News » Society » China maintains blue alert for cold wave

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• China maintains blue alert for cold wave
• Judges decide to pass on gay marriage case
• A court in Taiwan has shrunk away from ruling on a gay couple's wish to have their marriage registered, saying it is passing on the controversial case to the island's top judicial body.
• China maintains blue alert for cold wave
• Packaging of big-name instant noodles called hazard to health
• Defying winter
• Taiwan Strait now no chasm for lovers
• Man goes on trial for elaborate pyramid scam
• Officials apologize for dumpster warnings
• Woman wets pants while saving boy from big fall
• China Tightens Corporate Bond Rules
• Christie’s Tests China’s Appetite for Renaissance Art
• Have You Heard…
• China probes Yum Brands’ KFC over safety of chicken products
• China the frontrunner to buy Exxon out of Iraq oil
• Fluorescent agents found in instant noodle packaging
• Officials apologize for offending dumpster warnings

China maintains blue alert for cold wave Posted: 21 Dec 2012 07:23 PM PST CHINA'S National Meteorological Center (NMC) today kept its blue alert for the severe cold wave that is sweeping many northern China regions. The observatory said temperature drop will continue to decline from the weekend to Monday after many parts of China had started to experience the lowest temperatures this winter. Most parts of China, except the central and southwestern regions, will see temperature fall by 6 to 8 degrees Celsius in the next three days, with some parts of north and northeast China to witness a drop of 10 to 14 degrees Celsius, according to the NMC. This morning, temperatures in parts of Xinjiang, Qinghai, Tibet, Gansu, Shanxi, Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Fujian and Guangxi dropped by 6 to 10 degrees Celsius from a day ago, and by 12 to 16 degrees Celsius in parts of Liaoning and Jilin. China's meteorological disaster alerts are categorized as blue, yellow, orange and red as the severity of disasters ascends. The NMC also forecasted small to moderate snow for parts of Xinjiang, Gansu, Inner Mongolia and Hebei while heavy snow for Shandong Province on Saturday. Parts of south China and Guizhou Province will see sleet, while freezing rain will fall on west and central Guizhou.

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A court in Taiwan has shrunk away from ruling on a gay couple's wish to have their marriage registered, saying it is passing on the controversial case to the island's top judicial body. Posted: 21 Dec 2012 08:13 PM PST Ad: The Monster Is Back - Mobile Monopoly 2 - Launch Contest Going On Now - Mobile Monopoly Is Back With Higher Epc's Than Ever With Affiliates Seeing Over $3 Epc! Join The Launch Contest & Get All Your Promo Tools Here - Http://mobilemonopoly.com/affiliateblog

China maintains blue alert for cold wave Posted: 21 Dec 2012 07:23 PM PST CHINA'S National Meteorological Center (NMC) today kept its blue alert for the severe cold wave that is sweeping many northern China regions. The observatory said temperature drop will continue to decline from the weekend to Monday after many parts of China had started to experience the lowest temperatures this winter. Most parts of China, except the central and southwestern regions, will see temperature fall by 6 to 8 degrees Celsius in the next three days, with some parts of north and northeast China to witness a drop of 10 to 14 degrees Celsius, according to the NMC. This morning, temperatures in parts of Xinjiang, Qinghai, Tibet, Gansu, Shanxi, Hebei, Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Fujian and Guangxi dropped by 6 to 10 degrees Celsius from a day ago, and by 12 to 16 degrees Celsius in parts of Liaoning and Jilin. China's meteorological disaster alerts are categorized as blue, yellow, orange and red as the severity of disasters ascends. The NMC also forecasted small to moderate snow for parts of Xinjiang, Gansu, Inner Mongolia and Hebei while heavy snow for Shandong Province on Saturday. Parts of south China and Guizhou Province will see sleet, while freezing rain will fall on west and central Guizhou.

