The development was a positive step pushing forward the Middle East peace process, Abdullah told visiting Quartet's Middle East Envoy James Wolfensohn, who had been been overseeing the Israeli-Palestinian talks over the past five months.

the past five months


The Jordanian king hoped the long-awaited agreement could help the Palestinians improve their freedom of movement and economic activities.


Wolfensohn said the Quartet will monitor the implementation of the deal clinched on Tuesday on the Rafah crossings after intense talks brokered by visiting US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Tuesday


Under the agreement, the two sides will reopen the crossing on Nov. 25, which is Gaza's only link with the outside world not passing through Israel and has been largely closed since the historic withdrawal of Israeli troops from the territory in September.

Nov. 25

September


The Quartet groups key Middle East peace brokers of the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia.


AFP_ENG_19970415.0535

ANKARA, April 15 , 1997 (AFP)

Turkish contingent in Albania to control Tirana airport

The Turkish contingent of the multinational force in Albania will provide security for Tirana airport, the foreign ministry said here Tuesday.

April 15 , 1997

Tuesday


"It has been decided at the Albania force meetings in Rome that the Turkish contingent will be deployed in Tirana and be responsible for the security of the airport and the city's northwestern sector," the ministry said in a statement.


The Turkish contingent of nearly 800 troops, is due to reach Albania by April 24 and become operational the following day, ministry officials said.

April 24


The United Nations last month approved the creation of an Italian-led multinational force of 6,000 troops to be deployed in rebellion-hit Albania, to provide security for humanitarian aid efforts.

last month


AFP_ENG_20061214.0677

WASHINGTON, Dec 14 , 2006, 2006

Saudi ex-ambassador urged no US talks with Iran : report

The US State Department said Thursday Saudi Arabia's former ambassador here recently visited Washington, adding spice to reports he was involved in a power struggle which caused his successor to quit.

Dec 14 , 2006

recently


Prince Bandar bin Sultan, was the kingdom's top envoy to the United States for 22 years until 2004.

22 years


The Washington Post reported Thursday he was in the US capital recently to counsel top officials against heeding mounting calls for talks with Iran or Syria.

Thursday


State Department spokesman Sean McCormack reluctantly confirmed Prince Bandar met Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, when pressed by reporters, but refused to divulge the substance of their conversation.


"I can't tell you the last time that he and the secretary met," McCormack said.


"I'm sure that it's been within the past several weeks, but I can't tell you exactly when."

the past several weeks


The Post quoted diplomats as saying many Saudis believed Syria had betrayed the Arab world by leaning closer to Iran in recent months.

recent months


Saudi Arabia has shown increasing signs of concern over Tehran's growing influence with Iraqi Shiite leaders, and its nuclear showdown with the West.


Interestingly, the mission of Prince Bandar, current Saudi national security advisor, seems to directly conflict, on Iran, at least, with recent statements on Tehran by his successor as ambassador Prince Turki al-Faisal.


Prince Turki set off a diplomatic mystery on Monday by suddenly resigning and leaving the United States for what were a Saudi official said were "personal reasons."

Monday


Among several theories about his departure, was a report that he was locked in a political feud with Bandar.


Signs of differences over Iran may hint at some of the reasons behind any clash, as Prince Turki has publicly urged the United States to enter into dialogue with Iran.


"Saudi Arabia talks to Iran frequently and frankly," Prince Turki said during an an appearance at the Center for Strategic and International Studies on October 4.

October 4


"I think for the United States not to talk to Iran is a mistake.


We've found in our experience that when we did not talk to Iran -- our relations were broken for a period of a few years in the '90s -- we had more troubles with each other.


"But since then, our relationship has improved dramatically and beneficially for both our countries.


So we think that negotiation and talking to people is more important than shutting the doors on them."


The United States is at loggerheads with the Islamic Republic over a series of issues, including Tehran's nuclear program, and also claims Tehran is deliberately fanning extremism in Iraq and the wider Middle East.


AFP_ENG_19970403.0040

JAKARTA, April 3 , 1997 (AFP)

Indonesian police hold 24 students for election boycott call

Indonesian police in the Central Java town of Yogyakarta have arrested 24 students for calling for a boycott of the May elections and demanding a new president, a report said Thursday.

April 3 , 1997

Thursday


Yogyakarta police chief Colonel A.R.


Gaffar said the 24 students from the state university Gajah Mada in Yogyakarta, were arrested during a campus demonstration on Tuesday, the Media daily said.

Tuesday


During the demonstration the students displayed banners that included calls for a boycott of the May 29 general elections, a demand for a new party and a new president and support for ousted opposition leader Megawati Sukarnoputri, the daily said.

May 29


Student sources here however, said Thursday that eight other students were arrested Wednesday in Yogyakarta after calling for the release of their 24 colleagues.

Thursday

Wednesday


The 24, including seven women, were being questioned, Gaffar said, adding if enough evidence was found, they could face charges of inciting people to turn against the government and expressing enmity towards it.


The charges carry up to seven years of jail.


Indonesian officials, including President Suharto, have warned people that although it is not against to abstain from voting, inciting people to do so was punishable.


The country will hold its sixth general elections under President Suharto on May 29.

May 29


AFP_ENG_19970413.0291

SARAJEVO, April 13 , 1997 (AFP)

Bitter-cold Sarajevo offers a glimpse at its old tolerance by Edina Neretljak

The mainly Moslem city of Sarajevo surprised pilgrims visiting for the mass celebrated Sunday by Pope John Paul II with its sharp climate but it also showed its beautified face and offered a glimpse at what it used to be, welcoming the guests with tolerance.

April 13 , 1997

Sunday


The city that spent four million German marks (2.4 million dollars) working in a frenzy for the past two weeks to welcome the most important guest it has ever hosted, greeted the pilgrims coming from all over the country and abroad with snow-flakes and wind chilling the bones.

the past two weeks


Hundreds of buses carrying thousands of pilgrims began arriving in Sarajevo at dawn to specially-allocated parking lots in the city centre from which they walked to the Kosevo stadium where the mass took place.


Quietly and at the temperature of only zero Centigrade (32 degrees Fahrenheit) in the morning the faithful walked towards the newly- refurbished stadium while the city, except for hundreds of policemen and soldiers of the NATO-led peace force at every corner, still slept.


Tired, yawning after spending the whole night travelling aboard buses, their faces and hands red with cold, the pilgrims trod along the closed-to-traffic streets and boulevards decorated by Bosnian state flags, huge Papal posters and recently planted seedlings.


The white-and-yellow Vatican flags the pilgrims carried in their hands, scarves in the same fashion, and the flags of Bosnian Croat statelet Herceg-Bosna and the neighbouring Republic of Croatia, provoked no reaction from passers-by in the city in which only 30,000 Catholic Croats live.


"We do not feel at all that we are in a Moslem city, we had no problems here", Zeljka Bajan, a 27-year-old housewife from the Croatian coastal city of Sibenik, said.


Like so many other pilgrims Bajan saw for the first time the war-scars that the face-lift could not remove such as the shattered Zetra sports hall just by the stadium.


But the most shocking to all was the nearby football-pitch-turned- graveyard where hundreds of people were buried and its neighbour accross the road, the Lion's cemetery.


"It is sad to see all the ruins.


We were shocked with what we saw and could understand better now what the people here went through", Bajan said.


Pilgrims coming from both the Moslem-Croat federation and the Republika Srpska, Bosnia's two post-war entities, said they encountered no problems travelling to Sarajevo.


Although not all the 60,000 faithful that the Church expected did come, the 40,000 that filled the stadium showed they had no fear.


"If the pope was ready to come here then why should I not come as well", Antija Zlatun, from the central Bosnian town of Novi Travnik, said when asked about the recent series of attacks against Catholic churches and monasteries in Sarajevo.


Munib Usanovic, 50-year-old servant of the federal government and a Moslem from Sarajevo who went to the mass "because it is an event that happens once in a lifetime," expressed the shame many citizens feel about the attacks and the finding on Saturday of explosives set along the papal route.

Saturday


"That was probably done by somebody who wanted to tarnish the image of Sarajevo as the town opened to all people of good will", Usanovic said.


"I cannot imagine anybody who would want to miss this mass, I cannot imagine why anybody would be upset by this visit", he said hoping that people unpoisoned by intolerance still prevail in the city.


AFP_ENG_20061227.0184

TEHRAN, Dec 27 , 2006, 2006

ATTENTION - ADDS failed amendment to bill ///

Iran's parliament on Wednesday approved a bill obliging the government to "revise its cooperation" with the UN nuclear watchdog in retaliation for Security Council sanctions imposed on Tehran.

Dec 27 , 2006

Wednesday


The text of the bill, which also tells the government to "accelerate" Iran's controversial nuclear programme, was approved by an overwhelming majority in the conservative-controlled parliament, with 161 in favour and 15 against.


The move is set to further inflame tensions over the Iranian nuclear programme, which the Islamic republic has vowed to expand in defiance of the sanctions agreed by the UN Security Council last week.

last week


Iran has refused to heed the council's demand to suspend uranium enrichment, a process that Western countries fear could be used to develop a nuclear weapon.


Iran insists its atomic drive is entirely peaceful.


The formulation of the bill gives the government a free hand to limit cooperation with the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as it sees fit.


This could involve limiting UN inspections of its atomic sites, a move urged by several lawmakers.


"Officials from the foreign ministry and the supreme national security council should be left to interpret the text," said Deputy Foreign Minister Hamid Reza Asefi, who promoted the bill on behalf of the government.


Parliament speaker Gholam Ali Hadad Adel echoed comments from other top officials that Iran did not intend to quit the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty but emphasized the government could interpret the bill as it wanted.


"The government should react (to the bill) in a way appropriate to the international pressure," he added.


"This could mean quitting the NPT or staying there.


We will give a free hand to the government to take its decisions."


Lawmakers first voted on the title of the bill and then on the fuller text which reads that "the government is obliged, following resolution 1737, to accelerate the nuclear programme and revise its cooperation with the IAEA".

fuller


Almost immediately after it was passed, the bill was approved as law by the hardline Guardians Council which vets all parliamentary legislation.


Iran in February stopped allowing extensive UN access to its atomic sites.

February


But up until now it has still been allowing regular UN inspections of nuclear installations.

now


After weeks of diplomatic wrangling, the UN Security Council on Saturday adopted a resolution which imposes restrictions on Iran's nuclear industry and ballistic missile programme.

