AFP_ENG_19970409.0547

NEW YORK, April 9 , 1997 (AFP)

Orthodox Jews issue "summons" to Bronfman over Swiss banks effort

Edgar Bronfman, the billionaire chairman of Seagram Inc., has been issued a summons to face an Orthodox Jewish court and accused of "misrepresenting" Jewish efforts to recover assets from Swiss banks, Jewish officials said.

A Hasidic group, the World Council of Orthodox Jewish Communities, issued a rabbinical court summons Tuesday for the World Jewish Restitution Organization (WJRO), which Bronfman chairs, according to the president of the World Council, Rabbi Chaim Stauber.

In the summons, known as a "beit din," World Council members accuse Bronfman of "misrepresenting" the Jewish community and demand that he cease all current negotiations until their grievances are resolved.

"We are dealing with the spoils of the war, the ashes of our forefathers," Stauber said.

"This is an uphill battle. It's like fighting Goliath."

The WJRO -- a worldwide consortium of nine organizations -- is the group negotiating restitution issues with Switzerland, Poland and other European countries to regain property stolen from Jews during World War II.

But the World Council, whose members are mainly comprised of survivors of pre-war European Jewry, complain that they have been unable to get their restitution claims addressed.

The World Council is comprised of strictly Orthodox Hasidic Jews. They are forbidden from suing other Jews in a state court, and must instead seek to have their grievances addressed by a triumvirate of rabbis in a beit din.

If the WJRO ignores the rabbinical summons, then the World Council is free to pursue the matter in a civil court.

Elan Steinberg, and aide to Bronfman, said he had still not received the summons and had not decided how or if he would respond to it. The summons was issued by mail Tuesday.

Various elements of the Jewish community are united on efforts to recover lost assets from Switzerland and elsewhere, but are frequently divided on how to do it and how to distribute the recovered monies afterwards.

While the World Council represents thousands of Hasidic Jews, it has remained outside the fold of more mainstream Jewish organizations.

The WJRO, on the other hand, is recognized by the government of Israel as the official organization to deal with the issue of Jewish restitution.

Many of the World Council's members are originally from eastern European countries where restitution of Jewish property is again becoming a key issue.

The World Council claims to have lost synagogues, Torahs and other communal properties to the Nazis. But they complain that, because the WJRO is handling all negotiations, they cannot get their claims addressed.

The World Council is also a plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit brought by Holocaust survivors against Swiss banks in federal court in New York.

April 9 , 1997

Tuesday

Tuesday


XIN_ENG_20051102.0074

BEIJING, Nov. 2 , 2005 (Xinhua)

top legislator

China's coordinated, sustained socio-economic growth, in the final analysis, hinges on science and technology as well as talents. said top legislator Wu Bangguo in a meeting with noted entrepreneurs and scholars to the sixth meeting of the advisory council of the School of Economic Management (SEM) of Tsinghua University Wednesday.

Wu, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, voiced the hope that the SEM and its advisory council would increase innovation capacity and train more talented personnel on science and economic management.

The advisory council, composed of 41 members, was set up in 2000 with the aim to increase the exchanges between Tsinghua University and world-renowned firms such as Goldman Sachs, Sony and Wal-Mart.

Wu expressed his gratitude to the members of the Advisory Council for their support to China's reform and modernization drive, as well as support for the development of the cause of education in the country.

He spoke highly of a positive role the advisory council has played in introducing a new mode to run the SEM, raising the competency of teachers, and instituting an international cooperative platform.

Wu also gave the guests a detailed account of China's economic situation. During the period of the Eleventh Five-year program (2006-2010), he noted, his country will strive to build a harmonious socialist society, and pay more attention to the overall development of economic society and to the mix, quality and effectiveness of economic growth, scientific advancement, and the harmonious coexistence between humans and the nature.

John Browne, the chief executive officer (CEO) of the British Petroleum company, voiced his confidence for China's economic and social growth, and said his company will enhance cooperation with the SEM in all fields.

Nov. 2 , 2005

Wednesday


XIN_ENG_20061108.0414

OTTAWA, Nov. 8 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Canadian Olympian attacked in Nigeria

Canadian Olympic wrestling champion Daniel Igali was attacked and robbed in his native Nigeria two weeks ago, Canadian press said in a report Wednesday.

Igali was confronted two weeks ago while watching television with his brother in his private residence in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, four days after arriving from Canada. Four armed men burst into the apartment, demanding valuables before striking Igali, the report cited Nigerian media as saying.

"I was stabbed at the back of my neck and beaten up with the butts of their guns," Igali told the "Daily Sunsport" of Lagos. "They collected everything from me -- phones, laptops and cash.''

"The Daily Champion", a Lagos-based newspaper, reported the stolen property was valued at 1.5 million naira (about 122,600 U.S.dollars).

Igali, who won gold in the 69-kilogram category at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, said he was traumatized by the robbery, and isn't sure he wants to remain in Nigeria.

"I thought I was doing a good thing, coming home and helping in community development," said Igali, who commissioned a modern sports academy in September his home town of Enewari. "I have spent so much time and resources trying to uplift the quality of life here.

"If this is how I want to be paid then I had better stay back in Canada," the Olympian was cited as saying.

Nov. 8 , 2006

two weeks ago

Wednesday

two weeks ago

September


XIN_ENG_20051107.0034

CAIRO, Nov. 7 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Xinhua Mideast news advisory -- Nov. 7

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

-- US and Iraqi forces continued a major offensive, Operation Steel Curtain, to eradicate al-Qaida fighters in western Iraq near the Syrian border.

-- UN Secretary General Kofi Annan arrived in Cairo on a three- day visit to Egypt as part of his tour which will also take him to Saudi Arabia and Tunisia.

-- Palestinian Civil Affairs Minister Mohammed Dahlan will inspect Rafah crossing on the Egypt-Gaza border with some European officials and experts, who have been engaged as the third party in seeking the proper involvement in rerunning the cross.

Nov. 7 , 2005

Monday


XIN_ENG_20061124.0147

KUNMING, Nov. 24 , 2006 (Xinhua)

SW China traffic accident leaves six dead, one injured

Six people were killed and one was injured in a traffic accident happening on Friday afternoon in the county of Songming, Southwest China's Yunnan Province.

The local police source said the tragedy occurred at about 2:40 p.m. in the county's Adalong village when a heavy-duty truck loaded with coal collided with a mini bus.

Six people on the bus, including a two-year-old boy, were killed on the spot and the injured has already been hospitalized, said the police.

Investigation into the cause of the accident is already underway.

Nov. 24 , 2006

Friday afternoon


AFP_ENG_20061201.0147

LEGASPI, Philippines, Dec 1 , 2006, 2006

Super-typhoon Durian ravages eastern Philippines

Heavy rain from super-typhoon Durian caused mudslides that smothered dozens of villages in the eastern Philippines Friday, killing 388 according to the Red Cross.

The rain mixed with volcanic ash on the slopes of the Mayon volcano, located some 350 kilometers (217 miles) southeast of Manila, creating a thick brown sludge that swept down the mountainside, local authorities said.

The mudflow struck shortly after midnight, burying everything in its path and reaching the rooftops of the region's bamboo houses.

"We do not have exact figures, but we are looking at about 200 dead ... principally in the vicinity of Mayon volcano," said Glenn Rabonza, the executive officer of the national disaster coordinating council.

He said rescuers were concentrating their efforts on trying to save lives.

The Red Cross later said some 388 were killed and 96 missing following the mudflow.

Emmy Salgado, a local resident, said that a two-month old baby had been found alive on a buried hut's rooftop.

In Daraga town, just outside Legaspi city, over 20 mud-covered bodies were brought to the local basketball court for identification.

The typhoon, which hit the eastern region of Bicol before dawn Thursday, packing maximum winds of 150 kilometers (93 miles) per hour, knocked out electrical services, telephone lines and water supply, further hampering rescue and relief efforts.

People could be seen wandering around many of the worst affected areas outside Legaspi, bewildered and confused, as they sifted through the debris looking for personal effects.

Some were seen repairing damaged roofs, ripped off by the typhoon during the night, with iron sheeting.

Relief services were stretched to the limit trying to find survivors and investigating reports of villages swept away.

The typhoon was initially expected to hit Manila but veered south and struck the Bicol region instead, before moving west towards the South China Sea.

Local resident Wally Magkatok said in a radio interview that "the rain was really hard and the volcanic materials mixed in with it" in his village of Tagas.

"It was only three minutes before the water level suddenly rose," he said.

"We had to rescue people in our village, especially those who had climbed onto the roofs, still hanging on to their children," he said.

They were taken by surprise as the area had rarely been hit by flooding before, he added.

Carolyn Wilson, an English examiner with the British Council who was in Legaspi when the storm hit, said it struck with incredible force, tearing off roofs, blowing in windows and uprooting trees.

The Pepperland Hotel where she was staying had roof damage, causing water to cascade in and flood most of the rooms, she said.

She added many of Legaspi's streets were flooded, with people wading through waist-deep water to check on relatives and friends.

Those living around Mayon had been evacuated from their homes only recently, in mid-August, when the volcano began belching ash and oozing lava, raising fears of a major eruption.

The volcano had calmed down by September and the residents were allowed to go home, thinking it was safe.

Dec 1 , 2006

Friday

Thursday

three minutes

mid-August

September


AFP_ENG_19970416.0311

TOULON, France, April 16 , 1997 (AFP)

More French troops head for Albania

A second contingent of French troops left the southern port of Toulon on Wednesday to support the multinational military mission in Albania, officials said.

Six hundred men left on board a chartered car-ferry and were due arrive off the coast of the Albanian port of Durres by Friday morning, to join some 350 French troops who arrived in Durres on Tuesday.

Eight countries have committed troops to Operation Alba, which has a UN-backed mandate to safeguard deliveries of relief aid to Albania in the wake of an armed uprising against President Sali Berisha.

April 16 , 1997

Wednesday

Friday morning

Tuesday


XIN_ENG_20061129.0012

WASHINGTON, Nov. 29 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Clippers, Dunleavy reportedly reach four-year deal

The Los Angeles Clippers and coach Mike Dunleavy have reached a four-year contract extension worth more than 21 million U.S. dollars, according to the Los Angeles Times Tuesday.

The team and Dunleavy's agent have worked out a deal that will pay him more than 5.3 million U.S. doallars a season. The Clippers have not made the deal public because bonuses tied to future playoff appearances were still being worked out, the Times said.

