Marine exercise against oil spill held in Hainan

A comprehensive marine drill on oil spill, fire and personnel rescue was held on the waters near Yangpu port, Hainan Province, on May 14. This is the first of its kind conducted in the southernmost province of China. The exercise involved 29 ships of different kinds, one helicopter and nearly 300 specialists from land, sea and air forces.

Rowling asks spoilers to hold Potter plot

British author JK Rowling, who created the bestselling Harry Potter series, waves her graduation hat at Marischal College in Aberdeen, Scotland, where she received a honorary Doctorate Of Laws degree from Aberdeen University July 6, 2006. J.K. Rowling has pleaded for people not to give away the plot of her seventh and final Harry Potter book and asked fans to resist the temptation to look for preview information.

Three Gorges' landscape appears to be more beautiful

A yacht makes its tour through the Qutang gorge one of the Three Gorges in Chongqing municipality, southwest China, May 14, 2007. After the water in the reservoir was raised to 156 metres, the landscape of the Qutang gorge appeared to be more beautiful along with its ever loftiness and steepness.

Search for missing ROK sailors continues

Chinese rescue workers search for the missing sailors off the coast where the "Golden Rose" ship sank near Yantai of east China's Shandong Province, May 14, 2007. The location of the missing Korean ship, which sank off the coast of east China's Shandong Province on Saturday, was identified on Monday afternoon.

Gorgeted puffleg: new species of hummingbird

An undated handout photo of a gorgeted puffleg, a new species of hummingbird. The new blue-and-green throated hummingbird species has been discovered in a cloud forest in Colombia, and already needs protection from human encroachment, the experts who found the bird said on May 13, 2007. Called the gorgeted puffleg, the new species is easily twice as big as the thumb-sized hummingbirds found in the eastern United States, measuring between 3.5 and 4 inches (95 and 100 mm) in length, its discoverers said.

Filipinos cast votes

President of the Philippines Gloria Macapagal Arroyo casts her vote in her hometown Lubao, in Pampanga province north of Manila May 14, 2007. The Philippines votes on Monday for almost every elected official in the country except the president and the vice-president, but there is unlikely to be any change in the nation's political make-up.

National Robot Soccer Competition in Wuhan

Students and designers for the Harbin Institute of Technology Robot Soccer Team watch a match in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei Province, May 14, 2007. The 8th National Robot Soccer Competition recently kicked off in the city, attracting 86 teams from across the country. The winners will represent China at the Federation of International Robot-soccer Association World Cup in San Francisco on June 13.

Drill in case of oil spill

Vessels clean 'spilt oil' on sea waters during a drill in case of oil spill emergency around the sea in South China's Hainan Province May 14, 2007. Twenty-nine vessles, one helicopter, and 300 personnel took part in the drill.

Hu holds talks with Rwandan president

Chinese President Hu Jintao holds a ceremony in Beijing to welcome Rwandan President Paul Kagame on Monday. President held talks with visiting Rwandan President Paul Kagame, in which they vowed to pursue opportunities created by the China-Africa summit and boost bilateral ties.