The Happenings

Chinese action star Jet Li, who had a close brush with death in tsunami-ravaged Maldives in 2004, will take a break from fighting villains on screen this year as he turns his attention to charity work. Private philanthropy is a new trend in the world's most populous nation, where the wealth gap widened after the government abandoned a cradle-to-grave welfare system and embraced capitalist reforms in the late 1970s.

Li told Reuters that he had turned down two offers from U.S. filmmakers, forfeiting an income of about 200 million yuan ($27.6 million). He declined to elaborate. Instead, he will focus on the Jet Li One Foundation Project, which he launched jointly with the Red Cross Society of China last year to raise funds to help victims of natural disasters worldwide and Chinese youth coping with mental health issues.  Reuters >>More<<