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For a lucky few, it’s still good to be rich.

The world’s wealthiest took a financial hit last year, but they’re on the road to recovery, according to the 2009 World Wealth Report, released June 24 by financial management firm Merrill Lynch in partnership with consulting company Capgemini. The report outlines 2008 spending and investment habits of the world’s richest people. Capgemini and Merrill Lynch define high net-worth individuals (HNWI) as those with at least $1 million in financial assets, excluding collectibles, consumables, consumer durables and primary residences. Ultra-high net-worth individuals (U-HNWI) hold at least $30 million in financial assets, excluding the same variables.

By the end of 2008, the number of global HNWIs had decreased by 14.9% to 8.6 million, with a 19.5% drop in wealth to $32.8 trillion. However, Dan Sontag, president of the global wealth management group at Merrill Lynch — now part of Bank of America — said in a press conference that the downturn is slowing and that the affluent are starting to spend yet again.

Sontag, along with Bertrand Lavayssière–managing director of global financial services at Capgemini–also suggested that the market will fully recover by 2013, using the post-dot-com crash in the early part of this decade as a model.

However, where in the world that wealth comes from will change. Currently, the U.S. leads with 2.5 million HNWIs, but Asian countries like Japan and China are nipping at its heels. By 2013, the report suggests that the Pacific Rim region will boast more millionaires than North America. According to Sontag, 55 people in China become millionaires each day.

U.S. affluents are still deeply concerned about their net worth, according to Ron Kurtz, who is with the Alpharetta, Ga.-based market-research firm American Affluence Research Center. A survey conducted by the AARC in April showed that affluent Americans–the wealthiest 10% of U.S. households, as determined by the Federal Reserve Board–were even more negative than last fall regarding the possible growth of their personal income over the next twelve months. “These people aren’t going to start spending again until they see a substantial recovery of their net worth,” says Kurtz.

This year, the U.S. lost 18.5% of its HNWIs, while Japan lost just 10%. China shed 11.9%; its HNWI population of 364,000 surpassed the U.K. this year, which saw its number decrease from 491,000 to 362,000.

These numbers correlate with sales figures from many of the world’s biggest luxury companies, which continue to see growth in emerging markets as mature ones struggle. While first-quarter 2009 sales at billionaire Bernard Arnault’s conglomerate Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton decreased by 15% in the U.S. and 6% in Europe, but increased by 6% in Asia. Fashion and leather goods sales of HNWI-beloved brands like Louis Vuitton, Givenchy and Marc Jacobs were up 24% in Asia.

While emerging markets like Brazil–with 131,000 HNWIs–and the rest of Latin America are “poised to grow again” according to the report, another promising market–India–experienced the second-largest drop in millionaires, decreasing by 31.6% to just 84,000 after an increase of 22.7% in 2007. That plunge is attributed to the country’s still-shaky economy, which saw a 64.1% decrease in market capitalization over 2008. Russia–known for its pack of lavish spenders whose bounties are intimately connected to equity markets as well as demand for oil and gas–saw a decline of 26.5% to 97,000 HNWIs.

All in all, the world’s richest might be down. But they’re not out. As the global economy improves, the wealthy will stand on the shoulders of others, first to see the light.

Burnley’s winning run against teams from London continued on Tuesday with a 2-0 defeat of Arsenal to reach the semi-finals of the English League Cup.

Kevin McDonald scored twice for the Championship (second division) side to see off an Arsenal team made up almost entirely of young reserves and end a 25-year wait to reach the semi-finals of a major competition.

Stoke City were another Premier League casualty when they lost 1-0 to Derby County of the Championship for whom Nathan Ellington converted a last-gasp penalty.

In the remaining quarter-finals, holders Tottenham Hotspur are at Watford on Wednesday while Manchester United take on Blackburn Rovers at Old Trafford.

Burnley stunned Chelsea with a penalty shootout victory at Stamford Bridge in the previous round and also accounted for Premier League Fulham in this season’s competition.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger stuck rigidly to his policy of fielding the reserves who thrashed Wigan Athletic and Sheffield United in earlier rounds, but this time the policy backfired with Nicklas Bendtner, one of only three regular first-team players in the side, guilty of some terrible finishing.

