WSJ891026-0043
 = 891026
 891026-0043.
 Columbia SampL Posts $226.3 Million Loss
@  After Writing Down High-Yield Portfolio
@  ----
@  By Pauline Yoshihashi
@  Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal
 10/26/89
 WALL STREET JOURNAL (J)
 CSV
 EARNINGS (ERN)
 BEVERLY HILLS, Calif.

   Columbia Savings amp Loan Association, reeling from thrift-accounting changes mandated by Congress and the recent collapse of the junk-bond market, announced a loss for the third quarter of $226.3 million, or $11.57 a share.

   For the quarter a year ago, Columbia reported earnings of $16.3 million, or 37 cents a share.
Total assets increased to $12.7 billion in the latest quarter from $12.4 billion a year earlier.

   The loss stems from $357.5 million of write-downs on Columbia's $4.4 billion high-yield investment securities portfolio, which includes about $3.7 billion of junk bonds, $400 million of preferred stock, and Treasury securities.

   Columbia owes its spectacular growth in recent years to its junk-bond portfolio, the largest of any U.S. thrift.
Much of Columbia's junk-bond trading has been done through the high-yield department of its Beverly Hills neighbor, Drexel Burnham Lambert Inc.

   For the nine months, losses totaled $212 million, or $10.83 a share, compared with net income of $48.7 million, or $1.11 a share, a year earlier.

   The results include a $130.2 million write-down of the securities in the high-yield portfolio to the lower of their cost or market value.

   Columbia also added $227.3 million to reserves for losses on the portfolio, increasing general reserves to $300 million, or about 6.7% of the total portfolio, as of Sept. 30.
On June 30, loss reserves stood at $108.3 million.
Thrift officials said the $300 million reserve will be adjusted quarterly and will reflect the rate of dispositions and market conditions.

   The adjustments result from the recently passed thrift-industry bailout legislation, which requires thrifts to divest all high-yield bond investments by 1994.
Previously, Columbia did n't have to adjust the book value of its junk-bond holdings to reflect declines in market prices, because it held the bonds as long-term investments.
Because Columbia now must sell the bonds within five years, accounting rules require the thrift to value the bonds at the lower of cost or market prices.

   For its future strategy, Columbia officials said the thrift may branch out into commercial lending or managing outside investments, as well as beefing up more traditional thrift activities.

   The quarterly results also reflected $21.4 million in non-recurring losses from commercial real-estate activities in California.

   Thomas Spiegel, Columbia's chairman, said in a statement that the thrift was " disappointed" by the effects of the accounting changes.
But he said Columbia remains "one of the most strongly capitalized thrifts in the industry," based on the economic value of its assets and tangible capital.

   Columbia announced the results after the close of the stock market.
Its shares closed at $5.125 each in composite New York Stock Exchange trading, down 37.5 cents.
The price of Columbia shares has been cut nearly in half since August, when they traded at about $10, as investors apparently realized that the thrift would be forced to take a big write-down.
The stock's decline accelerated in the past two weeks, from a price of $8 a share on Oct. 9.

   Columbia officials said they do n't know how quickly they will dispose of the thrift's junk bonds, because federal regulations, such as those that would allow thrifts to continue holding the bonds in separately capitalized subsidiaries, have n't yet been completed.

   Columbia officials also said the thrift should n't face problems meeting regulatory capital requirements, despite the large reserves and write-downs and stiffer regulatory requirements that should be in place by year's end.
Its ratio of tangible equity to total assets as of Sept. 30 was 3.6%, and total equity was $457.9 million.

   The thrift emphasized that it has a large portfolio of equity securities issued in connection with corporate restructurings and leveraged buy-outs, which has a book value of $90 million.

   Although many of the transactions related to those securities have n't been completed, Columbia said the ultimate gain on the sale of those assets will range from $200 million to $300 million.
Columbia also has unrealized gains in its public equity securities portfolio of more than $70 million.

   ---

   David B. Hilder in New York contributed to this article.

the third quarter

the quarter a year ago

the latest quarter

a year earlier

recent years

the nine months

a year earlier

Sept. 30

June 30

now

five years

August

the past two weeks

Oct. 9

year's end

Sept. 30


AFP_ENG_20061223.0034

MANILA, Dec 23 , 2006, 2006

ADB lends 320 million dollars to help Pakistan's poor

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said Saturday it was lending 320 million dollars to help the poor in Pakistan obtain access to wider financial services, including microfinance.

The loans would go to developing a legal and regulatory framework and removing bottlenecks that would allow more of the country's poor access to financial networks, the ADB said in a statement from its headquarters in the Philippine capital.

This would include improving technology for delivering financial services more efficiently and at lower cost and expanding the range and quality of financial products and services "including those for the Islamic market", the ADB said.

The bank would also work to set up public-private partnerships, including reliable business and credit information systems as well as improved, reliable and lower-cost remittance services for overseas workers.

"There is a large potential demand for microfinance services among the poorest people in Pakistan, especially for savings and remittances facilities," the ADB said.

Microfinance reaches fewer than a million people in Pakistan, even though the potential market is about 20 million people, the bank added.

While the microfinance sector has improved, it still does not touch vast numbers of people. This could be addressed by expanding the financial sector's coverage, making it more inclusive and by increasing quality and efficiency, the bank said.

Dec 23 , 2006

Saturday


AFP_ENG_20061201.0085

ADELAIDE, Australia, Dec 1 , 2006, 2006

ATTENTION - UPDATES to stumps ///

Kevin Pietersen won his battle with Shane Warne as England escaped from Australia's clutches onto a sound position on the opening day of the second Ashes Test at Adelaide Oval on Friday.

Paul Collingwood was poised for a century and Pietersen hoisted a lusty six over long-on off Warne in a hustling century stand for the tourists, fighting back after their punishing 277-run defeat in the first Test at the Gabba.