Packaging of big-name instant noodles called hazard to health Posted: 21 Dec 2012 08:26 AM PST SOME big-name instant noodle producers have come under fire after they were found to use packaging containing excessive levels of fluorescent agents, suspected of causing cancer, and some packaging is said to be made from waste paper. Master Kong Beef Noodle, Uni-President Pickled Cabbage Beef Noodle, Nongshim Spicy Cabbage Instant Noodle and Jinmailang Beef Noodle were on the list. All of the noodles are available at Shanghai supermarkets and stores. The Shanghai Industrial and Commercial Administrative Bureau didn't commented on the case yesterday. Beijing-based, independent International Food Packaging Association said yesterday it tested the packaging of six instant noodles bought randomly from supermarkets in Beijing in November. The outer packaging paper of all the six samples showed excessive levels of fluorescent agents, Beijing News reported yesterday. Paper not suitable to food packaging, or even waste paper, was probably used by these producers, said Dong Jinshi, deputy director of the Beijing association. Some producers adopted double standards for the inner paper and outer paper of their food packaging because there is no national standard for the outer paper. Testing agencies usually only check the inner paper, Dong said. Producers send the inner paper to be tested, but wrap it with an outer layer of poor-quality paper packaging, Dong said. The substances on the outer paper leak into the inner part, causing harm to people's health, and it is also a health hazard because consumers touch the printed package of the outer paper, the association said. Dong called for improvement of national regulations. In Shanghai, however, the mainland headquarters of Uni-President is denying the results. Wu Guili, a public relations official with Uni-President Shanghai, said its products are safe and the governmental National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment is challenging the test results. The governmental center said on its website that pulp paper is required to be used as inner packaging of paper bowls of instant noodles, while there is no standard for the outer paper. But the outer paper poses no food safety concerns, the center said. It said the accusation is not scientific as the report did not specify how the substance could leak into the inner paper and provided no detailed figures. Tianjin-based Master Kong said it had no immediate response. Other two companies were not available for comment yesterday. It was not the first time that the Beijing association made such accusations. It said Lipton milk tea powder, Kraft's banana and milk taste biscuit and Nissin's shrimp meat instant noodle had the same problem in August. Shanghai consumer Jin Jialin said he is avoiding instant noodles. "I have no idea about the inner or outer paper of packaging, but I know fluorescent agents cause harm to people's health and instant noodles are not healthy."

Defying winter Posted: 21 Dec 2012 09:56 AM PST A man takes a "sand bath" at a beach in Haikou City of southernmost China's Hainan Province yesterday, when the high reached 27 degrees Celsius. Yesterday is the Winter Solstice. In China, it usually marks the begining of the coldest days of a year. But in the southern city, people are still enjoying the warm and pleasant weather. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

Taiwan Strait now no chasm for lovers Posted: 21 Dec 2012 08:29 AM PST IT used to be considered sleeping with the enemy. Marriages across the Taiwan Strait, exceedingly rare during the long estrangement between China's mainland and Taiwan after the Kuomintang was defeated in a civil war and fled to the island in 1949, have blossomed with the thaw in relations. Take Chen Chien-ming and Xiong Tingting, two students who first met in 2005 while participating in a cross-Strait exchange program in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Chen's major at National Sun Yat-sen University in Taiwan was called "studies of communist bandits" when the island was governed under martial law between 1948 and 1987. It is now called "mainland studies." He ended up marrying the mainland woman, who majored in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao studies at Peking University in Beijing. When they finally tied the knot in Shanghai in 2007, their friends mocked them. No longer. Both sides restarted communications across the Taiwan Strait in 1987, with Taiwan authority allowing military veterans to return to their hometowns on the mainland. In 1988, about 100 cross-Strait couples registered for marriage. The number of such marriages increased dramatically in the following decade. The year 2000 witnessed about 26,000 cross-Strait marriages and the total count has topped 330,000 so far, with nearly 20,000 cross-Strait marriages registered annually. Cross-Strait marriages cause tension in some communities due to the fact that people from both sides are often unfamiliar with each other. Ni Yanbao had problems getting her family in central China's city of Zhengzhou to accept her husband from Taiwan, as her parents did not trust him. In order to prove his innocence, Ni's husband took his elder sisters to visit Ni's family three times to explain their background. Currently, Ni lives with her husband in Taipei, while Chen and Xiong have a home in Shanghai. Chen works as a Shanghai-based public relations specialist for a Taiwan firm and spends most of his time on the mainland. Chen and Xiong's son is three years old and will have to decide whether he wants to be a mainland or Taiwan resident. "He will make his own decision when he turns 18. Both choices are fine to me," said Chen.