“We had six one-on-one’s with the keeper and did not score,” Wenger told Sky Sports. “If you have that many you have to question whether you can qualify for the next round.

“This team has a lot to learn. You have to be efficient from start to finish against a side like Burnley who were the best team we have come against in the cup this season.”

McDonald opened the scoring after six minutes when he fired past Lukasz Fabianski after the keeper failed to hold a shot.

Arsenal replied with some great approach play and should have levelled when Bendtner was released on goal but dithered and shot straight at Burnley keeper Brian Jensen.

Bendtner wasted a similar opportunity before teenager Mark Randall was also denied by the inspired Jensen.

Fran Merida, a former Barcelona youth player, slalomed through the Burnley defence early in the second half but shaved the outside of the post with his shot.

Burnley doubled their lead after 56 minutes when Randall failed to clear the ball and McDonald pounced to poke a shot past Fabianski.

Being the wrong colour to match a sofa and even having eyes “like David Bowie” rank among some of the excuses given by dog owners for abandoning their pets, according to a leading animal charity.

Staff at shelters have been left speechless when faced with owners attempting to swap their unwanted pet for a younger model or even a different colour to match a carpet.

Other visitors have handed over unwanted puppies because of minor misdemeanours such as nibbling the Christmas turkey or trying to unwrap presents.

The Dogs Trust has published a list of some of the most inappropriate reasons given by owners for getting rid of their pets as part of its annual Christmas campaign to discourage people from buying dogs as gifts.

Exactly 30 years after it first used its familiar slogan “A dog is for life not just for Christmas”, the charity has seen a steep decline in the number of people giving live animals as presents - from 20 per cent of all dogs bought in 1978 to less than 2 per cent now.

But despite the success, the charity said that as many 131,400 dogs are still given away as gifts every year in Britain, with many ending up abandoned shortly afterwards.

One owner even got rid of a dog claiming that it looked “evil” because it eyes were different colours, supposedly making it resemble the singer David Bowie.

The singer is often, incorrectly, described as having different coloured eyes. In fact one of his pupils is permanently dilated because of a childhood injury.

“Some of the reasons we hear for dogs being abandoned are truly outrageous and saddening,” said Clarissa Baldwin, the charity’s chief executive, said.

“Having a dog is a long-term commitment and our anniversary offers the perfect opportunity to remind people that dogs are not fashion accessories or disposable items that can be upgraded or discarded after just a few months.”

Despite the success of attempts to dissuade people from buying dogs as pets rescue groups have reported an “unprecedented” increase in the number of abandoned pets in recent weeks because of the economic crisis.

Battersea Dogs &Cats Home in London said it was now at “bursting point” even before Christmas intake because of a dramatic rise in the number of stray dogs in London.

New laws which came into force this year meaning that strays must be handed in to councils rather that the police as in the past have also been blamed for the trend.

Confusion over where stray animals should be taken and a shortage of council kennels has left shelters overwhelmed.

It is also feared that many lost pets may be unnecessarily languishing in their shelters because the new laws have left owners unable to trace them.

“We are just over a week away from Christmas and are almost full,” Jan Barlow, chief executive of Battersea Dogs &Cats Home, said

“While we think part of the rise in numbers of strays is because people can’t afford to keep their dogs any more so are dumping them on the streets, we’re also extremely worried that people losing their dogs don’t where to turn to try and find them.”

Here is the top 10 list of most irresponsible reasons for abandoning a dog:

:: “My dog doesn’t match the sofa.”

:: “The dog looks evil and has different coloured eyes, just like David Bowie.”

:: “My black dog doesn’t match new white carpet, can we swap him for a white dog?”

:: “My current dog is too old, can we swap for a puppy or younger model?”

:: “My dog ate the Christmas turkey cooling on the worktop.”

:: “My pet guinea pig got worried with a dog in the house.”

:: “The dog opened all the presents on Christmas Eve.”

:: An owner who accidentally knelt in dog mess while cleaning it up brought the dog in the very next day.

:: A puppy bought as a present for elderly couple with dementia.

:: The negative image of Staffordshire Bull Terriers because of their perceived resemblance to Pit Bull-style dogs.

