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The Justice Department has filed a record 14 overseas-bribery cases so far this year - more than in the previous two years combined.

THE year-on-year growth rate of China's home prices last month hit a two-year high, a senior official in the nation's top planning body has said. The average home price in 70 major cities rose 10.5 percent last month compared with a year ago, and average new home prices grew 12.2 percent year-on-year, Cao Changqing, head of the pricing department at the National Development and Reform Commission, said yesterday in an online interview. But Cao did not reveal last month's growth rate over October. The average housing price in these cities has increased six consecutive months, including November. In the first 11 months of this year, home prices in 70 cities increased 7.3 percent from the previous year, while new residences jumped 7.9 percent. Shenzhen and Guangzhou's home prices began to drop gradually after hiking in previous months, while home sales in popular areas such as Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou have decreased, Cao said. Property policies will meet the

NINE senior officials at China's biggest liquor maker have been handed over to prosecutors on charges of corruption and bribery, Xinhua news agency reported today. Wang Xiaojin, former chairman of Anhui Gujing Group Co, has been expelled from the National People's Congress, the report said. Illicit money involved in the case ranged from 300,000 yuan (US$40,214) to five million yuan, the report said. Guo Xinmin, deputy manager of the sales department of Gujing Distillery Co, allegedly received more than five million yuan in bribes and Zhu Renwang, former general manager of the department, received a total of two million yuan from more than 30 clients, Bozhou prosecutors said. Vice president Li Yunjie received more than two million yuan, the prosecutors said. Other involved officials are Ruan Kunhua, Gan Shaoyu and Li Wanlin, the prosecutors said. Wang and his wife were taken from their home by the Party's disciplinary personnel in April. Previous reports said that

ENERGY futures fell yesterday as traders expecting a weakening of demand in the coming months cashed in profits from the previous session's rally. While an encouraging employment report suggested the economy is weathering the problems affecting the subprime mortgage industry, many energy traders and analysts question whether demand for oil and petroleum products will be strong enough in the fourth quarter to support US$80 a barrel oil. Others argue that demand for oil will increase as home heating season progresses. While crude inventories have risen for two straight weeks, supplies of gasoline and distillates including heating oil fell last week. Investors betting demand will tighten in the fourth quarter drove oil prices US$1.50 higher on Thursday. Yesterday, light, sweet crude for November delivery fell 22 cents to settle at US$81.22 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Futures ended the week down 44 cents a barrel, or 0.5 percent. Trading yesterday was volatile, with prices alternately rallying and falling. "There's profit-taking going on after yesterday's rally," said Addison Armstrong, an analyst with TFS Energy Futures LLC in Stamford, Connecticut. The quick resolution of many of Thursday's West Coast refinery outages also pressured prices yesterday. November gasoline fell 0.29 cent to settle at US$2.0493 a gallon on the Nymex, ending the week down 1.9 cents, or 0.9 percent. Heating oil futures fell 0.78 cent to settle at US$2.2235 a gallon. Both contracts surged more than 5 cents on Thursday. Natural gas for November delivery fell 33.9 cents to settle at US$7.073 per 1,000 cubic feet. Forecasters see little chance that a series of storms strung from the Gulf of Mexico to the central Atlantic will develop into tropical storms that could threaten critical gas and oil infrastructure. In London, November Brent crude fell 7 cents to settle at US$78.90 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange. Oil prices have been volatile in recent days as investors have battled over whether demand will grow or weaken in the fourth quarter. "It's a stalemate right now," said Phil Flynn, an analyst at Alaron Trading Corp. in Chicago. "People really don't know what the next move will be." Energy Department data suggests demand for gasoline is falling, and many analysts think that's a function of this year's record gas prices. But others argue that falling refinery activity and heating oil inventories sugg