Saturday


The debate in parliament was marked by a few dissenting voices from the minority reformists but the overwhelming majority spoke out in favour of retaliation.


"Rejecting this resolution means that a resolution that is even stricter will be passed in two months.

two months


The best solution is to establish a bridge with the other countries to reduce the tension," said reformist MP Nourredine Pirmoazen.


Others also attempted, without success, to propose a vote on an amendment that would have placed handling of the nuclear issue in the hands of the Supreme National Security Council led by Ali Larijani, seen as more moderate than President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.


"The aim of this amendment is that when there is a decision it is not disturbed by a speech," said reformist MP Iraj Nadimi.


However, a conservative deputy, Ebrahim Karkhaneie, said that "no country has the right to renounce its legitimate rights under threats."


Iran's immediate reaction to the UN sanctions resolution was to announce it would press ahead with plans to install 3,000 centrifuges to enrich uranium at its key nuclear plant in Natanz, central Iran.


Officials have said they want Iran to celebrate a major step towards enriching uranium on an industrial scale when the country marks the 28th anniversary of the Islamic revolution in February.

February


Oil markets dived during the past day on fears over the consequences of the continued defiance of Iran, the world's number four crude producer.

the past day


Meanwhile, Iranian oil and gas officials have complained that US pressure on foreign banks not to lend to Iran have resulted in financing problems for key energy projects.


"Unfortunately, most of the foreign banks think politically instead of commercially and thus they impose some restrictions (on us)," the managing director of the Pars Oil and Gas Company, Akbar Torkan, was quoted as saying by the Sarmayeh newspaper.


AFP_ENG_19970429.0391

THE HAGUE, April 29 , 1997 (AFP)

URGENT Croatian warcrimes suspect to plead not guilty

Zlatko Aleksovski, extradited to The Hague to stand trial at the international warcrimes tribunal here, said Tuesday he would plead not guilty to the charges against him.

April 29 , 1997

Tuesday


XIN_ENG_20061121.0175

AMMAN, Nov. 21 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Jordan's stock market index closes up

The price index of Jordan's Amman stock market closed at 5,691 points on Tuesday, up 63 points from Monday's finish.

Nov. 21 , 2006

Tuesday

Monday


The turnover was 27.4 million Jordanian dinars (about 38.7 million U.S. dollars).


A total of 10.3 million shares were traded in 11,187 deals.


AFP_ENG_20061211.0546

SANTIAGO, Dec 11 , 2006, 2006

ATTENTION - RECASTS, UPDATES, ADDS quotes, detail ///

President Michelle Bachelet defended her decision Monday to deny ex-dictator Augusto Pinochet a state funeral as a step for the good of Chile, while the international community lamented that he escaped justice for his regime's brutality.

Dec 11 , 2006

Monday


A long line formed to see Pinochet's body as he lied in a coffin wearing his grey general's uniform inside Santiago's Military School, a day after his death sparked wild celebrations in the streets of the capital.


Even after his death, Pinochet remained a divisive figure, with detractors calling his 1973-1990 regime an era of violent repression while supporters hailed his fierce anti-communism and free-market policies.


But human rights groups and media commentators worldwide lamented that in his death Pinochet had escaped justice for thousands of dead and missing during his rule.


Former army leader Pinochet, who died in Santiago's Military Hospital Sunday at age 91 a week after suffering a heart attack, has been given a military farewell with his funeral taking place in the Military School's courtyard Tuesday.

week

Tuesday


His face and chest could be seen through a glass window as his coffin was flanked by eight honor guards and two huge candles.


Several masses and prayers were scheduled in a chapel at the Military School's hall.


Bachelet, who along with her parents was detained and tortured by Pinochet's regime, refused to give Pinochet full state honors with a national mourning period.


"In any society, in any country, when there are not norms, or predetermined laws for a particular situation, it is up to the leaders, the government, to make decisions in the best interests of the people," Bachelet said.


"Over the past several hours we have seen divisive acts that we don't like, but as a society and as a country we have to have the ethical strength to overcome this challenge," the Socialist said.


Pinochet's youngest son, Marco Antonio, decried the absence of a national funeral for his father, who, he said, "was totally committed to his country and took it out of indescribable chaos."


The contrast between the sorrow of Pinochet's supporters and jubilation of his detractors showed the deep divisions still felt in Chile 16 years after the return to democracy.

16 years


Thousands of people celebrated in the streets of Santiago Sunday after Pinochet's death, while about 2,000 of his supporters gathered at the Military Hospital Sunday to mourn his passing.

Sunday


The celebrations were marred, however, by clashes between hooded radicals and police officers.


Authorities said 99 people were arrested and 43 police injured in the violence.


While leftist politicians condemned his 17-year rule that left 3,000 people dead or missing, by official count, the right recalled his economic policies that it said led to the "Chilean miracle."


Human rights groups and newspapers across the world expressed disappointment that Pinochet died without ever facing trial for the killings and torture committed under his rule.


Amnesty International said Pinochet's death underscored the importance of swiftly prosecuting human rights abusers.


"General Pinochet's death should be a wake-up call for the authorities in Chile and governments everywhere, reminding them of the importance of speedy justice for human rights crimes, something Pinochet himself has now escaped," the human rights group said.


The American newspaper USA Today said "Bringing a dictator to justice is about more than revenge."


"It is needed for a society to face up to past crimes and to deter brutal dictators elsewhere," the national daily said.


After the funeral, Pinochet's body will be taken by helicopter to a crematorium and his ashes will be handed to his family.


Pinochet came to power in a 1973 military coup that ousted Socialist president Salvador Allende, who committed suicide at the time.


After Pinochet lost a 1988 referendum on his continued rule, he handed over power in 1990 to a transitional government.


In the succeeding years numerous prosecutors and judges sought to have him tried on charges of murder, human rights abuses and corruption, but he fended off trial by claiming immunity and then ill health.


During Pinochet's 91st birthday celebrations on November 25, his wife read a message saying that the former dictator held "no grudge against anyone," despite all the "persecutions and injustices" against him.

November 25


AFP_ENG_20061217.0307

NAIROBI, Dec 17 , 2006, 2006

Three killed as police quell Nairobi slum riot

Three people were killed and several others wounded Sunday when Kenyan police clashed with residents of the capital's largest slum over a banned political rally, police and witnesses said.

Dec 17 , 2006

Sunday


Violence started when police moved in to block a former leader of Mungiki, a banned cult with criminal ties, from a holding the rally in Kibera slums, south of Nairobi.


Witnesses said the General Service Unit, a paramilitary wing of Kenyan police, opened fire on rioters, killing two, while a third was allegedly slashed to death.


"As far as I am concerned, my officers had no instructions to use live bullets.


We are investigating the alleged shooting," said Nairobi police commander Njue Njagi.


Doctors in the capital's Masaba hospital said six people were treated for gunshot wounds after the clash in Kibera, one of Africa's largest slums and home to an estimated 800,000 people.


A passing cargo train was derailed, administration police booths razed and several shops looted in several hours of violence, witnesses said.


Police had banned the rally by ex-Mungiki leader Ndura Wairunge, who plans to run against the influential Raila Odinga in next year's parliamentary elections.

next year


The Mungiki are a shadowy politico-religious group with alleged ties to Kenya's 1950s pre-indedependence Mau Mau uprising and blamed for a string of recent murders and violent robberies around the east African nation.


Last month, at least eight people were killed and thousands displaced from their homes when gang warfare rocked the capital's Mathare slums, home to about 400,000 people.

Last month


Police have warned of an upsurge in political violence in Kenya ahead of December 2007 general elections when President Mwai Kibaki is expected to face strong opposition from cabinet ministers he fired last year.

December 2007

last year


AFP_ENG_20051213.0408

ISTANBUL, Dec 13 , 2005

= (PICTURE) =

More than 700 Iraqis living in Turkey cast votes for their homeland's new parliament on Tuesday, according to a representative for the Iraqi electoral commission there.

Dec 13 , 2005

Tuesday


Turkey is one of 15 countries where Iraqi expatriates can vote in Iraq's parliamentary elections.


Three polling stations have been set up in Istanbul and one in Ankara.


Expatriates have until Thursday to cast their ballot when their homeland will grind to a halt under security measures intended to minimise bloodshed as the electorate chooses a 275-member parliament.

Thursday


Mufit Neftci, a representative of the electoral commission in charge of Iraqi exiles in Turkey, said by late afternoon Tuesday between 700 and 800 Iraqis had cast ballots.

late afternoon Tuesday


"We think that the number of voters will be more than in the last elections," Neftci said, referring to the January 28 poll for an interim parliament in Iraq.

January 28


"Any Iraqi who comes to the polling station with a valid identity card including a photograph is allowed to vote," he said.


Neftci could not give an estimate of the number of Iraqis in Turkey who are eligible to vote.


The International Migrants Organization, which organized the January poll, had estimated the number at around 30,000, most of them belonging to the Turkish minority that settled mainly in northern Iraq.

January


The ethnic Turks in Iraq make up the country's third largest ethnic group after the Arabs and the Kurds.


Besides Turkey, the other countries where Iraqi expatriates may vote include Australia, Austria, Britain, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, the Netherlands, Sweden, Syria, the United Arab Emirates and the United States.


XIN_ENG_20061127.0327

BAGHDAD, Nov. 27 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Saddam trial for genocide against Kurds adjourned till Tuesday

The trial of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and six codefendants on genocide charges was adjourned till Tuesday after the court heard two Kurdish witnesses on Monday.

Nov. 27 , 2006

Tuesday

Monday


Monday's session came 19 days after the last session on Nov. 8 when Chief Judge Muhammad Ureiybi adjourned the trial to give the defendants enough time to assemble a list of witnesses.

Monday

19 days

Nov. 8


On the 23rd session, a subdued Saddam and six codefendants were present at the court along with some lawyers in the defense team, including Badie Aref, who is defending former military intelligence chief Farhan al-Jubouri.


Aref said that during the recess, a U.S. official came to his office and told him that he had the power to convict or acquit his defendant, and specified which defense witnesses he should use in the trial.


"He forced me to present his list of more than 30 names of witnesses, whom I don't know, while I only have ten witnesses...


This is a conspiracy and can't be done," Aref said.


On Monday's session, Taimor Abdallah Rokhzai, a Kurdish witness, who now lives in Washington, DC, recounted how Kurdish villagers were taken out into the desert and murdered by soldiers.

