Eclipse in China

This has not been a good 2008 year for China. First they had heavy snowstorms on the Chinese New Year. As if that wasn't bad enough, they had the deadliest earthquake in a generation and to top it off, river flooding. Then at the Olympic sailing site, they had a huge algae bloom which caused a great many Chinese to hint online about curses on their country. Well finally they had something to celebrate. After an Olympic year of freakish natural disasters, crowds of Chinese watched a total solar eclipse along the country's ancient Silk Road on Friday. this was one week before the start of the Summer Games in Beijing. Needless to say, they were celebrating this act of nature. What a happy event just before the Olympics.

Oil Drops as China Says it Will Raise Fuel Prices

Thursday, oil prices dropped sharply. This was because China said it wil raise fuel prices. This move could dampen the booming Asian nations's oil consumption. Prices also were iven a downward push by the Iraqi Oil Ministry's announcement that it is close to signing oil serice deals with several major Western oil companies in an effort to boost its crude output. We noticed gas had dropped 7 cents a gallon tonight. This was the first drop in price in a long time.

Blizzards in China

Crowds of frantic Chinese fought for seats Wednesday on the few trains leaving southern China, where the worst winter storms in half a century have crippled the nation's transport system during its busiest travel season. One desperate mob stormed a city bus in the main southern city of Guangzhou, mistakenly thinking it was taking passengers to the day's last departing trains. They pried open doors and elbowed their way inside as helpless police yelled that it was not going to the station. Hundreds of thousands of stranded Chinese want to get home for next week's Lunar New Year, a holiday that is as important in China as Christmas is in the West.

China Communists Falling Short

Chinese President HU Jinto has said in a keynote speech that the Communist Party he leads has fallen short of the peoples expectations. He was speaking at the start of the party's 17th congress. He also lashed out at officials who were extravagant, wasteful and corrupt. President Hu's criticism came as he assessed the party's recent performance in front of senior leaders. This week long gathering is held every five years to decide future policies.

China Says Military Didn't Hack into Pentagon

On Tuesday, China denied a report that its military had hacked into Pentagon computers, saying the allegations were groundless and that Beijing was opposed to cybercrime. The Financial Times, citing unnamed officials, reported that the People's Liberation Army hacked into a computer system in the office of Defense Secretary Robert Gates in June. The attack forced officials to take down the network for more than a week.