Workers at Driefontein Consolidated Ltd 's east gold mine have failed to report for work since Wednesday night , mine managers Gold Fields of South Africa Ltd said on Friday .


" Discussions with employee and union representatives are continuing , " the company said in a statement .


At least 17 miners have been killed in labour unrest -- sparked by ethnic differences -- at Driefontein Consolidated and Gold Fields ' Kloof Gold Mining Co this month .


Chad government closes university after protests .


The government of Chad has closed N'Djamena University after two days of protests over grant arrears in which Education Minister Nagoum Yamassoum was held hostage for four hours , state radio said on Friday .


" The minister and his colleagues who were held in the rector 's office were freed thanks an intervention by gendarmes , " one university official said .


" Angry students cut the telephone , water and electricity of the university offices before smashing the windows and breaking down the doors . "


Paramilitary police detained more than 120 students in the protest .


The students ' union said second and third-year students were demanding four months of unpaid grants .


End-of-year examinations would go ahead on September 2 despite the closure , university officials said .


Yeltsin endorses Lebed Chechnya peace plan - agency .


Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin said on Friday that President Boris Yeltsin , who is vacationing outside Moscow , had backed security chief Alexander Lebed 's peace plan for Chechnya , Interfax news agency said .


" Lebed is now in Chechnya solving some problems , " Interfax quoted Chernomyrdin as saying . "


It was agreed with Boris Nikolayevich ( Yeltsin ) yesterday . "


Lebed , whom Yeltsin ordered to restore peace in Chechnya , struck a military deal with separatist rebels last week ending the worst fighting in the region in more than a year .


He later discussed with rebel chief-of-staff Aslan Maskhadov a framework political agreement to tackle the most painful issue of the 20-month war -- the future political status of Chechnya .


Lebed said on Friday he hoped to sign a document with the rebels later in the day which would deal with the political settlement of the conflict .


Moscow , which wants to keep Chechnya as a part of the Russian Federation , sent troops to the region in December 1994 to quell its independence bid .


Yeltsin has said any deal should preserve Russia 's territorial integrity .


Itar-Tass news agency quoted Lebed as saying that he would suggest to the rebels that the decision on Chechnya 's future political status be deferred by up to 10 years .


Lebed said he had a telephone conversation with Yeltsin late on Thursday but gave no details .


Yeltsin 's press office could not confirm the call .


Chernomyrdin said on Thursday after a meeting with Lebed and top officials , who discussed Lebed 's plans to restore peace in Chechnya , that it needed more work .


Lebed , Chechens sign framework political deal .


Russian peacemaker Alexander Lebed said he and rebel military leader Aslan Maskhadov agreed after overnight talks to defer the decision on whether Chechnya should be independent until December 31 , 2001 .


" We just now signed a statement and attached the basic principles of relations between the Russian Federation and the Chechen Republic , " Lebed told reporters after he and Maskhadov signed a package of documents .


" That 's it , the war is over , " Lebed told reporters who witnessed the signing .


Lebed said he and Maskhadov agreed to defer by more than five years the painful issue of Chechnya 's political status .


" Then , with cool heads , calmly and soberly we will sort out our relations , " Lebed said after the late-night signing ceremony in this settlement outside Chechnya 's eastern border .


Tens of thousands of people have died in the war , begun in late 1994 after Moscow sent troops to quell Chechnya 's independence bid .


But Russia failed to win control over the whole of Chechnya and its troops suffered several humiliating defeats .


President Boris Yeltsin ordered Lebed to restore peace in Chechnya and gave him unspecified sweeping powers to carry out the mission .


Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin said on Friday that Yeltsin backed a package of proposals Lebed took to the talks .


Bosnia 's ruling Moslem nationalist party on Friday called on its refugee voters to end a boycott of absentee balloting in national elections , citing assurances provided by a U.S. envoy , government radio said .


The Bosnian government radio broadcast said U.S. Assistant Secretary of State John Kornblum had reassured SDA officials , including presumably its leader , Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic , whom he met during a Friday visit .


But the radio report did not specify what guarantees , if any , the U.S. envoy had provided .


Absentee voting in the elections began on Wednesday , August 28 and runs for a week .


Election day for those living inside Bosnia is September 14 .


The Party of Democratic Action ( SDA ) had called on Wednesday for its followers abroad to boycott the absentee balloting because of voter registration irregularities , especially among Serb refugees .


The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe ( OSCE ) postponed municipal elections as a result of the irregularities but decided to proceed with voting for higher offices .


The SDA , joined by two other parties , has been demanding that OSCE prohibit refugees voting from any place other than their pre-war place of residence as a means to prevent the elections from ratifying the results of ethnic cleansing .


Belgrade airport runway repairs Sept 21-26-agency .


Belgrade 's main airport Aerodrom Beograd will be closed to traffic for runway maintenance and modernization from September 21 to 26 , the Yugoslav news agency Tanjug reported late on Friday .


" During the works , all flights will be re-routed to the nearby airport in Batajnica , with no change in schedules , " Tanjug quotes Belgrade airport General Director Ljubomir Acimovic as saying .


The airport in Surcin will continue to carry out all other activities and has secured enough buses to transport passengers to Batajnica , Acimovic said .


The value of maintenance works , which will last 120 hours straight , is 20 million dinars and the funds have been secured by Belgrade airport , Tanjug said .


The Batajnica airport will take over complete air traffic control during this period , Federal Air Traffic Control Administration Director Branko Bilbija said .


Top Belarus politician blasts president .


A senior Belarus politician accused President Alexander Lukashenko on Friday of attempting to set up a dictatorship in the former Soviet republic .


The speaker of the Belarus parliament , Semyon Sharetsky , told Reuters that a draft constitution , due to be put to a national referendum on November 7 , would dangerously increase the powers of the ruler .


" The world community should not be indifferent to the fact that President Lukashenko , who leads this European state of 10 million people , is trying to establish a dictatorship with his new constitution , " Sharetsky said .


The new constitution calls for a two-chamber parliament with a 110-seat majority-elected house of representatives and a regionally-represented senate with a third of its members named by the president .


Lukashenko 's aides shrugged off Sharetsky 's charge . "


If there was a dictatorship they would n't have the right to say things like this , " Sergei Posukhov , Lukashenko 's political adviser , told Reuters .


" The people have asked us to establish order and that 's our main aim . "


Lukashenko , 41 , won presidential polls in 1994 on promises to restore order , fight corruption and repair the strong links with Russia that were disrupted by the collapse of the Soviet Union .


But during his period in office he has battled against nationalist opponents , trade unions and parliament and Sharetsky said the current parliament was ready to try to impeach him .


" This constitution , which has been prepared in secret , aims to gather all power in one man 's hands , " he said . "


We should not be fooled by his quasi-democratic rhetoric and his methods , like this referendum . "


Lukashenko signed a pact with Moscow in April to create a strong economic and political union which he believes could grow into a federation .


But nationalist groups , scared by the prospect of renewed Moscow domination and Russia 's backing for Lukashenko , protested against the deal .


Lukashenko responded by cracking down on the nationalist opposition and jailing nearly 200 people for taking part in demonstrations against the pact .


The United States last week granted political asylum to two opposition leaders , Zenon Poznyak and Sergei Naumchik .


Tajik troops now control devastated town .


Tajik government troops now control of the strategically vital town of Tavildara after driving out Islamic rebels , but sporadic gunfire still echoed in the nearby Pamir mountains on Friday .


The commander-in-chief of Tajikistan 's armed forces , Major-General Nikolai Sherbatov , took a group of journalists by helicopter to the remote , and now devastated , town to show that his forces held it .


He said his troops took Tavildara without casualties on August 23 , but the crack of sniper and machinegun fire revealed the presence of opposition fighters in the surrounding mountains .


Sherbatov said the rebels were located about three km ( two miles ) east of Tavildara around the village of Layron .


Tavildara , 200 km ( 120 miles ) east of the capital Dushanbe , was in ruins .


Shells had smashed roofs and windows and empty shell cases littered the streets .


The town straddles a strategically important road linking government and rebel-held territory and has fallen succesively to both sides in a bloody tug-of-war which began last February .


Tajikistan , which borders Afghanistan and China , has been split by a dragging four-year conflict after a civil war between communists and a frail coalition of Islamic and liberal groups .


Tens of thousands of people have been killed and many more have been displaced in the fighting , which breached a shaky United Nations-sponsored ceasefire .


Tavildara is now apparently inhabited only by a few old men , women and their grubby , barefoot children .


Fruit remained on the trees as there was no one to pick it .


" Help me , help me , " said a chorus of women begging soldiers for food .


The town 's school and a shop doubling as a warehouse for humanitarian aid were destroyed in the fighting .


" We had to build our own earth shelters to survive the fighting , " said Rajab Adinayev , a bearded elderly Tajik in a long white shirt .


Although shy in front of the government soldiers , several inhabitants accused government forces of widespread looting of homes and livestock .


They also said rebel fighters had looted medicines from the local hospital .


One elderly man , who declined to give his name , said two of his sons were now refugees in Moscow and the other two had left to fight for the opposition .


He also said government soldiers had raped the wife of one of his sons . "


It 's not important who holds this town , we just need to stop the war , " he said .


Polish Foreign Minister to visit Yugoslavia .


Poland 's Foreign Minister Dariusz Rosati will visit Yugoslavia on September 3 and 4 to revive a dialogue between the two governments which was effectively frozen in 1992 , PAP news agency reported on Friday .


During Rosati 's trip the two countries will sign an agreement on mutual protection of investments and a note easing conditions on the granting of visas , the agency quoted Foreign Ministry officials as saying .


The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia is the only country of the former Yugoslavia where Poles currently require visas .


They are also to clinch protocols on culture and understanding between the two foreign ministries .


Rosati will meet Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic and Yugoslav politicians in Belgrade , before visiting Montenegro .


Poland revived diplomatic ties at ambassadorial level with Yugoslavia in April but economic links are almost moribund , despite the end of a three-year U.N. trade embargo imposed to punish Belgrade for its support of Bosnian Serbs .


Poland is seeking pacts on avoiding double taxation and wants cooperation in fighting crime .


Yeltsin visits wife Naina in hospital - Interfax .


Russian President Boris Yeltsin visited his wife Naina in hospital on Friday evening , Interfax news agency quoted spokesman Sergei Yastrzhembsky as saying .


Naina Yeltsin had a kidney operation last Saturday .


Earlier Russian news reports had said Yeltsin 's children and grandchildren had visited the Russian first lady but they said only that Yeltsin , on vacation outside Moscow , had spoken to her by telephone .


" Naina Yeltsin looks well , she is active , she is clearly getting better , " Yastrzhembsky quoted Yeltsin as saying .


