NBA star Yao Ming topped Forbes magazine’s annual mainland Chinese celebrity rankings for the second consecutive year, but “Memoirs of a Geisha” star Zhang Ziyi dropped a spot to No. 3.

As people in Taiwan welcomed the Year of the Dog, sales of pet dogs are also heating up.
Pet sellers estimate that the Taiwan market for pet dogs and related products amounts to more than NT$20 billion a year, with an average 1.6 million pet dogs being sold on the market per year.

From the 1950 to the 1980s, visiting a coffee shop was a luxury for most Taiwanese. But in the 1990s, drinking coffee became a part of ordinary life.

The authority said, about 300 million people living in China’s vast countryside drink unsafe water tainted by chemicals and other contaminants. Media reported the most common threat to water, after drought, is chemical pollutants and other harmful substances that contaminate drinking supplies for 190 million people.

Six of the world’s major polluters wrapped up climate talks recently with a multi-million dollar pledge to develop clean energy, but said polluting fossil fuels would continue to underpin their economies for generations.

Time magazine has named Bill and Melinda Gates and rock star Bono its “Persons of the Year,” citing their charitable work and activism aimed at reducing global poverty and improving world health.
The magazine said 2005 was a year of extraordinary charity in which people donated record amounts in response to extreme natural disasters, from the tsunami in South Asia to Hurricane Katrina.

Sydney Opera House has been nominated for a place on the U.N.’s list of protected world heritage sites.
Sydney Opera House, designed by Danish architect Joern Utzon, and completed in 1973 was turned down for a place on the World Heritage List in 1980 because it was considered too young.

Pope Benedict, in his first Christmas address, on Sunday urged humanity to unite against terrorism, poverty and environmental blight and called for a “new world order” to create economic imbalances.He also urged people not to let technological achievement blind them to true human values.

The internationally-famous Quanjude Reataurant, the largest roast duck restaurant in Beijing is scheduled to open its first branch in Taiwan in the middle of this year.
Quanjude roast ducks are so famous that tourists from around the world will usually find time out to enjoy the delicious roast ducks at Quanjude whenever they travel to Beijing.

Pope Benedict XVI urged people to spread joy through smiles and acts of kindness, saying it was an antidote to the ills of society. He said “joy is the true gift of Christmas, not expensive gifts that cost time and money, but joy.”The pope said joy liberates people.