England were 266 for three at stumps. Collingwood followed on from his 96 in Brisbane to be unbeaten on 98 and Pietersen was on 60, after captain Andrew Flintoff won the toss.

The pair rattled an unbroken 108 runs for the fourth wicket in just 115 minutes.

Amid cautious field placements and curious bowling preferences by skipper Ricky Ponting, England wriggled out of Australia's grip in the final session with Stuart Clark under-bowled despite taking two wickets in the morning.

Pietersen's one-on-one contests with his Hampshire county team-mate have been much-anticipated highlights of the series and he didn't disappoint after their contretemps in Brisbane last week.

It was Pietersen's arrival at the wicket after the loss of Ian Bell for 60 that quickened England's scoring rate after it had dawdled along at 2.4 runs an over amid tight Australian bowling.

Pietersen wasted little time raising his half-century off 69 balls while Collingwood played more the anchor role to help restore the England innings after the loss of both openers before lunch.

During Pietersen's counter-attacking second innings of 92 in the first Test, Warne hurled the ball at his head, forcing the England No.5 to knock it away with his bat and yell at Warne.

Collingwood, who sacrificed a century in Brisbane when he charged Warne on 96 and was stumped, had occupied the crease for 277 minutes by the close in another influential innings for his country.

Warne finished the day with 0-85 off 27 overs.

Collingwood and Bell played strait-jacket cricket to put on 113 runs for the third wicket before Bell went to hook a short ball only to sky a catch to bowler Brett Lee 13 minutes after tea.

Bell, who hit 50 in the first innings in Brisbane and wrestled with Warne's tricks early, batted for just over three hours with six boundaries.

Medium-pacer Clark followed up his seven wickets in Brisbane with the scalps of Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook inside his first six overs in the morning session.

Strauss continued his poor series after Gabba scores of 12 and 11 when he miscued a leading edge to a diving Damien Martyn at mid-on and then had Cook caught behind by Adam Gilchrist.

But Clark only bowled two overs after tea and finished with 2-25 off 15 overs.

Australian pace spearhead Glenn McGrath was passed fit to play after concern over a heel injury, while left-arm spinner Monty Panesar was left out of an unchanged England eleven.

McGrath had to convince his skipper Ponting that he would be able to complete a five-day match after needing painkillers to see out Australia's win at the Gabba. He bowled 18 overs for 0-51.

England decided against playing attacking finger-spinner Panesar, despite coach Duncan Fletcher's comments this week that he was strongly considering using both spinners on an Adelaide pitch expected to take turn.

The Adelaide Oval is traditionally a high-scoring ground with the Australians amassing 500-plus in three of their last four Tests here with four batsmen scoring double-centuries -- West Indies' Brian Lara (226) last year, Justin Langer (215) against New Zealand in 2004 and Ponting (242) and Indian Rahul Dravid (233) in the 2003 Test loss to India.

Dec 1 , 2006

Friday

a century

115 minutes

the morning

last week

277 minutes

three hours

this week

last year


XIN_ENG_20061127.0217

BEIJING, Nov. 27 , 2006 (Xinhua)

China to tighten supervision of advertising for medical products

Chinese authorities are to tighten the supervision and regulation of advertisements for medical products, and crack down on false and misleading advertising.

The campaign will be jointly managed by the State Administration of Industry and Commerce (SAIC) and the Ministry of Health (MOH).

An official with the SAIC said Monday that the SAIC would inspect media that release large numbers of medical treatment advertisements, and the results would be publicized.

Advertisements that have not been approved by the relevant monitoring department or that have been altered without authorization would incur prosecution for those responsible.

The supervisory departments would strengthen inspection of media that release medical advertisements, and heads of media that release the illegal advertisements would face penalties.

The regulatory departments should enhance their communication, the official said.

The MOH, along with the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, plans to organise all local healthy service departments to clean up false medical advertising, said the official.

China's medical advertising market had grown rapidly in recent years. The country's advertising business was worth 7.6 billion yuan (950 million U.S. dollars) in 2005, ranking sixth in the world.

However, some ads for fake medicines have misled consumers and harmed their interests. In the first three quarters last year, 11,000 irregular medical advertisements were reported.

Nov. 27 , 2006

Monday

recent years

the first three quarters last year


XIN_ENG_20051115.0253

SHANGHAI, Nov. 15 , 2005 (Xinhua)

win over Ljubicic (updated 2)

World number one Roger Federer kept in low status Tuesday as the two-time defending champion of the season-ending Tennis Masters Cup was pulled into tiebreaker of decider before avoiding a defeat at just the second match in Shanghai.

It took two hours and 17 minutes of the 24-year-old Swiss to defeat the in-form Croatian Ivan Ljubicic 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (4), with a forehanded shot out of Ljubicic's reach for the tiebreaker win.

After Sunday's stumble win from Federer against Argentina's David Nalbandian, the last man having qualified for the elite eight-man field, nothing wrong from the tennis super star could be more shocking, even another rare fightback and a tiebreaker.

With all the embarrassments of backhand errors, weak returns and slow paces, Federer just repeated his sluggish form shown in Nalbandian's match, being broken twice in the second set after taking the first using an advantage of serving first.

Forced the decider, the superlative, who has compiled another outstanding season with an ATP-best 11 titles including two Grand Slam and a record four ATP Masters Series crown, should have shorten his work of Ljubicic in the ninth game before his two match points in hand were denied by the Croatian with some placement shots.

Ljubicic, who enjoyed his best season by winning two ATP titles in eight finals and broke into top ten for first time, then continually moved Federer to play close to the net and transferred errors from the Swiss to his own benefit before holding on to force tiebreaker.