Monday

now


"There were ditches and we were forced to line up inside to be shot by the soldiers," Rokhzai, 30, told the court.


He said that he saw his mother and sister along with the other detainees killed, but he was only shot in his shoulder.


After hearing a second witness, the judge concluded the hearing with a stern admonishment to the defendants to prepare a list of witnesses which should have been submitted Monday.

Monday


The court then adjourned the session until Tuesday.

Tuesday


Saddam and six of his aides are facing charges of genocide against Kurds in the trial of operation Anfal (Spoils of War) military campaign in which prosecutors said that up to 180,000 Kurds were killed, many of them by poison gas and mass killings.


If convicted, Saddam could get his second death penalty following the first one he got from the trial of Dujail.


On Nov. 5, Saddam and two of his senior aides were sentenced to death on crimes against humanity for Dujail case, in which 148 people were executed in the aftermath of a crackdown on the small Shiite village following a failed assassination attempt against Saddam in 1982.

Nov. 5


The Dujail verdicts are now with an appellate court, whose final decision will come within an unspecified time.

now


If it approves the death ruling, Saddam would be executed lawfully within 30 days of that decision.

30 days


Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has already said that Saddam may be hanged before the end of this year.

the end of this year


AFP_ENG_20051210.0443

BEIJING, Dec 11 , 2005

protest

The official who gave the order for security forces to open fire on a group of demonstrators in southern China last week, killing at least three people, has been arrested, state media said Sunday.

Dec 11 , 2005

last week

Sunday


The official Guangzhou Daily newspaper did not give the name or title of the official or specify when he had been detained but said he had been arrested for his decision to open fire on the villagers' demonstration.


China on Saturday broke its silence on the protest, acknowledging demonstrators were killed when police opened fire and put the death toll at three -- far fewer than the dozens described by residents.

Saturday


The official Xinhua news agency said police fired into a mob of explosives-lobbing protesters on Tuesday after being blockaded near Shanwei city, Guangdong province.

Tuesday


Hundreds of armed villagers had earlier attacked them in a "serious violation of the law", Xinhua said, quoting a Shanwei government report.


One villager said on condition of anonymity that 30 people were killed while the New York Times quoted residents as saying that "as many as 20" died.


AFP_ENG_20051214.0220

STRASBOURG, Dec 14 , 2005

ATTENTION - ADDS commission reax in Brussels ///

The European Union renewed its condemnation on Wednesday of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's verbal attacks on Israel, saying they have no place in civilised political debate.

Dec 14 , 2005

Wednesday


"The comments are wholly unacceptable and we condemn them unreservedly.


They have no place in civilised political debate," said Britain's Minister for Europe, Douglas Alexander, whose country currently holds the EU presidency.


Speaking in Strasbourg to the applause of European parliamentarians, he said that "the presidency has been unequivocal in its condemnation of the comments attributed to President Ahmadinejad of Iran."


The Islamic republic's hardline leader, who has called for Israel to be wiped off the map, launched a fresh attack on Wednesday, dismissing the Holocaust as a "myth" and saying the Jewish state should be moved as far away as Alaska.

Wednesday


"They have invented a myth that Jews were massacred and place this above God, religions and the prophets," the outspoken president said in a speech live on state television.


"If somebody in their country questions God, nobody says anything, but if somebody denies the myth of the massacre of Jew, the Zionist loudspeakers and the governments in the pay of Zionism will start to scream," he said.


"Our proposal is this: give a piece of your land in Europe, the United States, Canada or Alaska so they (the Jews) can create their own state."


Speaking in Brussels later, the European Commission's spokeswoman on external affairs also condemned Ahmadinejad's remarks.


"These remarks are just quite simply completely unacceptable," said the spokeswoman Emma Udwin.


"We feel very strongly that Iran is damaging its own interests with these kind of remarks and that such interventions do nothing to rebuild confidence in Iran's intentions," she said.


XIN_ENG_20051112.0145

HARARE, Nov. 12 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Preparations on course for senate elections in Zimbabwe

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission ( ZEC) said on Saturday preparations for the Senate elections are at an advanced stage with the National Logistical Committee mobilizing resources to ensure everything is in place to conduct the poll on November 26.

Nov. 12 , 2005

Saturday

November 26


ZEC spokesperson Ethloile Silaigwana said logistical committees had been established in all the provinces to mobilize resources for the successful holding of the elections.


"Preparations are at an advanced stage with multiparty liaison committees now functional in the constituencies to attend to issues about the elections," he said.


ZEC established the National Logistic Committee on October 14 this year to mobilize resources for the Senate elections.

October 14

this year


Silaigwana said multiparty liaison committees were encouraging political tolerance, peace and good conduct during campaigning and on the date of the elections.


An intensive voter education exercise was also going on in the constituencies, reminding people on their constitutional right to participate in the elections as well as educating voters on the correct documents to take to the polling stations so that they would not be turned away.


Voters were also being educated on the constitutional boundaries so that they went to the constituencies where they were registered, he said.


The exercise started on November 7 and ends on November 20 this year.

November 7

November 20 this year


Silaigwana said the National Multiparty Liaison Committee that comprised all the candidates participating in the election had set out the ground rules to be observed as well as agreed on a code of conduct that supporters of each party would observe during campaigning.


He said the Committee was a mechanism to ensure that all parties conducted their business in a peaceful manner.


So far the situation on the ground was calm and peaceful and none of the candidates had reported incidences of violence, he said.


"We are predicting a peaceful election," said Silaigwana.


In the past, violence has characterized elections in Zimbabwe, resulting in the death of people and destruction of property.

the past


The Senate elections have caused divisions in the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, one faction opposed to participation while the other is supporting.


AFP_ENG_20061219.0412

MOSCOW, Dec 19 , 2006, 2006

ATTENTION - ADDS quotes, details, background ///

The Russian prosecutor general's office said Tuesday it had completed a joint inquiry with visiting British detectives into the poisoning death of former Russian agent Alexander Litvinenko.

Dec 19 , 2006

Tuesday


"The Russian prosecutor general has officially completed work based on the investigation request of New Scotland Yard," the statement said, referring to joint interviews of witnesses conducted here from December 5-18.

December 5-18


Kremlin spokesman confirmed to AFP that "the final meeting with the British investigators has taken place."


British detectives arrived in Moscow on December 4 to conduct an inquiry into the poisoning murder in London of Litvinenko, though they were not allowed to conduct witness interviews independently.

December 4


The prosecutor general's office also said it gave British detectives all materials from investigators' joint questioning of six witnesses in the case, including transcripts of the interviews.


"Both sides decided not to waste time on translation from Russian to English and agreed to the prompt transfer of all the materials," news agency Interfax quoted an "informed source in the Russian capital" as saying.


The group of British detectives was in Moscow trying to unravel the mystery poisoning of Litvinenko, a former Russian federal security service agent who was granted political asylum in Britain, then British citizenship.


He died November 23 after an agonising illness caused by radioactive polonium 210 that began after he met with ex-Soviet army officer Dmitry Kovtun and ex-KGB officer Andrei Lugovoi, at a hotel in London's Mayfair district on November 1.

November 23

November 1


British and Russian investigators jointly questioned the men, both of whom deny any role in Litvinenko's killing.


A deathbed letter attributed to Litvinenko accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of ordering his poisoning, a charge the Kremlin has hotly denied.


The affair has exacerbated existing British-Russian tensions.


XIN_ENG_20051113.0099

DHAKA, Nov. 13 , 2005 (Xinhua)

SAARC summit ends with three agreements signed

The 13th South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Summit ended here Sunday and passed Dhaka Declaration.

Nov. 13 , 2005

Sunday


The summit also passed three agreements -- Avoidance of Double Taxation, Liberalization of Visa Regime and SAARC Arbitration Council.


At the concluding session of 13th SAARC summit, Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia said that India has offered to host the next summit and the 7-member states of SAARC have welcomed it.


Zia also said that the 13th summit has decided to set up a SAARC Surveillance and Rapid Response System to deal with health concerns such as bird flu, that has affected several countries in East Asia.


Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who will serve as the chairman of the next summit, called on all SAARC member countries to settle issues to facilitate implementation of South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA) by January 2006.

January 2006


"I would like to underline that we must expedite the process of resolving few outstanding issues that separate us from the final agreement on SAFTA," Singh said.


XIN_ENG_20051104.0047

TOKYO, Nov. 4 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Toyota reports record-high sales, lower profit

Toyota Motor Corp. logged new high sales in the first half of fiscal 2005, but its profit in the same period suffered the first drop in four years, according to its interim report released on Friday.

Nov. 4 , 2005

the first half of fiscal 2005

four years

Friday


The world's second largest carmaker after General Motors Corp. of the United States sold 3.83 million vehicles for the six months through Sept. 30, rising 266,000 vehicles from the same period of last year.

the six months

Sept. 30

the same period of last year


On a consolidated basis, net revenues rose 10.3 percent to a record 9.95 trillion yen (85.04 billion US dollars).


However, Its operating profit dropped 6.6 percent to 809.49 billion yen (6.92 billion dollars).


Pretax profit slipped 6.3 percent to 856.00 billion yen (7.32 billion dollars).


Toyota expected that the sales volume is expected to reach 8.03 million vehicles for the full year through next March 31, up from 7.41 million the previous year.

the full year

next March 31

the previous year


Its group net profit for the current fiscal year is likely to top 1 trillion yen (8.55 billion dollars) for the third year in a row, the company said.

the current fiscal year

the third year


Toyota's Executive Vice President Mitsuo Kinoshita said, "We attained a high level of profit while expanding production capacity and developing advanced technology and future products in response to strong demand worldwide."


In North America, its sales hiked by 119,000 vehicles to 1.245 million vehicles, mostly thanks to the popularity of vehicles like Prius and new Avalon.


In the European market, the newly introduced Aygo and the Corolla contributed to a sales increase of 22,000 vehicles to 1.


086 million vehicles.


Sales in Asia, which have been reported as an independent geographical segment since the first quarter, rose by 62,000 vehicles to 448,000 vehicles mainly thanks to the successful launch of the Innovative International Multi-Vehicle project, it said.


AFP_ENG_19970415.0248

SINGAPORE, April 15 , 1997 (AFP)

Rubber futures prices dip in Singapore

Rubber futures in Singapore closed lower Tuesday on higher turnover, dealers said.