The Clippers improved dramatically under Dunleavy last season, posting their best win total since the franchise's glory days as the Buffalo Braves in the mid-1970s. The team reached the playoffs for the first time in nine seasons and came within one win of reaching the Western Conference final.

The Times reported the offer is close to the 6 million U.S. a year Dunleavy's agent initially proposed and would make him among the highest-paid coaches in the NBA.

Dunleavy, the NBA's 1999 coach of the year, currently earns 2.5 million U.S. dollars a season, and his deal expires at the end of this season.

Nov. 29 , 2006

Times Tuesday

last season

nine seasons

the year

season

the end of this season


XIN_ENG_20051118.0186

MACAO, Nov. 18 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Roundup: Macao on high alert over bird flu

Roundup: Macao on high alert over bird flu

by Zhang Ning

MACAO, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Macao is on high alert over the bird flu epidemic fear, as the body temperature scanning at border checkpoints was resumed Friday.

The anti-bird flu temperature screening covers all border checkpoints including the Macao-Zhuhai Barrier Gate, linking the neighboring mainland city of Zhuhai.

The fever check, initiated during the SARS crisis in 2003, is meanwhile continuing at the Macao International Airport.

Xinhua reporter Friday witnessed a squad of technicians from the Macao Health Bureau (MHB) on watch of travelers through two image systems at the arrival hall of the Macao-Zhuhai Barrier Gate.

MHB technicians said they started the surveillance mission Thursday to monitor the body temperature of all Macao residents and visitors.

The systems automatically read all travelers' body temperature when they pass through.

If the temperature exceeds the standardized 34 to 35 degree Celsius, health inspectors will re-check the travelers and possibly require them to undergo more follow-up health checks at a local hospital.

Meanwhile, Zhuhai's border checkpoint in Gongbei area has started temperature monitoring since Thursday.

All departing passengers are also requested to fill out a form on their health condition at the Gongbei checkpoint.

If passengers are suspected of displaying H5N1 symptoms, they will be banned from leaving Zhuhai.

Foreign and Taiwan passport holders are demanded to fill out the health forms on their arrival to Zhuhai.

Back in Macao, no measures against the import of poultry have been taken yet, Cheung So Mui, vice president of the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau (CMAB), told local media on Friday.

However, the Macao Post Daily quoted the official as saying that the CMAB will continue to pay close attention to the issue of the bird flu epidemic.

Cheung also reportedly said the CMAB is considering ceasing the licenses of a number of poultry hawkers who are running their businesses on the open ground.

Nov. 18 , 2005

Nov. 18

Friday

Friday

Thursday

Thursday

Friday


AFP_ENG_19970414.0499

ISLAMABAD, April 14 , 1997 (AFP)

16 Pakistani customs officers suspended in plam oil scandal

The government has suspended 16 customs officials from service for allegedly helping tax evasion on palm oil imports from Malaysia, the official Associated Press (APP) reported late Monday.

The officials have been accused of causing revenue loss of hundreds of millions of rupees (millions of dollars) in collusion with a businessman, the agency said.

Palm oil shipments from Malaysia had been unloaded directly to a private warehouse at the Karachi port and secretly moved out from there for many years until the affair came to light in 1993, APP said.

The government is contacting Interpol to track down the businessman who is currently out of Pakistan, the agency said.

Last week the government suspended 87 senior officers in a drive initiated by newly elected Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to purge the administration of corrupt elements.

The government has also offered rewards for citizens for information leading to unearthing of ill-gotten wealth owned by any government official.

April 14 , 1997

late Monday

many years

Last week


XIN_ENG_20061109.0283

ISLAMABAD, Nov. 9 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Cases of suspected dengue fever rise to 3,640 in Pakistan

A total of 3,640 patients with signs and symptoms similar to dengue fever have been admitted to different hospitals across Pakistan by Thursday evening, said a press statement from the ministry of health.

About 1,410 patients have been found positive for dengue fever all over the country by Thursday, the statement said.

There has been a total of 37 deaths from the disease, of which 35 were reported from the Sindh province while two were from North West Frontier Province (NWFP). No death has been reported so far from other parts of the country.

A total of 559 patients were admitted to different hospitals of Islamabad and Rawalpindi with signs and symptoms similar to dengue fever.

By Thursday evening the total number of positive cases in Islamabad and Rawalpindi stood at 197, according to the statement.

Nov. 9 , 2006

Thursday evening

Thursday

Thursday evening


AFP_ENG_20061227.0136

YALA, Thailand, Dec 27 , 2006, 2006

ATTENTION - ADDS two more deaths ///

Two Muslims and a Buddhist were shot dead and an elementary school was burned by suspected Islamic militants in Thailand's insurgency-torn south on Wednesday, police said.

A 47-year-old Muslim security volunteer was killed by four militants at a tea shop in Pattani, one of three Muslim-majority southern provinces bordering Malaysia.

Also in Pattani, several insurgents set fire to a government-run elementary school, gutting its main building, police said. No one was injured in the arson attack.

Later Wednesday in nearby Yala province, a 47-year-old Buddhist man was shot dead by two suspected militants, and a 52-year-old Muslim farmer was killed by gunfire as he travelled through Yala on his motorbike.

The restive area was an independent sultanate until it was annexed by mainly Buddhist Thailand in 1902. Separatist violence has erupted periodically ever since.

The latest violence has killed more than 1,700 people since January 2004.

Thailand's military-installed government, which came to power following a bloodless coup in September that ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra, has offered a number of olive branches in a bid to forge peace in the troubled south.

But deadly attacks have continued to rock the three provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat.

Dec 27 , 2006

Wednesday

Wednesday

January 2004

September


AFP_ENG_20051215.0694

SYDNEY, Dec 16 , 2005

Nineteen arrested in Sydney violence crackdown

Australian police arrested 19 people during a night of simmering unrest in Sydney as they prepared for a major crackdown on a feared new outbreak of racial violence at the weekend, officers said Friday.

Armed with new powers granted by an emergency session of the New South Wales state parliament, police set up check points on a number of main roads in Sydney's troubled southern suburbs.

A wave of arrests followed after several incidents, including a Molotov cocktail thrown at police, an elderly man attacked with a crowbar and an officer injured in a brawl, Assistant Commissioner Dave Owens told the national AAP news agency.

The arrests were made by a special task force set up after a mob of whites attacked people of Arab appearance at south Sydney's Cronulla beach on Sunday, sparking days of retaliatory attacks by mainly ethnic-Lebanese men.

Police used new powers granted by an emergency session of the New South Wales parliament Thursday, after lawmakers were recalled from their summer recess.

The legislation gives police powers to "lock down" suburbs, close pubs, enforce alcohol bans and confiscate cars.

The overnight display of force came ahead of an expected major clampdown at the weekend, when police will treble their numbers to up to 1,500 officers at troubled beaches and suburbs.

Prime Minister John Howard, writing in Australia's Daily Telegraph Friday, said the violence was a result of people who had "no regard for the law" and those who had "no respect for their fellow Australians".

"It is clear the best way to deal with the challenge is for everyone to calm down," wrote Howard, who has dismissed suggestions that Australia is a racist society.

"The most immediate -- and best -- solution is maintenance of law and order."

Despite the attacks, the overwhelming majority of Australians still had "the proper instincts and decent values", he said.

"In the long term we can reflect on whether there are some lessons to be learned or messages to be heeded," he said of the events of the past week.

Meanwhile, the prime minister encouraged Australians to enjoy the holiday season. "Let us celebrate Christmas and the long days of summer," Howard wrote.

"Celebrate the fact Australia is still the greatest place in the world to live."

Dec 16 , 2005

the weekend

Friday

Sunday

Thursday

the weekend

Friday

the past week

holiday season


XIN_ENG_20061120.0222

JOHANNESBURG, Nov 20 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Africa urged to improve aviation security

African aviation will have to increase investment to reach international security standards, South African Transport Minister Jeff Radebe said on Monday.

Speaking at the 17th International Federation of Air Traffic Controllers Association (IFATCA), Radebe said: "African aviation forms a small percentage of overall international activities, yet represents a high level of accidents at international level."

He cited an African Development Bank study which found that African countries must invest between 150 billion U.S. dollars and 200 billion dollars on aviation to bring them up to international security standards.

The continent has about 500 national airports, 117 international airports and more than 1,000 airfields.

Although Africa accounted for only 4.5 percent of global air traffic, 25 percent of all accidents in which aircraft were lost in 2004 occurred in Africa, according to the International Air Transport Association.

"With the increased growth in international economies that aviation contributes, it is critical that the industry considers tightening up its safety and security infrastructure to enhance growth and development in travel," Radebe said.

With the 2010 Soccer World Cup to be hosted by South Africa, the Air Traffic Navigation System (ATNS) was investigating ways to improve capacity, staffing and infrastructure locally.

"The ATNS has invested 786 million rand (109 million dollars) in projects and the continued renewal of infrastructure, radar upgrading and rescue navigation systems. A further 125 million rand (17 million dollars) has been allocated to train 50 new people every year for the next five years," Radebe said.

Nov 20 , 2006

Monday

every year

the next five years


XIN_ENG_20061117.0236

WASHINGTON, Nov. 17 , 2006 (Xinhua)

U.S. House Republicans elect leadership

U.S. House Republicans elected Representative John Boehner of Ohio as the minority leader for the new Congress that convenes in early January 2007.

Boehner, who succeeded Tom DeLay of Texas as the House majority leader in February, defeated Representative Mike Pence of Indiana in a vote of 168-27. Texas Representative Joe Barton got only one vote.

Boehner, currently the majority leader, would become the top Republican in the House, after the Republican Party lost control of the House in last week's elections and would become the minority leader in the 110th Congress.

Republican House Speaker Dennis Hastert currently holds the top party post in the House, but he indicated he would not seek the top post after the party's defeat in the elections.

Representative Roy Blunt of Missouri, currently the House majority whip, was competing with John Shadegg of Arizona for the No. 2 party post in House as minority whip.

Democrats elected their House leadership on Thursday. Nancy Pelosi of California was selected as the speaker-elect, the first woman to become U.S. House speaker, and Steny Hoyer of Maryland was chosen as the majority leader-elect.

Democrats won control of both the House and the Senate in the Nov. 7 legislative elections, the first time in a dozen years.

Nov. 17 , 2006

early January 2007

February

last week

the 110th Congress

currently

Thursday

Nov. 7


XIN_ENG_20061118.0247

CARACAS, Nov. 18 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Venezuelan army reserve to guard upcoming presidential vote

Venezuelan army reserve troops were trained Saturday to guard polling stations and ballots during the presidential election scheduled for Dec. 3.

