are found in the Yuhuatai area at Nanjing.

Performances for two-year counting down of Beijing Olympic Games

Several youth of Dai ethnic group of China perform "walking in one pair of wooden slippers" in the Park of Ethnic Minorities in Beijing, capital of China, August 7, 2006. Some 160 staff members of of Park of Ethnic Minorities perform various traditionally ethnic sport items to mark the two-year counting down of the Beijing Olympic Games.

Pictograms of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games released

Photo taken on Aug. 7 shows the Pictograms of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. The Organizing Committee for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games released the Pictograms of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games entitled "Beauty of Seal Characters" on Monday. The set of 35 icons, representing all the Beijing Olympics official events, use the structure of the Chinese seal script as the basic form while incorporating the pictographic charm of the oracle bone writing and the bronzeware script with the simplification of modern graphics.

Giant panda's birthday party in Xi'an

A birthday party for panda "Xin Xin" is held at Shanxi Wild Animal Rescue and Breeding Center in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province, August 6, 2006. Cakes, apples and watermelon were present by feeders and panda fans to celebrate the 1st anniversary of the birth of Xin Xin which was born on August 6, 2005.

China hosts int'l earthquake rescue drills

Rescuers search the site after a simulated earthquake during the skill demonstration by the China International Search and Rescue Team in the Asian-Pacific Regional Earthquake Exercise 2006 in Shijiazhuang, capital of north China's Hebei Province, on Aug. 7, 2006.

18m yuan sci-tech products reach Tibet

A Tibetan driver hangs a Hada, a piece of white silk, on a new vehicle donated by the Ministry of Agriculture in front of the Potala Palace in Lhasa, capital of Tibet Autonomous Region on August 7, 2006. Presenting Hada is a common practice among Tibetan people to express their respect and best wishes. [Xinhua]

Memorial service for Du held in Beijing

The memorial service for United Nations observer Du Zhaoyu is held by the General Staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army in Beijing, capital of China, Aug. 7, 2006. Du was dead on July 25 in Israeli air raids on a UN post in southern Lebanon.

A huge embroidered shoe in Guizhou

A girl looks at a giant embroidered shoe on show in a street in Duyun City, southwest China's Guizhou Province, on Aug. 7, 2006. The shoe, 3.22 meters long, 1.25 meters wide and 0.9 meters high, consumes nearly 1 kilogram of floss.

Paintings on pregnant woman's belly

Pregnant women display the color paintings on their bellies during a contest at a hospital in Haikou, South China's Hainan Province August 7 2006.

Eight people killed in a bus explosion in Hunan

Photo taken on Aug. 6, 2006 shows the scene of a bus explosion on Yingbin Road in Guiyang County seat, central-south China's Hunan Province. The bus exploded suddenly Sunday afternoon when it was running on Yingbin Road, leaving eight people dead and 19 others injured.

Commemoration in Kenya

A Kenyan woman prays at the monument for the commemoration of more than 200 people dead in the 1998 bombing of the United States Embassy to Kenya in Nairobi Aug. 7, 2006. A blast hit the US embassy on Aug. 7, 1998, leaving more than 200 people dead and over 1,000 others injured.

Normal life in northern Israel

A boy jumps into the Mediterranean Sea in Akko, northern Israel, Aug. 6, 2006. Akko was hit in Hizbollah rocket attacks on Aug. 3, but local residents lead a relatively normal life.