According to the latest information released by SEPA on Saturday, the belt of toxic pollutants flowing downstream in the Songhua river is off the city of Harbin about 80 km.

Saturday


A total of 13 monitoring sites have been established along the river and three monitoring vehicles have been doing real time examination.


AFP_ENG_20061214.0516

MOSCOW, Dec 14 , 2006, 2006

ATTENTION - ADDS background, explanation of contract ///

Russia has given the go-ahead to increased spending for the Sakhalin-1 oil and gas project led by US oil giant ExxonMobil to a total of to 19.3 billion dollars (14.7 billion euros), the Russian energy ministry said on Thursday.

Dec 14 , 2006

Thursday


The original budget was for 12.8 billion dollars but extra costs amounted to 6.5 billion dollars because of work on the Chayvo reserves in the northeastern part of the island of Sakhalin in far eastern Russia, the ministry said.


The private consortium operating the project in far eastern Russia must consult with the Russian government about project budgets under terms of a production sharing agreement (PSA) that governs the project.


The Russian state only receives a share of profits from the project once the participating companies, which include Russian, Chinese and Indian energy firms, have recouped their investment.


"The work programme and the estimate of the expenses for extraction and management of December 2006 has been approved," the ministry said in a statement.

December 2006


Sakhalin-2, another project on the island that is operated by Anglo-Dutch energy giant Shell, ran into trouble with the Russian government when it increased budget costs from 10 to 20 billion dollars in 2005.


Sakhalin-2 also operates under a PSA with the Russian state.


XIN_ENG_20051126.0004

KATHMANDU, Nov. 26 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Cases of violence against women increasing in Nepal: report

The number of cases related to violence against women is increasing by the year in Nepal, a report submitted to the on-going campaign of "Ensure zero tolerance for violence against women" disclosed here on Saturday.

Nov. 26 , 2005

the year

Saturday


According to the report released by the Forum for Women, Law and Development (FWLD), a non-governmental organization, crime against women in Nepal, especially domestic violence, increased to 922 in 2003-2004 from a total of 569 reported cases of domestic violence in the year of 2002-2003.

the year of 2002-2003


Similarly, trafficking and child marriage has increased from the previous year, the report stated.

the previous year


The toll on women and children is invariable heavy due to the conflict situation as also the fact that higher percentages of the displaced are also women, the report said.


Thousands of women are unable to report to police or are deprived of litigation either due to absence of courts in the countryside due to conflict or because they fear further atrocities from the perpetrators, the report added.


Meanwhile, several United Nations institutions here pointed out that Nepal should strive to ensure that every woman has equal citizenship right, the right to equal property, and equal access to migration and labor.


Jointly organized by United Nations Population Fund and FWLD, the campaign from Friday will last 16 days in marking the International Day for Elimination of Violence against Women.

Friday


AFP_ENG_19970430.0156

NEW DELHI, April 30 , 1997 (AFP)

Lightning kills six in India

Six people were struck dead by bolts of lightning across India following heavy rains, the Press Trust of India (PTI) reported Wednesday.

April 30 , 1997

Wednesday


Two shepherds and a farmer who had taken shelter under a tree during a storm Tuesday night were hit by lightning and died instantly in the southern state of Tamil Nadu.

Tuesday night


Several sheep near the tree were also charred to death.


Three women were killed after lightning struck late Tuesday in the western state of Maharashtra, PTI said.

late Tuesday


It was followed by heavy rains which inundated several low-lying areas and damaged crops.


AFP_ENG_20061223.0297

ASHGABAT, Dec 24 , 2006, 2006

=(PICTURE)=

Turkmenistan was due Sunday to bury its president-for-life, Saparmurat Niyazov, who died suddenly after two decades of ruling this gas-rich Central Asian nation, leaving no obvious heir.

Dec 24 , 2006

two decades


Niyazov, who died Thursday at 66 from a heart attack, according to officials, was to be buried at the family mausoleum in his home village of Kipchak.

Thursday


Police barred the road between the capital Ashgabat and Kipchak on Saturday and workers could be seen tidying the route where the funeral cortege for the self-declared Turkmenbashi, or Leader of all Turkmen, will pass from 0700 GMT.

Saturday


Among the foreign presence will be Ukraine's Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov and Turkish premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan.


Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will attend the funeral, Turkmen state television said Saturday, and President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan will also be present.

Saturday


The United States will be represented by Richard Boucher, assistant secretary of state for south and central Asian affairs.


Although few major foreign leaders will attend the ceremonies, Washington, Moscow and other major world capitals are watching closely as the succession process unfolds in the desert state, which contains huge natural gas supplies and occupies a strategic corner of energy-rich Central Asia.


The caretaker president, deputy prime minister Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, appeared on television late Friday promising the ex-Soviet republic would remain "stable."

late Friday


He also reassured foreign customers of Turkmen gas that deliveries would not be interrupted.


However, analysts predict a power struggle.


In one early sign, Berdymukhammedov on Friday sacked the parliamentary speaker, Ovezgeldy Atayev, who under the constitution was eligible to become interim leader.

Friday


He has been charged with driving his son's fiancee to attempt suicide by forbidding their marriage because they were of different clans.


In a 21-year reign, Niyazov ruthlessly crushed dissent, declared himself president-for-life, and instituted an intense personality cult, naming months after himself and his mother, erecting gold statues of himself, and having his image adorn everything from banknotes to vodka bottles.


However, many ordinary Turkmens appeared to be in genuine shock at his death, saying they were lost without his guidance and fearful for the generous social policies he instituted.


The state funeral was to begin with the lying in state of Niyazov's body at Ashgabat's presidential palace at 0400 GMT.


The corpse would then be taken to the Kipchak mausoleum, a building constructed by French contractors and already containing the remains of Niyazov's father, who was killed in World War II, and his mother, who died in a huge earthquake in 1948, orphaning the future Turkmen leader in his childhood.


Alongside the mausoleum is Central Asia's biggest mosque, also French-built at a cost estimated at 100 million dollars (76 million euros).


The national mourning period will last until December 30.

December 30


XIN_ENG_20051125.0145

BEIJING, Nov 25 , 2005 (Xinhua)

examinees

Some 365,000 people around China have applied to attend the national civil servant qualification exam for 10,282 posts available next year in central government departments, the Ministry of Personnel said Friday.

Nov 25 , 2005

next year

Friday


This means roughly 35 candidates will compete for one post in 97 departments of the central government, said a ministry official.


According to the official, the exam this year, scheduled for Saturday in 347 exam spots across the country, for the first time calls off limitations, such as household registration, gender, appearance and marriage status, so as to offer equal opportunities for examinees.

this year

Saturday


The exam fee is exempted for examinees from impoverished families.


Inspection teams sent by the central authorities will be touring the exam spot for supervision, the official said.


The result of the exam will be released at the website of the Ministry of Personnel in late December.

late December


With severe employment pressure, civil service has become one of most popular professions in the country over recent years for its stable incomes, lofty social status and perfect welfare insurance.

recent years


AFP_ENG_20051214.0321

GAZA CITY, Dec 14 , 2005

URGENT  Several wounded as car explodes in Gaza

Several people were wounded Wednesday when a car exploded in the Gaza Strip during an apparent Israeli air strike, Palestinian witnesses said.

Dec 14 , 2005

Wednesday


XIN_ENG_20051120.0032

WELLINGTON, Nov. 20 , 2005 (Xinhua)

NZ's greenhouse gas emissions increase

New Zealand is among the countries bucking an international trend of declining greenhouse gas levels.

Nov. 20 , 2005


Local media said Sunday that a report from the United Nations Climate Centre shows New Zealand's emissions have increased 22.5 percent since 1990.

Sunday


Worldwide there has been a 5.9 percent drop over the same period.

the same period


New Zealand has the eighth highest percentage greenhouse gas increase among the nations listed in the report.


Nearly half its emissions come from the agriculture sector.


However there has been a huge increase in the level of discharges from transport since 1990.


The figures appear in a report from the United Nations body, ahead of the international climate change conference in Montreal later this month.

this month


New Zealand is among the worst offenders, behind Spain, Monaco, Portugal, Greece, Ireland, Canada and Australia, said the report.


PRI19980205.2000.1890
 NEWS STORY

 The US is bolstering its military presence in the gulf,
 as President Clinton discussed the Iraq crisis with the one
 ally who has backed his threat of force, British prime
 minister Tony Blair.


The World's Nancy Marshall reports on Mr. Blair's current
 visit to Washington and the special relationship between the
 two leaders.


President Clinton rolled out the red carpet for prime
 minister Blair, welcoming him not only as a close ally, but a
 close friend.


Posing for photographers with Clinton, Blair pledged to stand
 united with the president against Iraq, warning Saddam Hussein
 that the threat of force is real.


The British aircraft carrier invincible is now patrolling the
 Persian Gulf alongside three US vessels.

now


Washington and London are virtually alone in warning Iraq of
 military strikes if it does n't back down on the weapons
 inspection issue.


President Clinton says he and Blair will stand together not just on Iraq but also on arresting the terrorists suspected of
 blowing up Pan Am flight one oh three over Scotland.


For The World I'm Nancy Marshall in Washington.


XIN_ENG_20061130.0297

DOHA, Nov. 30 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Starting line-up of Thailand women' soccer against China at Doha Asiad

Following is the starting line-up of Thailand against China in the preliminary round of the women's soccer tournament at the Doha Asian Games here on Thursday:

Forwards: Sukunya Peangthem, Pitsamai Sornsai

Midfielders: Junpen Seesraum, Wajee Kertsombun, Siriporn Mungkhala, Sunisa Srangthaisong

Defenders: Darut Changplook, Ngoendi Phumphuang, Suphaphon Kaeobaen, Anootsara Maijarern

Goalkeeper: Waraporn Boonsing

Nov. 30 , 2006

Thursday


XIN_ENG_20061123.0061

BEIJING, Nov. 23 , 2006 (Xinhua)

years

The Chinese government plans to build 10,000 resources-efficient villages in 500 counties during the 11th Five Year Plan period (2006-2010), a senior agricultural official said on Thursday.

Nov. 23 , 2006

the 11th Five Year

Thursday


Wei Chao'an, Deputy Minister of Agriculture, said the initiative would provide clean energy produced with methane gas to 80 percent of households.


At least 80 percent of the crop waste would be used to produce the methane, Wei told a national meeting in central China's Henan Province on helping farmers raise living standards through efficient use of resources.