Naina Yeltsin is recovering in Moscow 's Central Clinical Hospital , where the president himself was treated twice last year for heart attacks .


Yeltsin , 65 , has been seen only rarely since he was elected for a second term in office on July 3 , although his aides have denied a string of rumours that he has been taken ill again .


Yastrzhembsky said Yeltsin had travelled from the hospital to spend the night at the Barvikha sanatorium outside Moscow .


He was likely to return on Saturday to his holiday resort , a hunting lodge some 100 km ( 60 miles ) from Moscow .


Russian peacemaker Alexander Lebed and Chechen separatist military leader Aslan Maskhadov started a new round of peace talks on Friday in this settlement just outside the rebel region .


Lebed , who flew into Chechnya earlier in the day , said he hoped to sign a framework agreement on a political settlement of the 20-month conflict in which tens of thousands of people have died .


Neither Lebed nor Maskhadov made any statement before the talks .


Russian judge stabbed to death over $ 7 fine .


A Moscow street vendor stabbed to death a woman judge in a city court on Friday after she fined him the equivalent of seven dollars for trading illegally , Interfax news agency said .


Interfax said Judge Olga Lavrentyeva , 28 , on Thursday ordered the confiscation of several overcoats , suits and shirts which vendor Valery Ivankov , 41 , was illegally trading on Moscow streets and fined him 38,000 roubles ( seven dollars ) .


The next morning , Ivankov appeared in the courtroom and stabbed Lavrentyeva .


Interfax quoted Levrentyeva 's colleagues as saying that judges were generally unprotected against criminal attacks .


Shares of France-registered printed packaging company Cofinec S.A. plunged sharply on the Budapest Stock Exchange ( BSE ) on Friday , despite a mostly reassuring forecast by the group .


Cofinec 's Global Depositary Receipts ( GDRs ) opened at 5,200 forints on the BSE , down 600 from Thursday 's close , following the release of its first half results this morning .


Cofinec CEO Stephen Frater told reporters in a conference call from Vienna on Friday before the opening of the bourse that he expects a stronger second half , although the group will not be able to achieve its annual profit goal .


" We will not achieve the full 37 million French franc ( net ) profit forecast , " Frater said . "


Obviously , we cannot make up the unexpected decrease that has been experienced in the first half of the year . "


Frater declined to give a forecast for the full year , ahead of a supervisory board meeting next week .


Cofinec , the first foreign company to list on the Budapest bourse , released its consolidated first half figures ( IAS ) this morning .


In the conference call , Frater said he regarded Cofinec GDRs -- which are trading below their issue price of 6,425 forints -- as a buying opportunity .


" Obviously , at some point it represents a buying opportunity , " Frater said . "


I think the reality is that we operate in emerging markets , emerging markets tend to be more volatile . "


" My message is that the fundamental strategy of the company , its fundamental market position has not changed . "


The group , which operates in Hungary , Poland and the Czech Republic , reported an operating profit before interest of 21.8 million French francs compared to 34.1 million in the same six months of 1995 .


Net profit for the January-June 1996 period was 2.1 million French francs , down from 10.3 million in the first six months of 1995 , with the bulk of this decline attributable to the performance of Petofi , one of its Hungarian units .


Cofinec said Petofi general manager Laszlo Sebesvari had submitted his resignation and will be leaving Petofi but will remain on Petofi 's board of directors .


" Until a new general manager of Petofi is appointed ...


I will in fact move to Kecskemet ( site of Petofi printing house ) for the interim and will serve as acting chief executive officer of Petofi , " Frater said .


Romania cen bank one-week rate rises to 50.19 pct .


The National Bank of Romania ( BNR ) said its one-week refinancing rate has been lifted this week to 50.19 percent from 49 percent after two banks bids ' exceeded its offer at Thursday 's auction .


The two banks entered bids totalling 497.5 billion lei at rates ranging from 49 to 51 percent , against the BNR 's offer of 420 billion lei .


Traders said that over the past few days the two major banks , keen to meet minimum reserve targets , also chased funds on the money market , being ready to gulp short-term money at rates up to 49 percent .


Other banks traded one-week rates near 48 percent .


Potent landmines found near Colombian presidency .


Eight claymore mines fitted with powerful C-4 plastic explosives were found stashed in a real estate office on Friday located about two blocks from Colombia 's presidential palace , police said .


" These are powerful weapons , " a spokesman with the Municipal Police told Reuters by telephone , adding that police had not ruled out a possible terrorist attack on the ornate Casa de Narino presidential palace in Bogota 's historic downtown area .


" They could cause serious damage as much as 500 meters ( yards ) away from wherever they were detonated , " the spokesman added .


He said police backed by explosive experts were combing the area in search of other possible weapons or explosive devices .


The police spokeman said plastic explosive like C-4 is not a normal component in claymore mines .


But he said the eight mines seized by police had been " specially adapted . "


The spokesman declined further comment , except to say that two women and a man identified as a lawyer had been arrested in connection with the landmines .


Assault charges dropped against Surinam ex-rebel .


Flamboyant former Surinamese guerrilla leader Ronny Brunswijk walked free on Friday after charges of attempted murder were dropped , police said .


Brunswijk had been in police custody for 10 days after Freddy Pinas , a Surinamese-born visitor from the Netherlands , accused Brunswijk of trying to kill him in a bar-room brawl in the mining town of Moengo 56 miles ( 90 km ) east of Paramaribo .


Brunswijk , 35 , denied the charge and reached an agreement with Pinas after replacing a golden necklace lost in the scuffle .


It was the second time Brunswijk had been charged with attempted murder in less than two years .


In 1994 he served two months for shooting a thief in the backside .


Brunswijk , who led a rebel group against the military regime of Desi Bouterse in the late 1980s , is now a successful businessman with mining and logging interests .


Cambodian opposition newspaper editor pardoned .


Cambodia 's King Norodom Sihanouk on Friday gave a royal pardon to an opposition newspaper editor who had alleged top-level corruption .


Hen Vipheak , former editor of the Sereipheap Thmei ( New Liberty ) newspaper , stepped through the gates of the run-down French colonial-era T3 prison late Friday afternoon , following intervention on his behalf by King Sihanouk .


The Supreme Court had on August 23 sent the opposition Khmer Nation Party steering committee member to jail after upholding rulings by the municipal and appeal courts that handed down a five million riels ( $ 2,000 ) fine and one year 's imprisonment .


The judge overturned a decision to shut down Hen Vipheak 's newspaper .


The editor was prosecuted following a May 1995 article alleging top-level corruption .


Sihanouk promised an amnesty to Hen Vipheak , along with fellow KNP member and journalist Chan Rattana , who was released after serving a week of a year-long jail term in June .


Co-Premiers Prince Norodom Ranariddh and Hun Sen agreed earlier this week to the king 's request for an amnesty .


Far East Gold - Moribund market seen continuing .


Far East gold traders thumped foreheads in frustration at the market 's foot-dragging this week and forecast on Friday that next week would not be much better .


The Southeast Asian gold market was more or less a photo-fit picture of the previous week 's position with activity slow and bullion prices trapped in a well-worn range awaiting a seasonal upturn in demand and prices into the fourth quarter .


Singapore premiums for Australian kilo bars were quoted unchanged at between 25-45 cents an ounce over spot loco London prices , with South Korean and Indonesian-origin premiums also steady at 10-20 cents an ounce .


Singapore dealers said they were concerned that there had been a marked revival in offers to sell gold by South Korean traders , following the distress sales of recent months after the Seoul government 's crackdown on bullion arbitrage trade .


" I was shocked to see these offers coming in again , though there 's been no indication of price or volume .


I dread to think what will happen to the premiums if the Koreans start selling in force , " one dealer said .


Continued dishoarding of kilo-bars by Indonesian sources ahead of next year 's presidential election has also kept a lid on premiums .


Gold closed down at $ 387.00 / $ 387.50 an ounce in Hong Kong on Friday , versus New York 's $ 387.60 / $ 388 finish on Thursday .


Dealers said the precious metal eased on a report that the International Monetary Fund might sell some of its gold to reduce the debts of the poorest developing countries .


Easier silver prices mid-week helped keep spot gold locked in a $ 386 - $ 389 an ounce range , dealers said , but they remained optimistic that the usual seasonal pick-up in jewellery fabrication demand would see gold at $ 395 by end-October .


" I still think we 'll see gold at $ 395 by the end of October , in a retracement of the $ 418 - $ 380 move we saw at the start of the year , " one said .


Silver , basis the September contract on New York 's Comex market , was expected to find support at between $ 5.12 - $ 5.15 an ounce and meet resistance from $ 5.25 - $ 5.30 , they added .


September silver closed up $ 0.004 in New York on Thursday at $ 5.255 an ounce .


Tripoli decks out for coup celebrations .


Libyans are dressing up their capital Tripoli for celebrations on Sunday of the 27th anniversary of the coup which brought Muammar Gaddafi to power .


Green flags and banners praise the " great revolution " and promise defiance against United Nations sanctions imposed for Libya 's refusal to hand over for trial two suspects wanted in connection with the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am flight over Lockerbie , Scotland .


" We have chosen the challenge because it is our only option , " proclaimed one banner on the road to Tripoli airport which serves only internal flights because of the sanctions .


Huge stadium lights are directed at the city 's Green Square where makeshift stages await Sunday 's festivities .


Three African leaders -- from Niger , Guinea and Ghana -- are expected to attend the celebrations marking September 1 , 1969 when a group of young army officers , led by a 27-year-old Gaddafi , deposed King Mohammed Idris .


" The revolution has brought us great achievements ...


We are comfortable the revolution has taken care of us , improved our lives and given us capabilites , " Samer Ammar Soliman , 42 , told Reuters as he came out of Friday prayers .


But some Libyans have begun to show their discontent in the country 's east , which has become a hotbed of militant violence .


Tripoli-based diplomats and exiled opponents said Gaddafi 's airforce blasted in July rebel strongholds in the mountainous Jebel al-Akhdar region .


Travellers arriving in Egypt say militants and police officers clash regularly in Benghazi .


At least 20 people were killed in the capital in early July after bodyguards loyal to Gaddafi 's sons fired at spectators of a football match who were chanting subversive slogans .


Gaddafi has dismissed any unrest as the work of foreigners , and last year deported thousands of Sudanese and Egyptian workers .


Twilight zone for Wall Street as political race heats up .


For Wall Street , this is the season to be cautious as the presidential contest puts the stock market in the twilight zone .


President Clinton , Bob Dole and Ross Perot are hitting the road now that the partying is over , and people who have billions of dollars invested in stocks were bracing for political promises that could have an impact on their wealth .


Analysts believe that the candidates will add to the market 's list of uncertainties , which already includes the question of whether the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates to cool economic growth .


