Gang-Zhu-Ao Bridge Starts Construction Today
Construction of the Gang-Zhu-Ao Bridge begins today(15th ). According to the Macao Government Information Bureau, the first project will be on the four artificial islands off the port of the Pearl River that Macao shares. When built, the ground elevation will be 5 meters and shall be able to withstand that kind of major flood that strikes the Pearl River estuary every 300 years. Officials also revealed that the bridge¡¯s main building work will not start until next year. The total investment of the construction project is estimated at 72.6 billion Yuan.

New Cold Front Hits GD Today, Temperatures as Low as 2 Degrees
A strong cold front will hit Guangdong today (15th), brining temperatures to as low as 2 degrees in the northern parts of the province. According to the meteorological center, this cold front could last till Thursday (17th), with the PRD cities experiencing low temperatures around 6 to 8 degrees and other parts of the province around 5 degrees. After Thursday, the cold front should weaken but nevertheless more cold air from the north could sweep in to supplement the current force.

Railway Company Announces Sectional Ticket Prices Plan for Wuhan-Guangzhou Line
After ticket prices for the soon-to-operate Wuhan-Guangzhou Railway Line were issued, that is, the first class at 780 Yuan and the second class at 490 Yuan, the railway company soon afterwards announced a more detailed plan of ticket prices for different sections of the line. According to the plan, for example, second class ticket price for travelling the section between Guangzhou and Shaoguan has been set at 110 Yuan, and for the one that goes from Guangzhou to as far as Changsha, the capital city of Wuhan, will be only 333 Yuan.

China & Central Asia Opens New Natural Gas Pipeline
China and Central Asia opened a new "Silk Road" yesterday when President Hu Jintao and leaders from Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, officially opened a natural gas pipeline linking Turkmenistan to China's Xinjiang region. The 1,833-km pipeline will start from Saman-Depe in eastern Turkmenistan, snake through these 3 Central Asian nations before entering China at the border pass of Horgos in Xinjiang. It will be capable of delivering 40 billion cu m of gas a year, more than half of China's current annual gas consumption, once it reaches full capacity between 2012 and 2013.

China to Cool Down Soaring House Prices
A State Council executive meeting chaired by Premier Wen Jiabao yesterday (14th) revealed that the government was discussing measures and policies for the healthy development of the country's real estate sector as house prices in some cities are rising too fast. In order to maintain a "stable" and "healthy" development of the real estate market, China will increase supply of smaller houses at medium-and-low price levels, and continue to support residential consumption for improved housing while curbing speculation. The attendess of the meeting had also agreed that China will expand construction of housing projects for low-income families to help 15.4 million more poor households solve their housing problems by 2012.

Nobel Economics Laureate Samuelson Dies at 94
Economist Paul Samuelson, who won a Nobel prize for his effort to bring mathematical analysis into economics and wrote a textbook read by millions of college students, died on Sunday. He was 94. Samuelson, who taught for decades at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, died at his home in Belmont, Massachusetts, the school said in a statement announcing his death. In 1970, Samuelson became just the second person, and first American, to win the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. And ever since Samuelson published "Economics" in 1948, the book has sold more than 4 million copies in more than 40 languages and is now in its 19th edition, guiding generations of students and economists.