Man goes on trial for elaborate pyramid scam Posted: 21 Dec 2012 08:00 AM PST THE operator of a popular online shopping mall who was suspected of orchestrating a pyramid sales scam was accused of luring millions of members and billions of yuan during a court trial yesterday in Nanchang, capital of Jiangxi Province. Tang Qingnan, founder of Jiangxi Better Life Co, had signed up more than 6 million members and 120,000 distributors to www.tpy100.com, an online shopping mall selling everything from clothes and handbags to skin-care and electronic products, media reports said. He told members to shop themselves or pay a deposit to become distributors, and then invite others to become distributors. Members could move up in levels after more people joined and receive either cash rebates or redemption points for goods, prosecutors said. An audit showed the website had huge debts and relied on deposits from distributors to stay in business, according to the Oriental Morning Post. Prosecutors said Tang severely disturbed social economic order. About 1.1 billion yuan (US$176.5 million) in the company's account was frozen by the Nanchang Public Security Bureau after Tang and seven others were arrested in April on suspicion of organizing a pyramid selling scam, media reports showed. It was also reported that the company had received 3.79 billion yuan in deposits. In September, Jiang Guobin, a 47-year-old Shanghai native who had signed up 259 members and earned more than 112,000 yuan, was sentenced to 18 months in prison by Xuhui District People's Court for his role in the scam.

Officials apologize for dumpster warnings Posted: 21 Dec 2012 08:00 AM PST BIJIE City officials have apologized to the public for "insulting" warnings painted on dumpsters one month after five street kids died in trash receptacles. Twelve dumpsters in the city's Heguantun Township, Qixingguan District in Guizhou Province had warnings that read: "People or livestock, keep out." Once photos of the dumpsters spread on the Internet, many people online said the warnings were "insulting." Gao Dan, head of Heguantun Township, issued an apology on his microblog on Thursday. "I understand that the inappropriate warnings on the dumpsters hurt the public's feelings. I sincerely apologize for that," Gao wrote. Hu Shulong, deputy chief of Qixingguan, admitted the warnings reflected the township government's lack of a sense of responsibility. Yesterday, the warnings was painted over with characters that read "Garbage comes in, healthy and civilized." A photo of the dumpster warnings had been forwarded 132,144 times as of yesterday morning after it was posted on the microblogging site Weibo.com on Wednesday afternoon. Many netizens said the warnings essentially compared street kids to animals. Last month, five street kids died in dumpsters in Bijie. The children were using the dumpsters as shelter from the cold and burned charcoal inside the trash receptacles to stay warm. They died of carbon monoxide poisoning from the fumes. Many online comments said stray children would not have used the dumpsters if they had other shelters to go to and animals can't read the signs, thus the warnings were pointless. The warning signs were painted on the dumpsters after the deaths. The death of the five street kids has saddened many across the country as it has been interpreted as a sign the nation has failed to give sufficient care to its youngsters while the economy has continued to strengthen. The children were identified as so-called left-behind children, or kids who are taken care of by relatives such as grandparents while their parents pursue work in other cities. Reporters who found the children's homes after their deaths found the rundown houses were "no better than the dumpsters." Qixingguan, home to hundreds of left-behind children, has since set up aid stations and launched 24-hour patrols on major roads to take stray kids to shelters.

Woman wets pants while saving boy from big fall Posted: 21 Dec 2012 08:00 AM PST A WOMAN who saved a seven-year-old boy from falling to the ground from five floors up last Sunday in Zhejiang Province said she never considered letting him go despite having to urinate urgently, a media report said. The woman surnamed He, 57, held the boy's arms for 40 minutes after the boy had fallen from his sixth floor apartment and grabbed the burglar-proof window on her fifth floor home in Taizhou City, Qianjiang Evening News reported yesterday. "It is so embarrassing. I was about to go to the bathroom when I heard his screaming," she told the newspaper. "I went to help and grabbed his arms. I couldn't move because no one else was at home to help," she said. "I endured this for 10 minutes and couldn't stand it any longer, so I decided to urinate in my pants," she added. "But the boy is fine, so it was worth it." She told the newspaper that after firefighters arrived to help save the boy, her arm had become so numb and her legs had cramped. The boy was left alone at his home in apartment 601 earlier that day. He climbed off the burglar-proof window in order to leave the locked house and play outside, the paper reported. He tried to step on the flower rack outside apartment 501. He was too short to reach and the wall became slippery in the drizzle and he fell on to the rack, the paper said. To avoid falling, he grabbed the burglar-proof window for apartment 502 and started screaming. The woman heard his screams and grabbed his arms so he wouldn't fall.

