The three sailors whose boat was sunk by a Russian gunship near a port in Russia arrived home this week. Li Guangchao, 25, Liu Feng, 28 and Song Jin, 30 said they were relieved to be home safe after their ordeal. Wu Jian, an official with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, met the men on their arrival at Beijing's Capital International Airport.

Polluted water plant resumes supply

A water plant that was closed for three days because of contamination by the disinfectant phenol resumed operations at 2 am Monday, according to local authorities in east China's Jiangsu Province. The plant in the west of Yancheng City halted water supplies last Friday after the water was found to be contaminated. At least 200,000 residents were deprived of tap water.

Nine dead as Turkish jet crash-lands

A Turkish Airlines plane with 135 people aboard slammed into a field while attempting to land at Amsterdam's main airport Wednesday, killing nine people and injuring more than 50. The aircraft fractured into three pieces on impact. One engine was visible lying almost intact near the wreck in the muddy field and the other was some 200 m from the plane and heavily damaged.

Tibetan New Year celebrated

Tibetan New Year was celebrated this Thursday with festivities across China and the Tibet autonomous region. Lamas performed a traditional Buddhist dance at Yonghe Temple in Beijing to the accompaniment of traditional Tibetan instruments. And an exhibition showing the changes that have taken place in Tibet over the past 50 years opened in Beijing, commemorating the 50th anniversary of Tibet's democratic reforms.

And now for more news in depth:

Looted Chinese relics sold for 14m euros each

Two controversial ancient Chinese relics were auctioned off this week for 14 million euros ($17.92 million) each by anonymous telephone bidders. Auction house Christie's held the sale of the collection of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Berge in the Grand Palace of Paris. The bronze sculptures, a rat's head and a rabbit's head, were looted by the invading Anglo-French expedition army in the 19th century, when the invaders burned down the royal garden of Yuanmingyuan in Beijing. Christie's refused to disclose who the bidders were at a press conference afterward. China has condemned Christie's, saying the sale would hurt the auction house's business development in the country.

Hilary Clinton visit hailed as success

China has hailed US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's trip to Beijing as beneficial to bilateral ties. The former first lady reached a broad consensus with Chinese leadership on a wide range of issues and urged Beijing to keep buying US Treasury bonds. Clinton also participated in a web chat organized by China Daily.

74 killed in coal mine explosion; 3 officials sacked

Three senior officials of a Shanxi coal mine were sacked earlier this week after a gas blast on Sunday killed at least 74 workers. Tunlan Coal Mine's manager, chief safety officer and chief engineer have been removed from their posts. The explosion occurred at 2:17 am while 436 miners were at work underground in Gujiao, 60 km west of Taiyuan, the provincial capital. Of the more than 300 rescued, 114 were in hospital, five of them in critical condition. Without any accident reported in the past five years, Tunlan, with an annual capacity of 5 million tons, was considered one of the safest mines in Shanxi.

Global flavor sweeps the Oscars

India triumphed at the Academy Awards on Sunday as Slumdog Millionaire took top honors. The film - shot in the slums of Mumbai - was named Best Picture and won seven other Oscars. Three of the night's four acting awards went to non-Americans. Kate Winslet of Britain was named Best Actress, Spanish actress Penelope Cruz won Best Supporting Actress, and Australian Heath Ledger, who died last year, was named Best Supporting Actor. Sean Penn, the lone American among the winners, won Best Actor.