He said animal waste would also be used to make the gas.


Other recommended clean energies included solar power, small hydro-electric stations, biological resources, and wind power.


Wei said the ministry aimed to raise the efficiency of pesticide use five to 10 percentage points and encourage villages build facilities to dispose of domestic garbage.


The central government would offer funding support to those projects as "seed money", but he gave no further details.


The government has vowed to build a Socialist countryside characterized by sound environment where people enjoy better lives and harmony with nature.


AFP_ENG_19970402.0123

HANOI, April 2 , 1997 (AFP)

Vietnam president warns against dangers of individualism (picture) by Frederik Balfour

President Le Duc Anh opened Vietnam's National Assembly Wednesday with an attack on individualism, calling it a danger which strikes at the heart of communism and threatens development and national security.

April 2 , 1997

Wednesday


"We must not allow selfish individualism to run counter to the interests of the state," the 76-year-old president said in a speech at the opening day of the National Assembly, appearing for the first time in public since suffering a stroke in November.

November


"Individualism is tending to develop in various forms in state enterprises and offices, causing huge damage to solidarity, state property and is a hurdle to national development," he said.


"Individualism reduces people's confidence in the Party and state, discourages some foreign investors," said Anh, a conservative who observers expect will be replaced in September.

September


He quoted Ho Chi Minh, the founder of modern Vietnam who remains the symbol of ideological purity, as saying, "Individualism is a wicked enemy to socialism.


Revolutionary people must annihilate it."


The remarks were echoed by Le Kha Phieu, who as head of the Interior Ministry is responsible for internal security.


He linked individualism to corruption, drugs and even weaknesses in the banking system, which has been rocked by scandal and mishap this year.

this year


"Banks lend people money but they use the money on gambling and on spending on parties, that is individualism," he told reporters.


Although two key pieces of banking legislation have been postponed until the next National Assembly session in the fall, observers said the performance of the central bank, and especially its governor Cao Si Kiem, will come under heavy criticism.

the fall


"Kiem is going to take a lot of heat for the problems in the banking system, and it looks quite likely that he will go," said one Hanoi- based businessman.


The session will also make amendments in the penal code, introducing stiffer penalties for corruption and drug trafficking, production and abuse.


"We are sick of talking about corruption, now is the time to take action," Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet told reporters.


Earlier this week, a Ho Chi Minh City appeals court upheld the death penalty for four people convicted of embezzling nearly 40 million dollars in state funds.

this week


The assembly is expected to also pass laws introducing a value added tax to replace the existing turnover tax, a law on corporate income tax and a trade law.


It will pass a law on the election of representives that will enlarge the National Assembly from 395 to 450 members when elections for the next five-year term are held on July 20.

July 20


It will also include provisions allowing candidates to conduct their campaigns in the media.


Communist party representation, which now makes up 92 percent of delegates, could fall to about 80 percent, said Vu Mao, the National Assembly office chairman.

now


Up to seven of 10 present deputies will be replaced, he said last week.

last week


XIN_ENG_20051105.0099

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov. 5 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Malaysian PM urges people to continue to help Pakistan quake victims

Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi Saturday urged Malaysians to continue donating for the victims of the October earthquake in Pakistan.

Nov. 5 , 2005

October


The fund-raising organizers, including the media, who had stopped their collections, should reopen their funds to the public donations, he told reporters at an "open house" activity in Kepala Batas, a town in the state of Penang.


Badawi made these remarks in response to news reports that Pakistan President Pervez Musharaff was disappointed with the level of international aid to his country, where a strong earthquake claimed lives of over 73,000 people.


Musharaff had said the aid his country received from the international community was far below that contributed to the victims of the Asian tsunami and Hurricane Katrina that devastated the gulf coast of the United States.


Badawi said Malaysia had offered significant aid to Pakistan, including medical goods, medical teams, and contributions of materials by Malaysian companies operating in Pakistan.


He said that the current international aid to Pakistan was still not enough due to the extent of the earthquake destruction.


He urged the international community to continue giving assistance to Pakistani people to reduce their suffering.


AFP_ENG_20051210.0156

DAMASCUS, Dec 10 , 2005

Syria says has completely cooperated with Hariri probe

Syria has fully cooperated with a UN probe into the murder of Lebanese ex-premier Rafiq Hariri, a high-ranking Syrian official said Saturday, three days before an enquiry into the killing is presented to the UN.

Dec 10 , 2005

Saturday


Deputy Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said that there is "no reason for the Security Council to take measures against Syria", despite an interim report implicating Syrian officials in Hariri's killing in a February bomb blast.

February


"Syria has fully cooperated with the international commission of enquiry ... to cut the road to those who would try to use this enquiry to political ends against Syria and the region," Muallem told journalists outside Damascus.


"Nothing could justify Security Council measures against Syria," he said, adding that "Syria is innocent of this crime."


The interim report criticised Damascus for failing to cooperate fully with the probe, leading to a unanimous Security Council resolution in October calling on Syria to completely cooperate or face further action.

October


Probe chief Detlev Mehlis, whose mandate expires on December 15, is due to present his report to the UN on Tuesday.

December 15

Tuesday


Lebanon has asked for a six-month extension to the probe's mandate, which the UN is due to consider.


AFP_ENG_19970403.0431

JERUSALEM, April 3 , 1997 (AFP)

Israel mulls plan to protect Palestinian laborers from closures

An Israeli minister called Thursday for a review of the government's policy of imposing closures on the Palestinian territories following anti-Israeli violence, saying the measure may harm national security.

April 3 , 1997

Thursday


Labor Minister Eli Yishai told Israel radio that travel restrictions routinely slapped on Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza Strip in response to attacks damage the Palestinian economy and fuel anti- Israeli militancy.


The closures, imposed to prevent militants from infiltrating to carry out attacks against the Jewish state, keep tens of thousands of day laborers from jobs inside Israel, notably in the farming and construction sectors.


"There has never been a Palestinian with a license to work in Israel who has carried out a terror attack," Yishai said.


"We need to give them a living and not cause more and more unemployment,"

"As the closure endures, it doesn't contribute to security and maybe even harms it," he said.


According to Israeli press reports, Yishai's ministry began discussions Thursday on a plan to allow the continual flow of Palestinian laborers into Israel even during security clampdowns.

Thursday


The plan would include deep security checks by Israeli and Palestinian intelligence agencies to pick those laborers eligible for Israeli work permits.


The goal would be to grant at least 80,000 permits valid even during troubles, the Haaretz newspaper said.


Yishai's comments came as the United Nations issued a report saying that closures of the West Bank and Gaza Strip had cost the Palestinian economy more than six billion dollars since 1992.


The UN study found that the gross national product (GNP) for the West Bank and Gaza Strip fell 8.6 percent during 1996, when the territories were sealed almost continually following a spate of Islamic suicide bombings in Israel.


Israel started the practice of closing the territories in response to unrest in 1993 under the leftwing Labor party.


The damages caused by the closures include lost wages for day laborers, lost trade revenues and uncollected taxes.


The number of Palestinians authorized to work in Israel hit a peak of 139,200 in 1992, falling to zero for much of 1996.


Since the latest closure imposed after a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv on March 21 which killed three Israelis, only three thousand Palestinians are currently authorized to work in Israeli-contolled industrial zones adjacent to the territories.

March 21


Discussion of ways to ensure a steady supply of Palestinian laborers coincides with efforts by Israel to wash its hands of foreign workers who cause the country more crime and social problems than Palestinian employees, who return home each night.

each night


"The replacement of foreign workers with Palestinian workers is good for the peace process and the economy, and will prevent all the difficult social problems," labor ministry director general Yigal Ben- Shalom told Haaretz.


Currently, Israel employs about 100,000 foreign workers legally and about 70,000 illegally, in addition to the Palestinians.


XIN_ENG_20061126.0263

JOHANNESBURG, Nov. 27 , 2006 (Xinhua)

S. African basketball coach dies during match

South African basketball suffered a tragic loss when leading coach and former Serbian national player Nikola Jokanovic died while coaching his team in a Premier Basketball League (PBL) match in Johannesburg on Sunday.

Nov. 27 , 2006

Sunday


Jokanovic, who was the player coach of Tshwane Suns, collapsed in a dressing room shortly after leading his side off the court in the match against the Olympians, the Basketball South Africa (BSA) said in a statement.


Efforts by medics to revive him failed and he was declared dead by medical staff.


BSA President and PBL vice chairman Vusi Mgobhozi expressed his shock at the death of Jokanovic and conveyed his condolences to his family, friends and the Serbian community in South Africa.


Tshwane Suns' Dion Karagiannis said that his team lost more than a coach in Jokanovic.


"He was passionate about basketball and lived for the game.


We want to express our heartfelt condolences to everyone who were associated with Nikola," Karagiannis said.


APW19980227.0489
 NEWS STORY
 02/27/1998 08:13:00

w2394 Cx1f wstm-
u i Cx13  Cx11  BC-OAU-Rwanda     02-27 0216

 BC-OAU-Rwanda

OAU to investigate Rwandan genocide

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) _ The Organization of African Unity
said Friday it would investigate the Hutu-organized genocide of
more than 500,000 minority Tutsis in Rwanda nearly four years ago.

02/27/1998 08:13:00

Friday

nearly four years ago


Foreign ministers of member-states meeting in the Ethiopian
capital agreed to set up a seven-member panel to investigate who
shot down Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana's plane on April 6,
1994.

April 6,
1994


The assassination touched off a murderous rampage by Hutu
security forces and civilians, who slaughtered mainly Tutsis but
also Hutus who favored reconciliation with the minority.


It also
reignited the civil war.


The panel also will look at the exodus of about 2 million Rwanda
Hutus to neighboring countries where they lived in U.N.-run refugee
camps for 2 1/2 years.

2 1/2 years


The investigation will consider the role of ``internal and
external forces prior to the genocide and subsequently, and the
role of the United Nations and its agencies and the OAU before,
during and after the genocide,'' the OAU said.


The panel will be based in Addis Ababa, and will finish its
investigation within a year, it said.

a year


It is to be funded by
voluntary contributions from within and outside the continent.


(aa-kjd)

(PROFILE
(WS SL:BC-OAU-Rwanda; CT:i;
(REG:EURO;)
(REG:BRIT;)
(REG:SCAN;)
(REG:ENGL;)
(REG:AFRI;)
(LANG:ENGLISH;))
)

AP-NY-02-27-98 0813EST


ABC19980304.1830.1636
 NEWS STORY

 Finally today, we learned that the space agency  has  finally taken a giant
 leap forward.

today


Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Eileen Collins  will  be named
commander of the Space Shuttle Columbia for a mission in December.