The troops were joined by members of the country's Territorial Guard, a special military division created by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.

Army Col. Francisco Salcedo, who supervised training for about 1,000 reservists in Caracas said "We are charged with watching over the safeguarding of election materials and the security of the installations and people."

Chavez, who is running for re-election, has accused the opposition of working with the United States to disrupt the vote.

"Don't make me take drastic measures," Chavez warned. He urged officials, prosecutors and the military to stand ready to ensure laws are upheld and to take action against the "conspirators."

Nov. 18 , 2006

Saturday

Dec. 3


XIN_ENG_20061114.0312

WASHINGTON, Nov. 14 , 2006 (Xinhua)

U.S. trade deals in Colombia, Peru put to test: report

The election of a Democratic- controlled Congress more skeptical about the value of free trade is forcing Colombia and Peru to decide whether they need to make additional concessions on labor issues to win congressional approval of trade deals they have negotiated with the U.S., The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.

The report said the two South American nations have negotiated deals with the U.S. that liberalize trade in a host of areas, including industrial tariffs, textiles, and apparel and service industries.

Peru already has ratified the pact; Colombia plans to sign its agreement next week and ratify it afterwards. Congress isn't likely to take up either measure until next year, after the Democrats take control, according to the report.

Democrats have long complained that the South American agreements -- as well as other deals signed by the Bush administration -- skimp on protections of labor rights. That has presented Colombia and Peru with a dilemma: Should they make concessions beyond what the White House has sought -- which is sure to be controversial at home -- or face possible rejection of the deals by Congress, said the report.

On Monday, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe said he didn't plan to accept changes in the deal. "I consider that the provisions we have included to protect workers in the agreement are clear provisions" and didn't need to be augmented, he said, after a day of lobbying on Capitol Hill. "More than the provisions, we have the political will to protect our workers."

Earlier in the day, Hernando de Soto, a Peruvian economist appointed as special trade envoy, took a more conciliatory stance. He said his country had a "game plan" to present to the U.S. that "should put to rest the concerns many Democrats have concerning labor and other matters," according to Reuters. But he wasn't more specific.

Nov. 14 , 2006

Tuesday

next week

next year

Monday


XIN_ENG_20061119.0062

HANOI, Nov. 19 , 2006 (Xinhua)

3rd Ld: APEC economic leaders' meeting concludes in Hanoi, declaration issued

Leaders of the 21 member economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) wrapped up their two-day meeting here Sunday after issuing a Hanoi Declaration.

The leaders, after two days of discussions under the theme of " towards a dynamic community for sustainable development and prosperity," reached consensus on a range of issues including advancing free trade and investment, enhancing human security, and building stronger societies and a more dynamic and harmonious community.

Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet read out the Hanoi Declaration at the west entrance island of the National Convention Center.

"With a strong commitment to achieving the vision of stability, security and prosperity for the Asia-Pacific region, we agreed to make every effort for realizing APEC's goals of free and open trade and investment," the declaration said.

"We dedicated ourselves to preventing threats to sustainable development, to building a secure and favorable business environment and to enhancing human security," it said, adding, "We pledged to continue our work towards a dynamic and harmonious Asia- Pacific community by building strong societies for the well-being of our peoples."

For advancing free trade and investment, the leaders reaffirmed in the declaration their resolve to revive the stalled Doha round of World Trade Organization negotiations, and endorsed the Hanoi Action Plan to implement the Busan Roadmap for realizing the Bogor Goals of free and open trade and investment in the region by 2020.

Before concluding the meeting, the leaders posed for an official photographing, the highlight of the annual meeting, wearing traditional Vietnamese ao dai, or long dress, to show their solidarity.

In the past one week, a series of APEC meetings, including Concluding Senior Officials' Meeting, Business Advisory Council meeting, Ministerial Meeting, CEO Summit as well as the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting were held in the Vietnamese capital.

Founded in 1989, APEC is a major regional forum for promoting open trade and practical economic and technical cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region.

It represents the most economically dynamic region in the world, with its 21 member economies accounting for more than one third of the world's population, approximately 60 percent of world GDP, and about 47 percent of world trade.

APEC members include Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, China's Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Korea, China's Taipei, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam.

Nov. 19 , 2006

Sunday

two days

the past one week


AFP_ENG_19970427.0300

NEW DELHI, April 27 , 1997 (AFP)

India's federal detectives to prosecute senior politician

India's premier investigating agency said Sunday a senior government politician was to be prosecuted along with 54 other bureaucrats and politicians in a multimillion dollar scandal.

The politicians and bureaucrats are accused of siphoning off 271-million dollars in government funds meant for buying cattle feed, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said.

Among those to be charged is Laloo Prasad Yadav, a senior member of Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral's Janata Dal (People's Party).

CBI director Joginder Singh took the decision to prosecute late Sunday after "considering evidence and material on record and reports of other investigating officers," a CBI spokesman said.

"We also took the opinion of legal officers of the CBI before going ahead with prosecuting the accused," he said.

April 27 , 1997

Sunday

Sunday


XIN_ENG_20061106.0079

BEIJING, Nov. 6 , 2006 (Xinhua)

(China-Africa) Egypt grants China full market economy status

China and Egypt signed a memorandum of understanding here Monday on the acknowledgment of China's full market economy status.

In the MOU, signed between China's Commerce Minister Bo Xilai and Egyptian Minister of Trade and Industry Rashid Mohamed Rashid, the African country announced it acknowledges China's full market economy status and promised fair treatment to Chinese companies in international trade.

The two countries also agreed to enhance all-round cooperation in trade, investment, contracted engineering projects and personnel training in an effort to elevate bilateral ties, according to a second MOU signed between the two ministers on further trade and economic cooperation.

Egypt was the first African country to establish diplomatic ties with China on May 30, 1956.

Today, the country is China's sixth largest trading partner in Africa with last year's bilateral trade hitting 2.145 billion U.S. dollars. The figure totaled 1.96 billion U.S. dollars in the first eight months of this year, up 47.6 percent over the same period of 2005. The Chinese side has said it will work to expand imports from Egypt.

The two countries said they will also encourage their businesses to work together in tapping third country markets.

To date, more than 60 countries have granted China the full market economy status, including 14 African countries.

Algeria, Sudan, the Central African Republic and Sierra Leone signed MOUs with China on Sunday to acknowledge its full market economy status, after a landmark summit between China and 48 African countries that have diplomatic ties with it.

Nov. 6 , 2006

Monday

May 30, 1956

Today

last year

the first eight months

this year

the same period of 2005

Sunday


AFP_ENG_20061219.0245

PARIS, France, Dec 19 , 2006, 2006

ATTENTION - ADDS vets blame asphyxia ///

The French agriculture ministry said Tuesday that bird flu is not responsible for the deaths of several thousand chickens on a farm in the east of the country.

"Preliminary results show no sign of an influenza virus in the samples taken from the farm in the Haute-Marne (department)," a statement said.

Vets who examined the 4,000 chickens who died Saturday at a farm in Sarrey said they had been killed by asphyxia.

"It was a problem of atmosphere control. They suffocated to death," said Bernard Brocvielle, Haute-Marne's chief vet.

An emergency plan was set in action on Sunday because of fears the chickens might have been infected with the H5N1 flu virus which can be fatal to humans.

Dec 19 , 2006

Tuesday

Saturday

Sunday


XIN_ENG_20061119.0002

YANGON, Nov. 19 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Ceremony held to pay respect for aged literati in Myanmar

The Myanmar Writers and Journalists Association (MWJA) held a ceremony at the city hall here Sunday to pay respect to old-aged and doyen literati to mark the country's Sarsodaw Day (Poets' Day or Literati's Day)

Information Minister Brigadier-General Kyaw Hsan, leading the ministry's officials and younger literati, held the respect-paying ceremony, presenting 71 doyen literati aged over 80, with donations of 100,000 Kyats in cash and gifts each on behalf of the government and individual wellwishers.

The Poets' Day, which is falling on Monday, has been observed yearly since 1944, two years after the Myanmar Writers Association (MWA) was formed which was later re-established as MWJA in October 1989.

In their message and speech at the ceremony, MWJA Chairman U Hla Myaing and Representative of doyen literati Daw Kyan called on younger literati to make their efforts to contribute to the development of literature and create better works for the country and the people.

To encourage preservation and promotion of literacy and cultural heritage, Myanmar presents National Literacy Awards (NLA) to successful writers every year and in December 2005, Myanmar presented 59 national-level literacy awards for the year 2004 to winners

The awards included one life-long National Literary Award (NLA), 10 NLAs, 27 Sarpay Beikman (literature house) Manuscript Awards and 21 National Motto Literary and Photo Awards.

The NLA, the highest of its kind in the country, cover those in novels, short stories, poems, belles-letters, translation and literature.

Nov. 19 , 2006

Sunday

Monday

1944, two years

October 1989

every year

December 2005

the year 2004


AFP_ENG_19970425.0196

TOKYO, April 25 , 1997 (AFP)

Daiwa and Nikko follow Nomura into the red

Daiwa Securities Co. Ltd. and Nikko Securities Co. Ltd., two of Japan's Big Four stockbrokers, announced Friday net losses for the year to March, joining market leader Nomura Securities Co. Ltd. which disclosed its own net loss of 243 billion yen (two billion dollars) on Thursday.

Daiwa, the country's second-largest broker, said it suffered a net parent company loss of 84.0 billion yen, reversing a net profit of 43.7 billion yen a year earlier. Pre-tax earnings fell 29.2 percent to 44.3 billion yen while operating income fell 3.3 percent to 291.8 billion yen.

Nikko, ranked third, announced a net consolidated loss of 116.7 billion yen, reversing a net profit of 38 billion yen with pre-tax earnings plunging 60 percent from a year earlier to 28.5 billion yen. Group operating income was up 17 percent at 461.1 billion yen.

Following a similar move by NoMura on Thursday, neither company offered profit forecasts for the current year although Daiwa vice president Hiromitsu Sogame said his company's projection was for higher earnings than the year just ended. But he declined to give figures.

Daiwa blamed its poor result on "large losses amid a slack stock market" along with cutbacks in bond-trading activity.

During the year, the company suffered an extraordinary loss of 120 billion yen on the bailout of troubled affiliate Daiwa Finance Co. Ltd., a Tokyo-based company in which the securities firm had a five percent stake.

