A bus carrying 34 students and teachers spontaneously combusted on the High-Speed Ring Road (绕城高速) on its way to the airport yesterday morning. The engine possibly caused the explosion, and although the bus was completely burnt, all passengers exited safely. Apart from two students who were unable to board the plane as their identity cards had been burnt, the passengers boarded their flight to Jinan, Shandong.
Sichuan News Web

Water supplies to Chengdu were disrupted for more than 24 hours after mudslides contaminated the Minjiang River, one of the city's main water sources. Water to neighborhoods in the east and west were shut off Friday afternoon and resumed only Sunday morning. China Daily

The heavy, continuous downpour triggered a
landslide in the Aba Prefecture Friday. One person was reported dead and four missing. All of the victims were construction workers from Jiangxi Province. China Daily

Floods from the storm have killed at least eight people and damaged thousands of houses in Sichuan. Mudslides interrupted service on the Baoji-Chengdu railway, leaving nearly 20,000 passengers stranded at the Chengdu train station on Thursday. China Daily

Sichuanese Li Bo, 21, has been identified as the missing construction worker in a subway tunnel that collapsed in Shenzhen early Sunday. Rescue workers are searching the area for signs of life. Shenzhen Post

Road news

Wheelchair-accessible taxi cabs will be available for hire on Chengdu's streets by September. The 40 specially equipped cabs resemble London's TX4 black cabs in a bid to promote London to Chinese citizens, especially in light of the upcoming 2012 Olympic Games, to be held in London.

In addition to these vehicles, another 760 standard cabs have been ordered for Chengdu. But whether or not these additional cabs will put a dent in the demand for taxis during rush hour in the city remains to be seen. CRI English and Chengdu Invest

Construction began on a high-speed railway that will connect Chengdu to Qingcheng Mountain. Peaking at 200 kph at certain points of the 66-kilometer, 10-station track, the train will transport passengers between the two cities in 30 minutes, making stops in Dujiangyan and Pixian along the way. The construction is part of a post-quake plan to boost tourism, and the first train is expected to run on May 12, 2010.

In the meantime, Chengdu's north train station is getting a facelift to prepare its debut as a junction for the new express rail and Metro Line 1. Focus

Sports & culture
Giant panda Li Li gave birth to a pair of female twin cubs Sunday morning at the Giant Panda Research Base. The newborns weighed in at 122 and 100 grams and are the first pair of giant panda twins to be born this year. Xinhua

Chengdu's bid to host the Women's Asian Cup in 2010 was approved by the Asian Football Association Women's Committee meeting last week. The success of Chengdu's bid rested on the city's experience as one of the host cities of 2004 Men's Asian Cup and 2007 Women's World Cup. Asian Football Confederation

Oddities
Basketball superhero Shaquille O'Neal visited Sichuan last week, where he watched pandas and met with quake-displaced youth in Mianyang, bestowing gifts upon them.

After four autographed basketballs that he gave to students were confiscated by their school's leaders, Chinese netizens rallied to their cause (incited, apparently, by a poll on state-run media Xinhua), Shaq dispatched new balls to the students, and at least a few headline writers had a field day.

The balls in question, incidentally, carry the logo of sporting-good-manufacturer Li Ning (李宁), with whom O'Neal signed a sponsorship agreement in 2006. China Daily

A 14-year-old boy in Yibin has acquired a taste for gasoline after watching the movie Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, both drinking and inhaling it in an attempt to turn himself into Optimus Prime. His parents have reported that as a result of his gas-guzzling, the boy is now unable to answer simple arithmetic questions. Sify

Among the arriving freshman at Chengdu University of Technology this fall will be the Wang triplets from Zhengzhou, Henan. It was a happy coincidence for the Wang family to learn that all three daughters gained admission to university, and even more so that they gained acceptance to the same department of study in the same university. China Daily

A 102-year-old woman named Li Wangqing has recorded daily entries in her diary since she was in middle-school, creating a journal of nearly a century of Chengdu's development. China Daily

A thief by the name of Yang sought help from a security guard after being chased by a mob threatening to beat him for stealing. The security guard responded by locking Yang in a room and calling the police. China Daily

A 17-year-old gaming addict who attempted to kill his father after being asked to play less and study more last year was released from a Chengdu mental health center last Tuesday. China Daily

Images: Sichuan News Web, CRI English and Montreal Gazette