BEIJING

Standard names for Diaoyu Islands

China released standard names and descriptions of the Diaoyu Island and its affiliated isles on Saturday morning, according to sources with the State Oceanic Administration.

Diaoyu Island is named "Diaoyu Island", with its Chinese pronunciation reading "Diaoyu Dao". It is described as an island "about 356 kilometers from the city of Wenzhou, 385 km from the city of Fuzhou and 190 km from the city of Keelong".

Diaoyu Island and other related isles have been part of Chinese territory since ancient times, and China has indisputable sovereignty over them, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said in a written statement on Saturday, in response to the Japanese release of 39 uninhabited islands' names, including those of some affiliated to the Diaoyu Island, on Friday.

Students from Lei Feng Primary School in Beijing learn sign language to better help those in need. Zhang Xu / Xinhua

Campaigns to carry on Lei Feng spirit

The Communist Party of China has called for intensified media coverage of activities of "Learning from Lei Feng" to promote the virtues of the nation's most famous Good Samaritan.

According to a decision made by the CPC Central Committee, major news portals including xinhuanet.com and people.com.cn will dedicate special sections and micro-blogging services to such reports.

Lei Feng, a young Chinese soldier in the 1960s, is known for selflessly helping the needy. He died in an accident on Aug 15, 1962. Chairman Mao Zedong called on the entire nation to follow Lei's example, and March 5 each year is designated Lei Feng Day.

JIANGSU

Four dead, 12 injured in ship explosion

Four workers were killed and 12 injured in a boiler explosion on a cargo ship in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu province on Friday night, a shipyard said on Saturday.

The explosion occurred on a bulk carrier as the Zijinshan shipyard of Nanjing Tanker Co was about to deliver the ship back to its owner, China Changjiang National Shipping (Group) Co, after repairs, the shipyard said in a statement.

HEBEI

17 killed in chemical plant blast

The death toll from an explosion on Tuesday at a chemical plant has climbed to 17, and 46 others are wounded, according to authorities in North China's Hebei province.

The blast ripped through Hebei Keeperchemical Industries in Zhaoxian county at around 9:30 am on Tuesday. It flattened one of the factory's workshops and shattered window panes within a radius of 2 km, witnesses and local government officials said.

UNITED STATES

Wen named 'Best Friend of US worker'

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Friday was honored as the "Best Friend of American Worker" in appreciation of China's strong support for the growth of jobs for American workers.

The award from America's International Longshoremen's Association was received in Boston by Zhang Yesui, Chinese ambassador to the United States, on behalf of the premier. Wen visited the port of Boston during a visit to the US in December 2003.

BP reaches deal over Gulf of Mexico

BP PLC has reached a $7.8 billion agreement with plaintiffs suing over the massive 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, according to a court order on Friday, but the company still faces claims by the US government and drilling partners.

BP said the cost of the proposed settlement would be around $7.8 billion, including a BP commitment of $2.3 billion to help resolve loss claims related to the Gulf's seafood industry.

It said the proposed settlement was not an admission of liability by the company.

Tornadoes kill at least 27

Powerful tornadoes raked across a wide swath of the US Midwest and South on Friday, killing at least 27 people in three states and bringing the death toll to at least 40 from a week of deadly late-winter storms.

The twisters splintered homes, damaged a prison and tossed around vehicles across the region, leaving at least 13 people dead in southern Indiana, another 12 in neighboring Kentucky and two more in Ohio, officials said. In all, the latest line of storms battered a band of states from Ohio and Indiana on southward to Alabama.

VENEZUELA

Chavez says he is recovering 'quickly'

Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez said on Friday he is recovering "quickly" after undergoing a surgery in Havana, Cuba.

"I can't neglect my recovery treatment, not even a minute," Chavez said via official television and his Twitter account. "I continue recovering, thanks to Venezuela' s support, to the Cuban people, to the doctors in Cuba and to the love from the people."

Xinhua - Reuters

(China Daily 03/04/2012 page2)