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Middle East: Two US sailors shot dead

Two American sailors were shot dead and one critically wounded at a US navy base in Bahrain.

The shootings took place at 2am and the navy is investigating the incident.

The two sailors were pronounced dead at the scene while the third was taken to a local hospital. There are no indications of terrorism or a base intrusion.

China: Rural population drops

China's rural population was 737 million - 56 percent of the total population - at the end of 2006, said Xie Fuzhan, director of the National Bureau of Statistics yesterday.

China has seen its rural population shrink in recent years due to rapid urbanization.

The rural population in China was recorded at 64 percent of the total of 1.3 billion in 2001 and 74 percent in 1990.

Indonesia: Pilot error causes crash

Indonesian flight investigators have revealed the pilot of a Garuda Indonesia aircraft that crashed at Yogyakarta airport killing 21 people ignored 15 warnings he was descending too quickly.

The Boeing 737, with 140 people on board, bounced and skidded off the runway during wet weather before bursting into flames in a rice field in March.

Investigators also said the pilot was singing as he approached the runway at an excessive speed.

Both he and his co-pilot survived the crash.

China: Environmental awards

The Wenjiang District in Chengdu has been selected to compete for the International Awards For Livable Communities (The LivCom Awards) next month in London.

The city is running against six others from Japan, France, the United States, Canada, Sweden and New Zealand.

The LivCom Awards were launched in 1997 and endorsed by the United Nations Environment Program.

India: Mayor killed by monkeys

The deputy mayor of Delhi died yesterday after suffering severe head injuries while trying to escape a gang of marauding monkeys.

SS Bajwa, a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party, was reading a newspaper when the monkeys attacked him.

Bajwa fell from the terrace while trying to escape and was rushed to hospital in critical condition before dying yesterday.

The man-monkey conflict is a long-standing problem in the Indian capital with civic authorities failing to control the simians.

（英语点津 Linda 编辑）

About the broadcaster:

Marc Checkley is a freelance journalist and media producer from Auckland, New Zealand. Marc has an eclectic career in the media/arts, most recently working as a radio journalist for NewstalkZB, New Zealand’s leading news radio network, as a feature writer for Travel Inc, New Nutrition Business (UK) and contributor for Mana Magazine and the Sunday Star Times. Marc is also a passionate arts educator and is involved in various media/theatre projects in his native New Zealand and Singapore where he is currently based. Marc joins the China Daily with support from the Asia New Zealand Foundation.

 

Bernice Chan is a foreign expert at China Daily Website. Originally from Vancouver, Canada, Bernice has written for newspapers and magazines in Hong Kong and most recently worked as a broadcaster for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, producing current affairs shows and documentaries.