They say the politicians will need to promote legislation that helps the economy without scaring the socks off financial markets .


" The worst thing that could happen for financial markets is that if Clinton and Dole start to trade shots in the middle of the ring with one-upmanship , " said Hugh Johnson , chief investment officer at First Albany Corp. " That 's when Wall Street will need to worry . "


He said that the bond market would be the first to react if the " bidding " intensifies and stocks would quickly drop as interest rates rise .


" I do n't think it would imply the collapse of the stock market , unless the rise in rates touches off a dynamic within the market , which would include selling by portfolio managers , redemptions by individuals of mutual funds that would , in turn , pressure the portfolio managers to sell even more stock . "


This week , the market weighed Dole 's proposal to lower federal income taxes by 15 percent across the board , a package that carries a price tag of $ 548 billion .


Clinton proposes an $ 8.4 billion re-election agenda that would spare most home-sellers from capital gains taxes and give employers tax incentives to hire people off the welfare rolls .


Clinton claims Dole 's plan would increase the deficit , while the White House said some corporate taxes would be raised to offset the cost of the president 's plan .


The experts said there are some unusual risks for the market from this year 's political season because the rush to promise tax cuts to win votes could upset Wall Street 's expectations that Washington will balance the budget .


" The stock market will have to edit the promises and then do a probability study on those edited promises , " said John Geraghty at the consulting firm North American Equity Services .


During the past four presidential elections , the candidate that has favoured tax cuts has won .


Ronald Reagan 's tax cut won him a second four-year term in the White House in 1984 , while Democrat Walter Mondale , who promised higher taxes , lost .


George Bush became president in 1988 on his no-new-tax campaign and Clinton won in 1992 with a promise to fatten workers ' paychecks .


The trick , they said , will be for the candidates to continue to convince Wall Street that the Treasury 's 30-year bond -- the most closely-watched interest rate -- will fall to between 4 percent and 5 percent by the end of the decade .


Johnson said that long-term interest rates have already been spooked by the election .


The long-term bond jumped this week to 7.13 percent after starting the year at 5.95 percent .


The surge of buying in stocks during the last two years has come amid an environment of low interest rates , which has boosted corporate profits .


But the market stalled this summer after the Dow Jones industrial average set a record high of 5,778.00 points on May 22 .


" The market does n't seem to be able to make new highs and it has been back and forth in a fairly horizontal mode which looks like a holding pattern , " said Geraghty .


He said the market reflects the political uncertainty , now that Dole has sharply narrowed the gap with Clinton in the polls .


Geraghty said that the one thing that could completely turn the election around are new findings in the Whitewater scandal that would damage the Clintons .


" Stocks are on a delicate edge because if something happens that looks like it could upset the presidency , it could throw the political and , to some extent the economic , process into chaos , " Geraghty said .


Right now , Wall Street is pondering the candidates .


" We have an election where there are so many unknown variables that most people will probably want to hold fire , and even take the chance that they will have to pay higher prices for stocks after the November election , than take the risk that a shock to the system will hurt the stock market , " Geraghty said .


On Friday , the Dow Jones index closed down 31.44 points at 5,616.21 .


For the week , it was down 106.53 points .


The Nasdaq composite index closed 3.53 points lower Friday at 1,141.50 .


For the week , it was down 1.55 points .


The Standard & Poor 's index of 500 stocks was off 5.41 points at 651.99 , down 15.03 points for the week .


The American Stock Exchange index was down 1.66 points at 559.68 , and was off 1.26 for the week .


Brisk economic reports rattle markets anew .


Factory orders rose in July and manufacturing surged in the Midwest in August , reports said Friday , sparking worries about inflation that battered financial markets for a second straight day .


The Commerce Department said orders for manufactured goods climbed 1.8 percent in July to a seasonally adjusted $ 317.6 billion -- nearly twice the increase that had been expected .


Shipments of everything from new cars to food items rose , as did order backlogs , in a sign that the strength in the industrial sector would continue in coming months .


A separate report from Chicago area purchasing managers underlined the strength in manufacturing as the group 's barometer of manufacturing in the region jumped to 60 in August from 51.2 in July .


A reading above 50 indicates growth in manufacturing .


While production and orders rose at Midwest area businesses , the prices they paid for goods used in manufacturing remained well in check .


Analysts said the reports implied the economy was not slowing down in the third quarter after a burst of growth in the spring , and that the lull in late June and July was more temporary than Federal Reserve policy-makers had wanted .


" It appears that August is showing an economy again reversing course and is not moving onto a significantly slower track at this point , " said economist Lynn Reaser of Barnett Banks Inc. in Jacksonville , Fla .


The reports fanned worries on Wall Street that the Fed , the nation 's central bank , would raise rates next month in a bid to ward off inflation , driving stock and bond prices sharply lower for a second day running .


The 30-year Treasury fell almost a point , raising its yield , which moves in the opposite direction from the price , to 7.12 percent from 7.04 percent late Thursday .


The Dow Jones industrial average fell 31.44 points to 5,616.21 after a 64.73-point decline Thursday .


A third report from the Commerce Department , on July personal income and spending , pointed to a potential slowdown in consumer spending that some analysts said may help moderate growth in the second half .


It showed spending rose only 0.2 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $ 5.15 trillion after dropping a revised 0.4 percent in June .


Incomes from wages , salaries and all other sources gained 0.1 percent to a rate of $ 6.47 trillion after a 0.9 percent jump in June .


July 's slight gain in incomes was the weakest in six months , since January when they were flat .


Economist Joel Naroff of First Union bank in Philadelphia said consumer spending , which fuels two-thirds of the nation 's economy , may be much slower in the third quarter than in the first half , which should slow economic growth .


" The FOMC ( Federal Open Market Committee ) has been forecasting a slowing in economic activity and moderating household demand will have a large impact on overall economic growth , " Naroff said in a written comment .


The policy-making FOMC is to meet on Sept .


It already has adopted a bias toward raising rates to keep a lid on wage and price rises and help sustain the 5-1 / 2-year-old economic expansion .


In an interview on the cable television network CNBC Friday , Federal Reserve Governor Lawrence Lindsey said there still were " mixed signals " about the economy 's direction .


" I think that , on balance , it is looking a little bit on the strong side , " Lindsey said .


He added that with expansion as solid as it is and with unemployment so low " the greater risks are clearly that we might see some overheating . "


While July consumer spending rose only slightly , there were ample indications that consumers remained confident .


The University of Michigan 's August index of consumer sentiment , made available on Friday to paying subscribers , rose to 95.3 from 94.7 in July .


Reaser said strong consumer confidence coupled with relatively lean inventories were providing manufacturers with a reason to gear up production .


" The economy is not going to be expanding at the 4.8 percent ( annual ) rate that we had in the second quarter but it is likely to keep expanding in the 3 percent range , " she said , above the 2 percent to 2-1/4 percent that the Fed considers to be non-inflationary .


New orders to factories were strong for durable goods like new cars and for nondurables like paper and food products .


Orders for durable goods , meant to last three years or more , rose a revised 1.7 percent in July after falling 0.2 percent in June .


Orders for nondurables jumped 1.8 percent following a 1.2 percent decrease in June .


U.S. Agriculture Department officials said Friday that Mexican avocados -- which are restricted from entering the continental United States -- will not likely be entering U.S. markets any time soon , even if the controversial ban were lifted today .


" The opportunity to import ( Mexican avocados ) probably wo n't become possible for another year , " said Paul Drazek , senior trade advisor to Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman .


" We could lift the ban tomorrow , but that would not mean anything immediately , " said Drazek . "


We probably would not see avacados come in until next season , next November . "


The Agriculture Department proposed more than a year ago to significantly ease an 82-year ban on Mexican avocados .


Under the administration 's proposal , the borders to the Mexican produce would be opened into 19 Northern and Northeastern states from November through February .


The plan has raised a storm of protest from U.S. avocado growers , who are largely concentrated in California .


California growers have charged that removing the restrictions , even on a limited basis , would endanger the $ 1 billion U.S. industry if potentially harmful Mexican insects were brought into the country along with the avocados .


Mexican officials contend that there is no scientific basis for the ban , and that it is illegal under international trading rules of the World Trade Organisation .


Proponents of the plan discount the worries of the U.S. growers and say the plan has enough safeguards built into it to eliminate any significant threat to American producers .


Under the proposal , only imports of export-quality avocados growing in approved orchards in Michoacan , Mexico , the country 's main avocado area , would be allowed .


Mexican growers and distributors would have to abide by strict rules established by the Mexican and U.S. agriculture agencies .


The California Avocado Commission -- which has spearheaded the opposition to lifting the ban -- said new data the group submitted to the Agriculture Department last spring shows the department underestimated the pest problem in Mexico and have urged that the agency reopen its study of the issue .


The administration is still studying the new data , and officials have said that if experts think the information is significant , the agency could reopen its investigation .


But U.S. avocado industry sources said that while they may have delayed the plan for a while , they ultimately do not expect the administration to change its position .


" From a common-sense view , the department should reconsider this plan , but due to politics they will probably go ahead with this , " said Tom Bellamore of the California avocado group .


Administration officials said they want to get the issue resolved as quickly as possible , but said there is no timetable they are working under .


" It 's a very complicated issue , " said the Agriculture Department 's Drazek . "


We 'll get it resolved as quickly as we can , based on the best available science . "


U.S. Cardinal Bernardin says has terminal cancer .


Chicago Cardinal Joseph Bernardin , head of the second-largest U.S. Roman Catholic archdiocese , said on Friday his doctors had diagnosed him as having liver cancer and he had a year or less to live .


Bernardin , 68 , underwent extensive surgery for pancreatic cancer in June 1995 followed by months of chemotherapy , which he said made him more aware of his own vulnerabilities and the need to minister to the sick .


" On Wednesday , examinations indicated that the cancer has returned , this time in the liver .


I am told that it is terminal and that my life expectancy is one year or less , " a composed Bernardin told a news conference .


In 14 years as Chicago 's archbishop , he built a prayerful , saintly image and was deeply involved in world church issues and publicly committed to rooting out abuses by clergy .


" I have been assured that I still have some quality time left , " he said , saying he would undergo a new form of chemotherapy but his doctors have told him there was only a slim chance of a cure and the liver cancer was inoperable .


" It 's not going to be easy to say goodbye to everybody .


Death does have some sad dimensions to it but I am a man of faith , " he said . "


He said he would " serve until the end " as cardinal .


Pancreatic cancer is among the most deadly forms of the disease , although Bernardin 's case was caught early .


Surgeons removed a cancerous kidney , parts of his pancreas and stomach , small intestine , bile duct and surrounding tissues .


He made a rapid recovery and resumed most of his duties , but then developed a deteriorating condition in his spine that caused him great pain and shortened his height by several inches .


