Highlights from chinadaily.com.cn

Photo: Thai soldiers in biohazard suits take part in a cleanup operation at Ao Prao Beach on Koh Samet, Thailand, on Tuesday after crude oil that leaked from a pipeline in the Gulf of Thailand over the weekend reached the tourist resort.

Bilingual: Rapid thawing of the Arctic could trigger an "economic time bomb" that would cost trillions of dollars and undermine the global financial system, the Guardian quoted a group of economists and polar scientists as saying.

Buzzword: A living will is the oldest form of advance directive. It was first proposed by the Illinois attorney Luis Kutner who in 1969 drew from existing estate law, by which people can control property affairs after death, and devised a way for them to express their healthcare desires when they are no longer able to express current healthcare wishes.

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China and World: Can China Eclipse the US as the World's top superpower? According to a recent survey by the Pew Research Center, an increasing number of people worldwide believe China will eclipse the US as the world's No 1 superpower. Although the survey showed that most people in 22 out of the 39 countries surveyed believed the US was still the leading economic superpower, participants quizzed in Canada, the UK, Germany and France all thought China was catching up fast.

(China Daily USA 08/01/2013 page3)