Shares of mainland car companies bucked the broad weakness, following news that only Chinese-branded vehicles would qualify for use by the government under a preliminary 2012 list of procurement choices released during the weekend.

WSJ: Asia Markets Slip on Oil

Its ten-item list of priorities covers everything from grain-procurement prices (up) to the corporate-tax burden imposed by VAT (down), taking in infrastructure, post-earthquake reconstruction, health care, education and environmental protection.

ECONOMIST: China's fiscal stimulus

In the U.S. in 2009, 14, 632 organs were donated, while the transplant wait list had 104, 898 patients, according to data from the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network and the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients.

WSJ: China to Stop Harvesting Inmate Organs