World IN BRIEF : CHINA : UNICEF to Improve Care of Orphans

The United Nations Children’s Fund said it reached an agreement with China to start an $850,000 training program to improve the care of orphans and disabled children in Chinese institutions. China has scrambled in the last two weeks to deny a report by Human Rights Watch/Asia that charges widespread abuses in its orphanages. In its latest allegation, the rights group said Xu Xinyuan, a former member of the Shanghai city legislature, has been detained since mid-November in connection with his role in a group that investigated the abuse charges. The Chinese Foreign Ministry denied the report.