Nothing beats the NFL, where donning the home team’s colors is a Sunday tradition
In Pictures: The 10 Best-Selling Sports Jerseys More than ever, it’s a Sunday ritual. Blue and silver, green and gold, or orange and blue. Whether they’re headed to the stadium, the local bar or crashing on the living room sofa, pro football fans, like the players they worship, aren’t dressed for the game until they’ve pulled on the team jersey.

And that, sports marketing experts say, explains why football jerseys blow away the competition in the $4 billion universe of sports merchandise.

“Every game is an event, you really get psyched up for it,” says Matt Powell, an analyst with SportsScanInfo, which tracks sales of replica jerseys and other sports related goods.

According to the data his company tracks, the 10 best-selling jerseys in sports this year all hail from the NFL. Leading the pack is Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, a flashy and popular player who has taken on a big role in bringing the franchise back to life. Dallas has a 30-15 record since Romo took over as the starter in 2006. While SportsScanData doesn’t track precise figures from each and every retail source, Powell estimates that a half million of Romo’s No. 9 jerseys have been sold this year.

Not that Romo deserves all the glory. While it’s become clichéto hear sports stars humbly share credit for their success with their teams, it’s an accurate sentiment when it comes to merchandise sales. Romo is one of three Cowboys whose jersey is a top-10 seller, joining running back Marion Barber and receiver Terrell Owens. As quarterback, running back, receiver combos go, the three may not quite be the equivalent of Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin–the trio that led Dallas to three Super Bowl titles in the 1990s–but their sales are a direct reflection on the club’s brand identity.

That brand was forged in the 1970s, when Tom Landry and his quarterback, Roger Staubach, led what became known as “America’s Team.” Back then, Powell points out, a typical sporting goods store stocked two sets of jerseys and jackets: those of the local team, and those of the Dallas Cowboys. Nothing more.

That’s why owner Jerry Jones pulled the team out of the NFL’s merchandise revenue-sharing agreement several years ago–the Cowboys are the only team in the league that keeps all of its merchandise money, while all the others share equally. More than $200 million of the Cowboys $1.6 billion worth is attributable to its brand strength, according to the latest Forbes valuations. When Marion Barber’s jersey outsells those of LeBron James, Kobe Bryant or Derek Jeter, what more proof is needed about the power of the NFL and the Cowboys?

Among other sports, top sellers include James, Bryant and Dwayne Wade of the NBA, along with Jeter, Ryan Howard and Manny Ramirez of Major League Baseball.

Other factors that sell jerseys: winning and switching teams. The top 10 list includes three Super Bowl winning quarterbacks, brothers Peyton and Eli Manning and, naturally, three-time winner Tom Brady, the sidelined quarterback of the New England Patriots.

And there’s nothing like a traded star to ignite a whole new audience for his jersey. In addition to Owens, who came to the Cowboys two years ago after stints in San Francisco and Philadelphia, the New York Jets’ Brett Favre now enjoys the No. 2 selling jersey after his highly publicized move there from Green Bay. The principal works in baseball too: When Ramirez caught fire at the plate for the Los Angeles Dodgers after a mid-season trade from Boston, so did his No. 99 jersey. If Ramirez signs elsewhere for 2009, look for stores to hold clearance sales to make room on the shelves for his latest replica jersey.

Changes in uniform designs and color schemes move merchandise, too. While a rise from last place to the World Series helped boost sales of Tampa Bay Rays gear this year, so did a change from green to blue in the team’s primary uniform color. No wonder the Boston Red Sox are breaking out an alternative cap in 2009, featuring a pair of socks as a logo in place of the traditional “B.”

Getting creative is more important than ever, Powell notes, since the days of sports merchandise as fashion began fading a few years ago. After a decade of explosive sales, annual growth has slowed to single digits since 2003. The trend of casual sports observers buying team jerseys and caps purely for color schemes has run its course.

“This is a fan business, not a fashion business,” he says. Especially a football fan business.