December


Colonel
 Collins has been the co-pilot before, but this time she's the boss.

this time


Here's
 ABC's Ned Potter.


Even two hundred miles up in space, there has been a glass ceiling.


It wasn't
 until
 twenty years after the first astronauts  were chosen that NASA finally included
 six women, and they were all scientists, not pilots.

twenty years


No woman has actually
 been in charge of a mission until now.

now


Just the fact that we 're doing the job that we 're doing makes us role
 models.


That was Eileen Collins, after she flew as the first ever co-pilot.


Being
 commander is different.


It means supervising the rest of the crew in
 training and leading them in flight.


It is, in short, the kind of
 management job many American women say they've had to fight for.


In space,
 some say female pilots  were held up until now by the lack of piloting
 opportunities for them in the military.

now


Once Colonel Collins  was picked as a NASA astronaut, she followed a
 normal progression within NASA.


Nobody hurried her up.


No one held her
 back.


Many NASA watchers say female astronauts  have become part of the agency's
 routine.


But they still have catching up to do two hundred and thirty four Americans  have flown in space, only twenty six of them women.


Ned Potter, ABC News.


AFP_ENG_19970405.0096

ANKARA, April 5 , 1997 (AFP)

Death of rightwinger to affect Turkish politics by Umit Enginsoy

The death of veteran ultranationalist opposition leader Alpaslan Turkes will shake up right-wing politics in Turkey, as his party is likely to disintegrate with his demise, political analysts said Saturday.

April 5 , 1997

Saturday


Turkes, leader of the Nationalist Action Party, a small but influential political group, died here on early Saturday after a heart attack.

early Saturday


He was 80.


His party failed to win a single seat in parliament in Turkey's December 1995 general election, as it received only 8.5 percent of the vote, which was short of the required 10 percent national threshold.

December 1995


Turkes was expected to be replaced by his son, Tugrul, as party chief, according to political analysts.


However, The Istanbul-based liberal daily Hurriyet said Nationalist Action was unlikely to survive without the veteran politician, who was seen by his followers as the "great leader of the Turkish world."


In the likely event of the party's disintegration, its potential votes could be shared by the pro-Islamic Welfare Party of Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan, the conservative True Path Party of Foreign Minister Tansu Ciller, the conservative Motherland Party and the ultra-rightwing Grand Unity Party, it said.


"Turkes had a very important role in Turkey's political life, I deeply regret his demise," President Suleyman Demirel said in a statement.


"Turkes was one the great political leaders in Turkey's recent history, we had been involved in close cooperation," Ciller told reporters.


Turkes was born in Nicosia, Cyprus, in 1917 and graduated from the Military Academy in 1938, joining the army.


Involved in ultranationalist movements since the early 1940s, Turkes was one of the senior organisers of a military coup in 1960, which eventually led to the hanging of toppled conservative prime minister Adnan Menderes.

the early 1940s


Turkes was twice deputy prime minister in right-wing coalition governments between 1975 and 1978.


He was imprisoned and barred from active politics after another military coup in 1980, but regained his political rights in a 1987 referendum.


His Nationalist Action supported a centrist coalition between True Path and the left-wing Republican People's Party between 1991 and 1995.


Following the collapse of the former Soviet Union in 1991, Turkes supported the creation of a union of Turkic countries with the participation of Turkey and the mainly Moslem former Soviet republics of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.


Turkes was also the virtual leader of the ultranationalist Grey Wolves organisation, whose members were involved in bloody fighting with extreme leftist groups in the late 1970s, prompting the 1980 military coup.

the late 1970s


Married with seven children, Turkes was the author of several books promoting Turkish nationalism.


Supporting modern Turkey's pro-secular tradition, Turkes in recent months had criticised efforts by Erbakan's ruling Welfare to introduce Islamic practices in social life.

recent months


XIN_ENG_20061116.0329

UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 16 , 2006 (Xinhua)

UN Security Council welcomes peace efforts in northern Uganda

The UN Security Council adopted a presidential statement Thursday that welcomed peace efforts between the Ugandan government and the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) with an aim to end the long-running conflict in northern Uganda.

Nov. 16 , 2006

Thursday


The statement called for peace and security to be restored and the rule of law re-established in the areas affected by the fighting and that "those responsible for serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law are brought to justice."


It welcomed the ongoing peace talks between the Ugandan government and the LRA, which have fought a brutal civil war for 20 years, urging the rebel group to immediately release all women, children and other non-combatants that it holds.

20 years


In the statement read out by council President Jorge Voto- Bernales of Peru, the council also welcomed the renewal early this month of the cessation of hostilities agreement struck between the two sides in August and pledged to continue to monitor developments closely.

early this month

August


Council members praised the Ugandan government for setting up a committee to monitor efforts to relieve humanitarian problems in northern Uganda and also its work so far on a peace, recovery and development plan that aims to tackle longer-term issues.


The council "looks forward to further progress on improving the living conditions for civilians in northern Uganda, measurable against clear benchmarks, and urges member states to maintain their support to these efforts."


Talks are taking place in Juba, southern Sudan, between the government of Uganda and the LRA, in a bid to reach a comprehensive peace agreement to end a conflict that has caused the death, abduction or forced displacement of 2 million people across northern Uganda and southern Sudan - as well as the killings of eight UN peacekeepers in the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo.


ABC19980114.1830.0611
 NEWS STORY

 In Washington today, the Federal Aviation Administration released air
 traffic control tapes from the night the TWA Flight eight hundred went down.

today

the night


There's
 nothing new on why the plane exploded, but you cannot miss the moment.


ABC's Lisa Stark has more.


There was no hint of trouble in the last conversation between controllers
 and TWA pilot Steven Snyder

 TWA
 eight hundred climb maintain one five thousand.


TWA's eight hundred heavy climb and maintain one five thousand leavin- three thousand.


But a minute and a half later, a pilot from a nearby flight calls in.

a minute and a half


Ah, we just saw an explosion up ahead of us here
 about sixteen thousand feet or
 something like that.


It just went down.


The controller at Boston center tries to raise TWA eight hundred.


TWA eight hundred, if you hear center, ident.


There is no response.


Later, the controller asks the Eastwind pilot for
 more details.


Ah yes, sir.


It- It just blew up in the air, and then we saw two fireballs go
 down to the, to the water, and there was a big small, ah, smoke, from ah , coming up from that.


At one point, when it became clear controllers could not contact   the plane,
 someone said a prayer.


TWA eight hundred, center

 I think that was him.


I think so.


God bless him.


Lisa Stark ABC news Washington


AFP_ENG_20051202.0100

WASHINGTON, Dec 2 , 2005

Deadly bacteria spreading through US hospitals

A lethal bacteria which surfaces in people being treated with antibiotics is spreading in North America and has grown resistant to drugs, according to two studies published Friday in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Dec 2 , 2005

Friday


According to one of the studies, a new, virulent and resistant strain of the bacteria Clostridium difficile broke out in eight US hospital centers between 2000 and 2003.


Provoked by antibiotics inside the intestines of hospital patients, the bacteria showed an ability to mutate and increase its resistance to drugs, the report said.


Moreover, the bacteria, which infects the colon causing severe diarrhea and colitis, a severe inflammation of the intestine, has begun showing up in patients not taking antibiotics or visiting hospitals.


Symptoms include watery, malodorous diarrhea and cramps.


A second study of 1,703 patients in 12 hospitals in Quebec, Canada, demonstrated the lethality of the bacteria.


Over 13 years the incidence of the bacteria grew fourfold in Quebec, and in 2004 it caused the deaths of 117 people in the first month after they were diagnosed.

13 years

the first month


All of the victims were elderly.


"Hospitals need to be conducting surveillance and implementing control measures.


And all of us need to realize the risk of antibiotic use may be increasing," warned epidemiologist Clifford McDonald of the US Centers for Disiease Control.


Scientists were concerned that Clostridium difficile -- so-named because of the difficulty in detecting it -- had become very resistant to fluoroquinolone antibiotics usually used to treat such infections.


"If this epidemic strain continues to spread (...) it will be important either to reconsider the use of fluoroquinolones or to develop other innovative measures for controlling C. difficile-associated disease," said McDonald.


XIN_ENG_20061120.0302

JOHANNESBURG, Nov. 20 , 2006 (Xinhua)

2010 World Cup attracts S. African players back home

The 2010 Soccer World Cup to be hosted by South Africa is set to attract South African players who are plying their trade abroad to come home.

Nov. 20 , 2006


Current players at South Africa's national team, Bafana Bafana, are to form basis of the 2010 team and most of the overseas-based players seem to think that they will be forgotten if they are far from home.


Michael Nkambule, just signing with the country's Premier League club SuperSport United, has said his return from French team RC Strasbourg was due to his ambition to play for the senior national team, the SAPA news agency reported on Monday.

Monday


While most of the South African-based players still believe that going abroad enhances the chances of a national team call-up, they might re-think that if those abroad are making a comeback, then it is wise to stay put, the SAPA said.


Nkambule is on a one-year loan deal and will join the players such as Mamelodi Sundowns trio of Bennet Mnguni, Mbulelo Mabizela and Josta Dladla as well as Golden Arrows' Japhet Zwane who came home with the hope of reviving their international careers.


Outgoing Bafana Bafana coach, Pitso Mosiamne, said South African players, especially those who do not see regular action, are desperately looking for local teams.


Bafana's German-based Sibusiso Zuma has also expressed his desire to return home, the SAPA said.


AFP_ENG_20061203.0178

DOHA, Dec 3 , 2006, 2006

URGENT  China's Chen Yanqing sets three world records

China's Chen Yanqing set new world records in the snatch, clean and jerk, and overall disciplines of the 58kg category in women's weightlifting at the Asian Games here Sunday.

Dec 3 , 2006

Sunday


XIN_ENG_20051108.0120

JERUSALEM, Nov. 8 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Sharon aide says Likud split into two factions

Aides to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said the Likud Party has split into two factions, one headed by Sharon and the other led by dissidents, local paper Ha' aretz reported on Tuesday.

Nov. 8 , 2005

Tuesday


"Today, it has been proven that the Likud is, de facto, two factions," the aide said, speaking after a Knesset (parliament) vote on a package nomination of three cabinet ministers late on Monday, when Sharon was defeated by the opposition "rebels" of his own party.

