Tuesday, January 6, 2009

China finds major dinosaur site(By Steve Jackson)

7600 dinosaur bones were found in Shandong province since March. In China, Zhucheng in Shandong province is known locally as "dinosaur city". Researchers and scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences hope the find will help to explain why the creatures went extinct.

However, the researchers say a new fossil field discovered during mining explorations earlier this year appears to be even more important. About 3000 dinosaur bones have been dug up from a single pit just a few hundred metres long and thousands of others have been unearthed at a number of sites nearby. Excavations are currently suspended for the winter but will resume when the weather gets warmer. The scientists say they're expecting to find even more dinosaur remains. The local authorities in Shandong are making plans to set up a fossil park in the area

Arrests Increased in Chinese Region(By EDWARD WONG)

The article is about a report that the Chinese government released on Sunday. It is about people who had been arrested in the western region of Xinjiang on suspicion of “endangering state security”. The report says that more than 1,100 people had been indicted with this charge. “Endangering state security” means separatism and espionage, and can carry the death penalty. The government tightened security measures across Xinjiang in 2008 because of violent episodes, including attacks on government forces.