With the victory, Federer saved his near-perfect record at the Tennis Masters Cup, increased his winning streak to 33, and extended his season-best match record to 79-3.

The Shanghai match was the first in six weeks for Federer, who has already clinched the world No. 1 year-end ranking for the second year in succession. He last competed in Bangkok, winning his 11th title of the season on October 2.

Ljubicic, the 26-year-old sensation of the late-season, had earned in place in Shanghai thanks to his autumn efforts, including the indoor title win over the past month in Metz and Vienna as well as the final encounters in both the Masters Series Madrid and Paris two week ago.

The Croatian struck 10 aces and managed 36 winner, but else committed 5 double faults and 41 unforced errors in his defeat to Federer.

"It was very close match. I reel really upset because I felt I deserved this one," said Ljubicic at a post-match news conference.

"Today I felt like for the first time I was the better player on the court (against Federer), and that's why it feels frustrating because some shots just went out that they were not supposed to."

Before taking over control of the match, Ljubicic seemed to have problems moving during the first set.

"I had problems with him because he was playing just unbelievable," he said. "I think he played really high-class tennis in the first set, but I was also expecting his pace is going to drop because he dropped against Nalbandian, and I know he's not in top form physically.

"So I was just waiting my chances, and they came, and I took them."

"But I mean, Federer is not struggling. I just think that he's not top fit. He's not sharp as he usually is...I just tried to play my best tennis. It was almost enough. Unfortunately, it wasn't," added the Croatian.

The usually flawless Federer declined to agree with the negative comments on his performance, said: "I felt like this is exactly the match I expected."

"I expected a close match. I thought maybe he was even slightly the favorite because of what I've been going through the last few weeks. Obviously, I'm very pleased with the result because a win is a win no matter if it's two or three sets."

Federer called physiotherapist coming on court to treat on his sore ankle at the beginning of the third set, which raised worries that he might retire. And the Swiss denied that he remained on court trying to imitate the other five players who left.

"I did it for my well-being because I felt like my leg was starting to tighten up. Already I had that feeling against Nalbandian a little bit because maybe I'm compensating because of my injury."

He said "No" whenever asked whether to quit because of the injury, and also he emphasized that "it means very much to me (that I can play). It's also should show a message how much and how important this tournament means to tennis. For me, this is equaling like a Grand Slam."

The Swiss is building upon an imposing 14-1 record at the Masters Cup, with his only loss came to Lleyton Hewitt in the Shanghai 2002 semifinals.

Federer overcame the effects of the ankle ligament injury scare which threatened to keep him off the court at the Qi Zhong tennis center, and after American veteran Andre Agassi and second seed Rafael Nadal pulled out due to injuries on Monday, the Swiss has been left the only top-five player in the elite field.

Nov. 15 , 2005

Tuesday

Sunday

six weeks

the second year

October 2

the past month

two week ago

Today

the last few weeks

Monday


XIN_ENG_20051114.0321

JOHANNESBURG, Nov. 14 , 2005 (Xinhua)

S. Africa's ruling party denies inside rift

South Africa's ruling African National Congress (ANC) has denied reported differences between President Thabo Mbeki and his party deputy Jacob Zuma over ways to heal a rift within the party.

The party's powerful National Working Committee (NWC) said on Monday evening this emerged from its weekly meeting held in Johannesburg earlier in the day.

"The NWC received and discussed the joint report of the ANC president and deputy president as mandated by the ANC national executive committee (NEC) on September 9," the committee said in a statement, which was carried by the SAPA news agency.

"Media reports to the effect that there were differences between the president and deputy president on the substance of the report are false and without basis," it said.

South African media has suggested that Mbeki and Zuma had been unable to come to an agreement on proposals to deal with tension in party after Mbeki sacked Zuma as the country's deputy president in June and Zuma was prosecuted on two corruption charges.

Zuma has repeatedly protested his innocence. His supporters hold that the corruption and the newly-emerged rape allegations were part of a political conspiracy by the ANC elite to block his path to the presidency in 2009, after Mbeki completes his second term.

Zuma currently is still the No. 2 figure of the ANC. Some political analysts in South Africa have said he could easily win the 2009 elections if he can be acquitted of corruption charges and succeed Mbeki as the party's president in 2007.

The reported tensions inside the ruling party were described as the most serious one since ANC took power in post-apartheid South Africa 11 years ago.

ANC secretary-general Kgalema Motlanthe was reportedly tasked to facilitate a final report for the next weekend's NEC meeting, described by local media as a "make-or-break" one.

The NWC said the report it discussed at Monday's meeting captured the substance of "interactions" between Mbeki and Zuma over the last two months.

"The report was accepted by the NWC," the committee said. "The working committee was satisfied that the report would form the basis for a substantive discussion at the NEC meeting scheduled to take place this weekend."

Nov. 14 , 2005

Monday evening

earlier in the day

September 9

June

currently

11 years ago

Monday

the last two months

this weekend


XIN_ENG_20061123.0192

DHAKA, Nov. 23 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Bangladeshi former main opposition postpones nationwide blockade

Bangladeshi former main opposition Awami League(AL)-led 14-party combine announced the postponement of the nationwide blockade from Thursday.

President Sheikh Hasina at a press conference at her party's office here announced sit-in demonstrations outside President House from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. for November 27 and Election Commission office from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. for November 28.

The 14-party combine enforced countrywide water-railway-road blockade on Nov. 20 to press its 11-point demands that include removal of the controversial Chief Election Commissioner, Justice Aziz, and "depoliticization" of the administration for free and fair elections.

To resolve the political crisis prevailing the country, Bangladeshi President Iajuddin Ahmed, who is also the chief advisor of caretaker government, requested Aziz to take a three- month leave and Aziz agreed the request Wednesday night.