China Tightens Corporate Bond Rules Posted: 21 Dec 2012 09:07 AM PST Source: Wall Street Journal  by William Kazer BEIJING—China is tightening the rules for corporate bond issuance, barring some highly indebted companies from tapping the market, in a bid to limit the risk of default. The National Development and Reform Commission, one of three regulators of the nation's bond markets, said the new rules are aimed at companies with excessively high debt-to-asset ratios or particularly weak repayment capabilities. However, there will be a number of exceptions. Among them are the Ministry of Railways, one of the nation's top issuers of corporate debt, and the real-estate sector, where many local governments have created financing vehicles to support costly public housing projects. A notice posted late Thursday on the NDRC's website didn't say when the new rules would take effect but they are usually presumed to be effective immediately. Encouraged by the central government, more small- and medium-size companies and local government financing vehicles have started to raise funds from the bond market rather than seeking bank loans. That encouragement, as well as some lending constraints, led to a sharp rise in corporate bond offers this year. According to the official Shanghai Securities News, the total value of corporate bonds issued in the first 11 months of this year reached 3.45 trillion yuan ($554 billion), up 77% from the same period a year earlier. Regulatory bodies have become more vigilant after three small companies ran into financial difficulties. Harbin Huijiabei Food Co., Beijing Konte Ehio Electronics Co. and China Beijing DG Telecommunications Equipment Co. have been unable to repay debt they issued. None defaulted, however, because all of the bonds were guaranteed and the guarantor made the payments. But the issue worries the central government. The NDRC, which shares responsibility for regulating the bond markets with the China Securities Regulatory Commission and the central bank, said companies with a debt-to-asset ratio higher than 90% won't be permitted to issue bonds. Companies with a debt-to-asset ratio of 80%-90% must guarantee any bonds issued, while those with ratios of 65%-80% will be put on a watchlist for an unspecified time. The NDRC also said issuers in some sectors—such as infrastructure, real estate and power—could be subject to different standards because of the traditionally high debt levels in those sectors. Exceptions were also needed, it said, to ensure the construction of affordable housing for low-income families, a key policy objective for the government amid widespread complaints that housing prices are too high. Local governments often use financing vehicles for housing projects. However, the NDRC reiterated that it is "not appropriate" for companies even in these sectors to issue bonds if their debt exceeds 90% of assets. In the past, regulations stated only that debt offers could not exceed 40% of a company's net assets. Huang Wentao, a bond analyst at China Securities, said local government investment vehicles have been targeted by the new rules. It remains to be seen how effective the rules will be, he said. "This will restrain the investment vehicles to a certain extent," he said. "But local governments have strong demand for funds and raising the threshold for such offers will not really reduce the supply of debt on the market." The state planner also said local governments need to strengthen risk prevention, and local government financing vehicles with credit ratings below "AA-" must provide guarantees for their debt. The NDRC also pointed to another problem—that of "rating inflation" as domestic ratings agencies compete for business by lowering fees and offering to raise an issuer's rating. It called for ratings companies not to provide "artificially high ratings."

