Two days later she was spotted leaving Singapore apparently alone. This is more or less the substance of the magazine's cover story.

There are no details where they stayed, no evidence that they stayed together. It's not as if they found Li's shoes outside her hotel room which gave the game away in another celebrity-corporate Hong Kong romance.

As for the girl, name unknown, we're told she's about 25 with long hair, wore a long white dress and bore a striking similarity to previous Li girlfriends.

Next also notes that Li carried her luggage.

Interesting, but hardly beyond reasonable doubt. Surely we need more convincing evidence.

Not Cricket

Is nothing sacred? We read that Lords Cricket ground - that most hallowed sanctuary of all that pertains to the noble game of cricket - the thwack of leather on willow, Pimms, blazers, immaculate whites and the home of the venerable Marylebone Cricket Club, is to undergo a startling alteration to its image this summer, according to The Sunday Times.

The ground is currently branded as the 'Home of Cricket' but will change to the rather less subtle 'The Best Beer Garden in the City'.

This temporary move is aimed at broadening its appeal before the coming Twenty20 cricket season. Not exactly a ringing endorsement for cricket.

Cricket legend W.G. Grace must be rolling in his grave.

Return of the filth

Bad news: the filth (Failed in London? try Hong Kong) are coming. A survey by eFinancialCareers said Hong Kong and Singapore were the most popular destinations for those considering working overseas, according to a Reuters report.

'While the majority may wish to stay in Britain, significant numbers are now looking towards Asia, drawn by the prospect of lower taxes, better work-life balance, and better economic opportunities,' said James Bennet, a managing director at eFinancialCareers.com.

Better work-life balance?

They must be joking.

This is Hong Kong, where most employers agree that the ideal work-life balance is 80:20. They have obviously never dealt with workaholic bankers or businesspeople in Hong Kong, where you are seen as verging on the abnormal if you prefer women to money.

No-confidence vote

The recruitment firm Monster has caused a bit of a stir with a survey that concluded that British managers were among some of the worst bosses in the world.

This, according to Monster, follows from its survey of 9,000 staff in more than 50 countries.

The survey showed that only 18 per cent of British staff believed their bosses were more capable than them, while only 10 per cent believed their bosses were brilliant.

This compares with results from BRICS (the leading emerging market economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) countries where in India and China one in five employees regarded their bosses as more competent than them and 15 per cent viewed them as brilliant.

Alternatively you could argue this simply reflects a greater respect for authority on the part of the BRICS countries.

This survey contrasts sharply with research by the London School of Economics earlier this year on the effectiveness of managers around the world. It ranked US managers first followed by Japan, German, Sweden, Canada, and Britain.

The bottom four positions were occupied by Greece, China, Brazil and India. A case of lies, damned lies, statistics - and surveys.

Goldman takes a hit

What impact are the recent travails of Goldman Sachs having on how it is perceived by the financial community? Following a global poll, 54 per cent of traders, investors and analysts have an unfavourable opinion of the firm, according to Bloomberg.

That is perhaps not surprising after a series of embarrassments. But four of five surveyed also think the US Senate's recent report into Goldman's behaviour, which was nothing if not damning, will have no effect on the company. Can't live with the firm, can't live without it.