Phoenix Weekly continues its run of provacative covers with a cracked photograph of a Tibetan landmark and the headline, "The roar of guns shocks the Potala Palace." The cover story this issue describes the recent mining rage in Tibet. Because of its rich natural resources, Tibet is being dug up by hundreds of legal and illegal mining companies. And they're not just domestic enterprises either - more and more ventures are coming in backed by foreign investment.

No doubt this kind of unsustainable mining may irreversibly alter the ecology of Tibet. However, local people's attitudes are mixed. Mining can bring them more money and better jobs, and they do not want to live in mud houses any more.

Other feature articles:

• The national government has substantially increased subsidies to veterans who took part in nuclear tests in the 1950s;
• Some mainland farmers have had to kill their cows and dump the milk because of unreasonable prices. The article starts off by mentioning that Chinese education used to teach that "capitalists dump out milk"; now the situation is being carried out in China;
• Sinopec and PetroChina, are tussling more fiercely with the government over the price of petrol. When the NDRC rejected their request to hike prices, the monopolies halted refining operations in the name of "inspection and repair." And they have both refused to supply petrol distributors that are not under their direct control.

Last issue's cover shows a dejected Chen Liangyu, former Shanghai party boss. On August 2, Chen's case was moved to the judiciary, which means that this big anti-corruption action in Shanghai is entering its final stages.

Chen was stripped of his NPC deputy post yesterday (China Daily link).

The other feature story concerns the Du Chongyan sex scandal. Du, the governor of a Miao Autonomous Prefecture in Hunan, was accused of raping a girl from his prefecture who is now studying in Peking University. After the scandal was exposed, Du was ordered to accept "double designations" (be present at a designated place for a designated duration) and undergo investigation by the Commission for Discipline Inspection.

The previous issue from the end of July also has a great cover: Jinan People's Congress head Duan Yihe against a black background with the English words "The Murder". Duan Yihe was arrested in early July for contracting the car-bombing of his mistress (China Daily link).