J.R. Smith Takes His Talents and Tattoos to China

NBA player and tattoo fan, J.R. Smith today agreed to play basketball this season in China.  Citing a source, Yahoo said Smith signed a one-year deal with Zhejiang Wanma of the China Basketball Association.

Smith and Nuggets free-agent forward Wilson Chandler are now the two highest-paid players in the Chinese league, according to Yahoo. Neither player can return to play in the NBA until the end of the Chinese season, which lasts through March.

This news came on a day the start of the NBA season was thrown into doubt after players and owners remained divided over the salary cap structure at a key labor meeting. Union leaders and payers met today in Las Vegas and all reports say the union is united.  For now.

I wonder if he has any roon left to get some Chinese symbols tattooed on him.

The Amazing Race Preview for "Don't Ruin the Basketball Game"

The teams continue racing through China.

The pressure builds when a prehistoric Roadblock pushes one Racer over the edge and a Double U-turn causes panic among the teams. Catch The Amazing Race Sunday, March 20 at 8:00 PM, ET/PT

Looks like another wild and crazy episode as the teams all have Unfinished Business.

The Amazing Race Preview for "This is the Most Stupid Day Ever"

The remaining teams keep racing in China. 

Teams must travel to Jade Drago Mountain River where they will saddle up a yak and lead it across the river for a photo with a tourist in order to receive the next clue.

After losing all sense of direction en route to the airport and their passport twice, a Racer's frustration threatens to get the best of their team, on THE AMAZING RACE, Sunday, March 13 (8:00-9:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

Typhoon Megi Hits Taiwan, Heads for China

Typhoon Megi has reached land in Taiwan - causing widespread destruction. 3 people have reportedly been killed by a mudslide. Also, a helicopter search is underway for 19 missing tourists from China whose bus was trapped by falling rocks on a coastal highway. Earlier this week, Megi battered the Philippines killing more than 20 people, and is expected to hit China this weekend.

China's national meteorological centre confirmed that the typhoon had reached the Asian nation's coast and advised people to avoid going out.

"If you are already outside, do not shelter from the rain near temporary structures, billboards, iron masts and trees," it said in a statement.

Authorities in southern China have cut ferry services and at least 160,000 people have been evacuated in anticipation of Megi - one of the strongest storms to hit the region in years.

Now a Mine Disaster in China

A China coal mine accident killed 20 miners and left another 17 missing underground Saturday, the government said, in the latest tragedy highlighting appalling safety conditions in the nation's mines.

The mine in the central province of Henan was hit by a "sudden coal and gas outburst" as 276 miners were at work below ground, the national work safety agency said on its website.

A total of 239 miners made it to the surface following the accident in the city of Yuzhou, but 20 others have been found dead and 17 were missing, it said.

Last year 2,631 Chinese miners were killed, according to official statistics, but independent labour groups say the true figure is likely to be much higher as many accidents are believed to be covered up.

Internet chatrooms -- a rare platform for relatively open debate in Communist-controlled China -- slammed the country's safety record after the Chilean rescues.

Some state media editorials said China should learn from the better training and safety systems of the Chilean miners. Many Chinese miners are ill-trained migrant workers toiling in pits where even basic safety is ignored.