Justice Mahfuzur Rahman, one of the three election commissioners, who became Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Thursday, said the main challenge before him is to hold free, fair and acceptable general elections due in January next.

Nov. 23 , 2006

Thursday

November 27

November 28

Nov. 20

Wednesday night

Thursday

January


AFP_ENG_20061231.0059

LJUBLJANA, Dec 31 , 2006, 2006

by Bojan Kavcic

All is ready for Slovenia to at midnight on New Year's Sunday become the first former Communist state to adopt the European Union's common currency, officials here said.

Five years after euro bills and coins were introduced, almost three years after Slovenia acceded to the EU, and 15 years after Slovenia declared independence from the former Yugoslavia, a new stage in the East-West integration of Europe is to be reached on January 1.

"We are replacing something good (the Slovenian currency, the tolar) with something even better (the euro)," Slovenian Finance Minister Andrej Bajuk said on Friday as he announced that preparations for the changeover had concluded.

As of January 1, the euro will replace the tolar, a currency introduced in 1991 as a symbol of the tiny country's independence and an instrument aimed at cutting Belgrade's monetary control over the Slovenian economy.

Under the exchange rate, one euro will equal 239.64 tolars.

"The euro isn't important only for our economy, we also expect psychological benefits ... we are coming closer to the most developed part of the EU and this will give (citizens) confidence," Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa told AFP in a recent interview.

The accession to the eurozone is a coup for Slovenia as it is the only one of the 10 countries -- eight former Communist states plus Malta and Cyprus -- that joined in 2004 to have met the tough Maastricht criteria on public finances, inflation, interest and exchange rates that are required for eurozone newcomers.

After EU finance ministers gave Slovenia the green light last July to join the euro, the government and central bank had to carry out wide preparations for the switch, such as minting Slovenian euro coins and distributing bills to banks.

"I believe we are well-prepared," central bank governor Mitja Gaspari said on Friday.

"There will be no trouble concerning cash in circulation," Gaspari said.

He said the central bank planned to put into circulation around one billion euros (1.3 billion dollars) in bills and coins to replace the 215 billion tolars (some 900 million euros) currently circulating in the two-million-population central European state.

Banks will be closed from December 30-January 3, with the exception of 52 bank offices in 42 cities and towns that will open on January 1 and 2 to change tolars into euros.

The changeover to the single European currency foresees that tolars and euros will circulate simultaneously for only the first two weeks of January.

To prevent a rounding upward of prices as has happened when other nations changed over to the euro, the government introduced last March the double labelling of prices, in euros and tolars, and this will remain in force for six months.

Despite this measure, inflation in December increased by 0.4 percent from the previous month pushing 12-month inflation, in unadjusted terms, to end at 2.8 percent, compared to 2.3 percent registered in December 2005.

But Gaspari said: "We can't blame the euro for any increase of prices in December, January or February, and there is no justification for any raising of prices."

Slovenia's Consumer Association reported on Friday that during the last week before the changeover prices in some fast-food restaurants of capital Ljubljana increased between six and 20 percent and prices for parking in the center of the city are also expected to rise.

Another problem Slovenian banks will face on New Year's Eve will be the switch to euros on 1,300 ATMs (automatic teller machines). These are expected to be out of use during the transition for only three hours (between 9 pm and midnight).

Meanwhile, Cyprus and Malta are expected to follow Slovenia into the eurozone in 2008 and Slovakia is aiming to adopt the single currency in 2009.

The Czech Republic is now aiming to join the euro in 2012 and Hungary in 2013.

Dec 31 , 2006

New Year's Sunday

Five years

almost three years

15 years

January 1

Friday

January 1

last July

Friday

December

January 1

the first two weeks of January

last March

six months

December

the previous month

December 2005

December, January or February

Friday

the last week

New Year

three hours

now


AFP_ENG_20051204.0479

AMSTERDAM, Dec 5 , 2005

=(PICTURE)=

Fourteen men accused of belonging to a radical Muslim terrorist group, including the convicted killer of filmmaker Theo van Gogh, go on trial Monday at Amsterdam's high security court.

The murder of outspoken Islam critic Van Gogh and the subsequent arrests of the alleged members of the terror ring dubbed the Hofstad group have heightened fears that the country is a target for Islamic terrorists.

However, prosecutors have already suffered setbacks, being forced to drop charges the group was specifically planning to kill several Dutch politicians, and losing a similar case against another accused terrorist.

Prosecutor Koos Plooy has admitted that they have insufficient evidence to proceed with charges the group was planning specific attacks, but said they were definitely heading that way.

The prosecution alleges that 27-year-old Mohammed Bouyeri, convicted to life in prison for murdering Van Gogh, was a leading member of the Hofstad group.

Despite the fact that he already has the maximum sentence given in the Netherlands, the prosecution also wants Bouyeri to appear in the Hofstad group trial because if his alleged key role.

Prosecutors say that the majority of the group's meetings were held in Bouyeri's Amsterdam home and that he spread radical Islamic texts among its members.

Some of the others charged have been linked to a radical Islamist jailed in Spain for the May 2003 bombings in Casablanca, Morocco that left 45 people dead.

The group was dubbed the Hofstad (court city) group as some of its members were active in The Hague, the seat of the Dutch government and the royal house.

Besides the accusations of membership in a terrorist organisation, the prosecution has filed additional charges against two of the group's members for throwing a grenade at the police team coming to arrest them in The Hague in November 2004.

A weapons charge has been pressed against one member who was arrested in Amsterdam last June with a loaded gun.

According to NOS Dutch public television there was some concrete evidence that this suspect, Nourredine El Fatmi, was planning an attack. Quoting from prosecution documents they obtained the NOS said Fatmi apparently told a fellow inmate that he was looking for two Dutch politicians known for their criticism of Islam in the days before his arrest.

