“Whoa, now!” I said gently. “I’m terribly sorry I hurt your feelings, Rennie.” I took her arm, but she flinched as if I too had struck her.

“Whoops, I’m sorry,” I said. “I’m sorry.”

“Jake, stop it!” she cried, and I observed that the squint-eyed head-shaking was used to express pain as well as hilarity, and this it did quite effectively. When she had control of herself she said, “You certainly must think our marriage is a strange one, don’t you?”

“Damnedest thing I ever saw,” I admitted cheerfully. “But hell, that’s no criticism.”

“But you think I’m a complete zero, don’t you?”

Ah. Something in me responded very strongly to this not-especially-moving question of Rennie’s.

“I don’t know, Rennie. What’s your opinion?”

By way of answer Rennie began what turned out to be the history of her alliance with Joe. Her face, chunky enough to begin with, was red and puffy from crying, and in a more critical mood I would have found her unpleasing to look at just then, but it happened that I was really impressed by her breakdown, and the curious sympathy that I’d felt from the time I first heard of her knockout –a sympathy that had little to do with abstract pity for women — was now operating more noticeably in me. This sympathy, too, I observed impersonally and with some amusement from another part of myself, the same part that observed me being not displeased by Rennie’s tearful, distracted face. Here is what she told me, edited and condensed

Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. (Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina, tr. Constance Garnett)

riverrun, past Eve’s and Adam’s, from swerve of shore to bend of bay, brings us by a commodius vicus of recirculation back to Howth Castle and Environs. (James Joyce, Finnegans Wake)

　　Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: It is the time for home.

　　During the winter I am content，or try to think I am. There is a wonderful joy in leaving behind the noisy city streets and starting out along the white road that leads across the hills. With each breath of the sharp, reviving air one seems to inhale new life. A peace as evident as the sunshine on the fields takes possession of one’s inner being. The trivial cares are driven away by the first sweep of wind that comes straight from the mountains. The intense silence that broods over the snow-bound land is a conscious blessing from the nature.

　Sometimes our fate resembles a fruit tree in winter: Who would think that those branches would turn green again and blossom, but we hope it, we know it.

A 30-second commercial rolled out on November 23, 2009 on CNN in the United States, CNN in Asia and CNN Headline News. With the theme “Made in China. Made with the world”, the ad uses only products that are “Made in China”, from running shoes, high fashion, to air planes. The groundbreaking ad is part of a global campaign against common stereotypes about Chinese products and seeks to boost the image of Chinese goods around the world.

In the ad, a series of goods with the “Made in China” label are shown being made with the help of top foreign firms. An MP3 player is described as “Made in China with software from Silicon Valley”. A fashion shoot includes clothes labeled “Made in China with French designers”. And a refrigerator bears the text “Made in China with European styling”. These are all Chinese-made products, designed by or containing shared technology with other countries, and highlights the fact that Chinese companies work with overseas firms to produce quality products.

The campaign was commissioned by the Ministry of Commerce of China with participation from four industry groups which are the China Advertising Association of Commerce, the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products, the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Light Industrial Products and Arts-Crafts, and the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Textiles.

This is considered the Chinese government’s first branding campaign.

Trade in goods, which mainly generates from labor-intensive manufacturing industries and accounts for about 90 percent of the country’s total trade, has caused an imbalance in trade structure and hurt the country’s exports amid the economic slowdown, analysts said ahead of the Central Economic Work Conference.

Chen Mingqi, a director of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, said even though officials predict China’s exports of goods will rise 10 percent in 2010, he has his reservations.

“I agree China’s exports of goods will increase positively next year, partly due to the tiny base this year and China’s long-term competitive advantage. But in consideration of trade protectionism, shrinking expenses and consumer psychology, I hold a conservative viewpoint for the growth rate,” Chen said.

In the first 10 months of 2009, China’s exports slumped 20.5 percent year-on-year to $957 billion.

Imports decreased to $798 billion, down 19 percent compared to a year earlier, according to official data.

Meanwhile, exports of goods are facing escalating trade frictions.

A total of 19 nations and regions have initiated 88 trade-remedy probes against China in the first nine months, the Ministry of Commerce said.

“Exports generated from services sectors, especially capital-intensive and knowledge-intensive, won’t trigger trade conflicts,” Ni Yueju, a trade researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said.

To offset the declining exports and adjust its trade structure, Commerce Minister Chen Deming last week urged to promote the services trade and predicted China’s service imports would reach $1 trillion in the next five years.

Though China enjoys a trade surplus in goods, it suffers large trade deficit in services. In the first half of the year, China’s trade deficit in services increased fourfold to $16.7 billion, official figures show.

A low starting point also means vast room for development, said Xing Houyuan, a director with the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation affiliated with the Ministry of Commerce.

Traditional service sectors, such as shipping, tourism and construction, make up the majority of China’s services trade, and the government vowed to foster emerging hi-tech service sectors, including telecommunications, software, and financial services.

Exports of some of the emerging sectors, like IT outsourcing, maintained a positive growth in the first half of this year despite the economic downturn.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang made the remarks as commenting on the resolution passed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Nov. 27, which called for the “full cooperation” of Iran to clarify all outstanding issues involving its nuclear program in Vienna. China cast a “yes” vote on the resolution.

Stressing China’s position on the issue was consistent, Qin said China upheld to maintain the international nuclear non-proliferation regime, while standing for solutions through dialogue and negotiation. The solution should proceed for purpose of the peace and stability in the Middle East.

“Under the current situation, all sides should step up diplomatic efforts for a comprehensive, long-term and appropriate solution to Iran’s nuclear issue,” the spokesman said.