Christie’s Tests China’s Appetite for Renaissance Art Posted: 21 Dec 2012 09:02 AM PST Source: Wall Street Journal By Ellen Gamerman How will the growing Asian art market respond to big-name Christian-themed Old Masters? Christie's is curious to find out. The auction house has been promoting Sandro Botticelli's "Madonna and Child With the Young Saint John the Baptist" in Hong Kong ahead of next month's Old Masters sales in New York. Priced to sell for at least $5 million, the painting is one of the first religious Renaissance paintings the auction house has pitched to largely non-Christian Asia. It could serve as a bellwether for sales of Christian-themed art in the burgeoning Chinese market. With Asian collectors focusing primarily on Chinese classical art, as well as some Impressionist, modern and contemporary art, it is unclear if those art patrons will also develop an appetite for Botticelli, Raphael and other Renaissance brand names whose works were often filled with reverent imagery from the New Testament. Many dealers say the absence of interest from Asian buyers is not harming the sale of Old Masters—there's still steady demand from Europe, America and elsewhere—but an influx of Asian buyers could spark new bidding wars. "They could blow the prices out of sight," said Richard Feigen, a New York dealer who sells Old Masters paintings. Christie's Old Masters specialist Nicholas Hall said he didn't hide the Botticelli's religious content when he showed the painting to Chinese collectors in Hong Kong last month. But he did emphasize its emotional appeal. He asked collectors to view the painting as a testament to a general mother-son relationship. Ken Yeh, chairman of Christie's Asia, said Asian patrons may look past the religious content to see the work, in part, as an investment: "When you spend that kind of money, you have to think about resale value," he said. "It's no longer just to decorate your house." Old Masters sales are generally strong, assuming top-flight pieces are available, but lesser works have been struggling for an audience lately. At the Old Masters sales in London this month, nearly half of all lots at Christie's went unsold. Sotheby's BID -1.88%fared better, with an iconic Raphael drawing, "Head of a Young Apostle," selling for nearly $48 million. Christie's showcased the Botticelli, along with highlights from other upcoming auctions, at a dinner for top Asian collectors at Hong Kong's convention center last month. The Botticelli was one of three Old Masters religious works Christie's sent to Hong Kong, as well as London and Moscow, ahead of the Jan. 30 sale in New York. Christie's expert Mr. Hall said he wouldn't have sent paintings with images like a crucifixion or a saint's bloody martyrdom, calling such works less accessible to Asian audiences. Sotheby's brought the Raphael drawing and 26 other works to Hong Kong last month before the London and New York sales, the auction house's first-ever public showing of Old Masters works in Asia, said Sotheby's Old Masters specialist Alex Bell. Though their ranks are still small, the number of Asian bidders in Sotheby's Old Masters sales has doubled in the last five years, with several clients bidding on multimillion-dollar items, he said. Asian millionaires could warm to the idea of owning their own Botticelli, whose "Birth of Venus" is one of the art world's best-known images, partly because they've traveled and seen his work in great European museums. The painting's provenance is splashy, too: It's dubbed "the Rockefeller Madonna" after John D. Rockefeller bought it in the 1930s and it stayed in the family for 50 years. Some dealers in New York and China are skeptical that Asians will rush to buy Old Masters. Arne Glimcher, chairman of Pace Gallery, a heavyweight gallery in Asia, warns that promoting such works could seem condescending in a region that already has its own art traditions. Citing the vitality of Chinese contemporary art, Mr. Glimcher said he has made only two shows of Western art in four years in China. "There's something great happening in China and that should be encouraged, not paternalistically diminished by Great Masters," he said. Other dealers can imagine Asian art patrons branching out to Renaissance works, particularly if collectors with homes in London and New York become inspired by great art collections in those cities, said Patrick Matthiesen, a London dealer of Old Masters. "There will be people who will buy this—it's only just beginning."

Have You Heard… Posted: 21 Dec 2012 08:57 AM PST Have You Heard…

China probes Yum Brands’ KFC over safety of chicken products Posted: 21 Dec 2012 09:16 AM PST Source: Reuters (Reuters) – Yum Brands Inc's fast-food chain KFC was supplied with chicken in China that contained excessive amounts of antibiotics, said food safety authorities investigating allegations of tainted KFC products. The finding by the Shanghai Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) deals a blow to KFC's reputation in China, where it is facing fierce competition from the likes of Taiwanese-owned fried chicken chain Dico and Japanese-style noodle chain Ajisen (China) Holdings Ltd. Yum Brands has forecast a drop in same store China sales in the fourth quarter. Eight of the 19 batches of chicken samples Yum Brands sent to a testing laboratory in 2010 and 2011 contained overly high levels of antibiotics, the SFDA said in a statement on its Website late on Thursday. An investigation is underway to determine whether Yum Brands had taken corrective measures at that time, and the Louisville, Kentucky-based company may face harsh penalties if the probe showed laws had been violated, the SFDA said. Shares in Yum Brands have slumped 4 percent since December 18 when China's state television CCTV reported that some poultry suppliers in eastern Shandong province had fed chickens with anti-viral drugs and hormones to accelerate their growth. The SFDA is looking into the CCTV report and has not released its findings yet, but authorities in Shandong have already shut two chicken farms in eastern China, including one that supplied KFC and McDonald's Corp, the official Shanghai Daily newspaper reported on Thursday. Officials at Yum Brands in China could not be immediately reached for comment. KFC's subsidiary in China has pledged to cooperate with the authorities, while McDonald's wrote on its official microblog that its chicken and raw materials pass through independent, third-party laboratory tests. Shares in Yum Brands, which also owns Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, closed 1 percent lower at $69.49 in New York on Thursday. China has been trying to stamp out health violations that have dogged the country's food sector amid reports of fake cooking oil, tainted milk and even exploding watermelons. In 2008, milk laced with the industrial chemical melamine killed at least six children and sickened nearly 300,000.