The judges of the court in The Hague handling the trial will exceptionally sit in Amsterdam's high security court, nicknamed the bunker, during the trial set to last at least two months.

The first two days of the case will be taken up with the prosecution's opening statement and the questioning of (expert) witnesses relevant to all cases.

The trial is set to close February 10 after all the suspects have gotten a change to make a final declaration and the judges are expected to hand down a verdict on February 24.

Dec 5 , 2005

Monday

May 2003

November 2004

last June

days

two months

first two days

February 10

February 24


AFP_ENG_19970412.0154

HONG KONG, April 12 , 1997 (AFP)

Pro-democracy group sets Thatcher demo to protest "lip service" to HK

A Hong Kong pro-democracy group on Saturday turned its wrath on Britain, saying it would stage protests at an upcoming visit by ex- premier Margaret Thatcher in anger at British "lip service" on the territory's future.

The announcement was made by the United Front Against the Provisional Legislature, a loose alliance of politicians and grass-roots activists opposing the assembly set up by China to legislate in Hong Kong after the July 1 handover.

Thatcher is an architect of the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration, the treaty that set down the terms for Hong Kong's return to Chinese rule and Beijing's promises to grant it wide-ranging autonomy for the following 50 years.

She is due to make a visit to the territory in two weeks, when she will officiate at the opening of the Tsing Ma Bridge -- part of the project to build Hong Kong's new airport -- on April 27.

"It is obvious that the British Hong Kong government has made too many compromises with communist China to betray democracy and the human rights of Hong Kong people," the United Front said in a statement.

"Recently, the Hong Kong government has taken steps to suppress peaceful demonstration by prosecuting a number of protestors during the selection of the (future) chief executive and the establishment of the Provisional Legislature."

It said the bridge ceremony, and a scheduled fireworks display that will commemorate the opening, "is nothing worthwhile, but an indication of the so-called glory withdrawal of the British government."

The statement called on Governor Chris Patten to withdraw the invitation to Thatcher and added it would organise "various protests" to show "the 'lip service' of British commitment to Hong Kong."

The United Front gathers individuals from Hong Kong's beleaguered pro- democracy faction, including the Frontier group and Democratic Party. Its demonstrations are small but vocal.

Critics of Britain's 156-year rule over Hong Kong say the colonial power moved too late to set down democratic institutions here.

The Legislative Council (LegCo), which will be replaced by the Provisional Legislature, is a fully-elected body.

But only a third of its 60 seats are chosen by universal suffrage. The others are chosen by local councils and by organisations representing Hong Kong's various professions.

In the last LegCo elections, in September 1995, democrats triumphed in the seats chosen by universal but mainly lost in the functional constituencies, which are dominated by pro-China figures.

April 12 , 1997

Saturday

July 1

the following 50 years

two weeks

April 27

September 1995


WSJ891101-0035
 = 891101
 891101-0035.
 Business Brief -- Coda Energy Inc.:
@  Oil and Gas Firm Arranges
@  $50 Million Credit Facility
 11/01/89
 WALL STREET JOURNAL (J)
 CODA
 BUYBACKS, REDEMPTIONS, SWAP OFFERS (BBK)
TENDER OFFERS, MERGERS, ACQUISITIONS (TNM)

   Coda Energy Inc. said it arranged a $50 million credit facility with NCNB Texas National Bank, a unit of NCNB Corp., of Charlotte, N.C.
   The Dallas oil and gas concern said that $10 million of the facility would  be used  to consolidate the company's $8.1 million of existing bank debt,  to repurchase 4 million of its 4.9 million shares outstanding of Series D convertible preferred stock, and  to purchase a 10% net-profits interest in certain oil and gas properties from one of its existing lenders, National Canada Corp.
The remaining $40 million can  be used over three years for oil and gas acquisitions, the company said.

   Ted Eubank, Coda's president, said the loan carries an interest rate of prime plus one percentage point, with 85% of the company's net oil and gas revenue each month dedicated to repayment.
The company put up "virtually all" of its oil and gas properties as collateral, he said.

three years

each month


AFP_ENG_20061222.0175

TOKYO, Dec 22 , 2006, 2006

ATTENTION - ADDS quotes on Japan's involvement ///

Jordan's King Abdullah II warned Friday chances were running out for peace in the Middle East, with "disastrous" consequences in store unless progress is made in the first half of the new year.

Speaking on a visit to Japan, a key donor to the region, Abdullah made an impassioned call for the world to restore hope for Palestinians amid chaos in the Palestinian territories and elsewhere in the region.

"I believe that the window of opportunity is diminishing and it won't be long before we can say that the futures of the Palestinians are gone," he told the Japan Institute of International Affairs.

"2007 is a very critical year, and if we don't create a process to move forward in the next six or seven months, then I don't think we ever will. And the outcome of that will be disastrous for all of us, Israel included."

He said the international community needed to prove to both the Palestinian and Israeli people that a two-state solution of an independent Israel and Palestine was "irreversible".

"If we don't move forward, I fear we will find ourselves in a situation where we will never have a two-state solution," he said.

"Therefore we will never have peace between Israelis and Palestinians, therefore we will never have peace between Israelis and Arabs, and therefore we will condemn our region for another decade or two of violence, which none of us can afford."

Abdullah, who held talks Friday with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, is seen as a key Western ally in the Middle East, with his kingdom straddling Israel, the Palestinian territories and Iraq.

He visited Japan amid turmoil in the region, with clashes in the Palestinian territories between rival factions, pressure on the Western-backed government in Lebanon and daily carnage in Iraq.

Abdullah said he told US President George W. Bush, who visited Jordan last month for talks with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, that the world needed to look at the three Middle Eastern crises all at once.

"We have to know how to walk and chew gum at the same time," he said. "We cannot focus on just one issue."