Sogame said costs were expected to rise further this year due to upgrading ahead of the planned "Big Bang" for the Tokyo financial market, modelled on British deregulatory reforms a decade ago and expected to be in place by 2001.

"We will renew our bond trading room and build a personal computer network and proceed with global risk management projects," he said.

Referring to a recent scandal involving illegal trading by Nomura, Sogame said Daiwa was seeking to set up an operations administration department to strengthen internal supervision. "So far, we have not received a report that illegal trading and transactions have been found," he said.

Asked about trading by individual investors, he said: "I do not expect individual investors to stay away from the market because of Nomura's illegal transactions ... I hope the share will rise, as it has been at a low level."

Nikko vice president Masao Yuki said his company had not detected any incoming transfer of funds from Nomura following the scandal.

Asked whether Nikko had conducted internal investigations, he said: "It is natural to conduct internal investigations, and if any problem emerges, we will disclose it. But we cannot disclose details of client trading."

Nikko said extraordinary losses during the latest year came to 147.5 billion yen, reflecting assistance to three companies within the group.

Yuki said earnings were pressured by declining profits at subsidiaries in Europe, the United States and Asia in the year to March although banking units in the United States and Luxembourg booked firm profits.

"Rising personnel costs such as hiring talented traders ... are pressuring earnings," he added.

Refering to Nikko's lower market share on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, Yuji said: "I think the weight of foreign securities has been rising."

Nikko's share of trading on the exchange fell from 8.1 percent to 7.8 percent by volume and from 8.5 percent to 8.0 percent by value.

April 25 , 1997

Friday

the year

March

Thursday

a year earlier

a year earlier

Thursday

the current year

the year

the year

this year

a decade ago

the latest year

the year

March


XIN_ENG_20051119.0164

TIANJIN, Nov. 19 , 2005 (Xinhua)

city

Three people were killed and at least four others were injured in a traffic accident in north China municipality of Tianjin on Saturday.

The accident happened on Saturday evening when a minibus carrying seven students collided with a truck at the highway in the city's Xiqing District. Police confirmed three people died at the site.

The injured have been hospitalized.

Police is investigating cause of the accident.

Nov. 19 , 2005

Saturday

Saturday evening


WSJ891101-0018
 = 891101
 891101-0018.
 Business Brief -- Cilcorp Inc.:
@  Some Assets to Be Acquired
@  From Hunter Environmental
 11/01/89
 WALL STREET JOURNAL (J)
 CER HESI
 BUYBACKS, REDEMPTIONS, SWAP OFFERS (BBK)
TENDER OFFERS, MERGERS, ACQUISITIONS (TNM)

   Cilcorp Inc., Peoria, Ill., said it agreed  to acquire the environmental consulting and analytical service businesses of Hunter Environmental Services Inc. of Southport, Conn.
   The utility holding company said Hunter  will receive 390,000 shares of a new series of Cilcorp convertible preferred stock with a face value of $39 million for the businesses.
Cilcorp  will  also assume $22 million of Hunter's existing debt.
As part of the agreement, Cilcorp said it  will pay Hunter $4 million in exchange for agreements not to compete.

   Cilcorp said the businesses  to  be acquired had revenue of $76 million for the year ended March 31.

   Separately, Cilcorp said it plans  to purchase as many as 1.4 million shares, or 10% of its common stock outstanding from time to time on the open market and through privately negotiated transactions.

   The company, which currently has 13.5 million common shares outstanding, said it has no specific plans for the shares.

the year

March 31

currently


AFP_ENG_19970407.0528

WASHINGTON, April 7 , 1997 (AFP)

US wants to meet Palestinians on Mideast peace

President Bill Clinton said Monday the United States would talk next with the Palestinians about re-starting the Mideast peace process after he met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"We had a very specific, frank, candid and long talk," Clinton told reporters following his two-hour meeting at the White House with the Israeli leader.

"It was a long and very thorough meeting ... now it's important for us to visit with the Palestinians," Clinton said, adding he would do his best to get Israeli-Palestinian negotiations back on track.

Clinton declined to give details on the substance of his meeting with Netanyahu.

April 7 , 1997

Monday

now


XIN_ENG_20061106.0039

BEIJING, Nov. 6 , 2006 (Xinhua)

October: safety superviser

URGENT: 9,007 people killed in 53,173 accidents in China this October: safety superviser

Nov. 6 , 2006

this October


WSJ891030-0145
 = 891030
 891030-0145.
 Waxman Industries Debentures
 10/30/89
 WALL STREET JOURNAL (J)
 WAX
 BUYBACKS, REDEMPTIONS, SWAP OFFERS (BBK)
 BEDFORD HEIGHTS, Ohio

   Waxman Industries Inc. said holders of $6,542,000 face amount of its 6 1/4% convertible subordinated debentures, due March 15, 2007, have elected to convert the debt into about 683,000 common shares.

   The conversion price is $9.58 a share.

   The company said the holders represent 52% of the face amount of the debentures.

   Waxman sells a variety of hardware products for the home repair market.

March 15, 2007


AFP_ENG_19970414.0322

NEW DELHI, April 14 , 1997 (AFP)

Factfile of leading candidates for Indian PM role

Leading United Front candidates for the role of India's 12th prime minister after the fall of H.D. Deve Gowda:

G.K. MOOPANAR: Leader of the regional Tamil Manila Congress (TMC) party, one of the members of the ousted United Front government. Moopanar's party has 20 members in parliament. A former Congress (I) veteran, known for long as the trouble shooter of former premier Indira Gandhi, he split from the Congress last year and floated the TMC, whose power base is confined to the southern state of Tamil Nadu. He is known to be close to most Congress leaders as well as Sonia Gandhi, widow of assassinated former premier Rajiv Gandhi. Speaks poor English and virtually no Hindi, the national language, and is at home only in Tamil. Has never held any government post.

N. CHANDRABABU NAIDU: Chief minister of the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, the country's third most populous state, and leader of the regional Telugu Desam party, floated by his late father-in-law, N.T. Rama Rao. Naidu's party has 17 members in parliament. Naidu was a key figure in the United Front coalition government's negotiations with the Congress after the Front was ousted. Naidu's party, which decimated the Congress in his home state last year, enjoys grass-root support across the coastal state. Naidu is believed to nurse high political ambitions.

April 14 , 1997

last year

last year


XIN_ENG_20051118.0037

BEIJING, Nov. 18 , 2005 (Xinhua)

laborers

A senior researcher with the State Council, or the central government, has called on cities to allow more rural people to take up residence in a bid to promote urbanization and maintain the country's fast economic growth.

Urbanization will help drive the economy and improve the people's living standards, says Han Jun, head of the Development Research Center under the State Council. His signed article was published by People's Daily on Friday.

It's expected that some 289 million rural people, equivalent to the entire total population of the United States, will move to cities over the next 15 years.

He estimates by 2020, 57 percent of China's population will live in urban areas. By that time 828 million will be living in cities, whereas in 2002 urban dwellers numbered 326 million.

The researcher calls on the government to explore ways to help improve social security problems facing rural migrant laborers, who account for 46.5 percent of the workforce in second (or industrial production) and service industries, according to the nation's fifth census in 2000.

Migrant workers make up as much as 80 percent of the total workforce in the construction sector, the census showed.

Despite their contribution to urban economies, rural laborers have difficulties settling down in cities due to a lack of permanent housing and stable incomes, Han says.

He acknowledges that rural workers face restrictions finding permanent employment and enrolling their kids in city schools. Han says this is because of the country's decades-old household registration system which makes it hard for rural or migrant workers to integrate into urban society.

If these problems areas't solved, Han warns, it will be more difficult for the government to handle issues relating to the country's agriculture and rural economy.

He believes more should be done to create job opportunities for rural laborers in order to raise their income and protect their legitimate rights. This, says the researcher, will allow for a more "harmonious" urban society.

Farmer peasants make up about 70 percent of China's population of 1.3 billion but agriculture contributes only 15 percent to the country's gross domestic product.

Experts also point to the widening income gap between rural and urban residents, as an average farmer makes only a third as much as his urban counterpart.

The National Bureau of Statistics said that average incomes for China's farmers rose 6.8 percent in 2004, the biggest increase in seven years. Yet the average income for farmers stood at just 2, 936 yuan (355 US dollars) per person, while the national average annual income exceeds 1,000 US dollars.

Nov. 18 , 2005

Friday

the next 15 years

seven years


XIN_ENG_20061118.0080

HANOI, Nov. 18 , 2006 (Xinhua)

sustainable development

Leaders of the 21 member economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) began their annual meeting in Hanoi on Saturday to facilitate free trade and promote sustainable development in the region.

The closed-door meeting opened Saturday afternoon at Hanoi's National Convention Center after a welcome ceremony for the leaders by Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet at the entrance of the center.

The leaders were sitting in a round-table manner in the meeting room, according to a video tape footage shown to the press at the international media center.

During the two-hour-long informal retreat, the leaders discussed issues relating to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Doha Development Agenda (DDA), and issues on Regional Trade Agreements and Free Trade Areas, said a press release issued after the meeting.

The leaders also discussed and endorsed the Hanoi Action Plan to implement the Busan Roadmap for realizing the Bogor Goals of free and open trade and investment in the region, and issued a statement on the Doha round of WTO negotiations, according to the release.

Immediately after the retreat, the leaders had a one-hour dialogue with the APEC Business Advisory council.

Speaking at the beginning of the dialogue, Triet described the leaders' discussions as "profound."

Later on Saturday evening, the leaders and their spouses will attend a formal dinner and cultural performance in the National Convention Center, hosted by the Vietnamese president and his spouse.

A trip to the Temple of Literature, a site of interest in Hanoi, was also arranged for the spouses in the morning.

The annual meeting of Pacific-Rim leaders is a forum of the highest level in the Asia-Pacific region, drawing the presence of such prominent figures as Chinese President Hu Jintao, U.S. President George W. Bush, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Founded in 1989, APEC is a major regional forum acting as the primary regional vehicle for promoting open trade and practical economic and technical cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region.

It represents the most economically dynamic region in the world, with its 21 member economies accounting for more than one third of the world's population, approximately 60 percent of world GDP, and about 47 percent of world trade.

Nov. 18 , 2006

Saturday

Saturday afternoon

Saturday evening

the morning


XIN_ENG_20061101.0328

NEW YORK, Nov. 1 , 2006 (Xinhua)

U.S. stocks fall on sluggish economic data

U.S. stocks ended lower Wednesday on housing sluggish housing and manufacturing report.