April 15 , 1997

Tuesday


Volume for three of the four contracts traded on the Singapore Commodity Exchange Ltd. rose to 4,430 tonnes from 3,025 tonnes a day earlier.

a day earlier


August RSS 1 last traded at 165 Singapore cents, July RSS 3 at 114 US cents and October-December TSR20 (FOB) at 113 US cents, dealers said.


The TSR 20 contract was not traded.


AFP_ENG_20051204.0236

WASHINGTON, Dec 4 , 2005

in Iraq

The US lawmaker who unleashed weeks of heated debate with his call for a US troop pullout of Iraq said Sunday that he believed the George W. Bush administration was gradually coming around to his point of view.

Dec 4 , 2005

Sunday


"I think this administration is coming around," said Democratic Representative John Murtha, a staunchly pro-military former marine, speaking on ABC television's "This Week" program.


"I see the signals that they're starting to realize that the military has done everything it can do.


The military has accomplished its mission," he said.


Murtha lobbed a political bombshell last month by saying time had come for US forces to quit Iraq.

last month


Last week, the top Democrat in the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, further stunned the Washington political establishment by endorsing Murtha's call.

Last week


A top administration official told ABC however, that the White House has always been committed to pulling US troops in timely fashion.


"What the president has said from the very beginning is we need to train Iraqi security forces so they can increasingly take responsibility for their own security," national security advisor Stephen Hadley said on the same program.


"As Iraqis step up, the coalition forces can step back and ultimately, come home.


That's what the president said from the very beginning."


Hadley said the administration is eyeing "adjustments in the forces ... and ultimately reductions in the number of troops that need to be there."


XIN_ENG_20061111.0052

BAGHDAD, Nov. 11 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Seven bodies found in Baghdad

Iraqi police patrols found seven unidentified bodies scattered in different parts of Baghdad on Saturday, an Interior Ministry source said.

Nov. 11 , 2006

Saturday


"We have found seven unidentified bodies by our patrols in different Baghdad neighborhoods," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.


Most of the bullet-riddled bodies were bound, blindfolded and showing signs of torture, the source said.


The almost daily gruesome body findings, assassinations and explosions in Baghdad and other Iraqi cities were seen as a major setback for the Iraqi government's efforts to stem violence and achieve national reconciliation.


UN and Iraqi officials estimate that more than 100 Iraqis are killed everyday in insurgent attacks and fighting between Sunni and Shiite factions.


XIN_ENG_20061115.0258

WASHINGTON, Nov. 15 , 2006 (Xinhua)

GM, Ford have to pledge assets to secure loans: report

For General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co., both hungry for cash, have had to pledge some of their most essential assets -- such as factories and equipment -- as collateral to win badly needed new loans, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

Nov. 15 , 2006

Wednesday


GM, which posted a 10.6 billion dollar loss last year, in July extended a credit line from a syndicate of banks under new terms that give the company a 4.6 billion dollar revolving loan backed by North American assets including inventory, plants and property, said the report

Ford also moved in the same direction.

last year

July


As part of a conference call on its earnings restatement, Chief Financial Officer Don Leclair said Tuesday that Ford aims to put together a loan deal that is likely to be secured "by a significant portion of the assets of the company, according to the report.

Tuesday


Ford's losses amount to about 7 billion dollars so far this year, and the company is on pace to approach GM's 10.6 billion dollar 2005 loss.

this year


Without specifying a time frame, Leclair said Ford would have a deal to announce "fairly soon."


He added that Ford is pursuing the deal "because it is prudent to do so."


AFP_ENG_20061204.0668

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 4 , 2006, 2006

General Assembly backs Kimberley to curb 'blood diamonds'

The UN General Assembly on Monday expressed "strong support" for the Kimberley process, which aims to prevent illegally exported "conflict diamonds" being used to buy arms.

Dec 4 , 2006

Monday


The resolution was adopted by consensus after the 192-member assembly was briefed by Botswana's President Festus Gontebanye Mogae, the current chairman of the UN-mandated Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, which requires participants to certify that shipments of rough diamonds are free from conflict diamonds, also known as "blood diamonds".


Under Kimberly, rough diamonds are sealed in tamper-resistant containers and required to have forgery-resistant, conflict-free certificates with unique serial numbers each time they cross an international border.


Seventy-one countries have now signed on to Kimberley and agree to buy and sell only among fellow members.


The certificate takes for granted that the stone in question is a real diamond.


The agreement is named after the diamond-mining city in South Africa and went into effect January 1 2003.

January 1 2003


The assembly, noting that the trade in conflict diamonds remains "a matter of serious international concern, which can be directly linked to the fueling of armed conflict ... reaffirms its strong and continuing support for the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme and the Kimberley Process as a whole."


The resolution also recognized that the certification can help ensure that UN Security Council resolutions containing sanctions on the trade in conflict diamonds are carried out, while helping to prevent future conflicts.


In his briefing to the assembly, Mogae highlighted a 2006 progress report on the Kimberley Process, which concluded that it was working well although there were still some problems, particularly in Ivory Coast and South America.


Some of Ivory Coast's neighbors are not parties to the Kimberley Process, which has therefore limited influence over them.


"The Kimberley Process views the problem of leakage diamonds from (Ivory Coast) into the legitimate trade as one that may require a regional approach to resolve," the report said.


Trafficking in illegal diamonds is considered one of the root causes of the back-to-back civil wars in Liberia since 1989 as well as of the 10-year brutal conflict in neighboring Sierra Leone that ended in 2001.


A regional approach was also needed in South America, specifically Brazil, Guyana and Venezuela, the report said.


Mogae later told reporters that the Kimberley Process was beginning to have an impact.


"Before the Certification Scheme it was reported that conflict diamonds were possibly about four percent of global production.


Now with certification we have admitted in my report that we are glad to say that they are now less than one percent," he said.

Now

now


Begun in 2000 by southern African diamond-producing countries, the Kimberley Process led to the adoption in November 2002 in Interlaken, Switzerland, of the international Certification Scheme for rough diamonds, based primarily on national certification schemes and on internationally agreed minimum standards.

November 2002


The Asembly, noting that the trade in conflict diamonds remains "a matter of serious international concern, which can be directly linked to the fueling of armed conflict ... reaffirms its strong and continuing support for the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme and the Kimberley Process as a whole."


The UN General Assembly on Monday expressed "strong support" for the Kimberley process, which aims to prevent illegally exported "conflict diamonds" being used to buy arms.

Monday


The resolution was adopted by consensus after the 192-member assembly was briefed by Botswana's President Festus Gontebanye Mogae, the current chairman of the UN-mandated Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, which requires participants to certify that shipments of rough diamonds are free from conflict diamonds, also known as "blood diamonds".


Under Kimberly, rough diamonds are sealed in tamper-resistant containers and required to have forgery-resistant, conflict-free certificates with unique serial numbers each time they cross an international border.


Seventy-one countries have now signed on to Kimberley and agree to buy and sell only among fellow members.


The certificate takes for granted that the stone in question is a real diamond.


The agreement is named after the diamond-mining city in South Africa and went into effect January 1 2003.

January 1 2003


The Assembly, noting that the trade in conflict diamonds remains "a matter of serious international concern, which can be directly linked to the fueling of armed conflict ... reaffirms its strong and continuing support for the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme and the Kimberley Process as a whole."


The resolution also recognized that the certification can help ensure that UN Security Council resolutions containing sanctions on the trade in conflict diamonds are carried out, while helping to prevent future conflicts.


In his briefing to the assembly, Mogae highlighted a 2006 progress report on the Kimberley Process, which concluded that it was working well although there were still some problems, particularly in Ivory Coast and South America.


Some of Ivory Coast's neighbors are not parties to the Kimberley Process, which has therefore limited influence over them.


"The Kimberley Process views the problem of leakage diamonds from (Ivory Coast) into the legitimate trade as one that may require a regional approach to resolve," the report said.


Trafficking in illegal diamonds is considered one of the root causes of the back-to-back civil wars in Liberia since 1989 as well as of the 10-year brutal conflict in neighboring Sierra Leone that ended in 2001.


A regional approach was also needed in South America, specifically Brazil, Guyana and Venezuela, the report said.


Mogae later told reporters that the Kimberley Process was beginning to have an impact.


"Before the Certification Scheme it was reported that conflict diamonds were possibly about four percent of global production.


Now with certification we have admitted in my report that we are glad to say that they are now less than one percent," he said.

Now

now


Begun in 2000 by southern African diamond-producing countries, the Kimberley Process led to the adoption in November 2002 in Interlaken, Switzerland, of the international Certification Scheme for rough diamonds, based primarily on national certification schemes and on internationally agreed minimum standards.

November 2002


XIN_ENG_20061129.0137

CANBERRA, Nov. 29 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Australian stock market finishes stronger

The Australian stock exchange market closed higher Wednesday as the benchmark S/ASX200 firmed 68.3 points to 5,452.6, while the all ordinaries rose 64.7 points to 5,432.5.

Nov. 29 , 2006

Wednesday


Market turnover reached 2 billion shares worth a total value of 5.5 billion Australian dollars (4.3 billion U.S. dollars) with 692 stocks moving up, 478 moving down and 338 unchanged.


Among the resources stocks, Rio Tinto surged 98 cents to 73.88 dollars and rival BHP Billiton gained 4 cents to 25.85 dollars.


In the banking sector, ANZ soared 66 cents to 28.28 dollars, the National Australia Bank lifted 1.03 dollars to 39.03 dollars, the Commonwealth Bank added 46 cents to 47.46 dollars and Westpac piled on 43 cents to 24.30 dollars.


Among the media stocks, News Corp lost 26 cents to 27.30 dollars.


XIN_ENG_20061116.0356

CAIRO, Nov. 16 , 2006 (Xinhua)

on education

The 6th High Level Group Meeting on Education for All (EFA) finished here Thursday with participants urging for "higher spending and more targeted efforts" to meet the "large and urgent" EFA challenges by 2015.

Nov. 16 , 2006

Thursday


The meeting, co-hosted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Egyptian education ministry, opened Tuesday night, "takes place towards the end of another significant year for development and for education, " said a final communique.

Tuesday night

the end of another significant year


"Education is higher on the political agenda, and many countries have made efforts to raise educational budgets," it said.


The newly-published 2007 EFA Global Monitoring Report indicated that further progress has been made in the EFA, with over 37 million more children in primary school from 1999 to 2004, said the communique.


Besides, more countries have abolished school fees, and aid to education is on the rise.


Two-thirds of the 181 countries with data have now achieved gender parity at primary level.


But, the remaining EFA challenge is large and urgent.