Abdullah said he supported Japan's bid for greater involvement in the region. Japan, the world's second largest economy, relies almost entirely on Arab countries and Iran for its oil.

"You can't afford instability in our part of the world," Abdullah said.

"You are in a very unique position as a strong member of the international community because you have not involved in politics. Therefore you are considered an honest broker and that is increasingly important," he said.

On a visit to the region in July, Japan's then prime minister Junichiro Koizumi proposed building a "peace and prosperity corridor" in the West Bank.

Under the initiative, Japan would work with Israel, Jordan and the Palestinians to develop the West Bank's broken economy, including designing an agro-industrial park.

Abdullah said he supported the initiative but that it was no substitute for a political solution.

"The people living on the ground won't buy in into any economic formula or initiative unless they are guaranteed that the political process is moving forward," he said.

Dec 22 , 2006

Friday

the new year

the next six or seven months

another decade

Friday

last month

July


XIN_ENG_20061125.0136

HONG KONG, Nov. 25 , 2006 (Xinhua)

PLA forces in HK conduct ninth routine rotation

The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) garrison troops in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Saturday conducted its ninth troop rotation since it assumed Hong Kong's defense responsibility on July 1, 1997.

The annual rotation started at 00:00 Nov. 25 when a number of military vehicles of the ground troops rolled across the Lok Ma Chau checkpoint into Hong Kong under the escort of the Hong Kong police.

Six military helicopters landed at the Skek Kong Barracks in the morning. The last part of the rotation was carried out at the Stonecutters Island Naval Base.

The naval rotation involved a missile escort vessel, a landing ship.

The annual rotation was conducted in accordance with the HKSAR Garrison Law of the People's Republic of China.

The size of the forces remained unchanged in both personnel and weaponry after the rotation, said Lieutenant Colonel Cheng Dongfang, spokesman for the PLA garrison troops in Hong Kong.

Nov. 25 , 2006

Saturday

July 1, 1997

Nov. 25

the morning


AFP_ENG_20061212.0392

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Dec 12 , 2006, 2006

ATTENTION - ADDS ISAF soldier killed ///

A suicide bomber blew himself up at a governor's house in southern Afghanistan Tuesday, killing eight people, in the latest bloodshed linked to a spiralling Taliban insurgency.

Separately, US-led security forces shot dead four suspected Taliban militants and a teenage girl, while elsewhere a soldier from a NATO-led force was killed in a firefight with insurgents.

The violence came as President Hamid Karzai attended a high-level security conference in Kandahar, the birthplace of the Taliban regime, to urge foreign forces to do their best to avoid civilian casualties.

Six bodyguards, a district chief and a civilian were killed when the suicide bomber sneaked into the heavily guarded residence of the governor of troubled Helmand province, provincial police chief Mohammad Nabi Mullahkhil told AFP.

"Governor Mohammad Daud was about to leave and as his motorcade and bodyguards were prepared the attacker penetrated into the governor's house and tried to approach the governor," Mullahkil said.

"The bodyguard suspected he might be an attacker and stopped him but then the man exploded himself," he said, adding that eight other bodyguards were injured.

The interior ministry also said eight people were killed in the attack, which took place during working hours at the house in Lashkargah, the provincial capital, but said seven of the victims were policemen and one was a civilian.

NATO troops rushed to the governor's house after the explosion but there were no casualties among foreign troops, said Jason Chalk, a spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

"All we can say is that the governor is safe," Chalk said.

More than 30,000 NATO-led troops are currently hunting Taliban insurgents and their Islamic extremist allies, mainly in southern Afghanistan. Another 10,000 US-led troops are operating in the conflict-ridden country.

ISAF said one NATO soldier was killed in a gunbattle with insurgents in Helmand on Tuesday. It did not give the soldier's nationality or any more details but most of the troops in the province are British.

Separately on Tuesday, the US-led coalition and the Afghan army killed four suspected Taliban militants in eastern Afghanistan, the coalition said in a statement.

A 13-year-old girl was killed and an eight-year-old girl injured in the incident, when the soldiers raided a house near the village of Darnami in restive Khost province, where the alleged insurgents were hiding out, it said.

The wounded girl was taken to a coalition hospital, escorted by a family member, the coalition said. There were no casualties among the Afghan soldiers or coalition troops.

Karzai said he discussed the issue of civilian casualties when he held a meeting on security and reconstruction with NATO and US commanders, key foreign diplomats and government ministers in Kandahar, which borders Helmand.

"We discussed it. It was one of the very serious and main topics. We take it very seriously. NATO takes it very seriously," the president told reporters after flying into the restive city by US helicopter.

It was the first meeting of the so-called Policy Action Group that the beleaguered Afghan leader has attended and the first outside Kabul. Security was tight for the meeting, an AFP correspondent said.

Karzai said NATO commanders were holding a meeting later Tuesday to discuss ways to avoid civilian losses during their operations.

At least 1,000 civilians have died in Afghanistan's worst year of violence since the Taliban regime fell in late 2001 -- most through insurgent action but some in NATO and coalition operations, according to an official report.

The 2006 death toll -- taking into account civilian, militant, police, and Afghan and foreign troop casualties -- is more than 3,700, four times the number in 2005.

Dec 12 , 2006

Tuesday

Tuesday

Tuesday

later Tuesday

late 2001


XIN_ENG_20061119.0263

BEIJING, Nov. 20 , 2006 (Xinhua)

China launches long-term biodiversity protection plan

China has launched a long-term protection plan of biological diversity in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, reports Monday's China Youth Daily.

The project, jointly initiated by the State Environmental Protection Administration and Nature Conservation China, will gradually be implemented across the country.

According to the plan, experts will begin by evaluating the biological diversity of southwest China's Sichuan Province and submit their recommendations to the provincial government.

