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Hong Kong Mourn its Dead
Hong Kong flew its flag at half-mast yesterday (24th) as it mourned the deaths of eight Hong Kong residents killed in a dramatic bus hijack in Manila. The Chinese government has asked Manila to "thoroughly" investigate the incident. President Hu Jintao, Premier Wen Jiabao and Vice-President Xi Jinping all sent messages of condolences to the families of the Hong Kong victims. The President of the Philippines, Benigno Aquino on Tuesday presented to China's ambassador Liu Jianchao the preliminary investigation into the hostage saga and the ambassador said many Philippine officials have apologized to him over what happened. Philippine Vice-President Jejomar Binay and Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo will fly to Beijing and Hong Kong to present their final report upon completion.

204 days of Good air quality in the first 7 months
With less than 80 days to go before the Guangzhou Asian Games begin, the city continues to see brighter and clearer skies. Statistics show that for the past 7 months, the number of days recorded with satisfactory / good air quality was up to 204, which might show that the authorities' efforts to clean up the air have been fruitful, considering the number of days with clean air in 2004 was only 83%.

Animation Expo Increases in Size in 2010
The 2nd China Animation Expo will be held in the city of Dongguan from Sep 30th to Oct 5th. This time, more exhibition space will be set up, increasing by over 30,000 square meters. Special activities such as a "creative work auction" will also be staged. So far, 203 companies from China, Australia, Singapore and other countries and regions have signed up for a spot at the expo.