"Mix-up with divorce papers" from South China Morning Post

"SICHUAN- A couple who tried to get a divorce at Luzhou's Longmatan district marriage registration office last Friday discovered when they got home that they had instead been given marriage certificates, Newssc.org reports. The office said it dealt with more than 4,000 couples getting married or divorced each year but only had two staff to cope with the workload. The couple received their divorce certificates on Thursday."

"Indonesia tightens rules on foreign-exchange holdings" from South China Morning Post

"Hunting ground to reopen" from South China Morning Post

"The Yunxiugu Hunting Ground, the largest in Asia, will reopen to the public 10 years after it was closed because of ethical issues, dwindling business and tightened gun controls on the mainland, The Beijing News reports."

"The number-crunchers on Wall Street are starting to crunch something else: the news." from South China Morning Post

"The development goes far beyond standard digital fare like most-read and e-mailed lists. In some cases, the computers are actually parsing writers' words, and sentence structure."

"But industry experts say the programs are also moving the markets. Last May, as Greece's financial crisis deepened, Wall Street computers seized on a news story with the word "abyss" in the headline and initiated sell orders."

"Yet it is doubtful whether Beijing can succeed in encouraging consumption without dismantling an interest rate regime under which ordinary consumers subsidise politically favoured business inretest." from South China Morning Post

"High China Interest Rates to Control Inflation" from Financial Feed

"State council's Development Research Center researcher Ba Shusong said the latest rate increase is aimed at reining in inflation expectations and narrowing the gap between gains in consumer prices and savings rates. The target is a one-year deposit rate of 2.75%, 4.55% for five years as opposed to November's 5.1%. Stocks' November Shanghai Composite Index went up to 11% benchmark selloff and jumped to 2.9% on Dec.13.

"NZ economy in surprise drop" from South China Morning Post

"The currency fell as rising risks of a recession bolster the case for central bank governor Alan Bollard to keep interest rates unchanged until at least the second quarter next year."

"Noble buys sugar mills for US$950m" from South China Morning Post

"A snapshot study that assesses the standard of a company's corporate governance at only a single point in time will always be open to question."

"Mainland bank profits, bad loans rise" from South China Morning Post

"Christmas in Iraq: tedious" from News & Observer

"It's a life of extraordinary tedium, particularly for the support troops who seldom or never leave the base. Many, including Carpenter, work 12- to 14-hour days, seven days a week, their days relieved only slightly by workouts and meals."

"China's central bank announced Saturday that it will raise the one-year lending and deposit interest rate for the second time this year, as the government continues its battle against surging prices." from Xinhua

"However, Lian said China only has room for two or three rate hikes, as higher interest rates would increase risks of "hot money" inflows due to a widening interest margin between China and the United States, which is likely to keep rates low."

"Why does the street sweeper focus on one part of town? from The World Newspaper

"It's better to have a preventative approach with the leaves than to be reactive, he added."

"The cost varies from year to year and is built into the budget for traffic safety and supplies as best it can be at $17,000, he said."

"PBOC To Use Interest Rates, Variable Reserve Ratios To Curb Inflation" from Wall Street Journal

"China's "prudent" monetary policy stance in 2011 - a shift from the moderately loose stance it has been following - will also incorporate credit and liquidity controls, and market operations, Hu Xiaolian, vice governor of the People's Bank of China, said at a recent conference, according to a statement on the PBOC's web site Friday."

"In 500 Billion Words, New Window on Culture" from New York Times

"With little fanfare, Google made a mammoth database culled from nearly 5.2 million digitized books available to the public for free downloads and online searches, opening a new landscape of possibilities for research and education in the humanities."

"Despite the frequent resistance to quantitative analysis in some corners of the humanities, Mr.Pinker said he was confident that the use of this and similar tools would "become universal."

"Surveillance system keeps road traffic in check" from The Enginner

"A collaboration effort between European academics and industry partners has led to the development of an automated and robust traffic surveillance system that could make road travel across Europe safer."

"Panama Canal expansion to result in major port upgrades" from Portworld

"The $5.25 billion being spend on widening of the Panama Canal is only the beginning of expenditures to accommodate giant container ships, according to media reports."


"The canal expansion will enable products made in Asia to be sent directly to the East Coast instead of being unloaded on the West Coast for transfer via train or truck."

"With China's inflation rising, the NDRC has become highly sensitive to media reports that suggest inflationary pressure are building or price controls are ineffective." from South China Morning Post

"Trainee pilots to pay own way at Southern" from South China Morning Post

"China Southern Airlines, Asia's largest airline, plans to fast-check its pilot certification programme by hiring high school and university graduates willing to pay their own 730,000 yuan (HK852,000) tuition fees."


"Mainland carriers , which are set to double their fleet size to 5,000 aircraft by 2015, are struggling to fill the gap between their growing demand for pilots and the projected supply of aviators from existing training programmes."


"China Southern, the only mainland airline with a dedicated flight training school, has attempted to address the problem of pilot shortages. The Guangzhou-based airline company set up a flight training school in Perth, Australia in 1993 and joined forces with Beihang University in Beijing to run the Flying College of Beihang University in the same year."

"Beijing approves more hydropower projects" from South China Morning Post

"The mainland has approved several new hydropower projects in a sigh that the government is speeding up development of clean energy after a slowdown in approvals in recent years because of concerns including the projects' environmental impact.

The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said yesterday on its website it approved the construction of the 2.6 gigawatt Changheba hydropower project in Sichuan province this month.