The long-term protection plan will provide comprehensive and systematic support for biological diversity protection in China and help governments at various levels to take biological diversity protection into consideration when making decisions, according to the plan.

The deterioration of the biological environment, caused by rapid economic development and population growth, has harmed China's biological diversity and threatened China's sustainable development.

The National Development and Reform Commission, State Forestry Administration, State Oceanic Administration, Wildlife Conservation Society and World Wildlife Fund are all cooperative partners in the plan.

Nov. 20 , 2006

Monday


XIN_ENG_20051108.0110

FALLUJAH, Iraq, Nov. 8 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Gunmen kill two Iraqi soldiers near Fallujah

Gunmen ambushed an Iraqi army patrol in a flashpoint town near Fallujah, west of Baghdad, on Tuesday, killing two soldiers and wounding five others, a local journalist told Xinhua.

The attack took place in the morning when unknown armed men opened fire at the army patrol in Ameriyat al-Fallujah town, south of Fallujah, Abdul Rahman said.

In a separate incident, a suicide car bomber drove his explosive-laden car into a US military patrol late last night in the Garma town, east of Fallujah, Rahman said.

The suicide attack destroyed a US Humvee, causing casualties among the soldiers aboard, he said.

The powerful blast prompted the US soldiers to open fire haphazardly, wounding two civilians and causing damage in several nearby houses, he added.

Fallujah, a city some 50 km west of Baghdad in the restive Anbar province, along with nearby towns and villages, has witnessed frequent insurgent attacks against the US and Iraqi forces in the past two and a half years of violence.

Nov. 8 , 2005

Tuesday

the morning

late last night

the past two and a half years


AFP_ENG_19970402.0208

WASHINGTON, April 2 , 1997 (AFP)

Chinese reporter commits suicide after planned defection foiled: daily

The Washington bureau chief of the New China News Agency, Xinhua, committed suicide over the weekend in Beijing after a collague discovered he was planning to defect, The New York Times said Wednesday.

China's state-run agency made no public mention of Wei Guoqiang's death, but it was confirmed by several of his colleagues in the Chinese capital, the daily said.

A Xinhua employee said Wei, 47, was called back to Beijing in late March, only one month after his usual yearly visit to the agency's headquarters.

"I heard he was back to discuss something with his superiors, and I was surprised because I had just read one of his articles from Washington," said Wei's colleague, who, like the others, asked not to be identified.

Another colleague said Wei was recalled after he had been discovered by a co-worker in Washington preparing documents to support a political asylum application for himself, his wife, and his 17-year- old daughter.

Once in Beijing, Wei was put under close watch at his home by a relative, but was left briefly alone over the weekend.

He chose that moment to hang himself in the bathroom of his apartment, the colleague said.

April 2 , 1997

the weekend

Wednesday

late March, only one month

the weekend


XIN_ENG_20061109.0107

JAKARTA, Nov. 9 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Indonesian shares close higher

Share prices on the Jakarta Stock Exchange ended higher Thursday led by gains in banking shares.

The composite index rose by 14.2 points to close at 1,660.26 points.

Turnovers totaled 1.5 billion shares worth 1.85 trillion rupiah (203.1 million U.S. dollars).

Advancers beat decliners 69 to 40, with 83 other issues left unchanged.

Nov. 9 , 2006

Thursday


AFP_ENG_20051214.0121

ATHENS, Dec 14 , 2005

General strike shuts down Greek public and private sectors

A 24-hour general strike on Wednesday paralysed the Greek public and private sectors and severely restricted air, sea and rail travel across the country, as the country's two biggest trade unions took to the streets to protest against government fiscal policy.

All aircraft were to be grounded for four hours on Wednesday from noon (1000 GMT) because of action by air traffic controllers.

Flight disruptions were to continue until Thursday, with national carrier Olympic Airlines expecting to cancel 35 flights to foreign destinations and 75 internal flights over the next two days.

Olympic said it would operate one flight a day to each domestic destination and one flight a day to each foreign destination.

Another Greek carrier, Aegean Airlines, said it will cancel a flight to Cyprus and seven domestic flights and will change the timings of 27 of its departures on Wednesday.

The Wednesday strike by the General Confederation of Workers (GSEE) and the Union of Civil Servants (ADEDY) -- which number some 800,000 members among them -- was also expected to cripple shipping, ground intercity trains and halt Athens' public transport systems.

The Athens metro was to operate between 11 am and 4 pm to enable people to join demonstrations planned for 1 pm.

Banks, hospitals and schools would also remain closed because of the strike, which also brought a four-hour break in media coverage.

The unions are protesting against government spending plans and proposals to alter the status of staff working for large public companies.

Police and firefighters carried out their own street protest on Tuesday evening, marching on parliament to demand a hazardous pay bonus.

Dec 14 , 2005

Wednesday

four hours

Wednesday

Thursday

the next two

Wednesday

Wednesday

Tuesday evening


AFP_ENG_20051216.0393

THE HAGUE, Dec 16 , 2005

War crimes court extends gag on Kosovo ex-PM indefinitely

A gagging order on former Kosovo prime minister and ex-guerrilla commander Ramush Haradinaj has been extended indefinitely, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) said Friday.

Haradinaj, 37, remains barred from making public speeches or participating in political meetings after an appeals chamber ordered the ban to be continued until they have issued a ruling on the matter.

In October 12 a lower court had ruled that Haradinaj could have a limited return to public life, which was supported by the UN peacekeeping mission in Kosovo.

The prosecution appealed the decision and as the matter was pending the decision was stayed three times to allow the appeals chamber to reach a decision.

The last stay was to end on November 21 but the appeals chamber has now extended it indefinitely until they reach a decision.

