TAIPEI: Cross-Straits relations entered a new era on Friday, as tourist groups arrived in Taiwan on the first "weekend charter flights" from the mainland.

SHANGHAI: Shen Qiren, 75, does not look like a man who can be easily swayed by emotion, with his serious demeanor and a build that belies his age.

US President George W. Bush said on Thursday that he will attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games, despite calls for him to boycott the event.

LOS ANGELES: Thomas Beatie, who was born a woman but after surgery and hormone treatment lives as a man, has given birth to a girl at an Oregon hospital in the United States, People magazine reported on Thursday.

The State Council on Friday published guidelines on post-quake reconstruction, emphasizing house repair and building work.

Torrential rains forced Beijing Capital International Airport to temporarily close on Friday night, with 80 percent of the scheduled flights either delayed or cancelled. About 123 mm of rain fell over several hours, forcing Beijing's new subway Line 5 to close for 3 hours and causing traffic jams on the street.

The Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee's official publication, Qiu Shi (Seeking Truth) magazine, celebrated its 50th anniversary on Friday.

WENG'AN, Guizhou: The two men who were with 17-year-old Weng'an resident Li Shufen before she jumped in a river late last month said on Friday they did not rape her, following autopsy reports confirming that the girl had drowned.

A new auditing method is being used to ensure the money donated to the Sichuan earthquake relief fund does not go astray, a senior audit official said on Friday.

The country's Army Aviation Corps is looking to build on its experience garnered from quake-relief missions in Sichuan over the past weeks, a senior officer said on Friday.