Panda named

THE San Diego Zoo's panda cub finally has a name: Zhen Zhen, or Precious.

Following Chinese tradition, the zoo waited until the cub, which was born in August, reached 100 days old before giving her a name. According to zoo officials, Zhen Zhen won out over 2,400 names submitted by zoo visitors. Thirty-six percent of voters chose the name from among the four finalists. The other choices were Li Hua, or Beautiful China, Ming Zhu, or Bright Treasure, and Xiao Li, or Little Beauty.

Shanghai tycoon

DISGRACED Shanghai tycoon Chau Ching-ngai will learn his fate tomorrow when a verdict is due after his trial for embezzlement, bribery and tax fraud.

Shanghai's No. 2 Intermediate People's Court informed Chau's lawyer, Ma Shuning, Tuesday that verdicts for the embattled magnate, once dubbed "the richest man in Shanghai," would be handed down tomorrow.

Boar cull

FORESTRY authorities in Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province announced Tuesday that they had approved a proposal to cull 200 wild boars in the province this year.

The number is far lower than in the previous two years, despite residents' complaints that a surging boar population was threatening crops and homes. The population of wild boars had more than doubled from 30,000 in 2000 to more than 70,000, and reports of boar intrusions into homes and planted areas in the province had also increased.