Today

Monday


He hinted the possibility that Sharon will move for early elections, which was currently scheduled in November 2006.

November 2006


In a stinging but not unexpected parliamentary defeat, the anti- disengagement Likud lawmakers, dubbed the "rebel" faction, first voted with 60-54 to reject Sharon's proposed appointment of Ehud Olmert as finance minister, Roni Bar-On as industry, trade and employment minister and Ze'ev Boim as immigrant absorption minister.


Sharon was then forced to go to a second vote to win the approval of Olmert and Matan Vilnai (Labor) as science and technology minister, which was passed by a comfortable 71-41 margin.


Analysts said the Knesset vote on Monday showed that the rebels, who can count on eight votes in the 40-strong Likud faction and have at times commanded as many as 16, now hold an effective veto power over Sharon's parliamentary moves.

Monday

now


There are speculations that Sharon would either move soon to dissolve the Knesset and lead the Likud into early elections, or work to found a new party with himself at the helm.


AFP_ENG_20061217.0330

GAZA CITY, Dec 17 , 2006, 2006

Fatah colonel 'kidnapped and killed in Gaza Strip'

A colonel in the Palestinian national security service belonging to president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah party was kidnapped and killed Sunday in the Gaza Strip by Hamas militants, a Fatah spokesman said.

Dec 17 , 2006

Sunday


AFP_ENG_20061211.0534

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 11 , 2006, 2006

by Gerard Aziakou

Six major powers resumed talks here Monday on how to coerce Iran into halting its nuclear fuel work as Moscow welcomed changes to a European resolution mandating sanctions against Tehran.

Dec 11 , 2006

Monday


Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad meanwhile warned that his country would respond to any action against its nuclear activities amid growing signs that the Security Council's five permanent members were edging closer to a deal on a revised draft drawn up by France, Britain and Germany.


Ambassadors of Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- the council's five veto-wielding members -- plus Germany huddled informally Monday to review the text which had been discussed in Paris last week by more senior officials of the six.

Monday

last week


France's UN Ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sabliere told reporters that he would explain the amended draft to the council's 15 members at a formal meeting later Monday.

Monday


"I am going to present the text to the members of the council," he said.


"I hope that we have good prospects.


I have some signals but it is too early to say."


"We want a vote before the end of the year, (preferably) before Christmas," said a Western diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity.

the year

Christmas


He added that the sponsors were pushing for unanimous support from the council but also cautioned that "unanimity has a price (which) we are ready to pay up to a point."


The text, a copy of which was obtained by AFP, would mandate a ban on trade with Iran on goods related to its nuclear and ballistic missile programs and impose financial and travel restrictions on persons and entities involved.


Despite Russian objections, it includes a list of a dozen Iranian officials directly involved in their country's nuclear and ballistic programs who would be targeted for UN sanctions.


The list includes officials associated with the Natanz nuclear fuel processing facility and with the heavy-water reactor Iran is building in Arak as well as Iran's Revolutionary Guards chief General Yahya Rahim Safavi.


But at Moscow's insistence, the new draft drops all references to Iran's first nuclear power station, a one-billion-dollar facility which Russia is helping to build in Bushehr.


Earlier Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov welcomed the latest European draft, noting that it "differs from the version worked out originally and contains changes based on Russia's proposals, which take into account the need to push Iran to sit at the negotiating table."

Earlier Monday


Lavrov stressed that the proposed resolution would have no effect on Russia's lucrative contract to build the Bushehr plant.


The changes were introduced by the European sponsors to win over Russia and China, which have close economic ties with Tehran and have consistently opposed what they describe as overly aggressive measures against Iran.


The United States has been pushing for tougher sanctions against the Islamic Republic.


But the European draft does not include a US demand for an explicit characterization of the Iranian nuclear program as "a threat to international peace and security".


It asks the head of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to submit a report within 60 days on whether Iran has fully complied with the demands.

60 days


It says implementation of the sanctions would be suspended if Iran halts uranium enrichment but warns that failure to heed the UN demands would lead to "further appropriate measures", a reference to economic sanctions.


Tehran has consistently rejected UN demands that it halt uranium enrichment, a process which can provide fuel for nuclear reactors but, also in highly refined form, material for the core of a nuclear bomb.


The West claims Iran is running a secret nuclear military program parallel to its civilian one, an allegation strongly denied by Tehran which says its nuclear ambitions are entirely peaceful and aimed at producing electricity.


XIN_ENG_20061117.0116

ANKARA, Nov. 17 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Turkish security forces seize 80 kg of heroin

Turkish security forces impounded 80 kg of heroin in an operation in eastern Turkey on Friday, the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported.

Nov. 17 , 2006

Friday


Acting on a tip-off, security forces stopped and searched a lorry in Muradiye town of Van province, said the report.


With the help of a sniffer dog, police found 160 packages of heroin stashed in secret parts of the truck, the report said, adding that the driver of the lorry was taken into custody on charges of illicit drug trafficking.


Turkey is on a key transit route for gangs smuggling drugs from Asia and the Middle East to markets in western Europe.


In 2005, Turkish security forces seized 6,663 kg of heroin, 140 kg of morphine, 34 kg of opium, 6,002 kg of hashish, 40 kg of cocaine, some 1.23 million captagon pills and 5.76 million ecstasy pills, according to official figures.


XIN_ENG_20051130.0171

BEIJING, Nov. 30 , 2005 (Xinhua)

expert

China still faces challenges despite the fact that its development mode of education has provided a pioneering experience for the world education sector, said David Archer, head of the international education of the Action Aid, a well-known Britain-based non-government organization.

Nov. 30 , 2005


At the concluding 5th High Level Group Meeting on Education For All of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) here Wednesday, Archer told Xinhua that China gives priority to the educational sector in national development, and the government has made a commitment to education far exceeding many other countries in the world.

Wednesday


Statistics showed that in 2004, about 94 percent of Chinese have had access to free nine-year compulsory education.


The adult illiteracy rate lowered to four percent.


98.9 percent of girls attended school courses.


Archer said that while China has adequate resources to ensure a nine-year compulsory education, it still needs to take more concrete measures to make compulsory education entirely free.


Low-paid substitute teachers in many countries - including China - will bring great damage to the long-term development of the education cause.


According to Archer, few government or international agencies have invested in adult literacy, but focusing only in compulsory education.


UNESCO statistics showed that nearly one billion people around the world do not know how to read and write, and the actual figure is estimated to double soon.


Among them two thirds are women and almost one fifth are people aged from 15 to 24.


An investigation by Action Aid showed young adult literacy and compulsory education are closely linked to both the national economy.


"If a child's parents are illiterate, the child will struggle for schooling with his parents lack of respect for education, even if he is provided with free education," said Archer.


After making an investigation of literacy work in 35 countries, Archer found that most teachers in adult literacy work got low payment or just did it voluntarily.


Illiterate young adult only receive training programs of six months to one year, which provides them with no practical skills to make a living.

six months

one year


Action Aid carried out programs in vast rural areas in different countries to help local illiterate young adults compile teaching materials by themselves with charts and pictures that can be easily understood.


The teaching materials tell farmers how to grow crop and how to utilize local resources with languages and words familiar to farmers.


Based on these teaching materials, Archer and his colleagues also complied a set of guidelines for literacy work, which scored a prize by the United Nations.


Archer said Action Aid hopes to join hands with the Chinese government and non-government organizations to promote the guidelines in China, and compile teaching material pinpointing China's domestic situation.


He pointed out that another challenge faced by China is issue of quality education.


At present, most countries in the world still adopt a test-oriented educational mode, which does not comply with the economic developing trend.


The future society needs innovative talent adaptive to changes, capable of solving problems, and that knows how to learn efficiently.


To cultivate such type of personnel, China should train a high-quality and professional teaching staff.


He stressed that 180 countries in the world promised to decrease the number of the illiterate by 50 percent in 2015.


Action Aid was founded in 1972 and now cooperates with more than 2,000 non-government organizations in over 40 countries.

now


Since 1998, Action Aid has carried out rural education and anti-AIDS programs in four provinces and regions in China.


nyt_20130321_china_pollution

2013-03-21

As Pollution Worsens in China, Solutions Succumb to Infighting

China's state leadership transition has taken place this month against an ominous backdrop.

this month


More than 16,000 dead pigs have been found floating in rivers that provide drinking water to Shanghai.


A haze akin to volcanic fumes cloaked the capital, causing convulsive coughing and obscuring the portrait of Mao Zedong on the gate to the Forbidden City.


So severe are China's environmental woes, especially the noxious air, that top government officials have been forced to openly acknowledge them.


Fu Ying, the spokeswoman for the National People's Congress, said she checked for smog every morning after opening her curtains and kept at home face masks for her daughter and herself.

every morning


Li Keqiang, the new prime minister, said the air pollution had made him "quite upset" and vowed to "show even greater resolve and make more vigorous efforts" to clean it up.


Last month, after deadly air pollution hit record levels in northern China, officials led byWen Jiabao, then the prime minister, put forward strict new fuel standards that the oil companies had blocked for years.

Last month

years


But there are doubts about whether the oil companies will comply, especially since oil officials resisted a similar government order for higher-grade fuel four years ago.

four years ago


State-owned power companies have been similarly resistant.


The companies regularly ignore government orders to upgrade coal-burning electricity plants, according to ministry data.


And as with the oil companies, the power companies exert an outsize influence over environmental policy debates.


In 2011, during a round of discussions over stricter emissions standards, the China Electricity Council, which represents the companies, pushed back hard against the proposals, saying that the costs of upgrading the plants would be too high.


On Feb. 28, Deutsche Bank released an analysts' note saying that China's current economic policies would result in an enormous surge in coal consumption and automobile sales over the next decade.

Feb. 28

the next decade


"China's air pollution will become a lot worse from the already unbearable level," the analysts said, calling for drastic policy changes and "a strong government will to overcome the opposition from interest groups."


The report estimated that the number of passenger cars in China was on track to hit 400 million by 2030, up from 90 million now.

now


XIN_ENG_20051102.0342

MAR DEL PLATA, Argentina, Nov. 2 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Declaration of American summit to include development, employment

Economic growth and the creation of jobs are to be included in the final declaration of the 4th Summit of the Americas to be held in Argentina on Nov. 4 and 5.

Nov. 2 , 2005

Nov. 4


Coordinators of the summit said the declaration, to be signed by heads of state and government at the end of the summit, is almost ready.


