Listed Waterway

Chinas Grand Canal has been added to the World Heritage List. The decision was announced at the 38th Session of UNESCOs World Heritage Committee in Doha， Qatar， on June 22.

The Grand Canal， with a length of 1，794 km， dates back 2，400 years. Its the longest man-made waterway in the world and is still in use.

This year， a section of the ancient trade route of the Silk Road， linking China and Europe， and an extension of South China Karst， a natural World Heritage Site since 2007， also made the list.

Homes for Pensions

China has begun to pilot its muchdebated houses-for-pensions program in four cities as the country seeks alternative methods to cope with the rising needs of an aging population.

On July 1， Beijing， Shanghai， Guangzhou in Guangdong Province and Wuhan in Hubei Province launched a scheme that allows home owners over 60 to deed their houses to an insurance company or bank， which will then grant them a certain amount every month depending on the value of the houses and the persons life expectancy.

According to the China Insurance Regulatory Commission （CIRC）， the pilot will last for two years.

CIRC official Yuan Xucheng said the pilot is intended to expand funding channels and improve the quality of the elderly care system.

The program， while hailed by some experts as an innovative solution， has sparked heated debate among the public， especially among those whose parents have property and fear losing their inheritance.

Latest official data show that the number of people aged above 60 has reached 202.43 million in China.

Anti-Terror Fight

The Chinese Government on June 24 released a television program about online terrorist propaganda created by the East Turkestan Islamic Movement（ETIM）， which is listed by the UN Security Council as a terrorist group.

In 2013， Chinese police tracked down 109 pieces of terror-related audio and video content produced by the movement， compared with 32 in the previous year， according to the State Internet Information Office （SIIO）. The recordings were matched by a surge in attacks.

Besides promoting terrorism， ETIM videos also offer tutorials on how to make explosives and how to use weapons.

The documentary indicates that the videos are produced outside China， with many hosted on servers in Turky.

The documentarys release followed the launch of a campaign on June 20 to rid the Internet of audio and video materials that promote terrorism or violence.