Three Democrats of the U.S. House of Representatives have written a letter to the Defense Department calling for canceling its plan to build a missile defense test site at Fort Greely in Alaska.
In the letter to the Pentagon’s Ballistic Missile Defense Organization which was published by the Washington Post Monday, Representatives Ike Skelton, John M. Spratt Jr. and Norman D. Dicks argued that funds have not been appropriated for that purpose in the current fiscal year.
The Representatives, senior members of the Armed Services, Appropriations and Budget committees, said the Bush administration cannot build a test facility with five missile silos at Fort Greely using funds that had been earmarked for construction of an earlier, considered different missile defense plan in the Clinton administration.
If the real purpose in building the test facility is to deploy an “emergency” missile defense system by 2004, the Democrats said, the administration’s plan to begin clearing trees at Fort Greely next month would be even more problematic, because such activity would “appear to be on a collision course” with the 1972 Anti- Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty.
“We understand the need for major modifications to the ABM Treaty, but we believe that the administration should try in earnest to negotiate these changes (with) Russia before rushing to deployment,” they wrote.
Senator Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat from California and chairman of the appropriations subcommittee on military construction, sent a similar letter last week to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, signalling the Democrats’ intention to use Congress’ power of purse to oppose the administration’s ambitious missile defense plans.
Democrats in both chambers have expressed deep reservations about the administration’s missile defense plans and indicated they might withhold portions of the White House’s 8.3 billion dollar budget request for missile defense in fiscal 2002, which begins October 1.

Iran has told the United States that it has no information of the missing American identified as Robert Levinson who went missing in Iran in March, State Department deputy spokesman Tom Casey said at a briefing on Friday.

“They once again claim to have no information about him and that is unfortunate and we believe that there are many possible leads out there for them to purse including a number of things reported in the past,” Casey said at a briefing.

“We are going to continue to be pursuing this, but unfortunately the Iranian government’s response to date on this has again been to simply say they have no information, and which I don’t think is very credible,” Casey said.

Washington has no diplomatic relations with Teheran since April1980, five months after Iranian students occupied the American embassy in Teheran. Fifty-two Americans were held hostage for 444 days.

Levinson, 59, retired from the FBI in 1998

Defending champions India beat Maldives 1-0 while Pakistan was beaten by Nepal 4-1 in their last group A stage of the 7th South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship in the Maldivian capital of Male Saturday night, SAFF officials said Sunday in Colombo.

India took the lead in the first half through Gourmangi Singh who broke the deadlock heading the cross on the goal line of the Maldives in the 14th minute. Both teams failed to add scores in the second half.

In another match held in Male, Pakistan was beaten by Nepal 4-1. Raju Tamang, Niranjan Rayajhi and Jumanu Rai were the heroes of Nepal, where the latter scored twice.

Since Maldives finished group A behind leaders India, it is likely to be traveling to Sri Lanka to play the semifinals on Wednesday.

In group B, Bangladesh will meet Sri Lanka on Sunday which will decide the semifinalists for this group. Afganistan will have to beat Butan to get qualified and more goals for them will help them to qualify as the group champion.

The championship, co-hosted by Sri Lanka and the Maldives, is due to conclude with the final in Colombo on June 14.

The winners are to carry away the SAFF Championship Cup and a purse worth 50,000 U.S. dollars, while the runners-up get 25,000 dollars and the two losing semifinalists will be awarded 10,000 dollars each.

Gordon Brown stepped up pressure on Iceland as Britain tried to establish how many hundreds of millions of pounds of local government cash had been in frozen Icelandic banks.

“What happened in Iceland is completely unacceptable,” he told BBC television on Thursday. “I’ve been in touch with the Icelandic prime minister, I’ve said that this is effectively illegal action that they’ve taken.”

He added: “We will take further action against the Icelandic authorities wherever that is necessary to recover the money.”

Brown told Sky News television Britain had “taken action to seize the assets of Icelandic banks”, in reference to Wednesday’s announcement that it would freeze the assets of Icelandic bank Landsbanki using anti-terrorism laws.

His tough talk came as the Local Government Association (LGA), which represents local councils, said that 108 of them had deposited nearly 799 million pounds (one billion euros, 1.4 billion dollars) in Icelandic banks.

Many local councils say there is no risk to services such as housing, social services and waste disposal but the LGA said some may have “specific problems”.

After a meeting Thursday, the LGA and the government said in a joint statement they would agree “an appropriate set of ways to assist” local authorities facing “severe short-term difficulties.”

One local authority, Kent County Council, had 50 million pounds deposited in Landsbanki’s British subsidiary Heritable and Glitnir Bank.

Transport for London, the agency responsible for the capital’s public transport, had a further 40 million pounds invested with Kaupthing Singer and Friedlander.