For instance, of 781 million adult illiterates, only 100 million will achieve literacy by 2015 at current rates of progress, said the communique.


The communique recommends that countries spend 4-6 percent of national income on education, and that donors raise levels of predictable and long-term financing to reach the 11 billion U.S. dollars required annually for universal primary education, adult literacy and early childhood care and education (ECCE).


Participants worldwide committed themselves to a stronger focus on ECCE and advised that governments and aid agencies increase funding to ECCE substantially above current levels.


As education is key to achieving the Millennium Development Goals, participants called for stronger integration of education sector planning with broader development objectives at both national and international level, said the communique.


The communique said attendees to the meeting stressed the central role of education in responding to the HIV/AIDS epidemic and urged stronger links be developed between education sector planning and the commitment to universal access to HIV/AIDS prevention, care, treatment and support by 2010.


The communique also called for "innovation and new investment" in adult literary, characterizing the current situation in which one adult in five lacks literacy skills as "unacceptable."


Some 35 education ministers worldwide, UNESCO Director General Koichiro Matsuura and leaders of aid agencies and civil society organizations attended the three-day meeting.


Senegal will host the next High Level Group Meeting on EFA on Dec. 11-13 of 2007.

Dec. 11-13 of 2007


XIN_ENG_20061114.0213

KUNMING, Nov. 14 , 2006 (Xinhua)

says official

Four workers trapped in Sunday's railway tunnel collapse in southwest China's Yunnan Province are still alive, an official with the provincial railway administration said Tuesday.

Nov. 14 , 2006

Sunday

Tuesday


Rescuers got in touch with the trapped workers after they dug a pipeline of 108 mm in diameter on Monday afternoon to get through the earth and rocks blocking the tunnel, said the official, who declined to give his name.

Monday afternoon


The rescuers have sent milk and water to the workers through the pipeline, he said.


"The workers are definitely frightened, but their physical conditions are OK," said the official.


"The pipeline is great encouragement for them."


The collapse happened at around 3:20 a.m. Sunday in the tunnel of the railway linking Dali and Lijiang when four workers were working inside.

3:20 a.m.

Sunday


The rescue headquarters predicted that a 28-meter-long tunnel section collapsed at about 700 meters away from the entrance.


More than 100 workers are digging a tunnel of 1.7 meter high and 1.2 meter wide to rescue the trapped workers.


XIN_ENG_20051113.0197

JOHANNESBURG, Nov. 13 , 2005 (Xinhua)

African heritage sites to go digital

Scientists in South Africa are digitizing Africa's rich cultural heritage sites to provide a virtual tour to those who cannot visit in person, while benefiting preservation of the sites.

Nov. 13 , 2005


Using the latest laser-scan and computer technology, they are creating 3D models and virtual landscapes of the sites in Sub- Saharan Africa, including a coral-stone fortress in Tanzania, an ancient mosque in Timbuktu, Mali, and Great Zimbabwe, Sunday Times reported.


These digital models and historical resources will be stored in an African cultural heritage and landscapes database that African scholars, libraries and universities will be able to use free of charge, said the national newspaper.


Prof. Heinz Ruther, a project leader based at the University of Cape Town's (UCT's) Geomatics department, said they hoped to eventually create walk-through capabilities, like a computer game, to familiarize African school children with these sites.


The newspaper said the project has been approved by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which oversees the naming and preservation work of heritage sites around the world.


The UCT also co-operates with a project known as Aluka, which is tasked with building an "online, digital library of scholarly resources from and about the developing world, beginning in Africa. "


The project aims not only at "virtual preservation" but also at assisting with the physical conservation of these sites, which are being eroded by the weather, time and human settlement, Ruther said.


The Kilwa fortress in Tanzania, made of coral stone, dates back to the year 1503.

the year 1503


It is being eroded by storms and the wind.


Ruther explained that the accuracy of the 3D models, between one and five centimeters of the original, would assist with reconstruction should it become necessary.


The team has already finished models for four World Heritage sites, including Kilwa Great Mosque, dated about 1200 AD, and Kilwa Kisiwani Fortress (1503) in Tanzania; St Giyorgis, a rock- hewn church at Lalibela (dating back to the 11th to 13th century) in Ethiopia; and the Grand Mosques of Djenne and Djingereiber in Timbuktu in Mali (14th and 20th centuries).

11th to 13th century


UNESCO convened the 29 session of the World Heritage Committee July in Durban, South Africa, finding that 16 of 33 endangered World Heritage sites are in Africa due to conflicts, lack of fund and protection.


AFP_ENG_20061219.0237

GENEVA, Dec 19 , 2006, 2006

UNICEF condemns Western sex tourism in Kenya

Italian, German and Swiss sex tourists are fuelling an "unacceptable" boom in the often violent exploitation of child prostitutes in Kenya, the UN Childrens Fund said Tuesday.

Dec 19 , 2006

Tuesday


In a joint report with the Kenyan government, UNICEF found that up to 15,000 girls aged between 12 and 18 living in four main tourist destinations on the Kenyan coast were engaged in casual sex for goods and cash.


A further 2,000-3,000 girls and boys were involved in full-time prostitution, the study showed.


"Clearly, what is going on here is unacceptable.


UNICEF feels that it's time for zero tolerance ... especially of sexual violence against children," agency spokesman Michael Bociurkiw told journalists.


"Kenya should be seen as a no-go zone for sexual exploitation of children," he said.


Italian, German and Swiss nationals are the most common clients of child sex workers among tourists, at 18 percent, 14 percent and 12 percent respectively.


Kenyan men are the largest single group of clients, comprising 38 percent of the total.


UNICEF said much more needed to be done to end the cultural acceptance of child prostitution in tourist areas.


The study showed that a "staggering" 75 percent of people involved in tourism thought it was acceptable for girls to exchange sex for cash, and 60 percent said the same for boys.


Many were also implicated directly in the exploitation of children, it added.


"Child sex workers are often compelled to deliver sexual services to Kenyans - beach boys, bar staff, waiters, and others - in order to access tourists.


During the low tourist season, the local market for child sex workers keeps the system going," the report said.

season


It called on the Kenyan government, civil society, the tourist industry and the broader private sector to join forces to fight the problem.


"We must act to save our children from these horrific abuses before they do even greater damage," said UNICEF's Kenya representative, Heimo Laakkonen.


AFP_ENG_20051214.0026

KATHMANDU, Dec 14 , 2005

Crackdown on Nepal media is illegal: report

A crackdown on the media in Nepal through a government ordinance is illegal, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) said in a report Wednesday.

Dec 14 , 2005

Wednesday


The ordinance issued in October violates Nepal's international human rights obligations and the constitution, the Geneva-based group said, calling on the government to repeal it immediately.

October


ICJ secretary-general Nicholas Howen said it "seeks to provide a legal cover for unlawful practices and restrictions used by the government to suppress freedom of the media and the right of Nepalis to receive information."


The ordinance followed the seizure of power by King Gyanendra in February.

February


He sacked the former government, ostensibly for failing to quell a bloody Maoist revolt, but earned international censure and sparked popular demands for a restoration of democracy.


Under the ordinance, security forces have raided radio stations, seized radio transmission equipment, enforced restrictions on broadcasting news and detained and harassed journalists.


"Enforcement of the ordinance will have a chilling effect on the media and lead to greater self-censorship as journalists try to predict when the authorities will try to silence a newspaper or broadcast or close down whole media operations," said Howen.


The report, Power to Silence", describes how the government is suppressing criticism seen as politically sensitive and barring journalists from working professionally.


"Many of the vague and ill-defined provisions open the door to arbitrary and abusive application of the law," the report said.


"The purpose of the ordinance seems to be to close down critical media, rather than legitimately regulating the media," added Howen.


The report welcomed two Supreme Court interim orders instructing the government not to enforce aspects of the ordinance.


The ICJ also called on Maoist rebels to respect human rights and press freedom.


It said it was "disturbed" by media reports that the Maoists had violated a deal for democracy with mainstream parties by harassing a group of journalists and seizing their equipment.


AFP_ENG_20061215.0383

VILNIUS, Dec 15 , 2006, 2006

officials

The Polish group PKN Orlen on Friday took firm control of Lithuania's Mazeikiu Nafta after completing two transactions worth 2.344 billion dollars that give it a stake of nearly 84 percent in the Baltic oil complex, officials said.

Dec 15 , 2006

Friday


Orlen on Thursday acquired a 53.7-percent stake in Mazeikiu -- which operates the only oil refinery in the Baltic states, an offshore terminal and pipeline -- from bankrupt Russian oil group Yukos for 1.492 billion dollars (1.133 billion euros), in the biggest block trade in the history of the Vilnius bourse.

Thursday


On Friday afternoon, Lithuanian officials confirmed that the Polish oil concern had finalised another deal, this time with the Lithuanian government, giving it a further 30.66 percent in Mazeikiu for 852 million dollars.

Friday afternoon


Lithuanian Prime Minister Gediminas Kirkilas called the transaction "the deal of the century".


"There were sceptics and those who put forward conspiracy theories, but we succeeded in proving that it is possible to take important decisions for Lithuania when there is political agreement, even if there is a minority government," Kirkilas said after the sale of the government's stake was closed.


On Thursday, Yukos described the sale process as "a most extraordinary 18-month marathon" which the Kremlin repeatedly tried to derail.

Thursday


Yukos had announced a tender to sell its stake in Mazeikiu last year, as a politically charged row with the Kremlin over unpaid taxes heated up.

last year


Yukos founder Mikhail Khodorkovsky, once Russia's richest man, is serving an eight-year prison sentence in a Siberian camp after being convicted in May 2005 for embezzlement and other financial crimes.

May 2005


The company he used to run, which was once Russia's biggest oil group, is being dismembered by the Russian courts and was declared bankrupt in March by a Moscow court.

March


The temporary administrator appointed by Moscow to oversee the beleaguered oil company's business asked that Yukos' attempts to sell its stake in Mazeikiu be blocked until the dispute with the Kremlin had been resolved.


But a US court lifted a restraining order barring Yukos from selling its stake in Mazeikiu Nafta, leaving the road clear for PKN Orlen to sign an agreement in May to buy Yukos' majority stake.

May


Since the deal between Yukos and Orlen was signed, the Lithuanian oil complex has been dogged by problems, ranging from a halt in supplies of crude by pipeline from Russia, a shutdown of its offshore oil terminal for repairs, and a fire that ripped through its key asset, the refinery, in October.