In the closing trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 49.71, or 0.41 percent, to 12,031.02. The Standard  Poor's 500 index fell 10.13, or 0.74 percent, to 1,367.81, and the Nasdaq composite index dropped 32.36, or 1.37 percent, to 2,334.35.

On the data front, the slowed housing market and cooling manufacturing raised concerns over economic growth. The Commerce Department said on Wednesday that spending on construction projects dropped by 0.3 percent in September. Meanwhile, the Institute for Supply Management said its manufacturing activity index fell to 51.2 in October, the lowest since June 2003.

Oil prices fell slightly Wednesday as U.S. crude oil supplies rose but refined fuel stocks fell.

Nov. 1 , 2006

Wednesday

Wednesday

September

October

June 2003

Wednesday


XIN_ENG_20051114.0072

JERUSALEM, Nov. 14 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Urgent: Israeli PM begins meeting with Rice in Jerusalem

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom began a meeting with visiting US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Jerusalem on Monday morning.

Nov. 14 , 2005

Monday morning


XIN_ENG_20051124.0325

BEIJING, Nov. 25 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Buyers of big cars to pay more tax

Buyers of big cars will fork out more taxes and those who opt for smaller models will pay less under a revised auto consumption tax likely to come into force next year.

China Daily quoted Zhang Jinhua, deputy director of the China Automotive Technology and Research Centre, as saying Thursday at the Fourth International Clean Vehicle Technology Conference and Exhibition.

The current tax structure, which has three slabs for different engine sizes, is likely to have five. Vehicles with 4 litre or higher engines would pay between 20-25 percent instead of the current 8 percent, while those with engine displacement of 1 litre or less will pay 1 percent instead of the current 3 percent.

Industry experts see it as a government move to increase fuel efficiency and reduce emissions.

"The consumption tax reform cannot have an immediate impact on the clean-vehicle market. But at least, it is an inspiration for car makers," the newspaper quoted Zhang as saying.

Zhang also pointed out that substantial support from the government is needed if emissions were to be cut significantly, because the price for hybrid vehicles will remain high without government support.

Prius, jointly manufactured by Japan-based Toyota and the China FAW Group Corporation, will be the first hybrid car available in the Chinese market.

Zhu Yanfeng, president of the joint venture, announced on Wednesday that Prius would be available from mid-December for 250,000 yuan (31,000 US dollars) a price tag substantially higher than the average.

Feng Fei, director of the industry department of the State Council Development Research Centre, also proposed early this month that tax be levied on buyers rather than on auto producers as is done now, so as to encourage sales with economy vehicles with lower emissions.

Nov. 25 , 2005

next year

Thursday

Wednesday

early this month

now


AFP_ENG_20061228.0348

AGEN, France, Dec 28 , 2006, 2006

Laporte looks to Irish strategy for World Cup success

France coach Bernard Laporte revealed Thursday that he would be looking to emulate Ireland's strategy as the hosts prepare for next year's rugby World Cup.

Laporte blamed the heavy club schedule of many of France's internationals for their dismal autumn series which included two limp and uninspiring losses to World Cup favourites the All Blacks.

And he said that the two-time world finalists would be using the Six Nations Championship as a springboard for their World Cup campaign.

"We have to win the Six Nations, our reputation is at stake, but we want to use this big gathering to have a look at all the players," said Laporte during the official presentation for the 2007 Six Nations.

And for the first time in the competition, all forty members of the France squad will be mobilised for the tournament from February 3 to March 18.

"Of prime importance will be physical freshness, enthusiasm and spirit of competition," explained Laporte, adding that during the November Test series "(teams like Ireland) showed a totally different level of physical freshness than us".

"A player like (Ireland captain) Brian O'Driscoll plays half the matches of our centres and on the pitch that shows," he said.

Laporte pointed out that they will be looking to build physical fitness with a wide-ranging programme of activites scheduled for the week before each match, with players aware that their place in the World Cup is at stake.

"All (of the 40 players) will play at least one tournament match, but no-one will play all five matches," said Laporte.

Toulouse fly-half Frederic Michalak, who underwent knee surgery in November, will however not be among the group, Laporte added.

France open their Six Nations campaign against Italy in Rome on February 3, followed by Ireland at Croke Park in Dublin on February 11.

Dec 28 , 2006

Thursday

next year

February 3 to March 18

November

November

February 3

February 11


AFP_ENG_20051206.0280

LJUBLJANA, Dec 6 , 2005

unchanged

The 55 member states of the OSCE have agreed to reform the organisation without changing the role of its election monitoring teams, but a joint declaration at the close of the summit is unlikely, US and European Union officials said Tuesday.

US Under-Secretary of State Nicholas Burns said, hours before the end of the ministerial conference of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Ljubljana, that all 55 members of the pan-European organisation had agreed on a roadmap for reform as requested by Russia.

He added most of the participants had agreed the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), the OSCE's election monitoring body, "should be strengthened instead of weakened."

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attacked the ODIHR Monday, saying it had an "unacceptable autonomy" in monitoring elections, mainly in the former Soviet states, and urged the organisation to set clear guidelines for its methodology, composition and work.

While a compromise was reached over OSCE reforms due to start next year, Russia could not agree with the US and the European Union on a joint final declaration, which must be unanimously approved by participants before the end of the conference.

"We are not ready to trade principles for a document," Burns said, adding negotiations had failed because of Russia's refusal to acknowledge the so-called Istanbul commitments to withdraw its military forces from Georgia and Moldova, which Moscow agreed to in 1999.

"The great majority of countries believe we should reaffirm the commitments of Istanbul," Burns said, adding all member states were ready to praise Moscow's progress in pulling out of bases in Georgia, following an agreement signed last May.

"But there has been no progress in Moldova since 2003 in terms of reduction of the Russian forces," Burns said.

The head of the British delegation, John Sawers, said the European Union proposed a compromise over the final declaration that was initially accepted by Washington while the Russians were still considering it.

"The Russians may object to it, in which case the language (declaration) may well be used by the chairman in office," Sawers said, meaning the conference chairman, Slovenia's Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel, would issue a final statement if a consensus cannot be reached over the document.

Dec 6 , 2005

Tuesday

next year

last May


XIN_ENG_20061110.0120

HONG KONG, Nov. 10 , 2006 (Xinhua)

for karaoke bars

by Xinhua writer Tian Sulei

BEIJING, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- Karaoke bars in China's main cities will have to pay 12 yuan (1.5 U.S. dollars) a day in royalties to music artists for each room, according to a new regulation set by China's National Copyright Administration.

A statement on the administration's website said that royalties would first be collected in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou on a trial basis. The practice will gradually be widened to cover other cities, with the payment rate varying according to local economic conditions.

The move is another measure China has taken to improve its copyright protection in response to increasing pressure and is deemed vital in encouraging innovation.

The China Audio and Video Association has been designated as the temporary agent to collect the royalties for music being played in karaoke bars. This function will be taken over by an association for the collective management of audio and video copyrights after it is granted official approval by the government.

The size of the karaoke bars in China generally range from several rooms to more than 100 rooms.

Liu Wenhe, who is working to establish audio and video copyright association, said the charges collected from the karaoke bars will be paid to producers of the music works, including song writers and music companies.

"We will leave our foreign counterparts to handle payments to foreign companies and individuals," said Liu.

He said a special team will be established to start collecting the fees from karaoke bars, possibly before the end of this year.

Nov. 10 , 2006

Nov. 10

the end of this year


XIN_ENG_20051117.0009

NEW YORK, Nov. 16 , 2005 (Xinhua)

587

A native of the Dominican Republic was selected Wednesday as the designer of a memorial for victims of Flight 587, the plane that crashed in Queens, New York, shortly after takeoff on its way to Santo Domingo, the mayor's office announced.

Renowned artist Freddy Rodriguez was selected from a field of six finalists for the memorial honoring the 265 victims of the Nov. 12, 2001 tragedy, said Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The 2-million-dollar memorial, financed by public and private funding, should be completed by fall 2006 -- in time for the fifth anniversary of the crash.

The plane was leaving John F. Kennedy International Airport on its way for the Dominican Republic when it plunged into the Queens neighborhood of Belle Harbor in the Rockaways. All passengers and crew on board were killed, along with five people on the ground.

"This process has brought us together to find the best way to honor and remember those we lost in a meaningful and enduring manner," Bloomberg said.

Family members of the victims have complained about the location of the site. On Saturday, at a service marking the fourth anniversary of the crash, family members questioned why the memorial was slated to go up about a mile from the crash site.

Nov. 16 , 2005

Wednesday

Nov. 12, 2001

fall 2006

Saturday


XIN_ENG_20061127.0110

SINGAPORE, Nov. 27 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Creative industries forum kicks off in Singapore

A global forum for creative industries, Beyond 2006, one of a series of events of month-long Creative 2006 programs to showcase and promote Singapore's creative sector, was kicked off here Monday.

"Many countries see the creative industries as a key competitive advantage in the globalized economy. Ideas and imagination have become valuable assets and drivers of economic opportunities and growth," Lee Boon Yang, Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts, said at the opening ceremony of the forum.

"Singapore cannot be any different," he said, adding "We must harness creativity and the power of innovation to forge ahead in a globalized economy."

The tow-day forum of Beyond 2006 is a platform to provide opportunities for the domestic and international leading creative icons to exchange creative ideas.

The creative industries, which comprise of the arts, media, and design, are among the fastest growing economic sectors globally. The global market value of the creative cluster was estimated at more than 1 trillion U.S. dollars last year.

Singapore launched the Creative Industries Development Strategy in 2003, starting to put in place many programs and supporting structures to drive this growing sector.

In Singapore, added value of this sector had grown at 7 percent compared to 4 percent for the general economy from 1995 to 2003, while employment grew by 5.5 percent per annum during the same period, according to the minister.

Besides value add and employment, the creative industries have a wider reaching impact across the economy and other sectors such as people's life, community and the culture.

Lee pointed out that long-term success and sustainability of this sector will depend on balancing creativity and commercial viability with cultural and social capital building.

Nov. 27 , 2006

Monday

last year

the same period


AFP_ENG_19970413.0227

SARAJEVO April 13 , 1997 (AFP)

Pope's peace appeal gets mixed hearing in Bosnia

Pope John Paul II's appeal Sunday for peace and understanding in Bosnia got a mixed hearing from the faithful here, hopeful that tolerance will emerge but doubtful if it will happen soon.

