Beijing  - The devastating 8.0-magnitude earthquake in China's Wenchuan county has increased the risk of major quakes along nearby geological fault lines, a group of international experts said in a report seen on Thursday.

Using computer modelling, the geophysicists found that "geological stress has significantly increased on three major fault systems in the region," said the report in Geophysical Research Letters, published by the American Geophysical Union.

Beijing - A place for its technology on China's next manned space mission, Shenzhou VII, symbolizes the ascendancy of the Huaqi electronics group from its origins as a "briefcase company" to the owner one of the country's top digital brands.

But the Beijing-based firm is also focussed on more important terrestrial frontiers for its Aigo brand of high-technology consumer products.

Company president Feng Jun said he started Huaqi in 1993 with just 200 yuan (29 dollars) as the electronics boom was getting under way in Beijing's Zhongguancun district, proudly dubbed "China's Silicon Valley" by some of its founders.

Taipei- The United States Thursday rejected requests for political asylum from three Taiwan-based Chinese pro-democracy activists, saying they should seek asylum in Taiwan.

The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), the de-facto US embassy in Taiwan, made the decision one day after Cai Lujun and Wu Yalin climbed over the wall into AIT's compound in Taipei to seek asylum, for themselves and Chen Rongli, a third activist who remained outside the compound.

Munich - Linde, the German industrial gases group, said Wednesday it was setting up a joint venture with a subsidiary of Sinopec, the Chinese oil group.

Beijing - A woman gave birth and abandoned a baby girl in the restroom of the National Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, in Beijing during the track and field events of the Paralympic Games,

Hong Kong - Managers in Hong Kong enjoy the highest spending power in Asia and the highest among bosses worldwide outside the Middle East, a survey released Wednesday found.

Hong Kong came in fourth overall while in other Asian countries, bosses in Thailand ranked 10th in global spending power, followed by those in China at 17th, Singapore at 
22nd, Malaysia at 24th, South Korea at 35th and Japan at 39th.

The annual World Pay Report by recruitment specialists the Hay Group surveyed the spending power of bosses in 51 markets worldwide and found US managers ranked 
41st.