Yemeni Plane Crashes in Sea off Comoros, Bodies Found
An Airbus A310-300 from Yemen with 153 people on board crashed into choppy seas earlier today (June 30th). The plane was attempting to land amidst bad weather on the Indian Ocean archipelago of Comoros. An official from the state carrier "Yemenia" said some bodies had been recovered from the wreckage but he could not say whether there were any survivors. Two French military planes and a French ship left the islands of Mayotte and Reunion in search of any survivors. The plane is believed to have been carrying France and Comoros nationals.

Guangzhou Eyes on Becoming Livable Garden City
Guangzhou has announced it will make great efforts to build the city into what the government has called a "livable garden city" by improving and increasing the city' green area coverage. The Secretary of Guangzhou CPC Committee, Zhu Xiaodan, confirmed at a conference today (June 30) that Yuexiu and Liwan districts will each see 20,000 square meters of greens spaces planted within the year. He also pledged to invest 2.4 billion yuan to guarantee air quality within the next 2 years as well as finish improving by June 2010 the sewage treatment system and cleaning-up the Pearl River. 

Smugglers Seized in Donguan
Police in Dongguan have cracked down on yet another case of foreigners attempting to smuggle into Hong Kong from Chinese Mainland. 8 foreigners and 2 Chinese suspected of organizing the deal were arrested whilst heading by boat towards Hong Kong waters. Now in custody, they admitted that an agent promised to take them to Hong Kong and find them jobs in exchange of a high fee.

Ticket Sales for Expo Open Tomorrow
The Shanghai World Expo, scheduled to kick off on May 1 next year, is expecting to sell 62 million tickets for the six-month long event. Although such numbers might sound optimistic amidst the financial crisis, sales will open tomorrow (July1) to the general public. Four agencies -- China Mobile, China Telecom, China Post and the Bank of Communications -- have been authorized to sell the tickets at some 2,800 outlets across Chinese mainland and online. Before the end of the year, a standard day individual ticket will cost 140 yuan ($21) and on peak days, prices will go up to 180 yuan.