【英语简明新闻】Headline News 2015 August 10

Former senior officer gets death penalty with reprieve Gu Junshan, former deputy head of the General Logistics Department of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, has been sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for bribery and other crimes. A military court made the ruling on Monday. The ruling says Gu has been found guilty of embezzlement, accepting bribes, misuse of state funds, bribery and abuse of power. A statement from the court says Gu has been deprived of his political rights for life and had all his personal assets confiscated. The Xinhua news agency reported in January that several high-profile officers in PLA logistics departments, which take charge of housing projects, have been sacked in the country's anti-corruption operation. The report says the PLA will start a two-year operation against malpractice and corruption in staff housing projects. Typhoon Soudelor forces 181,000 to evacuate in E China Typhoon Soudelor has left four people dead and forced 181,000 to evacuate in east China's Anhui Province. More than 550,000 people and 19,600 hectares of crops in ten cities were affected by the typhoon. Some 562 houses collapsed and another 1,194 were damaged. The typhoon left 14 people dead and another four missing in neighboring Zhejiang Province as of Sunday afternoon. Estimates suggest the storm has caused some 4-billion yuan worth of damage. The storm, the largest of the year, hit Taiwan early Saturday, leading 6 dead and 4 others missing. China ramps up joint military exercises A joint military drill that started in late July has entered a live fire stage in southwest China's Sichuan Province. Coded "Joint Action-2015D," the drill is the first of five similar drills that will involve a total of more than 140,000 soldiers from over 140 PLA regiments. The joint drills employ a "joint operation system" that involves the army, navy, air force, artillery, armed police, intelligence, reconnaissance and electronic warfare. The PLA plans to complete more than 100 joint exercises involving over 50 army corps this year. Alibaba becomes the 2nd biggest share holder of suning Alibaba has announced that it will team up with Suning by investing over 28 billion yuan, or 4.6 billion U.S. dollars in the home appliance retailer. This will make Alibaba the second largest shareholder of Sunning, holding nearly 20 percent of its stake. At the same time, Suning will invest 14 billion yuan to gain a 1.1 percent stake in Alibaba. Both companies hope the partnership will combine their strengths in the online to offline(020) business model. Turkey Sees a Series of Attacks The outlawed Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front of Turkey has claimed responsibility for the attack on the U.S. consulate in Istanbul. Local media reported a Turkish woman opened fire on the police team in front of the U.S. Consulate building earlier today. She ran to a nearby house shortly after clashes and was arrested by Turkish police forces. The attack came hours after a car bombing in front of a police station in the city. The suicide attacker is believed to be dead. Two attackers and one police officer died during the clashes shortly after the explosion early on Monday morning. 10 people were injured, including five policemen. In southeastern Turkey's Sirnak province, four police officers were killed in a landmine blast planted by the militants of the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party in the country. Following the blast, one soldier of the Turkish security forces was also killed and another wounded as a group of the PKK rebels attacked a military helicopter in the province. Car bombing rocks Afghan capital airport, killing 4 In Afghanistan, at least four people have been killed and 15 others wounded after a suicide car bombing rocked an airport in Kabul. The blast took place at around 12:00 p.m. (local time) on Monday at the front entrance of the Hamid Karzai International Airport. The obvious target of the attack was an armored vehicle at the site. But it is unclear whom the vehicle belonged to. All flights were delayed for at least four to five hours. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack yet. Abe urged to apologize to victims for aggression Japan's former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has urged current Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to face up to history, admit Japan's aggression and apologize to the victims. Hatoyama made the remarks at a forum held in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province on Sunday. Meanwhile, South Korean President Park Geun-hye has reiterated her call for Abe to inherit the right historical perception of previous governments in his upcoming statement this week. Abe will deliver his landmark statement on August 14, marking the 70th anniversary of the end of the World War II.