Backpacks are a convenient and efficient way for children to carry school books and other items, but if overloaded or improperly worn they can harm children's backs, experts warn.
"Wearing backpacks improperly or ones that are too heavy put children at increased risk for spinal injury," Mary Ann Wilmarth, director of the transitional doc

Music copied onto blank recordable CDs is becoming a bigger threat to the bottom line of record stores and music labels than online file-sharing, the head of the recording industry's trade group said Friday.
"Burned" CDs accounted for 29 percent of all recorded music obtained by fans in 2004, compared to 16 percent attributed to downloa

Microsoft has released new features for its MSN Spaces blogging service to make it more attractive to advanced users, a key MSN Spaces official announced in his Web log late Tuesday.
The new features, collectively called PowerToys, are the capability to create custom HTML modules, to play audio and video files, and to significantly cust

　　Increased tax on oil and gas exploitation, coupled with soaring crude prices, may lead to further price hikes for refined oil and natural gas, industry experts have said.
　　From July 1, crude oil exploitation tax rose 25 per cent to 300 per cent, while the tax on gas rose 40 per cent to 50 per cent.
　　The rises were based on re

UBS would like to win the business of bringing Bank of China to the stock exchange, but its current talks about taking a stake in BOC are not aimed at securing that business, UBS' finance chief said, according to the Reuters.
"You do not and cannot buy stakes in people pre-IPO on the premise that that is going to give you a role in the I

Yahoo Inc. is in talks to buy a stake in Alibaba.com, the Chinese business and consumer e-commerce site, in a move brokered by Japanese investor Softbank Corp., according to media reports.
Forbes.com reported on Sunday that Yahoo was considering paying around $1 billion to acquire a 35 percent stake in Alibaba.com, the Reuters reported.

The shares of China's largest Web search company, Baidu.com Inc. surged more than 354 percent in its U.S. debut Friday, the biggest daily gain by a newcomer to the market in five years, the Reuters reported.
The Beijing-based company late Thursday priced an initial public offering of its American depositary shares (ADS) at $27 each, having

China beat North Korea 2-0 on Sunday to win the East Asia soccer championship, the Reuters reported.
National teams from China, Japan, North Korea and South Korea played in men's and women's events at three venues in South Korea from July 31 to August 7.

An open discussion between Beijing residents and the city's policy makers on Saturday again thrust the thorny issue of how to deal with the city's burgeoning population into the public limelight.
Around 40 representatives from various walks of life aired their opinions and suggestions on the issue during the four-hour discussions with senio

Men who are accused of never listening by women now have an excuse -- women's voices are more difficult for men to listen to than other men's, a report said.

I'm Barbara Klein with the VOA Special English Economics Report.
On July 16th 1995, a new bookstore opened in the American city of Seattle. No one steps inside to buy anything. Yet, the store, if you could call it that, had sales last year of 7000 million dollars. Ten years ago, few people bought things over the Internet. Few thought it

LOS ANGELES — Canadian software developer and part-time humorist Eric Giguère made fun of the avalanche of Internet arthritis drug offers on his Web site last year. For his efforts, he received a $350 check from Internet search giant Google.
Giguère has one of those ubiquitous "Ads by Google" links on his site, offering ads the search giant c

Am I entitled to file a lawsuit if I think I have been affected by asbestos?
You can only file a law suit if you have definitely been affected by asbestos, which means seeking medical assistance and getting a diagnosis of mesothelioma as soon as possible. Once your diagnosis has been confirmed by your doctor, you should then seek legal assis

Who has the right to file for compensation for mesothelioma?
A mesothelioma lawsuit can be filed by a person who has developed mesothelioma through exposure to asbestos. In the event that the person has passed away, the lawsuit can be filed by a family member or the executor of the deceased’s estate. A lawsuit can also be filed by a family m

Mesothelioma is a disease that, until recently, was uncommon and little was known about it. However, as cases of the disease have started to increase, a new breed of lawyers – those dealing specifically with mesothelioma lawsuits – have stepped in to the limelight. These lawyers and law firms deal, sometimes exclusively, with mesothelioma victim