【Part 1】
This is NEWS plus SpecialEnglish. I'm Ding Lulu in Beijing. Here is the news.
Chinese Nobel laureate Mo Yan has called for more policy and financial supportfrom the government for parents who have lost their only child.
Mo Yan says the one-child policy that took effect in the late 1970s slowedpopulation growth and eased pressure on resources. But it caused greatdifficulties and problems for parents who have lost their only child.
Traditionally, Chinese people rely on their children to support them in oldage. When a sole child dies, elderly parents can find themselves in direcircumstances.
In many areas, one-child families get a monthly allowance of a mere 5 yuan, or80 U.S. cents under a policy established in the early 1980s.
Mo Yan has submitted his proposal to the National Committee of the ChinesePeople's Political Consultative Conference which concluded last week.
China's one-child families can only get a total of 840 yuan until theirchildren reach 14 years old, which can hardly cover living costs.
Mo says those who have lost their only child face an even worse situation,especially in rural areas.
Mo proposed that parents who have only one child should be included in thegovernment pension and medical insurance system, and that financial support tothem should be improved.
He says when they lose their ability to work, they should enjoy the same wageand treatment as government civil servants.
China substantially increased the subsidy for parents who have lost their onlychild in December last year.
Urban couples who have lost their only child and with the woman aged 49 yearsand older get 340 yuan per person per month. That is an equivalent of 54 USdollars.
At least 1 million Chinese families lost their only child, with the figureclimbing by 76,000 a year.
59-year-old Mo Yan won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2012. One of hisfictions "Frog" tells the story of a rural obstetrician who carriedout thousands of abortion operations under the one-child policy.
China has the largest senior population in the world, and by 2050, one-third ofthe Chinese population will be more than 60 years old.
【Part 2】
This is NEWS Plus Special English. I'm Ding Lulu in Beijing.
Chinese Internet firm Tencent plans to buy a 15 percent stake in JD.com, amajor online direct sales company in China.
The purchase is expected to take place before JD launches its initial publicoffering in the United States.
The purchase represents more than 250 million outstanding JD ordinary shares,and it will cost Tencent more than 215 million U.S. dollars.
In return, JD will take over Tencent's two business-to-consumer and consumer-to-consumerplatforms.
The cooperation is dubbed as overall business collaboration in e-commercebusiness. It aims to win leverage in the competition with another Chinesee-commerce firm Alibaba, which owns and operates the country's largest onlinepurchase platform.
In addition, Tencent will offer JD high level access points at WeChat andMobile QQ to boost JD's growth in physical goods e-commerce.
WeChat and Mobile QQ are two of the most popular communication mobileapplications developed by Tencent.
You're listening to NEWS Plus Special English. I'm Ding Lulu in Beijing.
William "Wild Bill" Guarnere, one of the World War II veterans hasdied at the age of 90. Guarnere's exploits were dramatized in the TVminiseries "Band of Brothers".
Guarnere died at Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia. He was rushedto the hospital early on Mar. 8th Saturday, and died of a ruptured aneurysmSaturday night.
His son, William Guarnere Jr., says his father had a good, long life.
The U.S. miniseries was based on a book by Stephen Ambrose. It features themembers of Easy Company, 506th Regiment, and 101st Airborne Division. Itfollowed the company from training in Georgia in 1942, through some of thewar's fiercest European battles till the end of the war in 1945.
Its producers included Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg. Guarnere was portrayedby the actor Frank John Hughes.
Guarnere's combat exploits earned him his nickname. He lost a leg while tryingto help a wounded solider during the Battle of the Bulge, the last major Germanoffensive in the West. It was the largest and the most costly battle fought bythe U.S. Army in World War Two.
His commendations included the Silver Star, two Bronze Stars and two PurpleHearts.
In 2007, Guarnere helped write a nationally best-selling memoir called"Brothers in Battle, Best of Friends".