He was scheduled to undergo back surgery next month , but that was cancelled when the cancer was discovered in his liver in order to avoid delaying the start of chemotherapy .


The spare , soft-spoken son of an Italian stonecutter took over the Chicago archdiocese , the nation 's second-largest after Los Angeles , with 2.3 million parishioners , in 1982 .


Ironically , Bernardin , who developed a progressive , much-praised programme to deal with pedophilia involving priests , became the highest-ranking church official ever accused of sexual improprieties when a former seminary student leveled charges in 1993 that he had been sexually abused by Bernardin during the 1970s .


Bernardin steadfastly denied the charges and the former student later recanted his tale of abuse .


Bernardin prayed with him before he died from AIDS last year .


Bernardin , who became archbishop of Cincinnati in 1972 , played an increasingly prominent role in the U.S. church as a moderate voice of compromise among liberals and conservatives in the ranks of the bishops .


This month , he announced that he would oversee a series of conferences to find " common ground " among American Catholics .


Previously , he was instrumental in drafting church policy on war , peace and nuclear arms , and for seven years he headed the bishops ' anti-abortion policy committee , espousing a policy describing human life as a " seamless garment . "


Boatmen 's deal could spark more mergers .


The $ 9.5 billion proposed acquisition of Boatmen 's Bancshares Inc. by NationsBank Corp. could spark a flurry of other mergers involving Missouri banks , which until last year were protected from outside buyers by state regulations .


" NationsBank just strolled into the Midwest and bagged the biggest banking trophy in the landscape , " said Michael Ancell , banking industry analyst at Edward D. Jones & Co . "


Whoever wants a big market position in the Midwest has to come in and grab Mercantile or Commerce . "


St. Louis-based Mercantile Bancorp Inc. , a bank holding company with $ 18.04 billion in assets , was seen by many analysts as the most attractive Missouri franchise in size after Boatmen 's .


Kansas City , Mo.-based Commerce Bancshares Inc. , with $ 9.32 billion in assets , also could help a regional bank establish a strong presence in the lower Midwest , analysts added .


" It focuses more attention on Mercantile , Commerce and Roosevelt , " said James Weber , analyst at A.G. Edwards & Sons .


Roosevelt Financial Group Inc is a $ 9.33 billion asset-St .


" Now ... the most coveted bank out there is Mercantile , " Weber said .


Mercantile and Commerce did not return phone calls seeking comment .


Among those seen as having an interest in buying in Missouri are Minneapolis-based First Bank System Inc. and Norwest Corp. , Ohio-based KeyCorp and Banc One Corp. , and First Chicago NBD Corp. in Illinois .


Representatives of First Bank , Norwest , Banc One and First Chicago said the banks do not comment on rumors of possible mergers or acquisitions .


KeyCorp , contacted by phone , would not comment .


With a presence in nine states and $ 41 billion in assets ,


Boatmen 's was the prize in Missouri , where barriers to outside acquirers were brought down last year by a federal banking statute .


" Boatmen 's was the plum of Missouri and was the plum of the central Midwest , " Weber said .


Talk that the Missouri banks were seeking inflated prices from buyers was seen as a reason a deal has not occurred sooner .


But NationsBank 's bid , representing a premium of 40 percent for Boatmen 's stock , was large enough to get the deal done .


" I think Boatmen 's was shopping itself , and everybody knew if you wanted to be the winning buyer here , you had to make the bid nobody would beat , " Ancell said .


But some analysts cautioned that other targets should not expect as large a premium .


They also questioned whether NationsBank can recoup shareholder value with such a large bid for Boatmen 's .


" I think initially some stocks will trade up on sympathy , but the wild premium NationsBank put on this deal here , I do n't see a lot of other deals being done at this premium , " said Michael Durante , analyst at McDonald & Co .


U.S. tight-lipped on Libya 's award to Farrakhan .


The State Department refused to speculate on Friday on what might happen in the case of Louis Farrakhan , the U.S. black leader who was awarded a $ 250,000 human rights prize by Libya .


" I 'm not going to speculate about what may or may not happen in that case , " State Department spokesman Glyn Davies said . "


... The view of the U.S. government on ( Farrakhan 's ) not accepting any gifts from Libya is well-known . "


Davies also noted : " We 've talked about the passport restriction for travel to Libya " but he did not elaborate .


The U.S. Treasury Department on Wednesday denied Farrakhan 's application to receive the $ 250,000 award or a $ 1 billion donation Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi had pledged to Farrakhan 's Nation of Islam group after they met last January .


Farrakhan organised last October 's Million Man March that brought thousands of black men to Washington for a peaceful rally .


The Treasury Department said Libya was on the U.S. list of states that sponsor international terrorism and noted that Tripoli has refused to hand over two Libyan suspects in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie , Scotland .


That refusal led to the imposition of U.N. sanctions on Libya .


U.S. Gulf rig down by one to 162 in week .


There were 162 rigs under contract in the U.S. Gulf as of August 30 , down one from the prior week , Offshore Data Services said .


The utilization rate for rigs working in the Gulf , based on a total fleet of 181 , was 89.5 percent .


The number of working rigs in European / Mediterranean remained unchanged this week , with 105 rigs under contract out of a total fleet of 105 , a utilization rate of 100 percent .


The worldwide rig count fell by one to 554 out of a total fleet of 608 , making the utilization rate 91.1 percent .


Dole team seeking to pin down debate details .


Now that the party conventions are over , Republicans have signalled they are ready to move into the next phase of the campaign and meet with President Clinton 's aides to hammer out details of presidential debates .


The Dole campaign released a letter Friday inviting their Clinton counterparts to meet with Dole campaign manager Scott Reed to discuss particulars of the televised debates .


" Next week , a small group of representatives from each of our campaigns should meet to address participants , format , timing and logistical issues surrounding the debates , " Dole campaign manager Scott Reed wrote to Clinton campaign manager Peter Knight .


Tentative dates for the debates are Sept .


The vice presidential debate is scheduled for Oct. 2 .


Carroll Campbell , who was on Dole 's vice presidential short list before Dole decided on Jack Kemp , will head Dole 's team .


A decision is expected by mid-September on whether Texas billionaire Ross Perot , the Reform Party candidate , will be allowed to participate in the debates , which are sponsored by the Commission on Presidential Debates , a non-profit , non-partisan organisation that took over the forums in 1988 from the League of Women Voters .


Equipment problems and mechanical failure forced a recovery expedition to give up efforts to retrieve a giant slab of the RMS Titanic from the ocean floor , a spokeswoman said on Friday .


A 20-ton piece of the Titanic 's steel hull , which had been attached by cables to a recovery ship off the coast of Newfoundland , Canada , fell back to the bottom of the sea , said Erin Purcell of Boston-based Reagan Communications that represents two of the ships used in the expedition .


The piece of hull , lifted from the ocean floor by means of several diesel-filled bags , had been stuck about 200 feet ( about 70 metres ) below the water 's surface before it fell , she said .


It fell as recovery crews were trying to haul the piece into more shallow water and several of the bags burst and cables snapped , she said .


The steel-hulled Titanic , thought to be unsinkable , struck an iceberg on April 14 , 1912 , and sank , killing 1,523 of the 2,200 passengers and crew on board .


Passengers who had paid $ 1,500 and up to accompany the recovery expedition on two cruise ships had returned back to port on Thursday , Purcell said .


The German government urged Israelis and Palestinians on Friday to avoid any course of action that might jeopardise the peace process in the Middle East .


Israel announced this week the expansion of Jewish West Bank settlements surrounding Jerusalem and the demolition of an Arab community centre in East Jerusalem .


City officials there said the centre was being erected illegally .


But Palestinian President Yasser Arafat said the moves by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 's government were tantamount to war .


Tension has been rising in the region since .


" We believe that the Israeli settlement policy in the occupied areas is an obstacle to the establishment of peace , " German Foreign Ministry spokesman Martin Erdmann said .


" All concerned must avoid taking any course of action that could pose an obstacle to the peace process and which could make a peaceful solution difficult , " he said , as news came of a renewed breakdown in Arab-Israeli peace talks in Jerusalem .


Erdmann told reporters Bonn supported European Union efforts to persuade Israel to stop further Jewish settlement on the West Bank .


The foreign ministry later announced Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy would visit Bonn for talks with his German counterpart Klaus Kinkel next month .


The ministry said Levy and Kinkel would discuss the Middle East process and German-Israeli relations at their meeting on September 9 .


Levy 's visit would be the first by an Israeli cabinet minister since Netanyahu 's conservative government took power in une this year , the ministry said .


Before Levy 's arrival in Bonn , German Defence Minister Volker Ruehe will visit Israel from September 2 to 4 , the defence ministry said .


Ruehe planned to meet his Israeli counterpart Yitzhak Mordechai and Israeli President Ezer Weizman , the ministry said .


He was also expected to meet Prime Minister Netanyahu and opposition leader Shimon Peres for talks .


France expels African , Air France unions protest .


France on Friday expelled another African man seized in a police raid on a Paris church as about 100 Air France workers denounced " charters of shame " used to fly illegal immigrants home .


A Guinean man , detained in a round-up in the Saint-Bernard church a week ago , was deported on a scheduled Air France flight to Conakry after his appeals failed , a spokesman for Air France 's pro-Socialist CFDT union said .


He was apparently the eighth African deported from among 210 people evicted from the church after a 50-day occupation aimed at securing residence permits , unions said .


Most of the others have been released after a brief stay in detention .


About 100 people from the CFDT and the Communist-led CGT unions marched outside Air France headquarters at Charles de Gaulle airport north of Paris against the use of civilian jets and staff in deporting illegal immigrants .


" We must obtain a formal commitment from ( Air France chairman ) Christian Blanc that no plane , no personnel be used to transform our air companies into charters of shame , " CFDT spokesman Francois Cabrera said .


He said civilians should not be police accomplices .


Twenty-three out of 25 charters flying illegal immigrants home since Prime Minister Alain Juppe 's government took office in May 1995 have been civilian jets .


Separately , Juppe confirmed the conservative government was preparing to submit a draft bill to parliament to tighten laws on illegal workers as part of a crackdown on immigration .


" Legislation is insufficient in several areas , notably in those concerning illegal work , " Juppe told reporters .


German police probe sex link in child kidnap case .


German police searching for a missing 10-year-old schoolgirl said on Friday the prime suspects in the case may have been involved in running a child prostitution ring .


Police suspect Nicole Nichterwitz 's aunt and a male companion abducted the girl and took her to the Netherlands .


She was last seen being collected by the pair from school in Velten near Berlin on Monday .


Public prosecutors said they had found a list of children 's names and ages at the couple 's flat .


The list was being studied for possible links to previous child kidnappings and prostitution , a prosecutors ' spokesman told Reuters .


