Writers Still Want Google's Apology

Writers Still Want Google's Apology

Chinese writers say they appreciated search engine firm Google's move to talk with them, but maintained their demand for an apology citing copyright violation.

Zhang Hongbo, deputy director of the China Written Works Copyright Society, a non-governmental organization that represents writers on copyright issues, says some progress was made during the talks with Google officials on Monday.

Zhang says the second round of talks is likely to be held in mid-November.

Google's Beijing office confirmed that negotiations had been held but did not give further details.

More than 50 writers have signed a letter demanding an apology and compensation from Google.

They accused Google of scanning more than 18,000 books by 570 Chinese writers without notice or payment.

Mom's Jogging a Lifesaver for Son

A woman in central China's Hubei province has successfully undergone a liver donor operation to save her son, after a seven-month jogging program to improve her liver function.

55-year-old Chen Yurong, a resident of provincial capital Wuhan, has walked 10 kilometers a day in the past seven months to make sure her liver was healthy enough for a transplant to her son.

Chen's son, Ye Haibin, was diagnosed with a congenital liver disease 18 years ago. The disease can be fatal over the long term as it severely damages a patient's organs and nervous system.

Chen planned to have the donor operation in February but doctors rejected the offer, saying her liver was fatty and unhealthy.

The mother had a portion of her liver removed on Tuesday at the city's Tongji University. Doctors described the 14-hour-long transplant as a success, adding that her healthy liver could give her son another 30 to 50 years.

China's Lakes Shrink as Drought Crisis Continues

China's second-largest freshwater lake, Dongting, has shrunk in area by more than half in just a month.

According to the Hubei Provincial Meteorological Bureau, the water area of the lake, spanning the central provinces of Hubei and Hunan, measured 538 square kilometers in mid-October, only 40 percent of its size in September.

Meteorologists have attributed the drastic shrinkage to a drought in the lake region since August. Average rainfall dropped by around 50 percent and in some areas, up to 90 percent.

Southern and central China has suffered a rare drought in the past month, cutting water input to Dongting and many other lakes.

China has more than 24,800 lakes, but they are disappearing at a rate of around 20 every year. Many lakes also suffer from excessive waste discharge.

Endangered Deer Start Comeback in Park

A dozen Chinese water deer, a species missing from the Shanghai area for some 100 years, were given new homes yesterday in the Binjiang Forest Park in Pudong New Area.

It was the first step in an effort to return the animal to all local rural areas over the next 10 years.

The eight females and four males are expected to get used to the environment over the next few months and deliver baby deer between May and July.

Zhang Endi, a professor with East China Normal University's School of Life Science, and the project's major researcher, says after the deer become acclimatized to the park's "half-wild" environment in a year or two, his group will introduce them to rural areas in the Outer-Ring Road.

The deer were prolific in local districts of Qingpu and Fengxian in the 1880s, but disappeared from the areas in the early 20th Century.

A/H1N1 Vaccine Proved Safe So Far

To tackle the A/H1N1 epidemic, Chinese health care administrative departments initiated a nation wide vaccination program. So far, more than 4 million people in Chinese mainland have been vaccinated. And so far, only a small number of adverse reactions have been reported.