China the frontrunner to buy Exxon out of Iraq oil Posted: 21 Dec 2012 09:19 AM PST Source: Reuters By Charlie Zhu and Peg Mackey (Reuters) – China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) has emerged as the frontrunner to take over Iraq's West Qurna-1 oilfield from Exxon Mobil, a move that would diminish Western oil influence in Iraq a decade after the U.S.-led invasion. U.S. oil major Exxon (XOM.N) is giving up its stake in the giant southern oilfield after clashing with the central government in Baghdad over exploration contracts it had signed with the autonomous Kurdistan region in the north. Iraqi and Chinese sources said CNPC unit Petrochina (0857.HK) (601857.SS) is negotiating for Exxon's 60 percent in the $50 billion West Qurna-1 project and that there are rival bidders. Royal Dutch Shell is a minority partner. "CNPC has shown interest; they are there. And from our side, there is no problem with them taking on a bigger position. We are not sensitive about this," a senior Iraqi official said. "These are service contracts, not production-sharing contracts (which give companies an ownership stake), so it doesn't matter if they have 10 fields or one." For energy-hungry China, a major buyer of Iraqi crude, access to reserves is a strategic imperative, and Beijing is prepared to accept tougher terms and lower profits than Western oil majors and even Russian firms such as Lukoil (LKOH.MM), which have to answer to shareholders. Iraq has the world's fourth-largest oil reserves and wants to at least double its production in the next few years and ultimately challenge Russia and Saudi Arabia as the world's biggest oil nation. China's stealthy advance in Iraq, supported by piles of cash, has already given it a formidable position in prized southern oilfields, and through Chinese oil company Sinopec (0386.HK), its reach has extended into the northern Kurdish region. By taking on West Qurna-1, Chinese companies would come to dominate Iraq's oilfields with roughly 32 percent of the reserves found in service contracts awarded to foreign companies, up from 21 percent now. "PetroChina is in talks to buy the stake from ExxonMobil. There are rival bidders," a source familiar with the Chinese company said. "A decision is expected from ExxonMobil soon." Iraq has already signaled it would favor bids by CNPC and Lukoil if they decided to buy Exxon's stake and that it had received "positive signals" from both companies they would consider making an offer. But Russia's Lukoil (LKOH.MM) has made no commitment so far. Russia's second-largest crude producer is already developing West Qurna-2. FEAR OF WAR Control of oil resources is at the heart of a dispute between Iraq's Arab-led central government and the autonomous region run by ethnic Kurds in the north, which Baghdad accuses of usurping its constitutional right over oil. Kurdistan has upset Baghdad by signing deals directly with oil majors such as Exxon and Chevron (CVX.N), providing lucrative service contracts and better operating conditions than in Iraq's south. By turning its focus to Chinese and Russian companies, Baghdad would be extending a push for a more independent foreign policy, which Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki initiated after the last U.S. troops left the country a year ago. Exxon's departure would all but wipe out the American presence in Iraq's southern oilfields. Occidental Petroleum (OXY.N) has a small stake in the Zubair oilfield development project. With oil majors now shifting their focus northward to sign deals with Kurdistan and away from Iraq's southern oilfields, leaders on both sides are warning of the risks that the dispute could slide into an ethnic war. As tensions rise, industry sources suggest Exxon might have a change of heart and decide to stay in southern Iraq. Earlier this year, Baghdad said it had called on U.S. President Barack Obama to persuade Exxon not to invest in Kurdistan. "I would be surprised if Exxon actually exits. I'm betting on some twists and turns ahead," said a Western oil executive, who works for a rival. "They might get nervous in the north." At the heart of the dispute is the oil wealth under the swathe of land know as the "Disputed Territories" along the vague internal border that includes the ethnically mixed city of Kirkuk, known to some as the "Jerusalem of the Kurds". Baghdad has warned Exxon and other companies that deals struck with Kurdistan are illegal. The Kurds say the constitution's federalism guarantees their right to develop their region's oil resources. "The government will take all necessary measures to stop Exxon working, especially in the disputed areas. They should know this is a red line they can't cross," one Iraqi oil official said. "If they think they can do that, then they will face dire consequences. They should expect everything including confiscation of their equipment and face the results of violating the constitution," he added. U.S. officials and Iraqi President Jalal Talabani have mediated to prevent a confrontation across the line dividing the two regions. Neither Baghdad nor Kurdistan appear to have the appetite for an open conflict that would risk oil exports. "Fortunately cooler heads have prevailed for now," said a senior oil industry source. "Unfortunately President Talabani may not be around to mediate in the future." Talabani suffered a stroke earlier this week, and may be unable to return to work for a prolonged period, at a time when tensions between Baghdad and Kurdistan are rising.