October


AFP_ENG_19970410.0489

LISBON, April 10 , 1997 (AFP)

One dead, more missing in accident on Lisbon bridge

One worker was killed Thursday and eight others injured, seven seriously, when a 360-tonne part of a pillar fell off the Vasco da Gama bridge, Europe's largest bridge project, officials said.

April 10 , 1997

Thursday


Up to five people were feared lost in the waters of the Tagus river, a navy spokesman said.


Rescue operations were halted Thursday afternoon but will resume at high tide.

Thursday afternoon


A spokesman for the builders, Lusoponte, said a British engineer was among the injured but declined to name him.


All other injured were Portuguese.


The spokesman would not confirm or deny the number of missing.


The first state television channel said two people died, three went missing and nine were hurt in the accident, the first fatal one on the construction site.


Construction on the 12-kilometer (seven-mile) bridge, Europe's longest, began three years ago.

three years ago


It is due to be opened in May 1998, in time for the World's Fair in Lisbon.

May 1998


First television reports said a shuttle travelling on the bridge derailed after the rupture or collapse of a metal structure and plunged into the river, 30 meters (100 feet) below.


The LUSA news agency said between 14 and 16 people were at the site when the accident happened at lunch hour.


Normally up to 24 people work there, the agency said.


Lusoponte suspended work on the bridge, named after the 15th-century Portuguese navigator, and sent all workers home.


XIN_ENG_20051116.0235

CAIRO, Nov. 16 , 2005 (Xinhua)

elections

The Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's de facto largest opposition group, has achieved major gains in the first phase of the three-stage legislative elections officials said on Wednesday.

Nov. 16 , 2005

Wednesday


Out of the 133 parliamentary seats up for grabs in Tuesday's run-offs, candidates who ran as independents but were supported by the Muslim Brotherhood won 30 seats, the officials said.

Tuesday


Initial results showed that the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), led by President Hosni Mubarak, reasserted its role as the largest political party in the country by winning 50 seats in Tuesday's run-offs.

Tuesday


Another 45 seats went to independent candidates, most of whom were NDP renegades who failed to appear on the party-sanctioned candidates list but decided to run as independents.


The remaining eight seats went to other political parties and groups.


Egypt's High Elections Commission, the supreme body overseeing the legislative electoral process, is expected to announce the final results later Wednesday.

Wednesday


Initial results are likely to be modified as counting continued.


The Muslim Brotherhood altogether won 34 seats out of 164 up for grabs in the first phase of the parliamentary elections, including four secured during the first round of voting.


During the first round, the NDP secured 26 seats out of 31 seats decided, and an independent candidate won one.


The Muslim Brotherhood, founded in 1928, was outlawed as Egypt' s constitution banned political parties based on religion, but the group renounced violence decades ago and has been largely tolerated by the government.

decades ago


Its members, running as independents in the 2000 parliamentary elections, won 17 seats, forming the largest single opposition bloc in the parliament.


The first phase of Egypt's three-stage parliamentary election kicked off last Wednesday in 82 constituencies across eight governorates, including Cairo.

last Wednesday


The second and third stages will be held on Nov. 20 and Dec. 1 respectively.

Nov. 20

Dec. 1 respectively


Any run-offs, if necessary, will be held six days after each round of voting.

six days


XIN_ENG_20061117.0109

BEIJING, Nov. 17 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Tibetan antelopes in Hoh Xil found to have special habitat

Scientists from Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) found that Tibetan antelopes largely inhabit chilly grassland and marshlands areas in Hoh Xil (kekexili) nature reserve, Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.

Nov. 17 , 2006


Dr. Lu Xuefeng from CAS, a member of an expedition team in Hoh Xil, said that years of research and observation and a recent expedition found Tibetan antelopes have special habitat.


Tibetan antelopes can take advantage of fluctuant landscape to dodge its natural enemies, he said.


Hoh Xil Nature Reserve is home to dozens of endangered animals.


China has taken a series of substantial measures to protect Tibetan antelopes, an extremely rare species listed on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.


Thanks to years of government efforts to control illegal hunting, ban commercial activities and protect grassland, the environment of Hoh Xil is becoming more and more suitable for antelopes, Lu said.


But Tibetan antelopes are targeted by poachers for use of their cashmere, causing their population to decline from several million to less than 100,000 in the past two decades, sources say.

the past two decades


XIN_ENG_20061129.0021

QUITO, Nov. 28 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Profile: Ecuador's President-elect Rafael Correa

Ecuador's Rafael Correa has won Sunday's presidential run-off with 57.04 percent of the votes against his rival Alvaro Noboa with 42.96 percent, after 97.29 percent of votes were counted, Ecuador's Supreme Electoral Tribunal said on Tuesday.

Nov. 28 , 2006

Sunday

Tuesday


Following is the profile of the presidential-elect:

Correa was born in Guayaquil, Ecuador's second largest city, on April 6, 1963.

April 6, 1963


He earned a doctorate from the University of Illinois from 1999 to 2001.


His master's degree was earned in Belgium's Catholic University of Lovaina, where he also met his wife Anne Malherbe.


From 1992 to 1993 he was director of administration and finance for educational projects at the Inter-American Development Bank.


He was economy minister from April to August 2005.

April

August 2005


An economics professor before serving as the economy minister, he was opposed to neo-liberalism, and has promised not to sign a free trade agreement with the United States, to set an upper limit on external debt payments, and to join a Latin American integrationist movement.


Despite being a strong public critic of the policy, he has also pledged to maintain dollarization.


In terms of domestic politics, he promises to restructure Ecuador's political institutions using a popular assembly, drawn from the general citizen pool rather than parties.


He speaks French, English and some Quechua, a major indigenous language in Ecuador.


Correa founded the Moviento Patria Altiva "i" Soberana (PAiS) after being sacked from the post of economy minister after 106 days.


Correa pushed for a constituent assembly to rewrite the constitution, which he says is needed to bypass a corrupt congress and curb political party influence in independent institutions such as the courts.


Correa also vowed to help farmers, private entrepreneurs and businessmen benefit from economic development and draw out a new strategy on social development, attach great importance to the development of education and health programs, and make his efforts to reduce a high unemployment rate, to stabilize foreign debt and to establish social development funds.


Diplomatically, he opposed external interference and pledged to guarantee national energy and cultural sovereignty on the basis of mutual respect, mutual benefit and cooperation.


XIN_ENG_20051101.0345

BEIRUT, Nov. 1 , 2005 (Xinhua)

probe

Lebanese leaders voiced more support on Tuesday for a UN-backed probe into the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri.

Nov. 1 , 2005

Tuesday


President Emile Lahoud said in a statement that Resolution 1636 adopted by the UN Security Council on Monday should aim to put to light all behind the Feb. 14 assassination of Hariri and 20 other victims.

Monday

Feb. 14


The perpetrators must be brought to justice after they were identified with full evidence within the framework of the UN resolution, according to the statement.


The resolution, co-sponsored by the United States, Britain and France, demands that Syria cooperate fully with UN investigators, warning that "further measures" are possible if Damascus does not give full assistance to the UN probe headed by German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis.


Mehlis has hinted that Hariri could not have been killed without the complicity of top security officials of Syria and Lebanon.


In response, Syria has pledged to cooperate with the UN inquiry while maintaining its innocence over the assassination.


Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Seniora, who had asked UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to prolong Mehlis' mission till Dec. 15, met European Union (EU) diplomats here Tuesday on the implementation of the UN resolution.

Dec. 15

Tuesday


British Ambassador to Lebanon James Watt, whose country is holding the rotating presidency of the EU, told reporters after the meeting that the EU firmly supports the UN resolution and encourages the Lebanese government to take action in that aspect.


Watt saw UN-Lebanese cooperation strengthened under Resolution 1636, saying that would create favorable conditions for the investigation.


Vowing that the EU will help fully carry out the UN resolution, the ambassador renewed the demand for full cooperation from Syria in the international probe of the assassination.


XIN_ENG_20051124.0045

TOKYO, Nov. 24 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Tokyo stocks end higher

Japan's benchmark Nikkei stock index advanced for the sixth straight trading of gain Thursday to renew an almost five-year high as high-tech issues drew buying in tandem with their US counterparts' gains overnight.

Nov. 24 , 2005

Thursday


The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average rose 34.26 points, or 0.23 percent, from Tuesday to 14,742.58 for its highest closing since Dec. 14, 2000.

Tuesday

Dec. 14, 2000


The Japanese financial markets were closed Wednesday for a national holiday.

Wednesday


The Tokyo Stock Price Index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange fell 8.90 points, or 0.58 percent, to 1,517.


64, extending its losing streak to three trading days.


Advantest jumped 990 yen to 10,870 yen, ending above the 10,000 yen threshold for the first time in about three and a half years.

three and a half years


Major gainers were chemical, glass, textile, land transport and energy-related issues.


Retreating issues outnumbered advancing ones 1,116 to 469, with 76 shares ending unchanged.


Trading volume on the TSE's main section came to 2,322.16 million shares against Tuesday's 2,082.78 million shares.

Tuesday


Specialized nickel processor S-Science was the day's volume leader, down 7 yen to 67 yen.


Softbank was the most heavily traded issue by value.


It gained 200 yen to 8,880 yen.


The TSE's Second Section index rose 18.97 points, or 0.42 percent, to 4,568.25 on a volume of 180.88 million shares.


In Osaka, the near-term December Nikkei 225 index futures contract was up 10 points to 14,710.


AFP_ENG_19970423.0077

GAZA CITY, April 23 , 1997 (AFP)

Arafat heads for talks with King Hussein

Palestinian President Yasser Arafat headed for Jordan on Wednesday for talks with King Hussein on the stalemated peace process, Palestinian officials said.

April 23 , 1997

Wednesday


Before leaving for the Red Sea resort of Aqaba where the Jordanian monarch is recovering from prostate surgery, Arafat received an "urgent" telephone call from US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, official Palestinian radio said.


It said the conversation concerned the peace process, but it provided no further details.


Nabil Abu Rudeina, a senior Arafat aide, said the Palestinian and Jordanian leaders "are meeting to consult and coordinate their actions to confront the challenges facing the peace process, which is still in a real crisis."


