From the classroom to the boardroom

Wu Chaoqi, a 24-year-old Shanghai entrepreneur, is not sure how long his business will survive. He joked that his company's method of delivering wine by moped means that the logistics costs are far lower than those of his competitors. However, his humor underplays a serious problem. "Sure, it saves on expenditure, but also emphasizes an undeniable shortage of orders," he said.

School's in for first overseas campus

Loke Pui Yan has been studying for her master's degree at Xiamen University in Fujian province since the autumn.

Generating interest in homegrown power

Dong Qiang's neighbors have suddenly become very friendly. Although the 38-year-old knew his neighbors by sight, they have never before paid him a visit. Now, however, they have started to descend on him in droves.

Clearing the air

United effort by Beijing and surrounding cities needed to fight pollution, report Jiang Xueqing in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province, and Wu Wencong in Beijing.

How monitoring works

Beijing has 35 automatic air quality monitoring stations, including 23 in the city proper and the outer suburbs. The stations monitor major air pollutants such as sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and PM2.5 - ultrafine particles measuring 2.5 microns in diameter or smaller.

New targets implemented

Sulfur dioxide emissions in China amounted to 21.18 million metric tons in 2012, a fall of 4.52 percent from the previous year, while nitrogen oxide emissions totaled 23.38 million tons, a decline of 2.77 percent, according to a report released by the Ministry of Environmental Protection this month.

Twin blasts kill at least 14 in central Damascus

Twin suicide attackers targeted a police station in central Damascus on Tuesday, killing at least 14 people as the Syrian army launched multiple attacks on rebel positions in the northern province of Aleppo.

Mandela spends fourth day in hospital

Nelson Mandela was spending his fourth day in hospital on Tuesday where he is being treated in intensive care for a lung infection.

Turkey police storm protest square in new clashes

Riot police stormed Istanbul's protest square on Tuesday, firing tear gas and rubber bullets at firework-hurling demonstrators in a fresh escalation of unrest after Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he would meet protest leaders.

IN BRIEF (Page 4)

Taliban attack Kabul airport

Seven Taliban insurgents including suicide bombers attacked the main airport in the Afghan capital, Kabul, early on Monday, with explosions and gunfire heard near an area that also houses major foreign military bases.

Better Sino-US relations benefit world: experts

More stable relations between China and the United States are in the interests of Europe and the world, said European experts.