Acknowledging the wounds caused by Europe's bloodiest war in 50 years, the pope told an open-air mass in Sarajevo Sunday: "Let us forgive and let us ask for forgiveness.

"If Christ is to be our advocate with the Father, we cannot fail to utter these words. We cannot fail to undertake the difficult but necessary pilgrimage of forgiveness, which leads to a profound reconciliation," the pontiff said.

For some, the message itself would help spread peace.

"This is a big event, it will bring peace, harmony and love to all of us," said 64-year-old Tilda, from the Croat-held town of Kiseljak.

"I believe it is possible to forgive, I would not come if I did not think reconciliation was possible," she said.

Others thought tolerance and reconciliation might take time.

"It will take some time before everyone forgives -- there were many victims," said Anto Zlatun, 48, from the mixed Moslem-Croat town of Novi Travnik.

"In myself lost my brother. Reconciliation is not possible right now, but in two or three years it will be necessary."

"I did not have any fears of coming to Sarajevo" said his wife, Antija. "If he (the pope) was ready to come, why should I not come as well?"

Almost all Bosnia's Catholics are Croats from outside Sarajevo, and most of the estimated 30,000 who attended the papal mass headed to more than 400 buses and to trains for the journey home after the three-hour service.

Jelena Glavas, a 17-year-old from the town of Osara agreed reconciliation could not happen soon. "Reconciliation is possible, but not now. Maybe later," she said.

"No, no, life together is not possible," said her teenaged friend, who refused to be named. "I cannot forget what happened, or forgive those who did it."

For the pope, "Of course, forgiveness, far from precluding the search for truth, actually requires it because an essential requisite for forgiveness and reconciliation is justice. But it still remains true that asking and granting forgiveness is something profoundly worthy of man."

But for 57-year-old Jelica, a Croat from Serb-held Banja Luka, the site of savage ethnic cleansing by Serb paramilitary units of Croats and Moslems during the 43-month war, while there will be peace, there will not be forgiveness.

"We feel great, everything will be OK, there will be peace, it does not matter who you are," she said. But, she added: "We can forgive but we won't go to the houses of those who did something."

April 13 , 1997

Sunday

50 years

now

two or three years

now


XIN_ENG_20061117.0086

BERLIN, Nov. 17 , 2006 (Xinhua)

German stocks open lower

German stocks opened lower Friday on the Frankfurt market.

The 30-share DAX Index dropped 0.01 percent or 0.67 points to 6,442.35 at 09:03 a.m. (0803 GMT).

The MDAX index of medium-sized companies was down 0.13 percent or 11.45 points to 8,931.86.

The TecDAX index of technologies and science firms was down 0.29 percent to 706.31 points.

Nov. 17 , 2006

Friday

09:03 a.m.


AFP_ENG_20061211.0497

TEHRAN, Dec 11 , 2006, 2006

Ahmadinejad government running out of cash

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is to ask the Iranian parliament for a supplementary budget as his government's coffers will run empty three months before the end of the current Iranian fiscal year, the ISNA news agency reported Monday.

"The budget allocated to the government will run out by the end of (the Iranian month of) Azar (December 22)," the agency quoted Ahmadinejad as saying.

"We are going to put forward a supplementary budget bill to cover the three remaining months (of the Iranian year, ending on March 20, 2007) and the first two months of next year.

"This will be the fuel so that the government can operate in the next five months," he added. The president did not give a reason for why the budget had run over.

The 60-billion-dollar government budget, which is about one third of the national budget, finances the public sector and covers current expenditures as well as development plans.

It is the first time in years an Iranian government has asked parliament for such an additional sum.

Dec 11 , 2006

three months

Monday

the end of (the Iranian month

December 22

Iranian year

March 20, 2007

the first two months

next year

the next five months

years


AFP_ENG_19970417.0441

FARGO, North Dakota, April 17 , 1997 (AFP)

Red River floods set new record high in North Dakota town

Floodwaters from the swollen Red River soared to record high levels in this upper Midwest town Thursday and kept on rising as residents raced to shore up weakening sandbag dikes.

Many residents shook their heads in disbelief as the water kept rolling in and officials said they could not say when the river would crest after nearly two weeks of the worst flooding this century.

The water rose to 13.1 meters (39.3 feet), seven meters (22 feet) above flood stage, eclipsing the previous record of 13 meters (39.1 feet) set in 1897.

Firemen and policemen evacuated four families in the dead of the night as between 15 and 20 homes were flooded.

Two percent of the city was under water. Although there has been no precise estimate of the damage, the flooding is clearly taking its toll. Garbage collection has stopped and several areas are without water.

Several districts are only accessible by boat.

The floodwaters will delay planting of wheat and sugar beets causing an estimated one billion dollars in damages to farmers in the upper plains area.

Protective dikes have been built to a height of 13.3 meters (40 feet) but many are being weakened by the relentless pressure from the floodwaters.

One resident built a 30,000-dollar concrete dike around his home only to see it crack Wednesday. His house was entirely flooded.

In Fargo and in Moorhead, on the Minnesota side of the river, hundreds of volunteers worked throughout the night to shore up leaky levees and dikes or raced to pump water out faster than it came in.

The Red River and its tributaries, swollen by rains and melted snow, spread some 25 kilometers (15 miles) over highways and roads in rural areas here and covered the pancake-flat farmland.

April 17 , 1997

Thursday

nearly two weeks

stage

Wednesday

the night


AFP_ENG_20061220.0510

ABUJA, Dec 20 , 2006, 2006

2007 poll

Nigeria's electoral agency said Wednesday that it has started to revalidate 2002/2003 voters cards for use in the April next year's presidential and general elections.

The revalidation of the 2002/2003 voters cards is "to ensure that all eligible voters are able to vote during the forthcoming general elections," the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said in an official statement.

INEC advised all those who registered in the 2002/2003 exercise to take advantage of "this unique opportunity" by visiting the nearest INEC registration centre to obtain new voters cards containing their photographs in replacement of the old ones.

Registration of voters the April 2007 poll formally ended last December 14 amid complaints that tens of millions of citizens were not recorded during the exercise.

The electoral act stipulates that the registration of voters must have been completed 120 days before the start of 2007 gubernatorial and presidential poll, an INEC official told AFP.

Governorship elections are scheduled for April 14 while the presidential poll will be held a week later.

A massive drive to put all over-18s on the electoral roll was beset by technical problems, a situation that drew the ire of the country's lawmakers who twice recently summoned the INEC boss, Maurice Iwu, to explain what they said was his agency's sloppy handling of the exercise.

The lawmakers and most Nigerians criticised the use of hi-tech polling e-machines which store voters' thumbprints and photographs, but proved ineffective in a demonstration in October.

Although 33,000 such machines were judged necessary to fulfil the demand of the populous nation's mandatory registration, officials said that less than 20,000 were deployed for the exercise.

They also cited poor mobilisation and sensitisation of the people for the exercise.

The April 2007 poll is expected to lead in May to the first democratic handover to a new government since Nigeria gained independence from Britain in October 1960.

President Olusegun Obasanjo, who has been in office since May 1999, is expected to hand over power on May 29 after the poll.

Dec 20 , 2006

Wednesday

April next year

the

April 2007

last December 14

120 days

April 14

a week later

October

April 2007

May

October 1960

May 1999

May 29


AFP_ENG_20051207.0294

LEIPZIG, Germany, Dec 7 , 2005

Pekerman only coach absent for World Cup draw

The coaches of the 32 nations that have qualified for the 2006 World Cup will all be at Friday's draw with the sole exception of Argentina manager Jose Pekerman.

England's Sven-Goran Eriksson, Australia's Guus Hiddink, Japan manager Zico and other leading coaches will all witness the draw live, Wolfgang Niersbach, vice-president of the organising committee, revealed at a press conference.

"All the managers will be in Leipzig expect for Pekerman," said Niersbach.

"The Argentina Football Federation did not give a reason for his absence."   Argentina are one of the eight seeds for Friday's draw.

Dec 7 , 2005

Friday

Friday


XIN_ENG_20051115.0042

BUSAN, South Korea, Nov. 15 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Writethru: APEC rises to challenges, grasps opportunities

Foreign and trade ministers of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) began their meeting Tuesday in the South Korean coastal city of Busan amid mounting gloom over trade liberalization and overshadowed by mounting terrorism and spreading avian flu.

The meeting would pave the way for an APEC summit with the participation of 21 economies in the Asia-Pacific region. The gathering would seek common ground on an open multilateral trading system and forge a unified response to terror attacks and health risks such as bird flu.

A successful conclusion of the World Trade Organization (WTO) ministerial meeting in Hong Kong next month and rapid conclusion of the WTO Doha Development Agenda negotiations are expected to be the main business concern.

On the sidelines, South Korea plans to spur discussions on bilateral free trade agreements with countries like the United States and Japan. It also plans to seek a reduction of duties applied by members of the Association of South East Asian Nations.

The region has undergone dramatic changes characterized by the December tsunami in Asia and this year's hurricanes in America, the earthquake in Pakistan and the bird flu in Asia. Last week's bomb attacks in Jordan also alerted APEC members to promote anti- terrorism cooperation.

All this may enlarge the dimension of cooperation among the 21 APEC members and breathe new life to the grouping which includes seven of the world's 13 largest economies,represents more than a third of the world's population, and constitutes 60 percent of the global economy and nearly half of world trade.

It might be easier for APEC members to find common language and common interests in coping with issues like terrorism, natural disasters and bird flu, APEC observers said.

Unlike previous summits, this year's APEC agenda would include natural disasters and bird flu and ways to enhance bilateral and multilateral cooperation in these fields, said the official, who refused to be named.

As part of joint efforts, a special fund of 2 million US dollars was envisaged by APEC senior officials to fight the spread of bird flu. Other concrete measures were expected to be hammered out.

Removing trade barriers, however, remained a hard job for APEC, which puts free trade at its priority list.

APEC members will renew their own commitment to the Bogor Goals made in 1994 by forming the Busan roadmap. It calls for group members with developed economies to fully liberalize trade and investment by 2010 with developing members to do so by 2020.

Attempt to unlock the tangle in the WTO negotiations would dominate the APEC forum prior to next month's WTO meeting in Hong Kong.

In order to rescue the Hong Kong meeting, Asia-Pacific leaders were expected to plead with all nations involved in troubled global trade talks to make meaningful concessions.

Global trade talks could collapse if the current impasse over agricultural subsidies and other issues were not resolved, trade experts said.

The forum was concerned that "the current impasse in the negotiations may lead to a potential failure" of the Hong Kong ministerial meeting, said a draft statement prepared by senior officials for their leaders to sign off.