King Hussein was expected to brief Arafat on his talks last month in Washington with President Bill Clinton which focused on trying to resolve a major crisis in the Israel-Palestinian peace process.

last month


Abu Rudeina said Arafat would in turn inform King Hussein about his talks earlier this month with US Middle East peace envoy Dennis Ross, who met with both Israeli and Palestinian leaders in an unsuccessful bid to revive negotiations between the two sides.

this month


The peace process has been frozen since Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered construction to begin last month on a new Jewish neighborhood in disputed east Jerusalem.

last month


Netanyahu also infuriated the Palestinians by slowing the transfer of West Bank land to Arafat's Palestinian Authority.


The decisions sparked widespread violent protests in the Palestinian territories and a string of anti-Israeli bombings.


King Hussein has been highly critical of Netanyahu's policies, and has met twice with the Israeli leader, including once earlier this month in the United States, in an effort to convince him to soften his stand.

this month


Netanyahu has refused Palestinian demands to freeze construction of new Jewish settlements or to speed up the extension of self-rule, insisting that the peace process can resume only once Arafat cracks down on anti-Israeli violence.


XIN_ENG_20061129.0123

BAGHDAD, Nov. 29 , 2006 (Xinhua)

1st LD: Saddam trial resumes, defense lawyer arrested

The trial of the ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and six codefendants on genocide charges against Kurd minority in the 1980s resumed Wednesday, which saw a defense lawyer ejected and ordered to be arrested soon afterwards.

Nov. 29 , 2006

Wednesday


Chief Judge Muhammad Ureibi ordered the defense lawyer Badie Aref, always a vocal presence in the trial, be ejected and arrested for a day for "insulting the court."


Aref is defending Farhan al-Jubouri, the former head of military intelligence during Operation Anfal in 1980s.


He was trying to tell the court that one American forensic scientist, summoned by the court as an expert, should attend the court immediately and not to see any other party before his presence, but Judge Ureibi was angered by the manner and way Aref put his statement.


Wednesday's session is a continuation of Saddam trial over Anfal case which the prosecution says that about 180,000 people, mostly civilians, were killed in the 1987-88 crackdown.

Wednesday


If convicted, Saddam could get his second death penalty following the first one he got from the trial of Dujail.


On Tuesday's session, Clyde Colin Snow, 78, the American forensic expert from the University of Oklahoma took the stand in the Saddam trial to testify on his investigation in 1992 of the mass grave of Koreme village in Iraq's northern province of Dohuk.

Tuesday


Snow said in his investigation, organized by the group of Physicians for Human Rights and Middle East Rights Watch, he had unearthed 27 people from the mass grave in Koreme village, which he described as typical of thousands of other villages targeted in Anfal.


Saddam had insisted that Snow should not be allowed to testify because he was American and demanded neutral international experts, suggesting that the bodies in the grave may have been moved to the location from separate locations.


XIN_ENG_20051104.0276

ATHENS, Nov. 4 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Greece's lawyers call for removal of Olympic surveillance cameras

The board of the Athens Bar Association on Friday called for complete removal of all the surveillance cameras installed for Olympic security last year citing the reason of violating civil rights of Athenians.

Nov. 4 , 2005

Friday

last year


The association outlined a series of objections to the operation of surveillance cameras on the streets of Athens, ostensibly to monitor traffic flow.


The cameras had been installed as a security measure during the Athens Olympics in 2004, but their use has only be sanctioned for monitoring traffic by Greece's independent Authority for the Protection of Personal Data.


It said that the technical capacity of the cameras already installed far exceeds the needs for monitoring traffic and their use can very easily be extended to the visual and audio surveillance and recording to incidents according to the instructions of the system's user.


It added that the government has failed to comply with the conditions set by the Data Protection Authority for the operation of the system, nor its demand for the removal of cameras that don't serve the sanctioned use.


It stressed that the use of surveillance system is in direct violation of the Constitutional rights to social and political freedom, identity, public gatherings, protection from the use of one's personal data and private life.


The association also expressed its opposition to the public order ministry's plans to extend the permitted usage of the cameras and demands that they immediate cease operating and be removed.


AFP_ENG_19970410.0290

PARIS, April 10 , 1997 (AFP)

Pressure mounts on Mobutu to quit

International pressure grew on Thursday on Zairean President Mobutu Sese Seko to leave power and avoid more bloodshed as the ailing dictator's former allies deserted him.

April 10 , 1997

Thursday


With rebels gaining more territory each day and political chaos deepening in Kinshasa, US officials said the Mobutu era is over while French diplomats maintained an embarrassed silence after at one time maintaining that Mobutu could not be excluded from efforts to end the civil war in Africa's third largest country.

each day

Mobutu era


But former French development aid minister Michel Roussin said that Mobutu was "a dinosaur... who must go, I think he is actually on the point of departure."


In Washington, White House spokesman Michael McCurry said "We have suggested that the era of Mobutuism in Zaire is over, because the status quo is no longer tenable, given the dire conditions that exist for the people of Zaire."


"It's clear we have to move beyond Mr. Mobutu," he said, calling him "a creature of history."


Mobutu, 66, who is seriously ill with prostate cancer, has lost control of large sections of Zaire to rebels led by Laurent Kabila.


The country's second largest city, Lubumbashi, fell Wednesday.

Wednesday


State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns also said Mobutu's rule in Zaire was essentially over.


"We have not asked him to resign or asked anybody else to ask him to resign, but we think the time of Mobutuism is over" Burns said, adding "It is time for the dictatorship to end."


George Moose, assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, set the tone for the US administration on Tuesday when he told Congress: "Mobutu, his regime is a thing of the past."

Tuesday


It was the first time that a US official has publicly acknowledged that Mobutu, a key US ally since the 1960s, had lost Washington's support.

the 1960s


Nonetheless, Moose did leave open the possibility that Mobutu might remain president -- or at least stay in a position of power -- by saying that he could exert a positive influence during a peaceful transition period.


The United States has been distancing itself from the Mobutu regime, once one of its closest allies in Africa, for several years.

several years


In 1994, it cut off all economic and military aid.


Meanwhile South African Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad said Thursday that "despotic rule" in Zaire was "no longer possible," suggesting that President Mobutu Sese Seko stand down.

Thursday


"Everybody is committed to the fact that there must be a fundamental change in Zaire and that despotic rule is no longer possible," Pahad said in a radio interview.


Pahad co-chaired peace talks that ended in South Africa Tuesday between Zairean rebels and the government.

Tuesday


In Paris, foreign ministry spokesman Jacques Rummelhardt, asked if France still supported Mobutu, declared "We do not support anyone.It is not a case of personality for us.


We support Zaire and the future of its people, Zaire as an independent and sovereign state."


Asked if he considered the Kinshasa regime legitimate, Rummelhardt said France "does not recognise governments, but recognises states."


Roussin, a former member of the French secret service, expressed regrets that France "does not get on" with rebel leader Kabila and "has no contacts with him."


Roussin expressed doubts on the credibility of Kabila's rebel movement, hinting that it was supported by foreign powers.


"I would very much like Mr. Kabila... if he wants to be a democrat as he said in November 1966, to sit down at a (negotiating) table as often happens in Africa."

November 1966


The former minister said he hoped Kabila would take part in a "national conference to prepare a transition and that the fighting be stopped and that negotiations be staged to culminate of course in elections."


Roussin said it was obvious that Kabila's army had not sprung out of nothing.


Kabila "is being pushed and obviously he has very powerful allies," Roussin said.


The ex-minister also criticised the French military presence in Africa saying it dated from "the strategic situation of another age."


He said that France was perhaps "losing influence" and that the "English- speaking world is gaining ground."


Former French defence minister Francois Leotard, chief of the Union for French Democracy, junior partner in the ruling conservative coalition, recently strongly condemned French African policy and regretted that Paris "has given the impression of supporting to the end a widely discredited regime."


Leotard denounced France's "triple failure, tactical, moral and geopolitical" in Zaire and said his country "lacks a true African policy."


AFP_ENG_20051203.0268

KIEV, Dec 3 , 2005

ATTENTION - ADDS details, quotes ///

Ukraine on Saturday declared a state of emergency after an H5-type bird flu was detected in its southern Crimea peninsula, as officials awaited tests to see if the strain is of the lethal H5N1 variety that has killed nearly 70 people in Asia.

Dec 3 , 2005

Saturday


"Today we received laboratory results that confirmed the existence of the H5 variety of bird flu on Ukrainian territory," Agriculture Minister Olexander Baranivsky told reporters in Kiev.

Today


The virus was found among domestic chickens and geese in two northeastern parts of Crimea, a peninsula that juts into the Black Sea, after more than 1,600 domesticated birds, including chickens, geese, ducks and turkeys, had died in the region during the past three days, Baranivsky said.

the past three days


Samples had been forwarded to laboratories in Britain and Italy to establish if the virus is of the deadly H5N1 strain, that has killed almost 70 people around Asia over the past two years.

the past two years


Those who have died are thought to have mainly caught the virus from close contact with poultry, but scientists fear the virus could mutate with a human flu strain, allowing it to transfer between people and sparking a pandemic.


President Viktor Yushchenko, who chaired an emergency government meeting on Saturday, ordered that the affected areas be placed under a state of emergency, according to a statement from his office.

Saturday


A special commission, headed by Emergencies Minister Viktor Baloga, would be in charge of all bird flu-related measures and would determine the exact areas affected by the state of emergency, it said.


The five Crimean villages where bird flu-affected poultry have been found and areas within three kilometers (1.9 miles) of them were placed under quarantine, and all poultry within them will be destroyed, Baranivsky said.


Special teams would go from house to house, killing birds and testing people for abnormal symptoms, Pyotr Verbitsky, Ukraine's chief veterinary inspector told reporters in the Crimean city of Simferopol.


Sales of live poultry have been banned throughout the peninsula and all people who had come into contact with poultry would undergo regular medical testing and were expected to receive flu vaccination shots, local health officials told reporters in Crimea earlier.


The domestic poultry were likely to have caught the virus after coming into contact with migratory birds, officials said.


The cases are near the Sivash saltwater lake in Crimea's northeast, a popular stopover route for millions of migratory birds from Russia's Siberia and Volga regions, as well as Asia, Verbitsky said.


"The virus is behaving differently than in Russia and Romania," Ukraine's neighbors where bird flu has also been detected, said Verbitsky.


"The sickness passes without any symptoms," he said.


"In the evening the birds are healthy and in the morning they are dead."

morning


Although the virulent H5N1 strain has not yet been detected in Ukraine, the country has banned the import of poultry and its derivatives from Croatia, Romania and Turkey, as well as several regions of Russia, along with imports of live wild and pet birds.