Missing German girl found alive at Dutch campsite .


Dutch police said on Friday they had found missing German girl Nicole Nichterwitz alive on a campsite in the northern city of Groningen and had arrested her aunt and companion on charges of kidnapping .


" We have found Nicole on a campsite in Groningen thanks to tipoffs from the Dutch public .


We have also found and arrested her aunt and companion , " said a spokeswoman of the Dutch criminal investigation service .


Police could not yet tell whether the 10-year-old showed any signs of sexual abuse .


The girl was abducted from her school in Velten near Berlin on Monday .


German police suspected her aunt , 47 , and companion , 28 , were involved in running a child prostitution ring .


The list was being studied for possible links to previous child kidnappings and prostitution , a prosecutors ' spokesman said .


The couple would probably be extradited to Germany which has requested their deportation , the Dutch police spokeswoman said .


Descriptions of the couple 's car released to Dutch media led to their arrest , she added .


Indian copper falls , state firm may cut rates .


Indian copper prices fell on Friday as dealers awaited an announcement relating to price cuts by state-owned producer , Hindustan Copper Ltd , traders said .


Nickel extended gains while other base metals were unchanged in narrow trade , they said .


Ready copper fell by 150 rupees at 12,350 rupees per quintal on fresh offerings by the stockists who expect Hindustan Copper to cut prices .


Nickel rose by 500 to 39,200 rupees on thin supply and fresh buying by stainless steel makers .


Tin was unchanged at 36,000 rupees , so did zinc at 6,300 rupees and lead at 4,900 rupees .


MARTELA H1 PROFIT FIM 6.3 MLN VS 21.0 MLN .


Profit before extraordinaries , appropriations ,


Earnings per share ( markka ) 2.2 vs 7.2


Canadian bonds open softer , spreads to U.S. shrink .


Canadian bonds opened softer on Friday , pulled lower by a sinking U.S. market , but outperformed U.S. bonds on positive Canadian economic data , analysts said .


" I think this morning 's Canadian numbers were very supportive of narrower spreads , particularly the current account number , " said Jim Webber , director of fixed-income research with TD Securities Inc .


Canada 's 8.0 percent bond due 2023 fell C$ 0.45 to C$ 101.15 to yield 7.894 percent .


The spread between benchmark bonds narrowed 77 basis points from 81 basis points at the close of trading on Wednesday .


Statistics Canada on Friday reported Canada 's current account moved to a higher-than-expected C$ 1.15 billion second quarter surplus from a C$ 1.62 billion deficit in the first quarter .


It was the first surplus since the fourth quarter of 1984 .


The agency also reported Canada 's real gross domestic product rose a weaker-than-expected 0.3 percent in the second quarter or 1.3 percent at an annualized rate .


While the data provided support for Canadian bonds , both Canadian and U.S. markets weakened after the release of strong U.S. economic data , including a report showing the Chicago Purchasing Managers August index rose to 60 from 51.2 in July .


" The purchasing managers ' number is extremely , extremely strong , " said Webber .


In other news , the Toronto Bond Traders ' Association said it is recommending that dealings in the Canadian bond market end early at 1400 EDT / 1800 GMT on Friday .


The Canadian market typically closes early on holiday weekends and Canadian financial markets will be closed on Monday for Labour Day .


In other prices , the 7.0 percent of 2006 fell C$ 0.28 to C$ 96.89 to yield 7.437 percent .


The spread between the two bonds narrowed to 49 basis points from 54 basis points at the close of trading on Thursday .


The three-month cash bill traded at 4.04 percent against the U.S. three-month bill at 5.26 percent .


-- Jeffrey Hodgson ( 416 ) 941-8105 , e-mail : jeffrey.hodgson@reuters.com


Aw Computer Systems Inc Q2 loss widens .


( All Data Above 000s Except Per Share Numbers )


IPO FILING -- Homegate Hospitality Inc .


Business : Company 's goal is to become a national provider of high quality extended-stay hotels in strategically selected markets located throughout the United States .


Use of Proceeds : To finance the development of additional extended-stay hotels and other general corporate purposes .


Syria on Friday condemned Israel 's settlement policy and said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was preparing for war with Arabs .


" Practices of the Israeli government , especially its settlement activities , came to confirm that dealing with this government inflicts the biggest harm on the Arab cause , " state-run Damascus Radio said in a commentary .


" When this government insists on stabbing the peace process and tearing it apart , this means that it is preparing for war , " the radio said .


Palestinian President Yasser Arafat described this week the decision to expand settlements in the West Bank as a declaration of war .


Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza observed a strike on Thursday to protest against the Israeli move .


The radio urged Arabs to unify their ranks to thwart the policies of the right-wing Israeli government .


" Israel could not confront a united Arab stand or usurp their rights because the Arab rights could be regained when they achieve unity and solidarity , " Damascus radio said .


It welcomed the international criticism of Israel 's settlement policies but called for practical steps to force the Israeli government to abandon this policy .


" It is important to translate the criticism into pressuring action to prevent Israel from undermining the big international efforts aimed at making the peace process achieve success , " the radio said .


Syria and Arabs have been dismayed by Netanyahu 's refusal to trade the occupied Arab lands for peace , his support for the expansion of settlements and his insistance on Jerusalem as a unifed capital for Israel .


Syria has held sporadic peace talks with Israel since 1991 without achieving a breakthrough .


Egypt police detain 26 suspected Moslem militants .


Police have detained 26 suspected members of Egypt 's largest militant group al-Gama'a al-Islamiya ( Islamic Group ) , government newspapers reported on Friday .


They said police arrested the militants in the eastern Sharqiyah province after capturing their leader Rami al-Saadani in a satellite city outside Cairo .


Al-Akhbar newspapers said the men had been plotting against " strategic institutions and prominent individuals " but gave no other details .


The newspapers said the men were being interrogated .


State security officials were not immediately available for comment .


More than 960 people have been killed in the armed struggle the Gama'a launched in 1992 to topple President Hosni Mubarak 's government and establish a purist Islamic state in its place


Israel blocks Palestinian pilgrims ' progress .


An Israeli roadblock stopped the 38-year-old Palestinian from answering Yasser Arafat 's call to worship at Jerusalem 's al-Aqsa mosque on Friday .


There are no prayers today , " an Israeli soldier yelled at Jamil in Hebrew .


Palestinian President Arafat , attacking Israel 's decision to expand Jewish settlements and its policy on Jerusalem , went before the Palestinian legislature on Wednesday to urge the two million Arabs in the West Bank and Gaza to go to the holy city .


Pilgrims stood little chance of making progress .


Palestinians have been banned by Israel from travelling from the West Bank to Jerusalem since suicide bombings by Moslem militants killed 59 people in the Jewish state in February and March .


And Israeli checkpoints have circled Jerusalem since 1993 , a concrete and constant reminder of Israel 's hold on a city it considers its eternal capital .


The PLO wants Arab East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state .


Only a few Palestinians trickled to the roadblocks .


" I am heeding Abu Ammar 's ( Arafat 's ) call to pray at al-Aqsa and I came .


It is our duty towards al-Aqsa to come and pray , " Jamil said .


A tourist from Jordan was also told by Israeli soldiers at the al-Ram checkpoint that he could not enter Jerusalem .


" We have a peace treaty with them and we let them go wherever they want when they come to Jordan , " said the tourist , Khaled Hijazi , 37 . "


I am entitled to see Jerusalem , " he said .


Some Palestinians took to back roads , only to run into waiting Israeli security forces .


" The Israelis have no right to prevent us from going to pray .


What kind of peace is this that prevents us from reaching our holy places ? "


asked Mustafa Hoshiyeh , a 27-year-old West Bank labourer turned around by a police patrol on a back road .


We have signed a peace treaty with the Israelis but on the ground , we see that nothing has changed , " said 20-year-old Ali Ahmed from Qalandia refugee camp .


ISSUER : Bay Co Building Authority ST : MI


ISSUE : Bldg auth ( law enforcement ctr ) Series 1996-A TAX STAT : Exempt-REV


M / SP / F : NA / NA / NA BOOK ENTRY : N


PAYING AGENT : Michigan National Bank , Detroit


L.O. : Bodman , Longely & Dahling , Detroit


F.A. : First of Michigan Corp. , Detroit


COMPETITIVE PRE-SALE CONTRIBUTED BY J.J. KENNY K-SHEETS :


Consumer spending , incomes edge up in July .


Consumer spending barely edged up in July , the Commerce Department said Friday , as income growth slowed abruptly to the weakest pace in six months .


Spending rose 0.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $ 5.15 trillion after dropping a revised 0.4 percent in June .


Incomes from wages , salaries and all other sources gained 0.1 percent to a rate of $ 6.47 trillion after a 0.9 percent jump in June .


Department officials said July 's slight gain in incomes was the weakest for any month since January , when they were flat .


Wages and salaries came under pressure in July as a shorter average workweek and lower hourly earnings cut into paychecks .


The department said wages and salaries decreased by $ 6.9 billion in July after climbing $ 45 billion in June .


" In July , average weekly hours and average hourly earnings declined , more than offsetting the effect of an increase in employment , " Commerce said .


But more money went into savings accounts , as savings held at 5.3 cents out of each dollar earned in both June and July .


That was the highest savings rate since October last year , when 5.5 cents out of each dollar earned was being saved .


The generally lackluster report on spending and incomes in July had been expected .


At the same time , the department said in a separate report that new orders received by U.S. factories climbed strongly in July , with widespread gains across most major categories .


Orders increased 1.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted $ 317.6 billion , significantly stronger than the 1 percent rise forecast by Wall Street economists .


That followed a revised 0.7 percent decline in June orders .


Commerce said previously that spending at retail stores was up only 0.1 percent in July , partly because of softer sales of new cars and light trucks .


In addition , the Labour Department 's July employment report had foreshadowed the muted income growth .


It showed average hourly earnings fell in July by 0.2 percent to $ 11.00 and the average workweek shortened to 34.3 hours from 34.7 in June .


Gains in personal income , which includes wages and salaries as well as income from sources such as dividends , interest and businesses , are essential for funding consumer purchases , which fuel two-thirds of national economic activity .


Spending on all types of durable goods , which includes cars , fell to an annual rate of $ 626.3 billion in July from $ 633.6 billion in June .


But spending on nondurable products increased moderately to a rate of $ 1.55 trillion from $ 1.54 trillion in June , while spending for services was up to $ 2.97 trillion in July from $ 2.96 trillion .


Payrolls of manufacturing companies rose in July by $ 2.3 billion to an annual rate of $ 678 billion .


World Markets Overnight Summary - Aug 30 .