“Sanction is not the purpose in itself,” Qin said, expecting consensus reached in the talks on Iran in Geneva to be comprehensively implemented by relevant parties to maintain the trend for dialogue and negotiation.

On Oct. 1, in the talks between Iran and a UN-backed group of six nations, the United States, Britain, Russia, France, Germany and China in Geneva, Iran agreed in principle to ship most of its existing low-grade enriched uranium to Russia and France, where it would be processed into fuel rods with a purity of 20 percent.

The poll, done by the Pew Research Center, said that Americans are turning away from the world, showing a tendency toward isolationism that has risen to the highest level in four decades.

Almost half, 49 percent, told the polling organization that the United States should “mind its own business” internationally and let other countries get along the best they can on their own, the Pew survey found. That’s up from 30 percent who said that in December 2002.

While isolationism and unilateralism reached four-decade highs among the public, the stature of China increased.

Among Americans polled, 44 per cent said China was the world’s leading economic power, compared with 27 percent who named the United States. In February 2008, 41 percent said the U.S. was the leading economic power, while 30 percent said China was.

However, a majority of Americans surveyed, or 53 percent, see China’s emerging economic strength pose rising competition for the world power of the United States.

Results of the survey appear to conflict with U.S. President Obama’s somehow activist foreign policy, including a newly announced buildup of 30,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan to fight Taliban and al-Qaida.

Only 32 percent of the poll respondents favored increasing U.S. troops in Afghanistan, while 40 percent favored decreasing them.

Forty-one percent of those surveyed said the United States plays a less important and powerful role as a world leader than it did a decade ago, up from 25 percent who said that just before the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the report said.

Pew Research Center President Andrew Kohut said in an interview that the “very bad economy” appeared most responsible for the growth of isolationist sentiment. He said the public was also “displeased with the two wars we are waging, in Iraq and Afghanistan.”

The crash happened at 4:10 p.m. local time (0010 GMT, Monday) off Saturna Island, a small island between Vancouver Island and the mainland of the western province of British Columbia (BC), when the plane was heading for Victoria, the capital city of BC in the Vancouver Island, according to search and rescue officials.

Officials of the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre Victoria said two people, including the pilot and a female passenger were pulled out of the frigid waters by 5:30 p.m. (0130 GMT, Monday) while rescuers were searching for the other six passengers including an infant, who are feared dead.

Search efforts continue even in darkness with several surface vessels and two aircrafts and are expected to be suspended later Sunday and resume Monday morning, officials said.

The cause of the accident was unclear. Witness said the plane made a loud noise like a muffler backfiring and nosedived into the water.

Under the Tegucigalpa-San Jose Accord reached on Oct. 29, the two sides agreed to form a unity government and to hold general elections on Nov. 29.

Opposition candidate Porfirio Lobo claimed victory of the election but the newly elected president is now facing an international division.

Many countries, especially those in Latin America, refuse to recognize the new government and insist on Zelaya’s immediate restoration to the presidency.

Others, however, including the United States, Canada, Peru, Costa Rica, and Panama, have decided to recognize the outcome of the election so as long as the process proves to have been clean and transparent.

VOICES AGAINST ELECTIONS

The Honduran issue dominated the 19th Ibero-American Summit held in Estoril, Portugal, on Monday. While differences remain, the participant countries have pledged to release a statement during the summit.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Monday in Estoril that his government would not recognize the results of the voting and would not “reconsider” its negative stance on Honduras’ general elections.

Zelaya has been staying in the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa since returning to Honduras in late September.

Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Mortatinos sided with Brazil, saying that Spain neither recognizes the elections nor “ignores them.”

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez urged the Ibero-American countries (Latin America, Portugal, Spain and Andorra) to not recognize Honduras’ “illegitimate government.”

“To recognize the illegitimate result of these illegal elections would be a betrayal to the principles of peace, democracy and justice,” Rodriguez said.

Argentine Foreign Minister Jorge Taina said “the elections cannot be valid if they are hosted without President Zelaya being restored to power.”

Chilean President Michelle Bachelet said the elections in Honduras should not imply the validity of the coup because “it will set a grave precedent and bring a series of threats for Latin America.”

Bolivian Foreign Minister Alfredo Rada said his country would not recognize the new president of Honduras or the electoral process.

Meanwhile, the presidents of Nicaragua, Uruguay and Guatemala also expressed their opposition to the election and the legitimacy of the new government.

VOICES IN FAVOR

On the other hand, the United States has voiced support for the general elections and urged both sides of the country’s political stalemate to implement a reconciliation accord in order to end the crisis.

Micheletti earlier unilaterally announced the formation of a unity government without the participation of Zelaya and his representatives.

Zelaya then declared the Tegucigalpa-San Jose Accord “dead,” which worsened the situation and brought resolution of the issue to a deadlock.

U.S. State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said Sunday that the turnout “shows that given the opportunity to express themselves, the Honduran people have viewed the election as an important part of the solution to the political crisis in their country,”

The election held in Honduras on Sunday was supervised by 580 international observers, most from the United States.

Following the U.S., Colombian President Alvaro Uribe said during the summit that “Colombia recognizes the new government, and the new democratic election process in Honduras of high participation, which cannot be questioned.”

The Costa Rican government hailed the election outcome as “the decision of the Honduran people of seeking an exit to the crisis by a pacific and civic route.”

Juan Carlos Varela, the vice president and foreign minister of Panama, said in Estoril that his government recognized the legitimacy of the election and considers “it is a very important step to overcome the crisis.”

Canada and Peru also said they recognize the outcome of Sunday’s elections.