Global ecological report issued

The Ministry of Science and Technology released its first global remote- sensing ecological report on Tuesday. The report shows China's vegetation growth increased at a higher rate than the average level, both globally and in other Asian countries, from 1982 to 2011. The total global inland water area reached 3.67 million sq km in 2010, while the figure was 142,300 sq km in China.

Domestic pigs face decline in numbers

Research shows that 85 percent of domestic pig breeds are facing a decline in numbers and 31 breeds are endangered, Oriental Outlook Weekly reported on Monday. The report said that a majority of the pork that is consumed today comes from so-called lean pigs, which are foreign breeds. From an economic point of view, pig farmers prefer the foreign breed as they grow faster than domestic ones.

Hunan

Teacher held over sex assaults

A teacher has been detained for allegedly sexually assaulting girls at a primary school, local authorities announced on Tuesday. Zeng Xingming, a mathematics teacher at Puman Central Primary School in Jiahe county, Hunan province, confessed to acts of obscenity with several pupils, Xinhua News Agency reported. The allegations came to light after Jiang Heng, a teacher at the same school, was told by a parent that Zeng had sexually assaulted a pupil.

Guizhou

Girl, 13, handcuffed and paraded

An official and a policeman were suspended from their posts and investigated after a comment on a micro blog said they handcuffed a 13-year-old girl and made her parade through the streets in Guizhou province. The micro blog claimed that the 13-year-old girl was handcuffed and paraded for 20 minutes in April after she poured water onto a government car and argued with officials, possibly over a dispute over the family stall. One of the men suspended, Yuan Zehong, Party secretary of Kele town, admitted that the girl was handcuffed, but said she was not forced to parade.

Shanghai

Beijing makes top 4 in world city list

New York, London, Beijing and Paris are the top four in the 2013 Report on Cultural Diversity and Dynamism of World Cities released in Shanghai on Tuesday. The report was released by the Institute of Arts and Humanities at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, International Channel Shanghai and Shanghai Center for World Cities Research. Shanghai, at 14th, came three places behind Hong Kong.

Ningxia

Alcohol ad in school dictionaries

Parents in the Ningxia Hui autonomous region raised concerns over an alcohol advertisement that appeared in dictionaries donated by Kweichou Moutai to pupils. The father of a second-grade primary school student saw the advertisement for the liquor maker printed on the title page of a Chinese dictionary, Nxnews.net reported on Tuesday. Publication authorities said the advertisement was an error.

6 killed in shed fire at pig farm

Six people were killed after a fire engulfed a shed at a pig farm early on Tuesday. The fire broke out at about 12:40 am in a village in Jiangyong county and was put out 40 minutes later, the county's publicity department said. Six male woodcutters living in a shed were found dead at the scene. An initial police investigation found that the fire was likely caused by arson.

Hubei

Delays in refueling lead to man's death

Two employees of Jinguoping gas station in Badong county, Hubei province, have been fired for refusing to refuel an ambulance carrying an injured man. Chen Qianjun was critically injured in a fall while working on his house. En route to a hospital about four hours from Chen's village, the ambulance driver stopped for fuel at 9:10 pm on Friday. The gas station employees told him they were closed. The driver then searched for fuel for more than an hour. Chen died in transit to the hospital at 1:05 am.

Xinhua - China Daily