The bank, along with Glitnir and Landsbanki — Iceland’s three biggest — have all been nationalised by the government in recent days.

Fifteen police authorities had nearly 100 million pounds invested in Icelandic banks, according to the Association of Police Authorities, with London’s Scotland Yard authority saying it had 30 million pounds invested.

The Charities Aid Foundation, meanwhile, estimated British charities had more than 30 million pounds in Icelandic banks. It warned losing this could have a “catastrophic” impact on the people and causes they supported.

The meltdown in Iceland has sparked a diplomatic dispute between the two countries, with London threatening legal action over depositors’ savings.

Reykjavik, however, has said the two countries would work together to try to find a solution through official diplomatic channels.

The 410 local councils in England and Wales are responsible for around 113 billion pounds’ worth of spending and employ around 2.2 million people in services from culture to refuse collection.

Brown has pledged to do whatever it takes to recover individual savers’ money from Iceland’s banks, but finance minister Alistair Darling admitted the protection may not be extended to councils.

Newspapers expressed alarm Friday that public institutions could be so exposed: the left-wing Guardian said the revelation “takes the pain of the crash into places that never expected to feel it so directly”.

But many suggested the local authorities — funded by central government and then through a local property tax — should not be bailed out but “accept their responsibility as stewards of the public purse”, as the Independent said.

“Once the state, any state, starts bailing out people and institutions for making careless financial decisions, where is it going to end? A line must be drawn,” said the right-leaning Daily Telegraph.

The Dutch finance ministry announced Thursday that Dutch clients of Icesave — reportedly numbering more than 120,000, with about 1.6 billion euros in savings — would get their money back “one way or another”.

Lauren Sambrotto was living a life many women would envy. After a successful career in investor relations, she, like many of her friends, had left her job as head of IR at a securities trading firm to become a stay-at-home mom to her two daughters. In 2006, her husband had sold his online real estate company for a sum that would allow their family of four to live comfortably for several years.
But it wasn’t long before Sambrotto started to have doubts about her decision. She was sending her older daughter, Sophie, to a demanding private school for girls that emphasizes math and science, and she envisioned Sophie in a challenging career. And yet, as a stay-at-home mom, Sambrotto worried that she was no longer setting an example.

The economic downturn quickly settled the issue for her. She had wanted to show her daughters the importance of independence; now, with friends losing their jobs and the stock market in free-fall, she realized had to. So last year, Sambrotto started her own PR firm, Northstar, and secured two clients.

Sambrotto is not alone in her decision to return to work: Many of her friends–ambitious professionals who also had the resources to leave their careers–are preparing to go back as well. Some were forced to do so after their spouses lost jobs. Others have simply decided to make a preemptive strike.

A report released by the Department of Labor last month reveals that there is considerably more unemployment among men than women. In January, 7.9% of men were out of work, while 6.2% of women were. February numbers, released on Friday, follow a similar trend. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate in February hit 8.1% for adult men and 6.7% for adult women. Anecdotal evidence concurs: In response to these troubled times, many women are either continuing to work or increasing their hours.

For some women, the recession is a time to clear up ongoing dilemmas and regain independence. For others, it’s a time of survival.

Amy Keroes, an attorney, runs Mommytrack’d, a Web site for professional women who wrestle with work-family balance. She is seeing a huge increase in women who are now trying to get back into the workforce, sometimes after years on the sidelines. “They are the women who had the luxury to step off [the career track]–the double income, highly educated couples,” she says.

“These women were struggling with their identities because they weren’t working,” Keroes says. But now, she adds, “I think ‘having to’ has made it easier for lots of women who were already struggling with whether to return.”

With the job market shrinking–and employers in no mood to negotiate hours or benefits–some women, unwilling to give up their family involvement, are turning to staffing companies or part-time work out of necessity.

Flexperience, a thriving executive staffing firm in Burlingame, Calif., has seen its business directly affected by the trend. The number of people enrolling for work placement is up 50% from six months ago, says co-founder Sally Thornton. Downsizing clients, especially law firms, are increasingly looking to Flexperience.

She and two other Silicon Valley moms started the company two years ago to help branding experts, lawyers and financial whizzes schedule work around their personal lives (80% of its database is made up of women).