Leaders of the Western Hemisphere or their representatives, except Cuba, are to take part, organizers said.


Preparatory meetings for the summit were held earlier this week.

earlier this week


The president of the meetings, Argentine Vice Foreign Minister Jorge Taiana, said the creation of jobs and strengthening of democratic governance are major topics of the summit initiated by Argentina.


According to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean based in Santiago, Chile, poverty affects nearly 40 percent of the 500 million people in the region.


Secretary General of the Organization of American States Jose Miguel Insulza, who will participate in the summit, said, "There are too many poor in Latin America in spite of economic growth in the region."


It is necessary for governments and business circles in Latin America to step up efforts to increase economic growth and improve the situation of the poor, he said.


Coordinators of the summit did not say whether there will be any mention of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) in the final declaration.


US President George W. Bush claimed that continental free trade through the FTAA will reduce poverty in Latin America and drive growth and employment.


However, Brazil and Argentina, both major food exporters in Latin America, said they were reluctant to join the FTAA as long as the United States does not eliminate agricultural subsidies.


They complained that Washington's agricultural subsidies would eliminate the competitiveness of farm products from other American countries and increase poverty in Latin America.


Venezuela opposes the FTAA due to its political differences with Washington.


AFP_ENG_20051214.0326

DENVER, Colorado, Dec 14 , 2005

by Judith Crosson

Do you know why dinosaurs became meat eaters?

Dec 14 , 2005


After Adam and Eve sinned and were banished from the Garden of Eden, even grass-eating dinosaurs started killing other animals.


Turning evolution on its ear, this is one of the theories being offered on the "Biblically Correct" tour at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.


And never mind about the Earth being 4.5 billion years old or that dinosaurs went extinct 65 million years ago because the world is only 6,000 years old.

65 million years ago


"Evolution is nothing more than a philosophy," Rusty Carter tells an audience of about 25 children from a private Christian school on his guided tour at the museum.


Carter, who has a degree in biblical studies from Colorado Christian University and earns his living doing floor maintenance, cheerily challenges evolution as he leads students from one exhibit to another.


The museum and the scientific community in general do not endorse the information espoused by Carter, although he conducts his tours just like any other school group going through.


"We welcome everybody to the museum and I'm happy to see the kids being exposed to the science world," Kirk Johnson, chief curator at the museum, said.


"But I completely disagree with their message."


Creationists take a literal approach to the origin of the Earth, meaning they believe God created the world in six 24-hour days.

six 24-hour


The 6,000-year figure, first calculated by a 17th century Irish Anglican bishop, James Ussher, adds up the life spans of patriarchs listed in the book of Genesis, starting with Adam and Eve.


It is a theory not supported by most mainstream Christian churches.


Canadian-born George McCready Price, who had links to the Seventh-day Adventist Church, promoted the short history of the Earth in the 1920s.

the 1920s


He wrote that the Earth is only 6,000 years old and the deluge described in the bible happened about 4,000 years ago.

4,000 years ago


"History and current beliefs change over time with education and enlightenment," John Banks, spokesman for the 14.2 million-member church, said.


Carter goes for the drama.


Hitler believed in evolution, he tells the students, but is careful to emphasize he does not mean people who believe in evolution are racists.


For a little hometown shock he calls Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, two Colorado teenagers who killed 13 people at Columbine High School before killing themselves, evolutionists.


"Creationism values each person," Carter says before ending the tour with a prayer.


The bible-oriented tour has been a fixture at the museum for 15 years, but is getting more attention thanks to the renewed American debate over evolution.

15 years


In 1925, the Scopes Monkey trial challenged the theory of evolution put forth by Charles Darwin in "The Origin of Species" written in 1859.


Although John Scopes was ordered to pay a fine for teaching evolution, the case put creationism under the microscope and found it wanting.


After the trial, anti-evolution thinking suffered a setback.


However, not forever.


The attack on evolution has been growing in recent decades and the Kansas State Board of Education has ordered teachers to discuss intelligent design -- a belief the universe is so complicated a supreme being must have planned it -- along with evolution.

recent decades


Even US President George Bush has advocated teaching "both sides" of the issue.


"I'm not against evolution in the museum, I just wish creationism were also here," Carter tells students at the museum as he stands in front of a depiction of an archaeopteryx, whose fossil is believed by scientists to be a link between birds and dinosaurs.


"There are a zillion viewpoints out there," said Johnson, who has advanced degrees in paleontology and geology.


Carter has no room for theistic evolution, a belief held by most Christian churches, including the Catholic Church -- that God created the universe and then allowed evolution to proceed through billions of years.


Throughout the tour, Carter challenges fossil records and carbon dating.


He urges the students from the Truth Christian Academy, a private religious school, to always ask how does one know if something is true.


"That's a great question," the museum's Johnson said.


"But the problem is they're teaching them how not to think."


XIN_ENG_20061120.0240

CAIRO, Nov. 20 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Egypt to import wheat from Kazakhstan

Egypt Monday signed a contract worth some 29 million U.S. dollars with Kazakhstan to import 120,000 tons of wheat from the central Asian nation, the Egyptian Ministry said in a press release.

Nov. 20 , 2006

Monday


Egyptian Minister of Trade and Industry Rachid Mohamed Rachid, who signed the deal with Kazakhstan, said the agreement was the first of its kind between the two countries.


Rachid said the agreement fell within the framework of fostering cooperation with Kazakhstan, especially in the trade domain, as agreed during a recent visit by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to the central Asian country.


He said that in return, Kazakhstan would import a number of products, such as medicine, textiles, carpets and furniture, from Egypt.


According to Rachid, Egypt and Kazakhstan have recently approved forming a joint trade committee under the two countries' trade ministers to boost trade exchange and remove obstacles hindering bilateral cooperation.


The minister predicted that trade volume between the two nations could reach 170 million dollars annually under the work of the committee.


Mubarak visited Kazakhstan on Nov. 7 as part of his three- nation tour which also included Russia and China.

Nov. 7


XIN_ENG_20061127.0017

MANILA, Nov. 27 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Philippine stocks close flat

Philippine stock prices closed flat on Monday with a sluggish session in absence of strong leads, dealers said.

Nov. 27 , 2006

Monday


The 30-company composite index was down only 0.28 point at 2, 817.56.

2, 817.56


The broader all-shares index rose 0.39 point to 1,759.88.


Losers beat gainers 55 to 46, while 61 stocks ended unchanged.


Trade volume was 4.09 billion shares valued at 2.25 billion pesos (45.3 million U.S. dollars).


XIN_ENG_20051123.0245

NAIROBI, Nov. 23 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Urgent: Kenyan president dissolves cabinet

Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki Wednesday dissolved his entire cabinet, a day after the proposed draft constitution was rejected in a referendum.

Nov. 23 , 2005

Wednesday


He said the new lineup will be announced in two weeks.

two weeks


XIN_ENG_20061106.0150

GENEVA, Nov. 6 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Swiss pharmaceutical giant to build research center in China

Swiss pharmaceutical firm Novartis is to build a 100 million-U.S.-dollar research and development center in Shanghai, China, employing 400 scientists, Swiss Radio International (SRI) reported on Monday.

Nov. 6 , 2006

Monday


The investment aims to tap into the fast-growing Chinese pharmacy market, and to take advantage of China's low cost scientific talent, the report said.


A start-up operation is expected to open next May, and construction work should begin in July.

next May

July


The center's primary focus will be the causes of cancer endemic in Asia.


"The level of scientific expertise in China is rising rapidly," Novartis CEO Daniel Vasella was quoted by SRI as saying.


"At the same time, the healthcare needs of the Chinese are growing -- primarily the result of urbanization, lifestyle changes and associated chronic diseases," he added.


Specialists say that as Chinese salaries and purchasing power rise, diseases such as hypertension and diabetes are appearing along with more sedentary lifestyles and richer diets.


Sales of pharmaceuticals in China in 2010 are expected to nearly double those of 2005, rising from 13 billion U.S. dollars to 25 billion U.S. dollars, according to Boston Consultancy, an independent consulting group.


The global market is worth 570 billion U.S. dollars.


Novartis also plans to use the Shanghai center to combine modern drug discovery with traditional Chinese medicine, a move requiring local expertise, the report said.


In the past, Western drugmakers had been wary of making investments in China because of perceived weaknesses in patent protection.

the past


But the situation has been improving.


AFP_ENG_20061228.0078

DHAKA, Dec 28 , 2006, 2006

Thousands protest ex-Bangladesh dictator's polls disqualification

Thousands of supporters loyal to a former Bangladesh military ruler went on the rampage Thursday and paralysed two northern cities after a court verdict cost him his election hopes, police said.

Dec 28 , 2006

the rampage Thursday


Bangladesh's supreme court on Tuesday rejected a plea by Hussain Mohammad Ershad seeking overturn of a two-year jail sentence given by lower court three years ago for squandering government funds.

Tuesday

three years ago


The verdict ruled out a return to politics for Ershad, as the election commission barred him from contesting in any of the five constituencies he hoped to stand in at the January 22 polls.

January 22


Police said supporters of the former dictator chanted "no Ershad, no elections", smashed cars and vans, and ransacked shops in the northern city of Rangpur.


The area is a bastion of support for Ershad, who ruled the country between 1982 and 1990.


"Police dispersed about 1,000 supporters of Ershad's Jatiya Party after they went unruly, smashing chairs at a government office, cars and ransacking shops," police sub-inspector Mohammad Solaiman said.


Hundreds of soldiers and armed police were deployed to quell the violence, he added.


The city of more than 200,000 was at a standstill after the Jatiya Party called a strike in protest at Ershad's disqualification.


Offices were closed, schools and roads were empty.


Jatiya Party supporters also disurpted inter-district buses and trains and also enfored a strike in five other neighbouring district towns, police said.


The northeastern city of Sylhet was also brought to a halt after Ershad's supporters held rallies and marches to protest the decision, police official Shahidul Islam said.


Ershad, who leads the country's third biggest party, is a popular figure in Bangladesh and is seen as a potential kingmaker in the elections.


He seized power in a bloodless coup in March 1982 but was ousted by a people's revolt in 1990.

March 1982


Last week he joined an electoral alliance with the main opposition Awami League party.

Last week


Bangladeshi law bars any convict from contesting parliamentary elections for five years after completion of a sentence.

five years


Ershad told reporters late Wednesday that his party and its allies, including the main opposition Awami League, may again decide to boycott next month's polls if he is barred from contesting elections.