"We all agree that the Hong Kong ministerial (meeting) will be a critical step in achieving this goal" of reducing subsidies and other barriers to free trade, said the statement, whose final wording may be changed.

Throughout the past week trade officials have expressed gloom about the Hong Kong meeting, with EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson saying the talks would fail.

The so-called Doha round of WTO talks, launched in the Qatari capital of Doha in 2001, has bogged down in a bitter dispute over agricultural subsidies which has pitted mainly rich nations against developing nations.

Developing countries also argue that farm subsidies in rich nations such as the United States and EU countries depress global prices and prevent growers in poor nations from competing.

The European Union has rejected demands by the United States, Australia and some other APEC members to impose greater cuts in the subsidies.

WTO members should "make further, meaningful contributions to move the negotiations forward," said the APEC statement. "Doing this will require economically and politically difficult decisions by all WTO members."

Expectations were shrinking and hopes plummeting after negotiations earlier this month in Geneva and London failed to end the stand-off.

The statement said that while the initial expectations of the Hong Kong meeting may not be achieved, "we should nonetheless not compromise the level of ambition for the whole round" launched in Doha, Qatar in 2001.

Participants at the APEC ministerial meeting, were working hard to come up with a statement for their leaders to sign off.

The statement was expected to support the WTO, thus giving a boost to the staggering trade talks.

"What is needed at this moment is a strong message from leaders to keep spirits up," said one participant, who refused identification.

Some participants, however, were worried about the Hong Kong meeting becoming a repeat of the previous ministerial gathering in Cancun, Mexico, in 2003, which bogged down in acrimony and paralyzed the WTO for months.

"APEC would like to change this message of crisis into a message of hope," said Kim Jong-hoon, South Korea's senior APEC official.

Nov. 15 , 2005

Tuesday

December

this year

Last week

this year

next month

the past week

earlier this month


XIN_ENG_20061120.0003

JAKARTA, Nov. 20 , 2006 (Xinhua)

12 bodies from Indonesian plane crash evacuated

The Indonesian rescue team Monday evacuated the bodies of all 12 passengers and crews of a plane that crashed Friday in the most remote province of Papua.

Two helicopters were sent to support the evacuation, which was delayed for two days due to bad weather, police said from the scene.

"The weather is perfect today, no wind no fog. The evacuated process was completed in just two hours," Papua police spokesman Sen. Commr. Kartono was quoted by the Detikcom news website as saying.

The Twin Otter plane belonging to the Trigana Air Service was reported missing Friday during a short-distance trip in Puncak Jaya regency, around 3,600 km east of Jakarta.

The plane was found several hours later without any survivors among the nine passengers and three crews.

Most of the passengers were officials of the local government.

Nov. 20 , 2006

Monday

Friday

two days

two hours

Friday


XIN_ENG_20051130.0293

LONDON, Nov. 30 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Liverpool claim fourth place after 2-0 win over in Premier League

Liverpool moved to the fourth place in the Premiership after a convincing 2-0 win over bottom-of-the table Sunderland on Wednesday.

Liverpool went ahead in the 30th minute when Luis Garcia collected Xabi Alonso's pass and slipped a shot past Ben Alnwick.

Alonso produced an even better pass for Liverpool's second goal, freeing Steven Gerrard, who rounded Alnwick and then prodded the ball into the empty net.

The only black mark for Liverpool was Mohamed Sissoko's second-half red card.

Sissoko was dismissed on 65 minutes following two yellow cards for a couple of bad tackles, first on Liam Lawrence and then on Dean Whitehead.

However, even when Liverpool went down to 10 men, Sunderland were so poor they were unable to force Jose Reina to make a save until the closing stages of the game.

Indeed, Liverpool contrived to produce the better chances, notably John Arne Riise's remarkable run from inside his own half, an attack that saw the Norwegian strike the bar with a thunderous shot.

The win was Liverpool's fifth successive Premiership victory and leaves Rafael Benitez's side 12 points behind leaders Chelsea with a game in hand.

Benitez had left striker Djibril Cisse out of his squad following the Frenchman's petulant reaction at being substituted at Manchester City on Saturday, pairing Peter Crouch and Fernando Morientes in Liverpool's attack.

Before Liverpool went ahead, Crouch was played in on goal by Gerrard, but Alnwick did well to clear the danger.

With Liverpool 2-0 ahead Crouch had the goal at his mercy again following a goalmouth scramble but he collapsed after Stephen Caldwell's tackle, claiming a penalty.

Crouch did better to head the ball into Riise's feet following a Gerrard free-kick, but the Norwegian's shot was well blocked by Justin Hoyte.

Sunderland's defeat was their seventh league loss and leaves them seven points behind fourth-from-bottom West Bromwich Albion.

The home side's play was riddled with mistakes and Chris Brown's horrendous miskick and another woeful shot from Whitehead summed up the poor quality of their attacking play.

It was Alonso who shook Liverpool out of their own early torpor, the Spaniard swivelling and hitting a half-volleyed pass from his own half.

The pass went between Gary Breen and Hoyte to free Garcia, who rolled his shot past Alnwick.

Another clever turn and pass, this time from Garcia, provided space for Gerrard, whose shot clipped the post as Liverpool tried to press home their advantage.

Alonso having explored the space on the right of the Sunderland defence for the first goal, produced a pass to embarrass Caldwell and Danny Collins on the other flank.

The Spanish international midfielder's pass left Collins chasing Gerrard's shadow and the Liverpool captain finished in style, skipping his way past Alnwick, before slipping the ball into the net.

Alonso capped a fine performance with an outrageous attempt to score with a long-range free-kick after Sissoko's dismissal.

Nov. 30 , 2005

Wednesday

the 30th minute

Saturday


XIN_ENG_20061107.0342

NEW YORK, Nov. 7 , 2006 (Xinhua)

New Yorkers concerned about what happens at WTC site: poll

Most New Yorkers believe that construction should continue while an expanded search for human remains underway, according to a recent poll conducted by local media.

About 54 percent of the 1,500 registered voters argued that construction of the Freedom Tower and other buildings in the site should proceed while 39 percent think it should stop until the search for remains is complete.

The search for human remains resumed last month when a power supply crew came upon remains while doing routine work in a manhole. So far, more than 200 remains have been found, leading some to believe the original search was not extensive enough.

One respondent said he believed the construction should keep going and stick to the plan, as it will take a long time to actually to uncover everything. But another believed the workers should stop because they keep finding bones from people. "Out of respect for the people who died here, I think they should stop the construction and do a full, thorough search," he added.

Some criticized the authorities for failing to do a better search before they started building, but the poll found that 47 percent were happy with the original search while 42 percent wish more had been done.

Nov. 7 , 2006

last month


AFP_ENG_20051205.0446

KINSHASA, Dec 5 , 2005

ATTENTION - UPDATES with one dead///

At least one person was killed and two injured in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Monday when a powerful earthquake hit eastern and central Africa, a hospital source said.

The victim, an infant, died of injuries sustained when the quake caused the collapse of his family's house on the outskirts of the town of Kalemie, some 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the epicenter of the quake, the source told AFP.

"The infant had been seriously wounded by the collapse and died of his injuries," said the source at the Asia clinic in Kalemie.

Earlier, Michel Bonnardeaux, spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Kinshasa, said at least three people, including the infant, had been hurt.

"Two houses and a church collapsed on periphery of Kalemie and in the center, where there was a lot of panic, there are cracks in many buildings," he told AFP, citing UN officials in the area.

An AFP correspondent quoted eyewitnesses as saying several Kalemie residents had been injured and a number of buildings damaged in the town, when the quake that measured 7.5 on the Richter scale occurred.

Residents of six east and central African nations reported feeling the tremors.

Dec 5 , 2005

Monday


XIN_ENG_20061115.0120

BEIJING, Nov. 15 , 2006 (Xinhua)

U.S. warship arrives for joint search-and-rescue exercise

ZHANJIANG, Guangdong, Nov. 15 (Xinhua) --The USS Juneau (LPD 10) arrived on Wednesday at Zhanjiang, a port city of South China's Guangdong Province, to get ready for a joint search-and-rescue exercise with the Chinese navy.

This is the third time the U.S. warship has visited Zhanjiang since this south China port opened to foreign warships in 2003.

The USS Juneau, the U.S. navy's only forward-deployed amphibious transport dock, is captained by Commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet Gary Roughead. Roughead will oversee the joint search-and-rescue operation between the two navies.

There are about 650 crew members on the USS Juneau. They were warmly greeted by more than 400 Chinese navy officers and sailors.

Later Wednesday, Roughead will meet with Gu Wengen, commander of the South China Sea fleet of the Navy of the People's Liberation Army.

The exercise will be held in the South China Sea on Sunday, according to the Chinese Defense Ministry. The exercise will involve China's guided missile destroyer "Zhanjiang", fuel tanker "Dongting Lake," the USS Juneau (LPD 10) and the USS missile destroyer Fitzgerald.

"These exercises will help improve understanding and build mutual trust between the two militaries, particularly the two navies," said a statement issued by the Chinese Defense Ministry.

The event is the second phase of the first-ever joint Sino-American search-and-rescue exercises, agreed on by Chinese and U.S. military leaders.

The first phase in September consisted of communications and passing exercises held in the waters off Hawaii.

Nov. 15 , 2006

Nov. 15

Wednesday

Wednesday

Sunday

September


AFP_ENG_20051214.0066

SINGAPORE, Dec 14 , 2005

Singapore awards tender for prime Orchard Road site

Southeast Asia's largest property developer and its Hong Kong partner have been awarded the tender to develop a prime plot of land in Singapore's Orchard Road district, the government said Wednesday.

Singapore-listed CapitaLand and partner Gresward Pte Ltd, a unit of Sun Hung Kai Properties in Hong Kong, won the tender with their bid of 1.38 billion Singapore dollars (825 million US), the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) said in a statement.

At more than double the valuation of the site, it was the highest of eight bids submitted, the URA said when bids closed last Thursday.

Developing the coveted 1.8 hectare (4.45 acres) site at the corner of Orchard and Paterson roads is part of a blueprint announced earlier this year by the government to spruce up the city-state's prime shopping and tourist belt into one of the best retail strips in the world.

It comes as Thailand, which opened Bangkok's 366-million-US-dollar Siam Paragon mall on Friday, tries to position itself as a regional shopping rival to Singapore and Hong Kong.