XIN_ENG_20051120.0110

GUANGZHOU, Nov. 20 , 2005 (Xinhua)

World's leading mobile network supplier to invest heavily in China

Ericsson, the world's leading mobile network supplier said Saturday it will invest 1 billion US dollars to expand its fast growing business in China in the coming five years.

Nov. 20 , 2005

Saturday

five years


Mats Holsson, president of Ericsson (China) Company Ltd. said the money will go to a variety of sectors including the supply, production, research and development departments.


"We will step up with the development of telecommunication service in China, meanwhile promote the 3G projects here to help our customers cope with the challenge."


said Holsson.


Earlier this week, Carls Henric Svanberg, president and CEO of the Sweden-based Ericsson, announced at Guangdong's International Consultative Conference on the Future Economic Development of Guangdong (ICCFED) that the company will donate 10 million yuan (1.2 million US dollars) to promote the province's mobile network construction, joining hands with Guangdong Mobile.

Earlier this week


"Guangdong is one of our key markets in Asia.


We have set up here a new R company in May this year.

May this year


It will contribute to the application of the 3G technology."


said Svanberg.


Ericsson is a world-leading provider of telecommunications equipment and related services to mobile and fixed network operators globally.


More than 40 percent of all mobile calls are made through its systems.


It owns over 35 percent of the world's GSM/EDGE market share and 40 percent of the WCDMA market share.


AFP_ENG_20051211.0414

LOS ANGELES, Dec 11 , 2005

ATTENTION - ADDS details ///

Paramount film studios, part of Viacom, has purchased DreamWorks SKG for 1.6 billion dollars in cash, the company said in a statement Sunday.

Dec 11 , 2005

Sunday


DreamWorks, which created successful computer animated features such as "Shrek," was also sought after by NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric.


In the deal, Paramount assumed DreamWorks debt.


The final deal gives Paramount access to 59 films in DreamWorks' library, including "Gladiator," "American Beauty," "War of the Worlds," "Saving Private Ryan," and "Catch Me if You Can," which Paramount plans to sell off, according to the statement.


Paramount takes over all of DreamWorks' current projects and creates an ongoing partnership with Steven Spielberg, who has directed some of DreamWorks' most successful films.


Spielberg and David Geffen, also of DreamWorks, are to produce four to six live-action films per year of the 14-16 films Paramount said it expects to make next year.

next year


DreamWorks Animation also announced that it had struck a seven-year deal to distribute its films in theaters, television and home DVD and video players worldwide.


The agreement was conditioned on Paramount's purchase of DreamWorks.


"We are pleased with the benefits this new relationship provides DreamWorks Animation," stated Jeffrey Katzenberg, chief executive of DreamWorks Animation.


DreamWorks Animation receives 75 million dollars to pay off debt.


DreamWorks Animation will also be able to collaborate on new television programming owned by Paramount's parent company, Viacom, including Nickelodeon, MTV, Nick at Nite, VH1, BET, TV Land, and Comedy Central.


"Over the past decade, DreamWorks Animation has produced some of the industry's most successful movies including the highest grossing animated movie of all time," said Brad Grey, chief executive of Paramount Pictures Group.

past decade


XIN_ENG_20061123.0334

BEIJING, Nov. 24 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Xinhua international news advisory -- Nov.24

The following are some of the major international news stories scheduled to be covered or pursued by Xinhua on Friday.

Nov. 24 , 2006

Friday


-- Hu Jintao meets with Pakistani President.


-- Hu Jintao delivers speech in Pakistan.


-- Putin rules out expansion ban on Polish meat to entire EU.


-- Spain, China sign agreement on the environment.


-- Mexico launches action plan as cold weather bites.


XIN_ENG_20061118.0198

LONDON, Nov. 18 , 2006 (Xinhua)

English premier league top scorers

Following are the top scorers of the English premier league on Saturday:

8 Didier Drogba (Chelsea)

Nwankwo Kanu (Portsmouth)

7 Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)

6 Andy Johnson (Everton)

Kevin Doyle (Reading)

Thierry Henry (Arsenal)

Darren Bent (Charlton Athletic)

5 Dirk Kuyt (Liverpool)

Frank Lampard (Chelsea)

Tim Cahill (Everton)

Bobby Zamora (West Ham United)

Louis Saha (Manchester United)

4 Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (Manchester United)

Robin van Persie (Arsenal)

Gareth Barry (Aston Villa)

El Hadji Diouf (Bolton Wanderers)

Henri Camara (Wigan Athletic)

Yakubu Aiyegbeni (Middlesbrough)

Benny McCarthy (Blackburn Rovers)

Rob Hulse (Sheffield United)

Nov. 18 , 2006

Saturday


XIN_ENG_20061123.0309

MONROVIA, Nov. 23 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Liberia hosts UN military missions' conference

The 11th inter-mission force commanders' conference of the United Nations Missions in West Africa continued here on Thursday evening with the objective of exchanging and updating information to enhance their military operations aimed at maintaining peace and stability within the region.

Nov. 23 , 2006

Thursday evening


The conference brought together UN military force commanders from Liberia, Sierra Leone, Cote d'Ivoire and the military consular of the UN West Africa's office in Dakar, Senegal.


UN Force Commander in Liberia Lt/Gen.


Chikardibia Obiakor said the conference was progressing successfully and that by the end of November, various military missions would collaborate in joint border patrols code named "Operation Siskin."

the end of November


Obiakor disclosed that local security forces including those in Guinea would also participate in the operation.


For Liberians, he said "this would serve as a means of establishing a framework for them to take over security responsibilities when the UN mission leaves the country."


Liberia and Sierra Leone are in their post-conflict period following more than ten years of war while Cote d'Ivoire is yet to restore peace.

ten years


The coordination of military exercises involving various UN missions and their local counterparts is seen as a confidence- building measure.


The UN force commander in Sierra Leone Col. Seven-Olof Broman also said condition in the country were calm and his mission was pre-occupied with post-conflict peace-building activities.


"There can not be security without development and there can not be development without security," Broman said.


AFP_ENG_19970415.0373

BEIJING, April 15 , 1997 (AFP)

WTO chief to get first-hand view of China's progress

The head of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) will see for himself the progress China has made to pave the way for its entry into the group, China's foreign ministry spokesman Shen Goufang said Tuesday.

April 15 , 1997

Tuesday


The coming visit by WTO secretary general Renato Ruggiero would "allow the two sides to get to know each other better and the WTO can take the opportunity to see what China thinks and does," Shen said.


Ruggiero is due to visit China from Friday until April 23 for further negotiations on the country's entry into the WTO.

Friday

April 23


Shen repeated Beijing's position that "China has already fulfilled all the conditions of admission" into the multi-lateral body.


"We hope that the United States and western countries will put aside political reasons," which have so far blocked Beijing's bid for entry and treat the country "in a realistic fashion."


Ruggiero said last month in Tokyo negotiations for Beijing's entry into the WTO were about to enter their final phase without setting a timetable.

last month


China's candidacy to the General Agreements on Trade and Tarrifs (GATT) which preceded the WTO, was blocked because of differences on the criteria for admission.


The United States maintains the Chinese economy is not comparable because of its size to those of developping countries and has demanded Beijing meet the conditions of entry applied to industralised countries and lift its customs duties.


WSJ891102-0166
 = 891102
 891102-0166.
 Who's News:
@  Magna International's
@  Financial Chief Quits;
@  Chairman Stepping In
 11/02/89
 WALL STREET JOURNAL (J)
 MAGAF WNEWS
 TORONTO

   Magna International Inc.'s chief financial officer, James McAlpine, resigned and its chairman, Frank Stronach, is stepping in to help turn the automotive-parts manufacturer around, the company said.


Mr. Stronach will direct an effort to reduce overhead and curb capital spending "until a more satisfactory level of profit is achieved and maintained," Magna said.


Stephen Akerfeldt, currently vice president finance, will succeed Mr. McAlpine.


An ambitious expansion has left Magna with excess capacity and a heavy debt load as the automotive industry enters a downturn.


The company has reported declines in operating profit in each of the past three years, despite steady sales growth.

each of the past three years


Magna recently cut its quarterly dividend in half and the company's Class A shares are wallowing far below their 52-week high of 16.125 Canadian dollars (US$13.73).

recently


On the Toronto Stock Exchange yesterday, Magna shares closed up 37.5 Canadian cents to C$9.625.

yesterday


Mr. Stronach, founder and controlling shareholder of Magna, resigned as chief executive officer last year to seek , unsuccessfully, a seat in Canada's Parliament.

last year


Analysts said Mr. Stronach wants to resume a more influential role in running the company.


They expect him to cut costs throughout the organization.


The company said Mr. Stronach will personally direct the restructuring, assisted by Manfred Gingl, president and chief executive.


Neither they nor Mr. McAlpine could be reached for comment.


Magna said Mr. McAlpine resigned to pursue a consulting career, with Magna as one of his clients.


XIN_ENG_20051126.0037

CAIRO, Nov. 26 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Xinhua Mideast news advisory -- Nov. 26

The following major international news stories from the Middle East region are scheduled to be covered or pursued by Xinhua News Agency on Saturday.

Nov. 26 , 2005

Saturday


-- NATO parliamentary forum on the Greater Middle East opens in Doha Saturday.

Saturday


It is to run for two days.

two


-- Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Seniora arrives in Amman to preside over the Jordanian-Lebanese joint committee meetings with his Jordanian counterpart Adnan Badran.


He will also hold talks with top Jordanian officials on regional and international issues of common concern and bilateral relations.


-- Some 242 candidates in 68 constituencies in Egypt's nine governorates are competing in the run-offs of the second phase of parliamentary elections.


AFP_ENG_19970401.0421

ROME, April 1 , 1997 (AFP)

Italian troops will not be sent to southern Albania

Italian troops will not be sent to southern Albania because of anti- Italian feeling in the port of Vlore, after an Albanian refugee boat sank in a collision with an Italian warship leaving 79 people missing, a military source said here Tuesday.

April 1 , 1997

Tuesday


The Italian authorities were "dismayed" by reports from the Albanian authorities on the mood in the south of the country, notably in Vlore from where many of the victims of Friday's accident hailed from, added the source.

Friday


At least four people died in the collision and 34 others were rescued.


Howver, 79 are still unaccounted for.


However, Italy had not yet taken a final decision on where it would deploy the 2,000 troops it has earmarked for the UN-sanction operation to protect relief supplies to Albania, the source added.