Fluorescent agents found in instant noodle packaging Posted: 21 Dec 2012 01:51 AM PST Some big-name instant noodle producers were found to use packaging containing excessive levels of fluorescent agents which may cause cancer, and some packaging was suspected to be made from waste paper, today's Beijing News reported. Beijing-based International Food Packaging Association said it tested the packaging of six instant noodles bought randomly from the city's supermarkets. All of the six samples showed excessive levels of fluorescent agents. Master Kong Beef Noodle, Uni-President Pickled Cabbage Beef Noodle, Nongshim Spicy Cabbage Instant Noodle and Jinmailang Beef Noodle were on the list. Paper not suitable to food packaging was probably used by these producers, said Dong Jinshi, deputy director of the association. Some producers adopted double standards for the inner paper and outer paper of their food packaging because there is no national standard for the outer paper. Testing agencies usually only check the inner paper, Dong said. All of the noodles checked were produced after August. Wu Guili, a public relations official with Uni-President Shanghai, said the National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment had challenged the testing results in August. Tianjin-based Master Kong said all its PR officials were not in office and a reply will be given next Monday at the earliest. Other two companies were not available for comment.

Officials apologize for offending dumpster warnings Posted: 21 Dec 2012 01:37 AM PST LOCAL officials of Bijie city, southwest China's Guizhou Province, have apologized to the public for dumpster warnings that offended local people. Warnings painted on dumpsters in Heguantun Township, Qixingguan District that read "People or livestock, Keep out" have aroused attention from around the country, with some holding that the warnings are "insulting." Gao Dan, head of Heguantun Township, Qixingguan District, yesterday used his personal Tencent microblog to issue a public apology for the 12 dumpsters painted with the warnings. "I understand that the inappropriate warnings on the dumpsters hurt the public's feelings. I sincerely apologize for that," Gao wrote. Hu Shulong, deputy chief of the Qixingguan district, admitted that the warnings reflected the township government's lack of a sense of responsibility. Today, the warning had been painted over with the characters for "Garbage comes in, healthy and civilized." A photo of the dumpster warnings had been commented on and forwarded 132,144 times by this morning, after it was posted on Weibo.com, China's Twitter-like microblogging website on Wednesday afternoon. Netizens consider the warning "insulting," as there is a connotation of apposing stray children with street animals. The offending warnings put once again Bijie city at focus of the public a month after five street children died in dumpsters in the city. Dumpsters in Bijie served as the kids' last refuge against bitter winter cold before they were killed by carbon monoxide from the charcoal they were burning for warmth. "Stray children would not have entered dumpsters if they had other nice shelters to hide out, and animals can't read the warning signs. So what's the purpose of painting the warning?" was the message of many of the Internet comments. The warning signs painted in red were one of the measures taken by the local authority in handling the aftermath of the incident. The death of the five street kids in Bijie has profoundly saddened Chinese, as it has been interpreted as a sign that the nation has failed to give sufficient care to its youngsters while gaining in economic strength. These minors wandering the street were identified as "left-behind children," or kids who are taken care of by relatives such as grandparents while their parents pursue work in cities. Reporters who located the children's homes after their deaths found that the rundown houses were utterly destitute; "no better than the dumpsters," as some put it. After the tragedy, Qixingguan District, which is home to hundreds of such "left-behind children," has set up aid stations and launched 24-hour patrols along major roads to look for stray kids and bring them to shelters. Chen Changxu, mayor of Bijie, said the city government will budget 60 million yuan (US$9.62) annually to attend to the city's "left-behind children."

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