Wednesday

next month


AFP_ENG_19970415.0304

MOSCOW, April 15 , 1997 (AFP)

URGENT Russia, NATO "getting closer" after Moscow talks

NATO and Russia "getting closer" to an accord on future relations, the Russian foreign ministry said Tuesday after talks between NATO Secretary General Javier Solana and Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov.

April 15 , 1997

Tuesday


AFP_ENG_19970412.0294

VUKOVAR, Croatia, April 12 , 1997 (AFP)

Last day of uncertainty for Eastern Slavonia Serbs before key poll by Sonia Bakaric

Eastern Slavonia, the only part of Croatia still in Serb hands, lived through a last day of uncertainty Saturday before a nationwide vote for local councils and Croatia's upper house Sunday, with the turnout seen likely to decide their future.

April 12 , 1997

last day of uncertainty Saturday

Sunday


The vote will be the first in which they can express their wishes at the ballot box since the region was captured by rebel Serbs in 1991 during a war in which the rebels captured almost one third of the country.


Croatian government troops retook all the land they held except Eastern Slavonia in 1995 and the elections will be a major step before their last stronghold is turned over to Zagreb.


Within the region, the polls are being organised by the UN administration which has run Eastern Slavonia since January last year.

January last year


Serbs have expressed fears about reprisals for their role in the war and over the expected return of tens of thousands of Croat refugees who were "ethnically cleansed" in 1991.


The Serbs only lifted their threat of a boycott Friday after heavy international pressure and the intervention of Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, a longtime supporter of the rebels.

Friday


In a last-minute attempt to get people to vote, the Independent Democratic Serb Party (SDSS), led by Vojislav Stanimirovic, launched into what seemed more like a mobilisation rather than a real political campaign.


"Everything is going too quickly for us but we must all vote if we are to stay here because we have no other place to go to," said Milena, a young Serb refugee.


She was originally from the Croatian town of Glina, south of Zagreb, which the Croatian army retook from the rebels in 1995.


The Serbs are being urged to go to the polls to counteract the vote of about 70,000 Croat refugees now living in other regions of the country and many of them eager to return.

now


Realising that every Serb vote will count, the media in Eastern Slavonia spent Saturday urging people to go to the polls, even if they had already decided that they did not want to stay under Croatian rule.

Saturday


"If you have decided to leave, then leave but vote beforehand and give your vote to assure the future of the young," read one of the slogans.


International officials have expressed fears that up to 20,000 Serbs could go.


The hesitation shown by their leadership has contributed to the Serbs' confusion, who feel betrayed by Milosevic, the architect of the dream of a "Greater Serbia" -- a state where all Serbs would live.


Last Sunday, the Serbs voted in a referendum in which they overwhelmingly called for their territory to be one unit, in defiance of the Croat electoral boundaries which split the region.

Last Sunday


Even before the referendum, their demand had been turned down by Zagreb, Belgrade and the international community.


The same voters will now have to vote to return their territory to Croatian rule.

now


"I am sorry the decision to take part in the elections was taken so late.


The elections are nonetheless an experiment on the 150,000 people in a region where war raged for five years," Stanimirovic said Friday.

five years

Friday


Serb officials are still arguing about irregularities in the voting registers but the UN administration has said that the conditions are right for free and fair elections.


On Saturday fierce winds tore at the few electoral posters of the Independent Democratic Serb Party in this desolate and abandoned town, Eastern Slavonia's largest, which was flattened during a bitter three- month siege by the rebels.

Saturday


AFP_ENG_20061204.0637

BEIRUT, Dec 4 , 2006, 2006

Lebanese army breaks up street clashes in Beirut

The Lebanese army intervened to break up clashes in Beirut on Monday evening between government supporters and protestors calling for the government to resign, an AFP journalist witnessed.

Dec 4 , 2006

Monday evening


The clashes broke out in several Sunni Muslim-majority neighbourhoods near where tens of thousands of people were holding a sit-in protest, overseen by the Shiite Hezbollah militia, to demand the resignation of the Western-backed government.


Soldiers already deployed in the capital went into action after riot police were overwhelmed by protestors who invaded one of the Sunni neighbourhoods in vehicles, prompting residents to retaliate, witnesses and an AFP reporter said.


Calm was restored after an hour of unrest, which followed a day of tension after a Shiite was killed in a street fight on Sunday night.

Sunday night


The exact number of casualities was not known, but the official ANI news agency reported at least two people injured in the Kaskas district, the scene of earlier rioting.


XIN_ENG_20061101.0211

SINGAPORE, Nov. 1 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Franchising Industry in Asia rising: Singaporean official

The franchising industry in Asia is taking off, with the annual revenue growing by more than 50 billion U.S. dollars annually, a Singaporean senior official said here Wednesday.

Nov. 1 , 2006

Wednesday


In five years time, annual growth will hit 100 billion U.S. dollars, Minister of State for Trade and Industry Lee Yi Shyan said at this year's franchising and licensing award.

five years

this year


According to Lee, the rapid growth is underpinned by the large and relatively undeveloped franchise markets in the region.


For instance, the Chinese and Indian markets grow by 40 percent each year compared with 5 percent of the U.S. market.

each year


In Singapore's side, the sales turnover of Singapore-based franchises already exceeds 15 percent of the total domestic retail sales volume, Lee said.


He expected this number to continue growing, as he saw more homegrown franchises emerge.


And he pointed out that the franchising industry in Singapore will continue to flourish and grow in the years to come.

the years


XIN_ENG_20051101.0332

HANOI, Nov. 2 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Hu Jintao concludes visit to Vietnam

Hu Jintao, general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and president of China, ended his official goodwill visit to Vietnam and left Hanoi for Beijing Wednesday.

Nov. 2 , 2005

Wednesday


During his stay in Hanoi, Hu held talks with Nong Duc Manh, general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Vietnam, and Vietnamese President Tran Duc Luong.


They discussed party relations and bilateral ties.


The two sides also exchanged views on international and regional issues of common concern.


Hu arrived in Hanoi on Monday morning.

Monday morning


AFP_ENG_19970418.0359

NEW DELHI, April 18 , 1997 (AFP)

India will have new government by Monday: spokesman by M.R.

April 18 , 1997


Narayan Swamy

A centre-left Indian coalition, toppled a week ago, vowed Friday to return to power by Monday after making up with an estranged ally.

a week ago

Friday

Monday


The United Front coalition said it hoped to give a new government to the country after electing a successor to caretaker Prime Minister H.D.


Deve Gowda late Friday or early Saturday.

Friday

Saturday


"The formation of a new government is entirely likely before parliament resumes its session" on Monday, Front spokesman Jaipal Reddy told reporters at the coalition headquarters here.

Monday


There was no immediate reaction from the office of Indian President Shankar Dayal Sharma, who Thursday urged the country's major parties to end the dragging political crisis by April 21.

Thursday

April 21


The decks for a new Front leader were cleared Friday after the Congress (I) party, which voted out the coalition government April 11, formally pledged support to the same alliance minus Deve Gowda, who promptly agreed to the new arrangement.

Friday

April 11


The Congress made the promise to the president as the 13-party United Front intensified its search for a new head to become the country's next -- and 12th -- prime minister.


Congress chief Sitaram Kesri said in a letter to President Sharma that his party "resolved to extend support to the formation of a government by a new leader of the United Front."


The Congress action removed the last hitch in its attempt to again tie up with the Front and signalled the end of a political paralysis which gripped India at the end of last month.

last hitch

the end of last month


Reddy said the new United Front government would have better relations with the Congress to avoid another divorce but ruled out the possibility of a coalition with the Congress.


"The question of coalition never arose and does not arise," he said.


The Front's previous minority government fell after the Congress alleged it was not consulted on major decisions.


The Congress began the crisis, ending 10 months of support to the Front coalition on March 30, and then made a bid to form its own administration.

10 months

March 30


It later backed down after failing to woo support in India's hung lower house of parliament for a rival coalition.


Some Front leaders had suspected the Congress, who said its renewed support was conditional on the 64-year-old Deve Gowda's exit, might harbour secret ambitions of taking power.


Kesri removed the doubts Friday.

Friday


The United Front's only remaining problem now is to find a consensus candidate suitable to all its centrist, leftist and regional parties.

now


Front leaders said a search was on.


"Informal consultations are going on," said Doraiswamy Raja, a communist leader.


The new prime minister is widely expected to be G.K. Moopanar, a Tamil politician from the country's south.


Others reportedly in the race include External Affairs Minister Inder Kumar Gujral.


The coming together of the Front and Congress is being attributed to their mutual fear of new elections, which they argue would favour the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP, Indian People's Party).


Both accuse the resurgent nationalists, who have been successful in a series of recent state polls, of religious bigotry.


The BJP said Friday another Front government was not the answer to the present crisis.

Friday


"The best solution is fresh election," BJP Vice President Krishan Lal Sharma told AFP.


"No cosmetic change will be able to sort out the mess that has been created by the Congress and United Front."


AFP_ENG_19970417.0188

BANGKOK, April 17 , 1997 (AFP)

Thai cabinet approves fiscal 1988 budget worth one trillion baht

Thailand's cabinet Thursday approved a draft budget for the next fiscal year to September 1998 worth 1,008 billion baht (38.7 billion dollars), a Budget Bureau official said.

April 17 , 1997

Thursday

the next fiscal year to September 1998


The figure was up nine percent on the current year's budget of 925 billion baht and only 2.4 percent on the original allocation for fiscal 1997, from which the cabinet approved cuts of 59 billion baht last month.

the current year

fiscal 1997

last month


Investment expenditure accounted for 39 percent of the total fiscal 1998 budget, down from 42 percent a year earlier, the official said.

a year earlier


Ministries will have to submit final spending plans to the cabinet for reconsideration on May 21, he said.

May 21


Transport and Communications Minister Suwat Lippatapallop said his ministry had been given a 1998 budget of 100 billion baht, up 25 percent from the current fiscal year.

current fiscal year


The ministry is responsible for the Highways Department and several telecommunications projects.


Budget Bureau director Seree Sukstaporn said earlier that stable inflation was forecast at around five percent in 1998, while the country's gross domestic product was expected to rise 6.7 to 6.8 percent to around five trillion baht.


XIN_ENG_20061117.0328

GUADALAJARA, Mexico, Nov. 17 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Mexican Espinosa makes to diving Grand Prix final

Mexican diver Paola Espinosa reached the final of the 10-meter board in the 2006 Diving Grand Prix, by scoring 363.1 points from five rounds on Friday, beating nearest rival, China's Chen Ruolin by 37 points.

