This is a daily collection of links, some with commentary, to news stories and interesting blog posts. It will be updated throughout the day with a new timestamp for the updates.

Scroll down for today's other posts.

• Go vote for Hong Kong's Glutter, who has been nominated for the Freedom of expression blog awards by Reports without Borders. Other nominees in the Asia section include Angry Chinese Blogger, Free North Korea, North Korea Zone, Jeff Ooi and Singabloodypore.
• Why Hong Kong needs a competition law part 294: the SCMP reports "a cartel of 11 driving schools and instructor unions will stnadardise fees today at the 1997 level to halt cutthroat competition in the shrinking industry." Remember Hong Kong has suffered deflation since 1997, so those prices are higher than current ones. The cartel had the chutzpah to ask the media to disseminate the new fixed prices. The Standard has another example of anti-competitive practices in market stalls. Remember this next time you read about the world's free-est economy.
• The SCMP also reports: A stubborn leech took three doctors and five medical examinations to be removed from the nostrils of a 55-year-old woman hiker, a month after it invaded her nose. Another reason not to go hiking in Hong Kong.
• Starting Monday I will be participating in SimTerror '05.
• The EU's arms embargo on China may force the closure of China's tsunami-damanged listening post in the Indian Ocean off Myanmar.
• Even China's Ministry of Education can impose a media blackout.
• China supports efforts to turn Korea into a "Northeast Asian balancer". In other words: let's use our mutual anti-Japanese feelings to find common ground.
• Brad Setser says Korea and China have too much in foreign exchange reserves. A good post despite its condensending title.
• Former high flying internet analyst Henry Blodget went to Shanghai where it rained, he checked out some fakes and an exhibition before catching the train to Beijing. People actually get paid for writing fluff like this?
• Dinocrat asks how concerntrated and leveraged is China's wealth, to which I'd answer very and not much (China's saving ratio is around 40%). He also points to a show town in Shandong and wonders what the others like.
• While Korea is encouraging outward bound investment to offset its large foreign exchange reserves, China is restricting individual outbound investment. It seems a backward step in closing the capital account when Chinese policy has been a gradual opening of the capital account to allow for a free® float of the yuan.
• (17:10) Shanghai has the 3rd biggest Japanese expat population after NY and LA. Now is a particularly interesting time to be such a person.
• Is China's net nanny changing its methods?