20202.87 ( - 350.29 ) Sept Brent zinc per tonne


STOCKS SINK AS BOND RATES JUMP ON STRONG DATA


Blue-chip stocks sank to their biggest loss since mid-July Thursday as fresh signs of a surprisingly strong economy boosted long-term bond interest rates above 7 percent .


The dollar rose slightly against the German mark , but edged lower against the Japanese yen .


The Dow Jones industrial average ended down 64.73 points at 5,647.65 , its largest drop since July 15 , when it closed with a loss of 161 points .


In the broader market , declining issues beat advances 1,627 to 743 on moderate volume of 321 million shares on the New York Stock Exchange .


In the bond market , the 30-year Treasury bond fell 23/32 of a point , or $ 7.1875 on a $ 1,000 bond , raising its yield to 7.04 percent -- the highest since July 31 -- from 6.98 percent at Wednesday 's close .


" Seven percent creates psychological problems and a legitimate competitor for money from equities , " said Ralph Bloch , chief technical analyst at Raymond James .


" We could carry another 100 points lower in the Dow , " he said . "


I 'm telling clients things are dicey going into next Friday ( Sept .


6 faces the key monthly employment report , which has been known to cause dramatic swings in stock prices .


" We had two very strong economic reports , " said David Shulman , Salomon Bros . '


Fears of a Fed tightening next month have resurfaced for the first time since the end of July . "


The Commerce Department reported that the nation 's gross domestic product expanded at a 4.8 percent annual rate in the three months from April through June instead of the 4.2 percent estimated a month ago .


In another report , sales of new homes jumped unexpectedly in July to the briskest rate in five months , driving prices up in a strong housing market .


Sales shot up 7.9 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 783,000 units -- the strongest since February , when new homes were selling at a rate of 784,000 a year .


Analysts said the stock market was also worried about the impact on President Clinton 's re-election bid of his top political strategist resigning .


Dick Morris , who is credited with resurrecting Clinton 's political fortunes over the past 18 months by masterminding his turn to the political centre , quit after a supermarket tabloid reported he engaged in a yearlong affair with a prostitute , with whom he allegedly shared confidential campaign documents .


Analysts said Wall Street had grown accustomed to a moderate Republican in the form of Democratic President Clinton .


Morris ' departure raised fears that Clinton would veer more to the left in a second term .


The dollar closed at 1.4772 marks , up from 1.4767 late Wednesday .


The dollar slipped to 108.40 yen from 108.45 .


Oil markets rose sharply on a combination of low stocks , two hurricanes and allegations of illicit trading by Iraq .


September heating oil on the New York Mercantile Exchange closed 1.63 cents higher at 63.67 cents a gallon , September unleaded gasoline finished 1.39 cents up at 63.72 cents a gallon and October crude rose 44 cents to $ 22.15 a barrel .


December cotton closed 0.95 cent higher at 77.06 cents per pound on the New York Cotton Exchange despite some easing of concern about the twin hurricane threat to key U.S. growing areas with forecasts indicating both storms may remain offshore .


Overseas , London 's FTSE 100 index had earlier climbed to 3,8921.1 just below its record of 3,922.1 , before edging down through the afternoon session to finish the day at 3,885.0 , a fall of 33.7 points .


In Tokyo , the key 225-share Nikkei average shed 156.65 points , or 0.76 percent , to end at 20,553.16 .


Pirelli cables look to tap Chinese growth .


Italian tyre and cables giant Pirelli on Friday announced its long-awaited move into China with a cables joint venture set to capitalise on the rapidly-growing Chinese telecommunications market .


Pirelli is linking with Hong Kong-based group CITIC Pacific in a venture to be called the Wuxi Tong Ling Company Ltd , which will operate in partnership with a local industrial company at its existing factory in Wuxi , Jiangsu province , Shanghai .


The partners will invest around $ 30 million in the existing copper cable plant at Wuxi to update technology and include optic fibre production , with annual turnover expected to reach $ 60 million within the next few years .


The move marks a further move by Pirelli 's cables division to expand in the fast-growing Far Eastern developing markets with the group already present in Indonesia , India and Malaysia .


" This is really positive news for Pirelli , and I expect that it will produce one of the best half-year results in late September compared to other industrial Italian companies , " said analyst Paula Buratti at Indosuez .


She emphasised that the move was positive because Pirelli will have management control of the Chinese venture , and it also showed another example of Pirelli exporting its technical know-how to developing markets .


Pirelli shares reacted favourable even though talks had been underway for some time and news about a venture had been widely expected .


The shares rose 0.2 percent to 2,555 lire by 1350 GMT in an easier Milan stock market .


This will be Pirelli 's first industrial involvement in a Chinese market where demand for telecommunication networks is expected to grow to 80-100 million new lines between 1996 and 2000 , doubling demand for optical cables .


China 's second largest telecoms operator Unicom already has a mandate from the central government to establish 15 million new phone lines by the year 2000 , which will necessitate new trunk line systems and local distribution networks .


" The starting of this production base in China has for our group an undoubted strategic value , representing an important enhancement of our presence in Asia , " said Pirelli SpA chairman and chief executive officer Marco Tonchetti Provera .


Pirelli Cables has global sales of over $ 3.5 billion , and has become a large supplier of optic cables and systems to major telecoms carriers in the U.S. , Europe and the Far East .


CITIC Pacific is a major Hong Kong-listed company focusing on infrastruture , trading , distribution and property , with 28 percent of its 1995 profits coming from telecoms .


It has investments in several industrial joint ventures in China .


Dutch bond futures revival delayed - EOE .


A broad attempt to spur activity in Dutch bond futures has been delayed to give participants a chance to become familiar with the trading system , the European Options Exchange ( EOE ) said on Friday .


Market-making in the rarely-traded FTO contract was expected to begin today , but an EOE spokesman said the 10 banks and brokers involved in the initiative needed time to get accustomed to changes in the electronic trading system .


We found it wise to take some time between the commitment to start and the actual start , " EOE spokesman Lex van Drooge told Reuters .


He said no date had been fixed yet for the start of price making in the 10-year contract , but the EOE had agreed to speak again to the participants in one to two weeks .


Investors in Dutch bonds currently use German bond futures to hedge their portfolios because the FTO contract is so illiquid .


A limited attempt to reinvigorate the contract two years ago failed .


OSCE defends record over Chechnya peace mission .


The head of an international mediating mission defended its record on Friday in the face of criticism by pro-Moscow leaders in breakway Chechnya and insisted it was doing its best to bring peace to the region .


Flavio Cotti , the chairman of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe ( OSCE ) , told German radio the Vienna-based body viewed the conflict in Chechnya as an internal Russian problem .


But one must not forget that the OSCE only has limited powers there , " said Cotti , who is also the Swiss foreign minister . "


Our mission in Chechnya has done all it can within the given limitations . "


Pro-Moscow leaders in Chechnya have criticised Tim Guldimann , the Swiss diplomat who heads the OSCE Chechnya mission , saying he was biased toward Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev , president of the self-declared separatist government .


Russian peacemaker Alexander Lebed and Chechen separatist military leader Aslan Maskhadov started a new round of peace talks on Friday just outside the rebel region .


Cotti said Chechnya must remain part of Russia , but the solution to the conflict would be to accord the region maximum autonomy within Russia 's borders .


" There is no doubt that Chechnya , according to OSCE principles , belongs to a state called Russia , " he said , pointing out that Russia was an OSCE member and it was not the organisation 's policy to challenge members ' sovereignty .


He added that the OSCE was the only international body which has been allowed into the Chechnya to monitor the human rights situation there , but that its means were restricted by the fact that the conflict was a " internal issue " .


" We have a small concept , the details of which have yet to be worked out .


Chechnya must be accorded the maximum autonomy possible within the framework of Russian integrity , " said Cotti .


Dutch say no reason to reopen El Al carqo enquiry .


The Dutch transport minister Annemarie Jorritsma told the country ' second chamber that there is no further need to investigate the 1992 crash of an El Al freighter which left 43 dead in an Amsterdam suburb .


She said that a request from her ministry for the aircraft 's waybill documentation and further information about the contents of its hold had been complied with by El Al 's head office in Tel Aviv .


The Dutch transport ministry had come in for pressure from a cross-section of Dutch members of parliaments in May this year , some of whom believed the aircraft had been carrying unlisted , dangerous goods .


Others said they thought the aircraft was loaded with too much airfreight .


Jorritsma said the latest evidence from El Al in no way supported the allegations , and added there is no justification for a further investigation into the incident .


Armenians , Azeris hold peace talks in Germany .


Representatives from Armenia and Azerbaijan held talks earlier this week in Germany on bringing a lasting peace to the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region , a diplomatic source close to the talks said on Friday .


The source , who spoke on condition of anonymity , said Azerbaijani presidential adviser Vafa Gulizade and his Armenian counterpart Zhirayr Liparityan met to discuss the disputed enclave on Wednesday and had now flown home .


An uneasy ceasefire has prevailed in Nagorno-Karabakh , which represents around 20 percent of Azeri territory , since May 1994 after ethnic Armenians drove Azeris out of the region .


The conflict , which began in 1988 , claimed over 10,000 lives .


" The main subject ( of the talks ) was the search for a peaceful solution for Nagorno-Karabakh , " the source said .


He declined to reveal any more details about the content of the talks or their exact location in Germany .


Azerbaijan has said it is prepared to grant autonomy to Nagorno-Karabakh if Armenian forces pull out , but will not accept Armenia 's demands for the independence of the enclave .


Russia 's Interfax news agency reported on Tuesday the officials had departed for negotiations in Germany , adding that face-to-face talks between the two sides first took place last December in Amsterdam .


Interfax said the discussions were being held in parallel with peace talks mediated by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe ( OSCE ) and the broad-based Minsk Group of countries led by Russia and Finland .


Sombre mood on Arctic island after plane crash .


The windblown , chilly streets of this tiny Arctic town are all but deserted and flags are flying at half-mast beneath a brooding , clouded sky .


Longyear is a town in mourning , a close-knit community that has been shattered .


Disaster struck on Thursday when a Russian airliner bringing coal miners to work crashed as it came in to land at the airport , killing all 141 people on board .


I will remember it for the rest of my life , " said Stig Onarheim .


He was one of a handful of rescuers who raced to the scene of the crash in a helicopter on Thursday , hoping in vain to find survivors .


The plane smashed into a snow-capped mountain on the Arctic island of Spitzbergen on Thursday , just east of Longyear .


" Imagine a big plane with a lot of luggage and people on board .


Think of all that mixed together , with twisted , wrecked parts on the slope , " Onarheim , 29 , told Reuters .


Police and local officials have sealed off the crash site , protecting it from intrusive reporters and from the polar bears that roam freely across the icy expanses .


The dead were all Russians and Ukrainians , coming to work in the mining towns of Barentsburg and Pyramiden .