Nov. 17 , 2006

Friday


Some 50 athletes qualified for the competition, which runs until this weekend, in Guadalajara, capital of the western Mexico state of Jalisco, run by the International Swimming Federation.

this weekend


Espinosa, trained by China's Ma Jin, will challenge China's Tong Jia and Russia's Olva Vintoniak on Friday night.

Friday night


Espinosa came fifth in the Athens Olympic Games, in both the three-meter board and the 10-meter synchronized platform.


It is the fifth time that the competition has been held in Mexico.


Athletes of 12 teams are taking part in , including Mexico, U.S., Russia, Cuba, Brazil and Venezuela.


XIN_ENG_20051118.0065

JERUSALEM, Nov. 18 , 2005 (Xinhua)

threat: report

The Erez crossing on the Gaza- Israel border was partly closed Friday morning due to a possible terror threat, Israeli daily newspaper Ha'aretz reported.

Nov. 18 , 2005

Friday morning


The border crossing, which was the main exit for people in Gaza, was totally closed before dawn Friday, but was partly reopened in the morning time, said the report.

Friday

the morning time


Earlier, the Israel Radio reported that intelligence information indicates that a terror organization was planning to carry out an attack at the Erez terminal.


Humanitarian cases and VIPs will be allowed to cross the border Friday, the radio said.

Friday


Earlier this week, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice extended her stay in the Middle East to broker a Gaza border deal.

Earlier this week


The Rafah border crossing is slated to open on Nov. 25, when European inspectors are set to arrive to monitor compliance with the border agreements.

Nov. 25


XIN_ENG_20051125.0301

BEIJING, Nov. 26 , 2005 (Xinhua)

president

Chinese President Hu Jintao said here Saturday the fact that China had realized the great jump from one-person-one-day space flight to multi-person-multi-day space mission within two years has marked a new landmark victory in China's manned space technology.

Nov. 26 , 2005

Saturday

two years


Hu made the remarks at a meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing to mark the great success of Shenzhou VI mission.


XIN_ENG_20051110.0251

MONROVIA, Nov. 10 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Johnson-Sirleaf appears to be Africa's first female president

Harvard-trained Iron Lady Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf appeared to be the first female president in Africa as results from nearly 90 percent of the polling stations on Thursday gave her a commanding advantage over football great George Weah in Liberia's post-war presidential runoff.

Nov. 10 , 2005

Thursday


The 66-year-old grandmother and former finance minister had 59.


2 percent of the votes while the 39-year-old former FIFA player of the year had 40.8 percent, Frances Johnson-Morris, chairwoman of the National Elections Commission, told a news conference.

the year


The results, she said, are from 2719 of the 3,070 polling stations across the war-torn west African country.


AFP_ENG_19970418.0545

WASHINGTON, April 18 , 1997 (AFP)

Senate probe into Louisiana lawmaker's election stirs partisan trouble

A Republican-controlled Congressional committee has decided to beef up a probe into the 1996 election of a Democratic Senator from Louisiana, sparking a fresh partisan furor.

April 18 , 1997


The Rules and Administration Committee angered Democrats by voting Thursday to appoint a top Republican lawyer as head of an expanded investigation into Senator Mary Landrieu's narrow victory last November.

Thursday

last November


Landrieu won by a mere 5,788 votes over Republican rival Louis "Woody" Jenkins, who has charged that the local Democratic machine committed widespread fraud, including paying voters in impoverished New Orleans neighborhoods to vote more than once.


Last week, two lawyers hired by the committee -- one Republican, one Democrat -- said they wanted to look into three charges relating to voter fraud before making a recommendation on a full-scale investigation.

Last week


However, the nine-member committee bypassed their appeals and agreed to a probe headed by Republican heavyweight Richard Cullen, who is set to become the attorney general of the state of Virginia.


The Democrats responded that the Cullen probe would sanction a "fishing expedition" on behalf of a revenge-seeking Jenkins and would undermine the principle of bi-partisanship in Senate investigations.


AFP_ENG_20061214.0742

HOUSTON, Texas, Dec 14 , 2006, 2006

ATTENTION - ADDS details ///

Two astronauts on Thursday completed the second spacewalk in the space shuttle Discovery's 12-day mission to refurbish the International Space Station, NASA said.

Dec 14 , 2006

Thursday


Mission specialist Robert Curbeam and Christer Fuglesang, Sweden's first astronaut, remained outside the ISS exactly five hours rewiring the space station for a new solar array that will double its power output.


The astronauts completed all their tasks ahead of schedule, NASA said.


The potentially risky work involved shutting off the electricity to half the space station to prevent the astronauts from getting electrocuted.


AFP_ENG_20061213.0679

SYDNEY, Dec 14 , 2006, 2006

URGENT  Australia's Qantas agrees takeover offer

Australian flag carrier Qantas on Thursday agreed to an 11-billion-dollar (8.6 billion US) takeover bid from a private equity consortium.

Dec 14 , 2006

Thursday


XIN_ENG_20051122.0284

MOSCOW, Nov. 22 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Bird flu kills swans in southern Russia

Russia's veterinarian authorities confirmed Tuesday that some 250 swans had died of bird flu in the southern region of Astrakhan in the past week.

Nov. 22 , 2005

Tuesday

the past week


"Tests showed that nearly 250 swans had died of bird flu" in the Volga River delta in southern Russia, Yevgeny Nepoklonov, deputy head of the Federal Veterinarian and Phytosanitary Control Service, told the Itar-Tass news agency.


"Villages in the Volga delta are under quarantine, and domestic birds are staying indoors," Nepoklonov said.


The Astrakhan veterinarian service said swan deaths started near the Astrakhan Nature Park a week ago.

a week ago


The region's chief veterinarian, Alexander Vasilyev, said many birds had gathered in the Volga River delta but only swans born in spring died.

spring


"They might have been weakened by the long voyage," he said.


The Agriculture Ministry said four other regions are still affected by the bird flu -- Altai, Kurgan, Chelyabinsk and Tambov regions -- but quarantine is expected to be lifted in previously infected localities in the Altai, Tambov and Chelyabinsk regions later this week.

this week


The bird flu virus, strains of which can spread to humans and can be fatal, has claimed the lives of more than 60 people in Southeast Asia since 2003.


XIN_ENG_20061127.0437

KINSHASA, Nov. 27 , 2006 (Xinhua)

mission

UN peacekeeping forces in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and government troops have driven rebel soldiers out of an eastern town they had captured at the weekend, the UN mission announced Monday.

Nov. 27 , 2006

the weekend

Monday


The UN mission, known by its French acronym MONUC, said that its blue helmets (UN forces), fighting alongside the National Army Force in the DRC (FARDC), launched air strikes on the rebel 81st and the 83rd brigades loyal to General Laurent Nkunda.


The rebel soldiers began to retreat from the town of Sake under the pressure of UN attack helicopters and ground forces.


The MONUC suffered no casualties, it said.


Nkunda's men launched attacks on Saturday, taking the town of Sake which is close to Goma, the chief town of North-Kivu province.

Saturday


The FARDC formed its defense at Kazingani, a few kilometers to the east of Sake, after abandoning the town on Sunday.

Sunday


The fighting has killed eight people.


The MONUC said blue helmets were tightening patrol around Goma to ensure the situation remained stable and citizens were safe.


It was trying its utmost to prevent the flare-up from approaching the city.


In June 2004, Nkunda, a disgraced Tutsi general of the FARDC, led his soldiers in rebellion against President Joseph Kabila.

June 2004


They kept a week-long occupation of Bukavu, capital of South-Kivu province.


Since then, the Tutsi general has been under an international warrant for war crimes and crime against humanity committed in Bukavu.


His whereabouts has never been officially reported till now.

now


He is thought to be in the North-Kivu province close to the Rwanda border.


AFP_ENG_20061210.0254

PARIS, Dec 10 , 2006, 2006

France's Royal boosted in presidential bid by deal with rival

Segolene Royal's chances of becoming France's first woman president improved Sunday when a left-wing rival struck a deal with her to give up his own bid for head of state.

Dec 10 , 2006

Sunday


Jean-Pierre Chevenement, a former interior minister, told his eurosceptic Republican and Citizens' Movement (MRC) party that he was withdrawing his announced presidential candidacy.


He made the announcement under an agreement with Royal's Socialist Party which would see MRC candidates supported by the Socialists in 10 electorates, according to a copy obtained by AFP.


"Nobody was forcing me to be a candidate.


Nobody forced me to withdraw my candidacy," Chevenement said.


"I do so of my own will to open the way for a positive outcome in the first round" of the presidential elections, he said.


Divisions on the left that dissipated voters' ballots resulted in the Socialist candidate in the 2002 presidential elections, then prime minister Lionel Jospin, being defeated by far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen.


Incumbent conservative President Jacques Chirac then went on to be re-elected by a landslide, backed by thousands of disenfranchised Socialist voters ferociously opposed to Le Pen.


Delegates from Chevenement's party on Sunday voted to back Royal in the next elections due in April and May.

Sunday

April


A high-ranking party member, Patrick Trannoy, said the agreement struck allowed the two movements "to define a legislative programme that will constitute a lasting alternative to the right's policies."


XIN_ENG_20061116.0130

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov. 16 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Malaysia stock market ends higher

The Malaysia stock market ended higher Thursday, led by gains on telecommunication companies ' shares.

Nov. 16 , 2006

Thursday


The benchmark Composite Index (CI) closed 9.22 points higher at 1,037.60, a record high since July 1997.

July 1997


The Second Board Index rose 0.71 of a point to 89.27 and the Industrial Index advanced 10.20 points to 2,150.55.


The Mesdaq Index went up 1.10 points to 120.16 and the Emas increased 60.94 points to 6,744.49.


Gainers led losers by 562 to 293, with 294 other counters unchanged, 232 untraded and 29 suspended.


Turnover improved to 1.20 billion shares valued at 1.55 billion ringgit (418.92 million U.S. dollars compared with Wednesday's closing of 969.25 million shares valued at 1.35 billion ringgit ( 364.86 million U.S. dollars

Wednesday


AFP_ENG_20051216.0013

SYDNEY, Dec 16 , 2005

= (PICTURE) =

Hollywood star Cate Blanchett led a group of Australian celebrities in a Sydney beach ceremony Friday to appeal for calm after race riots this week.