The URA said the tender allows for a commercial development with an underground shopping mall. At least 40 percent of the total gross floor area must be for retail, food and beverage and/or entertainment uses, it said.

Dec 14 , 2005

Wednesday

last Thursday

earlier this year

Friday


PRI19980303.2000.2550
 NEWS STORY

 Tomorrow the board of supervisors of Loudon county, Virginia, will vote on
 whether a school now located in Mount Vernon can relocate to their county.
 In some respects, that's typical county business, but tomorrow's vote has
 international implications. The board will decide whether the Islamic Saudi
 Academy, funded by the government of Saudi Arabia, can move to Ashburn village,
 Virginia. But local residents have not exactly laid out the
 red carpet for their would be neighbors. The World's Nancy Marshalll has
 our story.

 Inside the Islamic Saudi academy in Mount Vernon, Virginia, many of the
 girls wear head scarves and some of the neatly dressed children are in uniforms.
 The instruction is in English for most classes, in Arabic for language and
 religious studies. The school says it teaches the children to be good
 Muslims and good students. They're learning a civics lesson from the residents of
 Loudon county. The Islamic Saudi Academy has twelve hundred mostly American
 students but would take thirty-five hundred if it had the room.
 The academy bought a hundred acres in Loudon county, Virginia, and asked for permission
 to build a fifty million dollar campus. In the nearby suburban housing
 tracts, someone dropped off leaflets warning the school could bring
 thousands of Middle Eastern strangers and terrorists. Some residents of the mostly
 white, mostly middle class area became alarmed. James Zogby of the Arab
 American Institute says it's a familiar story.

 There is, a- at a very deep level in our culture, um I think, a sense of, of
 ignorance about Islam, a fear about who Muslims are and what they're doing.

 Many local residents denounced the bigotry, but opposition to the school
 then shifted. Now critics of the academy are targeting its owner, the Saudi
 government. Pastor James Allmen of the fellowship church and school in
 Ashburn has led the anti-Saudi campaign. James Allmen says he has no problem with a
 privately funded academy, but he has a big problem with a Saudi funded school.

 The Saudi Arabian government has an atrocious record on human rights and is known to be one of the worst offending countries when it comes to religious
 persecution.

 That's correct.

 And that is a condition of the application, then.

 That is a condition of-

 At a public hearing on the Islamic Saudi Academy's application, the split
 in county opinion was obvious, supporters of the academy, including Ann
 Robinson, said the Saudis were just providing a service and it was unfair
 to penalize children.

 We do not further the purpose of human rights in the world by violating
 the human rights under our own constitution.

 But opponents said the school might be a target for terrorist attacks,
 complained about its tax exempt status, and wondered why the Saudis are not compelled to allow Christians to worship in their country. Virginia Welch
 delivered this message to the county board of supervisors.

 I urge you to do the right thing and send a message to the Saudis that the
 citizens of Loudon county embrace religious and human freedom.

 Loudon county officials say they'll rule on the application based only on
 land use issues and ignore all the other objections. What's really behind those
 objections, some say, is Loudon county's collision with a new reality in
 America that the country is changing religiously as surely as it is racially and ethnically. According to the Arab American institute, Islam will one
 day be the second largest religion in the country. For an indication of the
 problems that could face Muslims as they integrate into American life, one
 need look no farther than Loudon county, Virginia. For The World, I'm
 Nancy Marshalll.

Tomorrow

now

tomorrow

Now

one
 day


XIN_ENG_20051113.0233

MEXICO CITY, Nov. 13 , 2005 (Xinhua)

8 killed by unidentified men in Guatemala

At least eight people, including a five-year-old girl, have been killed by unidentified men in Guatemala over the past 24 hours, reports reaching here said on Sunday

The National Civil Police of Guatemala (PNC) told reporters on Sunday that a group of men fired at a shop in the southeast of the capital Guatemala City, killing five-year-old Wendy Perez and Axel Acajabon, 22. Four other shoppers were wounded.

The PNC said they had no idea of the attack's motivation.

Also in the capital, Juan Cotzajay, 17, was shot to death by four men in an armed robbery on a bus.

The Volunteer Fire Service also found five male corpses in different areas of Guatemala City.

One of the victims was found in a cardboard box in a market of the city. The other four, all in their 20's, showed signs of having been tortured before death.

Nov. 13 , 2005

the past 24 hours

Sunday

Sunday


XIN_ENG_20061128.0468

BOGOTA, Nov. 28 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Gold mine collapse traps 15 miners in Colombia

A gold mine collapse in northern Colombia on Tuesday trapped 15 miners, rescue workers told media.

The accident took place in Barranco de Loba, in the Caribbean coast province of Bolivar, which has been suffering heavy rains this week.

The town's mayor, Victor Vasquez, told media that rescuers are supplying oxygen to the trapped miners through a hole on the ground while trying to dig them out. Local residents said that the mine has met basic security standards.

A similar collapse trapped four gold miners in Remedios, a town in the northeastern Antioquia province. The miners were rescued alive after five days. They were able to breathe, but were forced to drink their own urine due to the lack of water.

Nov. 28 , 2006

Tuesday

this week

five


AFP_ENG_19970427.0491

SUVA, April 28 , 1997 (AFP)

Fiji family killed in landslide

A 16-year-old girl was recovering in hospital Monday after seeing her sister and grandparents killed as their home was buried by a landslide, emergency authorities said.

Raja Ram, 61, his wife Kala Wati, 56, and five-year-old granddaughter, Priya Bandana Lata, were buried when the corrugated iron house in the Fijian hillside village of Saweni was hit by the landslide that followed heavy rain on Saturday.

They had just returned to the house from a family wedding, relatives told police.

Priya's sister, 16-year-old Payal, probably owes her life to swift rescue effort from Constable Peni Verekauta who was on duty at the nearby Sawani police post when the landslide occurred.

"I heard somebody screaming. When I located her she was half buried and a lemon tree had pinned her to the ground," said Verekauta, who freed the girl with the help of neighbours and an emergency unit which was called to the scene.

April 28 , 1997

Monday

Saturday


XIN_ENG_20061106.0003

BEIJING, Nov. 6 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Central SOEs' officials meet to discuss IPR protection

A seminar on intellectual property rights (IPR) protection opened here on Monday, which aims at strengthening IPR protection effort in China's State-owned enterprises (SOEs).

The seminar was attended by 80 participants from SOEs under direct administration of the central government, the State Administration of Supervision and Inspection of State-owned Enterprises, China Banking Regulatory Commission, China Securities Regulatory Commission and China Insurance Regulatory Commission.

The participants will discuss IPR cases and ways to strengthen and improve IPR protection in Chinese enterprises.

The 10-day event was jointly sponsored by the Organization Department of the Communist Party of China central committee, the State Office of Intellectual Property Protection and the National School of Administration.

China launched a 100-day nationwide intensive anti-piracy campaign, focusing on pirated audio and video products and computer software on July 15.

An average of 19.46 million illegal publications were seized each month from July to September, more than double the monthly average for the January-June period, according to an official of the State Office of Intellectual Property Protection.

The Chinese government had set up a task force on IPR protection and opened 50 centers to handle complaints of IPR violations across the country.

Nov. 6 , 2006

Monday

July 15

each month from July to September


XIN_ENG_20051114.0247

SHANGHAI, Nov. 14 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Davydenko (updated)

All-time great Andre Agassi unexpectedly decided to quit after losing his first match in the Shanghai Masters Cup here on Monday.

"With the state of my ankle right now, there's no chance for me to be able to play again," said Agassi at a post-match news conference, after losing 6-4, 6-2 to Russian tennis upstart Nikolay Davydenko in a Red Group round-robin matchup.

"This is, for me to go out on the court to play like this, nobody wants to see it," added the oldest player in the ATP finale. "It's very dangerous and risky for my future to be ready for anything in the next four or five weeks. So this is just an unfortunate setback."

The 35-year-old played totally "un-Agassi" tennis in his first showdown on Monday of this year's Masters Cup, being broken for three times against five aces from his 24-year-old opponent.

His sluggish form, however, has no show in statistics of match, where Agassi committed 3 double faults and 23 unforced errors against 14 winners and Davydenko cracked just two more winners against 2 double-fault and 27 unforced errors.

Besides fitness problem, Agassi imputed his lack of form to long absence from the court.

"When you haven't played in so long, I couldn't really hit balls for a couple of months because of my sprained ankle," said the United States native, who qualified for his fifth Tennis Masters Cup in six years and finished in top ten for 16th time this season in his 20-year career.

"Just from serving, in the last week of trying to get ready, it was just a little stiff and sore. But the movement is more of an issue."

The eight-time Grand Slam winner, ranked 5th in the ATP Entry Rankings, ruled out an unexpected bad status, and said: "Last few days, it's arguably not getting worse, so I have to try and see and give it a chance to push through.

"But it has way too much effect on my movement. I'm scared to hurt it worse. It's still very painful, especially after 35, 40 minutes of being on the court.

"It doesn't do anybody any good for me to be out there, except for my opponents. That's it," he added.

Agassi's withdrawal came just minutes after Spanish teenager Rafael Nadal pulled out due to left foot injury.

"I just heard that tonight. That's terrible. I hope his injury is something that doesn't last very long, because it's just been terrible this year for the amount of players that haven't been ready to play here."

He complained the tough schedule of ATP Tours, saying that "It's probably a sign that things need to change somewhere for guys to feel better about their physical ability to get ready for a tournament this big. It's the end of a long year and it's not easy. It's very unfortunate."

Nov. 14 , 2005

Monday

now

the next four or five weeks

Monday of this year

six years

the last week

35, 40 minutes

this year


WSJ891026-0031
 = 891026
 891026-0031.
 Business Brief -- Sotheby's Holdings Inc.:
@  Third-Period Loss Narrowed
@  On Operating Revenue Gain
 10/26/89
 WALL STREET JOURNAL (J)
 BID
 EARNINGS (ERN)

   Sotheby's Holdings Inc., the parent of the auction house Sotheby's, said its net loss for the seasonally slow third quarter narrowed from a year earlier on a leap in operating revenue.

   The New York-based company reported a third-quarter net loss of $5.1 million, or 10 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier net loss of $6.2 million, or 12 cents a share.
Operating revenue surged 54% in the latest period to $42.9 million from $27.7 million.

   The company said 80% of its auction business is usually conducted in the second and fourth quarters, with the current quarter having begun " extremely well."

third quarter

a year earlier

third-quarter

year-earlier

the latest period

second

fourth quarters

the current quarter