Longyear is a Norwegian settlement of just over 1,000 people , but it also feels the loss keenly .


" I have trouble finding the words to express my grief .


We know many of the people who live in Barentsburg , some of them could have been on the plane , " said Johan Sletten , 52 .


Sletten , a caretaker who has lived on the island for 30 years , said the Norwegian and Russian communities visit frequently , competing at soccer in the summer and with snow-scooter races in the winter .


Teenage shop assistant Heidi Groenstein was blunter .


" I 'm glad it was not a Norwegian plane , " she said . "


Just think of it -- a mining village where so many workers die .


They must be having a tough time of it now . "


Barentsburg , just a few hours ride by snow-scooter or 15 minutes by helicopter from Longyear , has asked to be left alone with its grief and told reporters to stay away .


Around 100 Russian and Ukrainian miners were waiting in Longyear to fly home on the plane that crashed .


They were given shelter in the town 's church overnight and ate a sombre breakfast before getting on a bus for the airport .


Another plane had been sent from Moscow to pick them up .


At this time of year , the only colour in Longyear comes from the brightly-painted wooden houses .


Everything else is muddy , the waters of the fjord leaden .


Barentsburg is an even grimmer place , a run-down testament to the hardships of the new Russia .


Spitzbergen lies some 500 miles ( 800 km ) off the northern tip of Norway and endures one of the most extreme climates on the planet .


Inhabited by fewer than 3,000 people in total , it sees the sun for 24 hours a day during summer and is plunged into round-the-clock darkness in the winter months .


The terrain is mountainous , the only roads are dirt tracks .


Norway rules the island group under the terms of a 1920s international treaty which gave many other nations the right to establish setttlements and exploit the coal that is still mined there .


Ericsson says wins 1.2 bln SKR China order .


Swedish telecoms group LM Ericsson AB said on Friday it won an order worth 1.2 billion crowns for a fixed public telecoms network in the Guangdong province of China .


Ericsson said in a statement the order was from the Guangdong Post and Telecommunications Administration ( GPTA ) .


The order included AXE switching equipment , ISDN equipment , Intelligent Network ( IN ) products , broad-band multi-media communication network products , services and training , Ericsson spokesman Per Zetterquist told Reuters .


Deliveries are due to be completed by 1999 , the company said .


HK has infrastructure in place for post-97 - Tsang .


Hong Kong Financial Secretary Donald Tsang said on Friday that the territory had the " infrastructural hardware " to make a success of its future under Chinese sovereignty from mid-1997 .


" We have the largest and most efficient port on the South China coast ; we have the best transport and telecommunications infrastructure in the world ; and we are investing in this hardware on an enormous scale , " Tsang said in a speech to Auckland during a visit to New Zealand .


Hong Kong also had the necessary " constitutional infrastructure " in place , with the promise of autonomy in running its affairs after the handover from Britain to China .


" What this means in practice is that Hong Kong will go on raising its own taxes , issuing its own currency , setting its own expenditure priorities and managing its own enormous financial reserves , " Tsang said .


He acknowledged that many Hong Kong people had decided to seek their future elsewhere and others were sure to follow in the next nine months . "


But for the great majority of us , Hong Kong is our home and Hong Kong 's future is our future . "


PRESS DIGEST - Indonesian newspapers - August 30 .


Following is a summary of major Indonesian political and business stories in leading newspapers , prepared by Reuters in Jakarta .


Reuters has not checked the stories and does not guarantee their accuracy .


Indonesian President Suharto has asked businessmen to share their experiences with each other in an effort to boost the country 's exports .


Speaker of the House of Representatives Wahono has called on those serving in high state institutions to direct their efforts in the coming years towards dismantling all barriers to social justice .


An agreement to bring peace to the southern Philippines is set to be initialed on Friday after delegates from the Philippine government and the Moro National Liberation Front ( MNLF ) concluded negotiations on the treaty which is set to end almost 25 years of conflict in the region .


Around 2,000 of Indonesia 's controversial Timor national car made by Kia Motor Corp of South Korea arrived at Jakarta 's Tanjung Priok port on Thursday .


The cars will be jointly marketed by Kia and PT Timor Putra Nasional , controlled by a son of President Suharto , which plans next year to start assembling the vehicles in Indonesia .


The Central Jakarta District Court has started to hear the suit filed by ousted Indonesian Democratic Party ( PDI ) leader Megawati Sukarnoputri against the government and party rivals after the parties failed to reach an out-of-court settlement .


Megawati has sued the defendants over a government-backed rebel congress which ousted her last June .


Jeans Mate Corp - 6mth parent forecast .


NOTE - Jeans Mate Corp is the full company name .


NOTE - Apic Yamada Corp is a leading manufacturer of semiconductor leadframes .


Bootleg brew kills 35 in China , police nab suspects .


Police in southwest China have arrested 30 people suspected of making and selling homemade alcohol that killed 35 people and poisoned 157 , the Xinhua news agency said on Friday .


A group of farmers in Huize county in the southwestern province of Yunnan were arrested for blending alcohol with methanol and selling the toxic liquor to local residents , the agency said .


Between late June and July , a total of 192 people were poisoned by the toxic liquor , and 35 of them died and six were left severely handicapped , it said .


Local authorities launched an investigation after they received reports of several similar deaths in the area , it said .


Post-mortem examinations showed they were all caused by methanol poisoning .


Police had confiscated the remainder of the poisonous liquor , Xinhua said .


Singapore hanged a Thai farmer at Changi Prison on Friday for drug trafficking , the Central Narcotics Bureau ( CNB ) said .


Jeerasak Densakul , 24 , was arrested in 1995 when he was found with 11 slabs of cannabis weighing 2.2 kg ( 4.8 pounds ) , the CNB said .


Singapore has a mandatory death sentence for anyone over 18 years of age found guilty of trafficking in more than 15 grams ( half an ounce ) of heroin , 30 grams ( an ounce ) of morphine or 500 grams ( 18 oz ) of cannabis or marijuana .


Of the nearly 270 people hanged for various crimes in Singapore since 1975 , almost half have been for drug-related charges .


Arafat goes to Nablus ahead of cabinet meeting .


Palestinian President Yasser Arafat arrived in the West Bank self-rule enclave of Nablus from Ramallah on Friday , witnesses said .


His aides said Arafat would hold the weekly meeting of the Palestinian self-rule Authority 's cabinet in Nablus on Saturday .


In Jerusalem , Israeli security forces were bracing for thousands of Palestinians expected to answer Arafat 's call earlier this week to come to the city holy to Moslems , Arabs and Jews to pray in protest against Israel 's settlement policy in the West Bank and delay in peace negotiations .


Palestinians want Arab East Jerusalem as the capital of a future independent state .


Israel , which captured and annexed East Jerusalem in 1967 , says it will never cede any part of the city .


Arafat , who made an interim peace deal with Israel in 1993 that set up self-rule , says he will only visit Jerusalem once Israeli occupation has ended .


U.N. Council concerned about Israeli bulldozers .


Security Council members expressed concern on Thursday that Israel 's bulldozing of a Palestinian day-care centre for the disabled might further injure the Middle East peace process .


Responding to a letter from the the Palestinian U.N. observer mission , Security Council President Tono Eitel of Germany said that members asked him to convey their views to Israel 's charge d'affaires , David Peleg .


" The members expressed their concern about the maintenance of the peace process and they urged that no action be taken that would have a negative impact on the negotiations , " Eitel said after an informal council session .


" They asked me to call in the Israeli charge d'affaires and discuss the matter with him , " he added .


The Palestinian letter from Marwan Jilani said the destruction of the Jerusalem centre was an effort by Israel to " alter the character , demographic composition and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem " and violated agreements between Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organisation .


" This most recent measure represents a revival of old , malicious plans to confiscate the land and build units for Israeli settlers within the walls of the Old City . "


" We expect the international community to take a clear and firm position , based on international law and in accordance with U.N. resolutions , against all such Israeli violations and illegal practices , " he said .


On Tuesday , Israeli crews hoisted a bulldozer over the walls of Jerusalem 's old city and demolished the centre , saying it was being restored without a building permit .


Canada had recently donated $ 30 million to the centre , called the Burj al-Laqlaq Society .


SOCCER - REAL SCRAPE 1-1 DRAW IN SCRAPPY OPENING MATCH .


A late goal by newly-signed defender Roberto Carlos saved the blushes of Real Madrid coach Fabio Capello and his multi-billion peseta line-up in the opening game of the Spanish championship on Saturday .


The Brazilian 's 79th-minute effort was enough to earn Real a point from a scrappy 1-1 draw at fellow title contenders Deportivo Coruna .


Deportivo started strongly , taking the lead midway through the first half when former Auxerre playmaker Corentine Martins headed home a corner after a flick-on by Brazilian-born Spanish international midfielder Donato .


Real looked to be in deep trouble shortly after the break when Luis Milla was sent off for committing two bookable offences in as many minutes .


But Deportivo were unable to capitalise on their numerical advantage , and were themselves reduced to ten men when Armando Alvarez was sent off 15 minutes from time .


Shortly afterwards Roberto Carlos found space in the home defence and equalised for Real with a shot that was deflected past despairing Deportivo ' keeper Jacques Songo'o .


In a frantic final five minutes there were chances at both ends , and Donato , who had earlier been booked , was sent off for protesting about the incursion of Real players at a free kick .


Before the match Deportivo chairman Augusto Lendoiro said he would ignore a FIFA decision banning Brazilian midfielder Mauro Silva from playing in the match for failing to join his national side 's tour of Europe .


In the event , coach John Toshack decided not to use Silva , who had claimed he did not join the Brazil squad because he had lost his passport .


RUGBY LEAGUE - WIGAN BEAT BRADFORD 42-36 IN SEMIFINAL .


Result of English rugby league premiership semifinal played on Saturday :


SOCCER - ISRAEL BEAT BULGARIA IN EUROPEAN UNDER-21 QUALIFIER .


Result of European under-21 championship group 5 qualifier on Saturday :


Israel 2 , Bulgaria 0 ( halftime 0-0 ) Scorers : Haim Hajaj ( 47th ) , Nir Sivilia ( 57th ) .


SOCCER - IRISH ERASE PAINFUL MEMORIES WITH 5-0 WIN .


The Republic of Ireland 's new-look side dispelled painful memories of their last visit to Liechtenstein by beating the Alpine part-timers 5-0 in a World Cup qualifier on Saturday .


The Irish , under new manager Mick McCarthy , took a 4-0 lead within 20 minutes through captain Andy Townsend , 20-year-old Norwich striker Keith O'Neill , Sunderland forward Niall Quinn and teenager Ian Harte .


Quinn added his second and Ireland 's fifth just after the hour to complete the rout and give the Irish their biggest-ever away win .