Dec 16 , 2005

Friday

this week


The Oscar-winning Australian actress turned out at upmarket Coogee Beach with other actors and musicians to urge racial tolerance after mobs of whites attacked Arab-Australians on a beach last Sunday.

last Sunday


"It's actually very clear and simple," said Blanchett, dressed casually in a sun-hat, jacket and designer jeans in front of a banner calling for a "wave of tolerance" to sweep Australia.


"Violence and racism are bad.


Whenever they occur they are to be condemned (and) we should not turn a blind eye to them.


"It's about respect.


Respect for others, respect for the rights of others and respect of the rights of everyone to go about their lives in a peaceful way."


The group with Blanchett, who won best supporting actress Oscar for her portrayal of Katharine Hepburn in the 2004 film The Aviator with Leonardo DiCaprio, included former Midnight Oil rock star turned politician Peter Garrett.


Garrett, now a member of parliament for the opposition Labor Party, said the group was delivering a message about "the unacceptability of violence (and) the necessity for us to embrace respect and tolerance".


The appeal was sparked by fears that new clashes could erupt on Sydney beaches this weekend.

this weekend


Dozens of people were injured and arrested in the violence, in which white mobs set out to "reclaim the beach" from groups of Lebanese-Australians accused of intimidating other beachgoers with boorish behaviour at weekends.


Groups of mainly ethnic-Lebanese men then launched a wave of revenge attacks, and thousands of police will patrol trouble spots this weekend in an attempt to prevent a repeat performance.


XIN_ENG_20061128.0429

WASHINGTON, Nov. 28 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Paulson, Bernanke to lead U.S. team to Beijing next month

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will lead a high- level U.S. team next month for the first meeting of the Strategic Economic Dialogue, the Treasury Department said on Tuesday.

Nov. 28 , 2006

next month

Tuesday


Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab, Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, Heath and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt, Energy Secretary Sam Bodman and Stephen Johnson, head of the Environmental Protection Agency, will also join in the delegation, said the department in a statement.


The discussions, which will take place Dec. 14-15 in Beijing, would cover a range of issues including global growth, China's integration into the world trading system, stable energy markets and cooperation between the two countries on environmental issues, said the statement.

Dec. 14-15


The U.S. delegation will also meet with Chinese President Hu Jintao, Premier Wen Jiabao and Vice Premier Wu Yi, it added.


XIN_ENG_20061129.0460

JOHANNESBURG, Nov. 29 , 2006 (Xinhua)

S. Africa to publish new AIDS-combating strategy

The South African government is expected to announce a newly-revised AIDS-combating strategy this week with intensified prevention and treatment measures, a long-waited boost to the country's arduous fight against the world's most serious AIDS epidemic.

Nov. 29 , 2006

this week


South African Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang said on Wednesday that a revised Strategic Plan for HIV/AIDS for the 2007- 2011 period would be announced on the World AIDS Day, which falls on Friday, at a national commemorative event in Nelspruit, Mpumalanga Province.

Wednesday

Friday


The plan "will guide the country's response to HIV/AIDS in a manner that ensures continuity of the current strategies while introducing additional interventions required to keep up with recent advances in knowledge," Tshabalala-Msimang said in a statement.


South African Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, who also chairs the South African National AIDS Council (SANAC), would elaborate the plan, said Tshabalala-Msimang, who, however, said she would not attend the event.


A South African newspaper revealed the plan two weeks ago, whose aims include halving the HIV-infection rate in the next five years while providing treatment to 750,000 patients.

two weeks ago

the next five years


The new plan spells out 30 goals under four priority areas -- preventing new infections; providing treatment, care and support to people infected with HIV; improving HIV research, and implementing a monitoring and evaluation framework for the plan's targets; and ensuring that the rights of people infected with HIV are protected, according to national newspaper Business Day.


More than 5.5 million South Africans, or 12 percent of the population, are infected with HIV.


The United Nations said this number is the second largest in the world, only after India.


The plan, if published, comes amid signs of a dramatic rethink in government circles about a comprehensive approach to the pandemic.


It coincides with a new drive led by Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka as the head of the SANAC to reverse negative international perceptions of South Africa's AIDS-fighting efforts.


Pretoria has long been under domestic and international pressures, blamed of lacking firm and clear leadership to tackle with the epidemic.


The draft plan is a marked departure from the government's 2000-2005 plan, which has been widely criticized for its failure to include clear targets and a monitoring and evaluation framework.


However, the health minister defended that the government has achieved remarkable progress in the fight against HIV/AIDS.


"We are keeping our promise as the South African Department of Health to increasing access to HIV/AIDS prevention, care and treatment services," she said on Wednesday.

Wednesday


More than 1.7 million people have used the voluntary counseling and testing services available in 4,172 clinics in the last financial year, she said, adding that more than 380 million condoms are being distributed annually.

the last financial year


Services to reduce the risk of mother to child transmission of HIV are available in all hospitals and 86 percent of clinics,

A total of 213,828 adults and children have been put on the government-paid Antiretroviral treatment (ART) program by end of September 2006, with an average of 11,000 patients joining the ART program every month, the minister said.

September 2006

every month


But the Southern African HIV Clinicians Society estimated that the number was only about a fifth of the HIV patients in need of life-prolonging antiretroviral medicines.


Health Minister Tshabalala-Msimang becomes highly controversial in recent two years, partly because she adamantly promoted a diet of beetroot, lemons and garlic as an alternative treatment of AIDS, causing confusion over what is effective AIDS treatment.

recent two years


In past months international and domestic AIDS campaigners have repeatedly demanded Tshabalala-Msimang to resign.

past months


President Thabo Mbeki's decision to make his deputy president the head of SANAC was also seen a move to marginalize the embattled health minister.


XIN_ENG_20061102.0001

LANZHOU, Nov. 2 , 2006 (Xinhua)

China

All the 16 coal miners who were trapped after a Wednesday landslide in northwest China's Gansu Province were rescued late Wednesday night.

Nov. 2 , 2006

Wednesday

late Wednesday night


The miners fought to escape from the shaft while rescuers outside struggled to reopen the pit head, Yan Chenglu, deputy secretary-general of the Lanzhou city government, said at the rescue site.


The miners dug an eight-meter-long tunnel with a diameter of about one meter with spades, bars and other tools they found in the mine shaft, said Yan.


The miners appeared to be in good physical condition when they stepped out of the pit and were sent to hospital for a medical check.


"We guessed it was a landslide and not a gas blast or flood because there was no water and no smell of gas in the shaft," a rescued miner called Wang told Xinhua.


Wang, the last miner to emerge from the blocked mine, is receiving treatment at Honggu District hospital in Lanzhou, where the coal mine is located.


"We were frightened at the beginning, but we soon calmed down because we knew we were not far from ground surface," said Wang.


"I told myself we can definitely get out safely."


"Later, we heard the sound of excavators digging and that boosted our morale enormously," he said.


The miners spent more than 14 hours digging their "tunnel of life".


"It's so wonderful to be able to see our families and colleagues again," said Wang.


An estimated 1.4 million cubic meters of mud slid and blocked the mouths of the main pit in Deshun Coal Mine Fields at around 10 a.m. Wednesday, trapping all the 16 miners underground, and burying a number of houses.

10 a.m.

Wednesday


XIN_ENG_20061104.0159

HANGZHOU, Nov. 4 , 2006 (Xinhua)

4th Chinese private enterprise summit opens in east China

The fourth Chinese Private Enterprise Summit, the largest of its kind in China, opened Saturday in east China's Zhejiang Province.

Nov. 4 , 2006

Saturday


More than 3,000 private entrepreneurs both at home and abroad attended the two-day summit held in Hangzhou, the provincial capital.


With the theme of "Innovation, Credibility and Harmony", the summit had a series of forums on innovation, real estate development and Chinese private entrepreneurs.


"Weakness in innovation and enterprise management now hinder the development of private enterprises in China," said Jiang Zhenghua,vice-chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, China's top legislature, at the opening ceremony.

now


Chinese private enterprises should make use of the opportunities in globalization and nurture their own brands on the basis of good management, he said.


The summit was sponsored by the Private Economic Studies Center under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Zhejiang Provincial Administration for Industry and Commerce, and Zhejiang Private (Non-Governmental) Enterprises' Association.


A key sector in the province's economy, private enterprises hold 90 percent of jobs and 70 percent of the gross domestic product in Zhejiang.


XIN_ENG_20051115.0283

KABUL, Nov. 15 , 2005 (Xinhua)

US solider killed, 4 injured in bomb explosion in Afghanistan

A US soldier was killed and four other people were injured by an improvised explosive device Tuesday in Afghanistan's eastern province of Paktika, the border area between Afghanistan and Pakistan, US military said.

Nov. 15 , 2005

Tuesday


"The unit was conducting offensive operations to prevent enemy activity in Gayan area when the device detonated.


One US service member was killed, and another US service member, two Afghan Security Forces members and an Afghan civilian were injured in the explosion," US military said in a press release.


"They were traveling in an up-armored high-mobility, multi- purpose, wheeled vehicle when this occurred.


Those injured were evacuated by air to a nearby forward operating base for treatment.


All are currently in stable condition," it added.


The name and unit of the deceased service member is being withheld pending notification of next of kin.


Taliban militants, who have vowed to continue Jihad or the holy war against the Karzai government and foreign troops, have intensified attacks against Afghan and foreign soldiers.


More than 1,500 have been killed with the majority of them Taliban militants in the Taliban-linked militancy since the beginning of this year.

this year


About 18,000-strong US-led Coalition forces have been stationed in Afghanistan after the collapse of the Taliban regime in late 2001 with the main task of anti-terrorism.

late 2001


More than 80 US soldiers have died this year in Taliban-linked militancy, which makes this year the bloodiest one since the beginning of the Operation Enduring Freedom.

this year

this year


XIN_ENG_20051105.0101

ISLAMABAD, Nov. 5 , 2005 (Xinhua)

At least six killed in self-made bomb blast in Pakistan

At least six people were killed when a bomb they were making exploded in Pakistan's tribal region near the Afghan border on Saturday, officials and locals said.

Nov. 5 , 2005

Saturday


"It seems the explosion occurred when these people were busy making an improvised explosive device for terrorist activity," Pakistan's chief military spokesman Major General Shaukat Sultan was quoted as saying.


Sultan said that the six people were killed, one of whom was female, and that they were all believed to be foreigners although their exact nationalities were still being investigated.