Russia-Turkey tensions reflect complicated situation in Syria

IN RESPONSE TO TURKEY'S SHOOTING DOWN a Russian war plane near the Syrian Turkish border earlier this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on Saturday imposing economic sanctions against Turkey. These include a ban on charter flights between the two countries and import restrictions on certain Turkish goods. Russian tour operators have also been asked to stop selling trips to Turkey, normally a top holiday destination for Russian tourists. Comments:

No excuse holds water for drug users

BEIJING POLICE have detained 16 students from the Beijing Midi School of Music on suspicion of drug use, after a raid on a dormitory on Tuesday, following a tipoff that marijuana was being used at the school. The school published a letter on Thursday in which it apologized for failing to properly manage students. Beijing Youth Daily urges more efforts to clean up showbiz.

Strict rules needed to curb charges for carrying stretchers

THE DRAFT OF A LOCAL regulation on pre-hospital emergency services in the capital encourages trained non-hospital staff to help put patients on stretchers if a patient is willing to pay for such a service. A Beijing News commentary lauds the capital's efforts to legislate the stretcher-carrying service, but calls for it to be strictly supervised:

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Using innovation to fight climate change

The international community is actively promoting a new governance system to cope with climate change - a challenge to humankind as a whole. China, as one of the most severely climate change-influenced countries, is using scientific and technological innovation as a tool to address the problem, which has given us precious experience to explore a climate-resilient and sustainable development path.

Current climate treaties a lot of hot air

Paris is hosting the 21st global climate conference, and there are high hopes that negotiators will agree on a carbon-cutting treaty. But adding up the climate effects and costs of carbon-cutting commitments shows that there is something very wrong with this approach.

Fatherhood the key to two-child families

The recent announcement that China will relax its one-child policy immediately raised the question: will parents actually have a second child?

Successful Paris talks would boost global confidence

As global leaders gather in Paris on Monday to start critical talks on managing the world's carbon budget in the post-2020 period, UN General-Secretary Ban Ki-moon has called for urgent worldwide action to deliver sustainable development.

CSRC streamlines powers to check corruption

China's securities watchdog vowed on Friday to streamline its regulatory powers in an attempt to eradicate power abuse and corruption within the agency.

Asia's largest Carrefour store opens in Beijing

French retailer Carrefour SA opened its largest store in Asia on Friday in Beijing to cash in on the growing demand for imported food from medium- and high-end consumers, amid testing times for international retailers in China.

Intercontinental links put on the fast track

One of China's high-speed trains picked up a group of high-profile international passengers on Wednesday, as China once again displayed its resolve to share its development with the rest of the world.