Corruption Crackdown

Premier Wen Jiabao vowed to put fighting corruption at the top of his agenda, at a cabinet meeting on this year's anti-corruption work on March 25.

Wen said over-concentration of power plus ineffective supervision served as two important reasons behind the spread of corruption. He stressed the importance of improving the system for supervising and containing the over-concentration of power.

He admitted scandals involving government departments and officials had been increasing and some bribery cases, in which huge amounts of capital were involved, had enraged the public.

A total of 2,111 officials were punished for misconduct from January 2007 to January 2008 during reshuffles among local governments, the legislature and political advisory bodies, the Communist Party of China (CPC) announced.

Fireworks Catastrophe

Local officials said that at least 25 people were killed and five were missing after an accidental explosion at a fireworks disposal site in northwest Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on March 26.

The accident happened at about 7:00 p.m., when authorities in Turpan were destroying eight truckloads of fireworks in the Gobi desert about 7 to 8 km from the Turpan tollgate on national highway 202.

The cause of the accident is still under investigation.

Twenty-two died on the spot, an official said, and the 10 people injured were sent to the hospital, with one dying on the way and two dying in the hospital. The victims were said to be mainly police officers, staff of a local professional dynamite dismantling company and journalists covering the event.

Drive for Educated Village Managers

The Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee has launched a project to send 100,000 college graduates to work in villages during the next five years.

The department will work closely with the ministries of education and finance and the new ministry of human resources and social security to select competent graduates.

Graduates who pass written, oral and physical tests will be dispatched to work as assistants to heads of CPC branches and directors of village committees.

They will be responsible for helping farmers with agricultural technology, raising health awareness and skills, promoting cultural activities and researching farmers' complaints.

Bus Blast Rumor

Police have detained individuals suspected of spreading Urumqi bus blast rumors, said an official with the Public Security Bureau of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on March 25.

Liu Yaohua, the bureau chief, told a news conference that bus blast rumors were just "sheer nonsense."

He said that subversive leaflets appeared in the region's capital city Urumqi, aiming to fabricate rumors and sabotage social stability.

Competition for Pandas

Taipei and Taichung cities and Hsinchu County have been vying to host a pair of pandas from the mainland, according to the Taiwan-based media.

A spokesman for Taipei's zoo said that the zoo has planted bamboo-a main food for the animal-and is building a panda home. Moreover, the zoo has sent veterinarians to Europe, the United States, Beijing, Hong Kong and Sichuan, to study how to take care of pandas.

Taichung Mayor Jason Hu said that he had proposed to the mayor of Taipei to let the pandas first stay in Taichung for two years. Taichung plans to build a multi-million-dollar 3,000-square-meter panda home in a local resort.