Brussels - The European Union's executive decided on Thursday to launch a formal review of current anti-dumping measures against Chinese and Vietnamese leather shoes, effectively keeping those measures in place despite opposition from EU member states.

"The European Commission today decided to launch an expiry review into the (anti-dumping) measures. The practical implication means the measures will continue for the duration of that review," Peter Power, spokesman for EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson, said.

"The review could last anything up to 12-15 months, but we will try and expedite this," he said.

Taipei - A Boeing 747-400 jetliner of Taiwan's major carrier China Airlines was hit by severe air turbulence on its way from Hong Kong to Bangkok Thursday, resulting in the injury of 21 people, the airlines said.

"Flight CI 641 arrived in Bangkok safely, and the injured, including, 5 crew members and 16 passengers, received hospital treatment," the airlines said in a news statement.

A total of 147 passengers and 18 crew members were on board the plane when the turbulence occurred without warning over Thai airspace, the airline said.

Beijing  - A Skype joint venture in China monitors and archives certain internet text conversations that include politically charged words, according to a report published by a group of Canadian computer security researchers Thursday.

TOM-Skype, a joint venture between TOM Online, a unit of Hong Kong-based TOM Group Ltd, and Skype, a unit of US-based eBay, was found by researchers at Ottawa-based Citizen Lab to monitor and store millions of records containing personal information of users of the Chinese service, as well as those who participated in voice calls using the service.

Skype is a software that allows users to make telephone calls, send text messages or transfer files over the internet.

Hong Kong - China has clamped down on permits to visit Macau after seeing huge amounts of money flood into casinos in the resort, some of them American-owned, a news report said Thursday.

New York - China on Wednesday assumed the rotating presidency of the UN Security Council at a time when UN members are renewing demands to reform the body to make it more effective and representative.

Newly appointed Chinese Ambassador Zhang Yesui replaced the country's former envoy Wang Guangya, who was appointed a vice foreign minister in Beijing. But Zhang gave the council a holiday on Wednesday because October 1 is China's national day.

The council's monthly presidency rotates among the 15 members.

London, Oct 1 : Britain will stop giving China nearly 39 million pound a year in aid, the Tories will promise today.

They will say it is unacceptable to hand cash to a country which spent more than 20 billion pound on the Beijing Olympics - and put a man in space this week, The Sun reported.

Despite its massive wealth, the UK gave China 38.6 million pound in aid last year.

Shadow International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell will tell the conference: “Many British taxpayers would be astonished to learn that we are still giving aid to China.”