“When we launched, we said that Flexperience was a way to keep your skills current, your network active and your income competitive,” says Thornton.

“But the conversation in the last six months has changed,” she notes. “Now it’s not about keeping my income competitive or my skills current, it’s about paying my mortgage.”

When the economy was stronger, a woman might only have worked a certain number of hours per week, and only for a firm that had a hip brand or was close to home. Now, according to Thornton, women are much more “flexible” about placements. And 65% say they’re willing to increase their weekly hours.

Another flex-work company, LiveOps, is growing so quickly it’s having trouble meeting the demand, both from new clients and prospective contractors. The Santa Clara, Calif., company provides call-center outsourcing; its telephone representatives are independent contractors who sign up for half-hour increments at any time of day. Not surprisingly, about 80% are women; a majority of them have children or are caring for someone with special needs.

While the outsourcer saw record fourth-quarter revenue in 2008, the firm has noticed increasing anxiety among its phone representatives.

“They’re more hyper-sensitive to changes we make in the schedule,” says Tim Whipple, who coordinates the contractors with clients for LiveOps. “They tend to react and ask a lot of questions if it appears there isn’t as much business this weekend as the weekend before.” Whipple says many agents are now asking for about 10 extra hours of work per month.

Adding more stress: As women work more to make up for loss of income or employment by a partner, there are more challenges at home. The biggest is how to divide domestic responsibilities when suddenly it’s the woman who’s working and the man who’s at home.

In part, that’s because many men see their job as finding another job, says Keroes. With working women still doing 70% of the housework, there’s a lot of room for conflict.

Keroes experienced this herself. Several years ago she worked as an attorney while her husband ran a congressional campaign, earning little. “I wondered, ‘Where’s the dry cleaning?’ I thought I had the power, since I had the purse strings,” she says. “We fought a lot.”

Susan Sly, a speaker and life coach, says the pull or push back to work, while difficult, may also be an opportunity to regain independence and self-esteem. Sly, who battled a debilitating illness, the bankruptcy of her health-club business and a divorce, says that, if anything, getting through this time can make women stronger and more self-confident.

More than 40 per cent of motorists have told pollsters from Beijing Municipal Centre for Environmental Awareness Promotion that they will not get behind the wheel today, United Nations World Environment Day.

Although 40 per cent is an obvious minority, we still feel inspired to see a growing public awareness of the impact of individual conduct on the environment.

We hope that the findings of this survey, a random sampling of motorists at parking lots in the city’s urban districts, are truly representative.

If each motorist keeps their promise, we may see a difference today both on the roads and in the sky above. Let us hope they do.

We salute all those who chose not to drive today. They made and kept a promise that will prove fundamental in our battle to protect the environment.

The United Nations Environment Programme defines World Environment Day as a people’s event. It has to be.

We are used to blaming poorly conceived government policies, irresponsible local officials and lawless businesspeople for environmental damage. While the apportioning of such blame is fair and justified in many cases, we usually neglect the simple truth that we, as individual citizens, can contribute more than just hot air.

We should all consult our conscience and ask ourselves if our way of life has something to do with these problems.

Desertification is the theme of this year’s World Environment Day. For most of us who live some distance away from deserts, the topic may sound less than relevant except when sand storms blur our skies with choking dust. But that is not true.

For example, the way in which many of us waste water may have a direct impact on the draining of groundwater essential to keeping plants on the surface soil alive. Our appetite for the exotic, including some herbal products unique to the Gobi Desert, such as liquorice root and black moss, has led to a serious loss of vegetation in Gansu Province and the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

Unless we refrain from such demands, the power of the market will continue to exert its very negative influence on our collective habitat.

More than half of those committed to not driving today said they would use public transport, walk or cycle to and from the office, or consider carpooling.

Those are very constructive alternatives that many can take.

But you do not have to own a car to do your bit. Turn off the tap when you brush your teeth. Use a reusable bag instead of the plastic ones on offer in stores when you go shopping. Use rechargeable batteries rather than the disposable ones.

There is plenty to do to make a difference, and most of it will cause us very little inconvenience.

A joint proposal by the local media, environmental organizations, and auto clubs resulted in more than 200,000 Beijing motorists pledging that they would not get behind the wheel today.

The difference should be bigger if the proposal to avoid driving one day each month gets a positive response from even more people.