The result helped erase memories of Ireland 's visit to the Eschen stadium 14 months ago , when Jack Charlton 's side were held to a frustrating 0-0 draw which ultimately cost them a place in the European championship finals .


SOCCER - IRELAND BEAT LIECHTENSTEIN 5-0 IN WORLD CUP QUALIFIER .


The Republic of Ireland beat Liechtenstein 5-0 ( halftime 4-0 ) in a World Cup soccer European group 8 qualifier on Saturday .


Scorers : Andy Townsend ( 5th ) , Keith O'Neill ( 7th ) , Niall Quinn ( 11th , 61st ) , Ian Harte ( 19th ) .


Leading scores after the final round of the British Masters golf tournament on Saturday ( British unless stated ) :


284 Robert Allenby ( Australia ) 69 71 71 73 , Miguel Angel Martin ( Spain ) 75 70 71 68 ( Allenby won at first play-off hole )


SOCCER - SLOVAKIA BEAT FAROES IN WORLD CUP QUALIFIER .


Slovakia beat the Faroe Islands 2-1 ( halftime 1-0 ) in their World Cup soccer European group six qualifying match on Saturday .


Faroe Islands - Jan Allan Mueller ( 60th minute )


Slovakia - Lubomir Moravcik ( 13th ) , Peter Dubovsky ( 88th )


CRICKET - ENGLAND BEAT PAKISTAN BY 107 RUNS IN SECOND ONE-DAYER .


England beat Pakistan by 107 runs in the second one-day international at Edgbaston on Saturday to take the series 2-0 .


Scores : England 292-8 innings closed ( N. Knight 113 ) , Pakistan 185 ( Ijaz Ahmed 79 ; A. Hollioake 4-23 )


CYCLING - TOUR OF NETHERLANDS FINAL RESULTS / STANDINGS .


the 205-km sixth and final stage of the Tour of the Netherlands


between Roermond and Landgraaf on Saturday :


1. Olaf Ludwig ( Germany ) Telekom 4 hours 48 mins 2 seconds


2. Giovanni Lombardi ( Italy ) Polti 5 seconds behind


3. Tristan Hoffman ( Netherlands ) TVM same time


4. Erik Breukink ( Netherlands ) Rabobank 8 seconds


6. Vyacheslav Ekimov ( Russia ) Rabobank same time


10. Johan Capiot ( Belgium ) Collstrop all same time


Final overall placings ( after six stages ) :


1. Rolf Sorensen ( Denmark ) Rabobank 20:36:54


2. Lance Armstrong ( U.S. ) Motorola 2 seconds behind


4. Marco Lietti ( Italy ) MG-Technogym 1:16


5. Erik Dekker ( Netherlands ) Rabobank 1:23


8. Maarten den Bakker ( Netherlands ) TVM 1:33


CRICKET - ENGLAND V PAKISTAN ONE-DAY SCOREBOARD .


Scoreboard of the second one-day cricket match between England and Pakistan on Saturday :


N. Knight st Moin Khan b Saqlain Mushtaq 113


Total ( for 8 wickets , innings closed ) 292


Bowling : Wasim Akram 10-0-50-0 , Waqar Younis 9-0-54-1 ,


Ata-ur-Rehman 6-0-40-1 , Saqlain Mushtaq 10-0-59-1 , Mushtaq Ahmed


Bowling : Gough 8-0-39-3 , Mullally 6-0-30-1 , Headley


CYCLING - WORLD TRACK CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS .


track cycling championships on Saturday :


Women 's 3,000 metres individual pursuit qualifying round


1. Antonella Bellutti ( Italy ) 3:31.526 ( world record )


3. Lucy Tyler-Sharman ( Australia ) 3:31.830


6. Svetlana Samokhalova ( Russia ) 3:46.216


8. Rasa Mazeikyte ( Lithuania ) 3:46.834


9. Tatian Stiajkina ( Ukraine ) 3:52.204


World 4,000 metres team pursuit semifinals :


Italy ( Adler Capelli , Cristiano Citto , Andrea Collinelli , Mauro Trentino ) 4:00.958 ( world record ) beat Russia ( Anton Chantyr , Edouard Gritsoun , Nikolai Kouznetsov ) 4:06.534 .


France ( Cyril Bos , Philippe Ermenault , Jean-Michel Monin , Francis Moreau ) 4:05.104 beat Germany ( Guido Fulst , Danilo Hondo , Thorsten Rund , Heiko Szonn ) 4:05.463


Germany take the bronze medal as fastest losing semifinalist .


Women 's world 500 metres time trial final :


World 4,000 metres team pursuit championship final :


Italy ( Adler Capelli , Cristiano Citto , Andrea Collinelli , Mauro Trentino ) 4:02.752 beat France ( Cyril Bos , Philippe Ermenault , Jean-Michel Monin , Francis Moreau ) 4:04.539


World sprint championship quarter finals ( best of three


Florian Rousseau ( France ) beat Ainars Kiksis ( Latvia ) 2-0


Darryn Hill ( Australia ) beat Christian Arrue ( U.S. ) 2-0


Roberto Chiappa ( Italy ) beat Frederic Magne ( France ) 2-0


Marty Nothstein ( U.S. ) beat Pavel Buran ( Czech Republic ) 2-0


Women 's world 3,000 metres individual pursuit championship


Marion Clignet ( France ) 3:30.974 ( World Record ) beat Jane


Natalia Karimova ( Russia ) 3:40.036 beat Yvonne McGregor


Lucy Tyler-Sharman ( Australia ) 3:35.087 beat Svetlana


Antonella Bellutti ( Italy ) 3:32.174 caught and eliminated Rasa


CRICKET - PAKISTAN WIN TOSS , PUT ENGLAND IN TO BAT .


Pakistan won the toss and put England in to bat in the second limited overs cricket international at Edgbaston on Saturday .


Surrey all-rounder Adam Hollioake was making his England debut , replacing Lancashire batsman Graham Lloyd , with seamer Peter Martin again being omitted from the 13 .


Pakistan kept the side who lost to England by five wickets at Old Trafford on Thursday in the first of the three one-day matches .


England : Mike Atherton ( captain ) , Nick Knight , Alec Stewart , Graham Thorpe , Matthew Maynard , Adam Hollioake , Ronnie Irani , Robert Croft , Darren Gough , Dean Headley , Alan Mullally .


Pakistan : Aamir Sohail , Saeed Anwar , Ijaz Ahmed , Salim Malik , Inzamam-ul-Haq , Wasim Akram ( captain ) , Moin Khan , Saqlain Mushtaq , Mushtaq Ahmed , Waqar Younis , Ata-ur-Rehman .


BASEBALL - GONZALEZ HOMERS TWICE AS RANGERS BEAT INDIANS .


Juan Gonzalez homered twice and Ivan Rodriguez added a two-run shot as the Texas Rangers defeated the Cleveland Indians 5-3 in a matchup of division leaders Friday .


Rodriguez 's 18th homer , off Chad Ogea ( 7-5 ) in the first , gave Texas a 2-0 lead .


One out later , Gonzalez smacked his 40th homer , extending his hitting streak to 20 games .


Gonzalez , who hit in 21 straight games earlier this season , joined Mickey Rivers as the only players in Texas history with two 20-game streaks in the same year .


Gonzalez hit his second homer in the third for his fifth multi-homer game of the season .


Gonzalez has three 40-homer seasons and his 121 RBI broke Ruben Sierra 's team record of 119 set in 1989 .


The Indians had their four-game winning streak stopped .


" It 's not something I 'm going to try to explain , " said Texas manager Johnny Oates about his team winning seven of the 10 meetings from Cleveland this season .


" We 've got two more regular season games against them and we might get lucky enough or unlucky enough to play them in the post-season . "


Roger Pavlik ( 15-7 ) gave up three runs and seven hits in 6 1/3 innings and became the fourth 15-game winner in the American League .


Jeff Russell pitched two perfect innings for his third save .


Brian Giles and Jim Thome homered for Cleveland .


Cleveland 's lead over the White Sox in the American League Central dropped to nine games .


Texas 's lead over Seattle in the West increased to six .


At California , Tino Martinez 's two-run homer keyed a three-run first and Andy Pettitte became the league 's first 19-game winner as the New York Yankees beat the Angels 6-2 .


New York snapped a season-high five-game losing streak and also got homers from Mariano Duncan , Darryl Strawberry and Jim Leyritz .


Pettite ( 19-7 ) allowed two runs and eight hits over eight innings with a walk and seven strikeouts .


He improved to 12-2 following Yankees ' losses .


Mariano Rivera pitched a scoreless ninth , striking out two .


Ex-Yankee Randy Velarde hit his 11th homer , his most at any professional level .


In Seattle , Pete Incaviglia 's grand slam with one out in the sixth snapped a tie and lifted the Baltimore Orioles past the Seattle Mariners , 5-2 .


It was Incaviglia 's sixth grand slam and 200th homer of his career .


Baltimore 's Eddie Murray cracked his 20th homer of the season and 499th of his career .


Jay Buhner hit his 38th homer and Edgar Martinez his 23rd for Seattle .


The Orioles remained tied with the White Sox for the American League wild card with the Mariners a game back .


In Toronto , Kevin Tapani ( 12-8 ) allowed two runs and six hits over 7 1/3 innings and Frank Thomas hit his 29th homer and drove in three runs as the Chicago White Sox cruised to an 11-2 victory over the Blue Jays .


Thomas , Harold Baines and Robin Ventura each collected three hits .


Danny Tartabull added two hits and three RBI as all Chicago starters got at least one hit .


In Oakland , Dave Telgheder scattered seven hits over eight innings and Mark McGwire hit his major-league leading 45th homer and drove in three runs as the Athetlics blanked the Boston Red Sox 7-0 .


Telgheder ( 2-5 ) snapped a personal three-game losing streak .


Buddy Groom pitched a perfect ninth inning .


McGwire singled home a run to spark a three-run sixth and capped the scoring with a two-run homer in the seventh .


The loss was Boston 's seventh in its last 29 games .


In Detroit , Todd Van Poppel pitched a five-hitter for his first career shutout and Tony Clark homered to cap a four-run first inning as the Tigers blanked the Kansas City Royals 4-0 .


Van Poppel ( 3-6 ) walked two and struck out two in defeating the Royals for the second time this week .


He threw 108 pitches as he lowered his ERA from 8.08 to 7.24 .


Kansas City has scored only one run in two games .


In Milwaukee , Marc Newfield homered off Jose Parra ( 5-4 ) leading off the bottom of the 12th as the Brewers rallied for a 5-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins .


Bob Wickman ( 6-1 ) pitched 2 2/3 hitless innings for the win , his second for the Brewers .