Chinastarts lawmakers' elections with equal representation of farmers, urbanites
Chinastarted elections of lawmakers at the county- and township-levels on Saturday, which granted, for the first time, equal representation in legislative bodies to rural and urban citizens.
More than two million lawmakers at the county- and township-levels will be elected during nationwide elections, held every five years, in more than 2,000 counties and 30,000 townships.
These are the first elections after the Electoral Law amendments were adopted in March 2010 that require both rural and urban areas to adopt the same ratio of deputies to the represented population in elections of people's congress deputies.

Three Gorges Dam to unleash more water to fight severe drought in parts of China

The Three Gorges Dam, the world's largest hydropower project, is expected to increase its water discharges over three days in a bid to fight the severe drought that has ravaged central China's Hubei Province and some southern provinces since February.

The discharge speed of the dam will accelerate to 7,000 cubic meters per second during the next three days, 1,500 cubic meters faster than the inflow speed.

The decision was jointly made Saturday by the flood control and drought relief headquarters of the Yangtze River and China Three Gorges Corporation to fight the drought while maintaining normal shipping along the Yangtze River, China's longest waterway.

China's rural hydropower capacity to hit 74 mln kw by 2015

China's capacity of rural hydropower is expected to hit 74 million kilowatts by 2015.

The country's Water Resources Minister Chen Lei has told a rural hydropower construction conference that rural hydropower would play a more important role in improving the energy structure, developing a low-carbon economy and securing the well-being of the people.

Rural hydropower refers to the small hydropower stations each with installed capacity of 50,000 kilowatts or less.

Right now, more than half of China's territory has been covered by small hydropower projects supplying electricity for 300 million people who had previously lived without electricity.

China launches rocket to monitor space environment

Chinahas successfully launched a space environment-monitoring rocket from the southern island province of Hainan as part of the nation's key "Meridian Project."

The rocket was sent into space Saturday morning from a launch site in Hainan. The rocket is the first of its kind for the "Meridian Project," which is a ground-based network program to monitor the solar-terrestrial space environment and has been supported by the Chinese government.

Saturday's launch used the Tianying-3C rocket, provided by the Academy of Aerospace Solid Propulsion Technology under the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. Other systems were developed by the CAS.

Scientists are currently analyzing data received from the rocket.

China succeeds in its largest unmanned helicopter's first flight

An unmanned helicopter, the largest of its kind in China, has successfully completed its first flight in Weifang City of east China's Shandong Province.

The helicopter, model number "V750", has a load capacity of over 80 kg. It can fly a maximum speed of 161 km per hour with a cruising duration of over four hours. The aircraft can be controlled by humans within a distance of over 150 km or automatically fly following input by its programs.

It can be used in surveillance, search and rescue, and scientific exploration in both military and civilian purposes

27 killed in plane crash in Indonesia

All the 27 people on board were killed in a commercial plane accident in Papua of Indonesia on Saturday.

A rescue official says Fifteen bodies of the victims have been found by rescuers.

The Indonesian plane operated by Merpati airline was on route of Sorong to Kaimana and Nabire. It crashed before landing in Kaimana airport.

Taliban multiple attacks kill 8, wounds 29 in S. Afghanistan

Taliban multiple attacks in Afghan southern Kandahar province have left eight people dead and injured 29 others.

Povincial governor told reporters that Taliban insurgents stormed some government departments including governor house in Kandahar city Saturday, but security forces retaliation left six suicide bombers dead.

He added two persons including a police were killed and 29 others sustained injuries.

Japan's Chubu Electric holds inconclusive talks on suspension of Hamaoka reactors

Japan's Chubu Electric Power Co. has held discussions over whether to suspend the operation of all reactors in Hamaoka nuclear power plant in Shizuoka Prefecture.

But the meeting yielded no conclusions, according to local media reports. The utility serving central Japan is expected to continue talks Sunday or later. The talks will be focused on the move's impact on its business and the future energy supply without the nuclear power plant.

Japanese government has asked Chubu Electric to stop operation of all reactors in Hamaoka nuclear power plant in Shizuoka Prefecture due to safety concerns in the event of a major earthquake.