The spiritual mission helped doom the enclave's material prosperity, when the Jesuits' spreading influence finally prompted Japan to shutter itself from the world by the early 1640s. (The Dutch cut off trade from the other direction by seizing Malacca in 1641.) But over the next century the effort gave Macau a purpose, as a center of learning and a bridge to the Middle Kingdom.

CNN: ASIANOW - TIME Asia | Visions of China: Macau

By providing a specific list of procedures to question -- and to cut down -- the medical community hopes to push us in the right direction.

CNN: Doctors and patients should talk more, test less

At least the current package to cut state debt and give tax breaks to business from 2001 points in the right direction.

ECONOMIST: Schr?der thumped

Cut through a Sonet ring and the highly reliable optical gear just sends traffic in the other direction.

FORBES: The God Box

Short-term traders are choosing to cut down risk and wait for greater clarity in the market before making big bets on market direction.

FORBES: Stocks Lower On Commerzbank Worries

"Female unemployment is heading in the wrong direction, a trend compounded by the SNP's decision to cut college places for adults which disproportionately affects women trying to get back into work, " he added.

BBC: Scottish unemployment falls by 4,000

The UK said the latest EU proposals were "a step in the right direction" but "did not go far enough" and more must be done to cut spending.

BBC: EU budget summit opens with hard bargaining