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News Research

The confirmed death toll from the disaster has risen to 32,476 by 2:00 pm Sunday, and the toll would possibly rise to more than 50,000 as many, still buried in rubbles, are feared dead.

During the mourning days, the torch relay for the Beijing Olympic Games will be suspended to mourn the quake victims.

And on Sunday, China Seismological Bureau revised the magnitude of the earthquake from 7.8 to 8.0 on the Richter scale.

In Sichuan alone, a total of 31,978 people were killed since Monday's deadly 8.0-magnitude earthquake, with 209,905 others injured.

Statistics from the emergency response office show that the death toll in Deyang and Mianyang cities of the province hit 10,341 and 11,874 respectively.

Statistics from the emergency response office show that the death toll in Deyang and Mianyang cities of the province hit 10,341 and 11,874 respectively.

Outside Sichuan, the death toll was 364 in Gansu Province, 113 in Shanxi Province, 16 in Chongqing Municipality, two in Henan Province, one in Yunnan Province, one in Hubei Province, and one in Hunan Province.

International News

More than 2 million US teenagers have suffered a serious bout of depression

More than 2 million US teenagers have suffered a serious bout of depression in the past year, according to a federal government survey released on Tuesday.

On average, 8.5 percent of adolescents aged 12 to 17 described having had a major depressive episode in the previous year, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reported.

But there were "striking differences" by sex, with 12.7 percent of girls and 4.6 percent of boys affected.

Depression is the leading cause of suicide, which in turn is the third-leading cause of death for 15- to 24-year-olds in the United States.

"Combined 2004 to 2006 data show that rates of past year major depressive episode among youths aged 12 to 17 generally increased with increasing age," the researchers wrote.

Researchers at SAMHSA and RTI International in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, prepared the report using data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health.

More than 67,700 youths aged 12 to 17 answered questions about mood and depression. They were also asked to rate how depression affected them using the Sheehan Disability Scale, which measures impact on family, friends, chores at home, work and school.

Researchers defined a major depressive episode as two weeks or longer of depressed mood or loss of interest or pleasure, and at least four other symptoms such as problems with sleep, energy, concentration or self-image.

Nearly half of the teenagers who had major depression said it severely impaired their ability to function in at least one of the areas on the disability scale.

"Fortunately, depression responds very well to early intervention and treatment," SAMHSA Administrator Terry Cline said in a statement.

Industry News

More than one-third of workers would choose their mobile phone over their wallet

More than one-third of workers would choose their mobile phone over their wallet, keys, laptop or digital music player if they had to leave the house for 24 hours and could take only one item, a new survey has found.

The survey, conducted by market research firm IDC and sponsored by Nortel Networks Corp, found that while more than 38 percent of the 2,367 people polled chose their mobile phones, less than 30 percent chose their wallets first.

Through the survey, Nortel -- North America's biggest maker of telephone gear -- was looking to find out how many workers around the world can be defined as "hyperconnected," or as those who have fully embraced devices like cellphones and laptops, as well as applications like e-mail or social networking sites like Facebook.

The answer: 16 percent, and growing.

The survey classified the hyperconnected worker as someone who uses at least seven devices for work and personal access, in addition to at least nine applications like instant messaging, text messaging or web conferencing.

The country with the highest percentage of hyperconnected respondents in the study was China. Canada and the United Arab Emirates had the fewest number among the 17 countries covered in the survey.

The survey also predicts the number of the hyperconnected will likely rise to 40 percent in five years.

The group of hard-core communications users is followed by a larger subset -- 36 percent of respondents -- designated as "increasingly connected," the study states. These workers use a minimum of four devices and six applications

Domestic News

A victim stretches out a hand to ask for help in Mianzhu of Sichuan Province on Tuesday. The death toll has risen to 3,000 in the city.

四川绵竹的一名受害者伸出一只手寻求救助

The confirmed national death toll reached 12,300 by 2 am Wednesday, nearly all of them in Sichuan, according to the temporary disaster relief headquarters headed by Premier Wen Jiabao, who arrived in Dujiangyan, to oversee the rescue work hours after the quake.