Haradinaj, a Kosovo Liberation Army commander during the war against Serbian forces in 1998-99, is charged with war crimes, including murder and rape, committed against Serbian and Albanian civilians.

He resigned as prime minister and surrendered to the tribunal in March this year.

Dec 16 , 2005

Friday

October 12

November 21

now

March this year


AFP_ENG_20061210.0525

TEHRAN, Dec 11 , 2006, 2006

=(PICTURE)=

Iran has for the first time approved a non-cleric to run for the key body that supervises and selects the supreme leader, although he remains a pillar of the Islamic republic's establishment.

Mohsen Esmaili, a 41-year-old law professor, is a member of the conservative electoral watchdog the Guardians Council that vetted 495 candidates for December 15 poll, disqualifying two-thirds of them.

Esmaili, as well as an unspecified number of candidates, had to take an exam to ascertain whether he was sufficiently qualified in Islamic jurisprudence to be termed "mojtahed" and thus qualify to serve in the Assembly of Experts.

The Iranian constitution does not require candidates to be a "mojtahed", but the body, which has autonomy in tailoring requirements for membership, has made that mandatory.

Esmaili believes the Assembly needs to open its doors to non-clerical experts in politics, the economy, international law and administration to play a more effective role as an advisor to the leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

"Those who enter the Assembly of Experts should be able to understand the complicated issues of modern world and present solutions to the leader and the policy-making bodies," he told a press conference, dressed in a smart three-piece suit.

"The leader has shown he is willing to hear different views," Esmaili said, adding he would seek to boost links between non-clerical consultants and the Assembly members if elected.

"We have more accurate information about people's needs because of our presence in universities," said Esmaili, who has formed a coalition with five other candidates in Tehran, and is working to have 40 other candidates representing 20 provinces join the group.

Several non-clerical figures, most notably President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and parliament speaker Gholam Ali Hadad-Adel, have won key posts in recent years, in a change of the trend that prevailed the late 1980s and 1990s.

However the term non-cleric is not synonymous with reformist and both Ahmadinejad and Hadad-Adel are conservatives seen as close to the supreme leader.

Himself a former student of Khamenei, Esmaili said "of course we see the leader as the best person for navigating Iran through the turbulence of today's world but it does not mean that nobody has the right to comment or criticize."

The 86-member Assembly -- which is only elected once every eight years -- is in charge of supervising, dismissing and electing the Supreme Leader, who is appointed for life.

Esmaili stopped short of commenting on the Assembly's past record as it "has not published an official report, so we cannot judge". The Assembly does not publish details of its discussions, only its opening and closing statements.

He believes the Assembly, which meets twice a year, should be more transparent, providing the public with regular reports of its decisions and activities.

"We will take a step forward. The sessions should be open unless the law prevents making something public to protect national interests".

Esmaili expressed regret that some clerical hopefuls snubbed the Islamic jurisprudence exam in the run-up to the election and consequently were excluded from the race.

"We should submit to the instruments of democracy. When there is a condition we should use it," he said of those who regarded the prerequisite as an insult.

Among those who boycotted the test were leading reformist clerics Majid Ansari, who is an incumbent member of the Assembly, and Hadi Khamenei, brother of the supreme leader.

"We should have members representing different views, but the ones who put national interests before personal leanings," he said.

"It's our duty to prove a theocracy is efficient and capable of responding to modern questions."

Dec 11 , 2006

December 15

recent years

1980s and 1990s

every eight years

a year


XIN_ENG_20061118.0076

HANOI, Nov. 18 , 2006 (Xinhua)

bilateral ties

Chinese President Hu Jintao and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met here on Saturday with both leaders expressing the willingness to maintain the good momentum of the development of relations between the two countries.

"The Sino-Japanese ties are now at a crucial juncture," Hu said when he met Abe before the beginning of the 14th Economic Leaders' Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum slated for Saturday and Sunday.

The talks, the second between the two leaders since early October, demonstrated their common aspiration to improve relations between China and Japan and marked a new era in the Sino-Japanese relations, Hu said.

At their Beijing meeting last month, both leaders agreed that they should view the Sino-Japanese ties from the long-term and strategic perspective so as to achieve the great objective of peaceful coexistence, friendship for generations, cooperation of mutual benefit and common development, the Chinese president said.

"The two sides also reached wide-ranging consensus on enhancing political trust, boosting cooperation of mutual benefit, expanding exchanges of personnel and promoting cooperation in international and regional affairs," Hu said.

To further promote bilateral cooperation, President Hu put forward a five-point proposal -- charting the direction of the development of bilateral ties, deepening friendship between the two peoples, promoting mutually beneficial cooperation, making joint efforts to promote peace, stability and development in Asia, and properly handling the sensitive issues related to Taiwan and the history of Japanese invasion.

The sensitive issues are closely related to the political foundation of bilateral relations between the two countries, Hu said.

The two countries should also speed up consultation on the East China Sea issue in line with the principle of mutual benefit and reciprocity, and make it the "sea of peace, cooperation and friendship," Hu said.

Abe said Japan and China have agreed to build a strategically reciprocal relationship during his October visit to China, and he hoped to maintain high-level exchanges so as to push the Japan-China relations to a new high.

The Japanese prime minister suggested the two sides hold a ministerial meeting at the earliest to coordinate their cooperation in economy and trade, to strengthen cooperation in energy saving and environmental protection, as well as to promote exchanges of personnel and boost cooperation in tourism.

He also recommended both sides launch a joint study on the historical issues, intensify consultation on the East China Sea issue, and boost cooperation among Japan, China and South Korea in investment, environmental protection and tourism.

President Hu Jintao is in Hanoi for a state visit to Vietnam, where he and other leaders or representatives from the 21 APEC members will attend the Nov. 18-19 APEC economic leaders' meeting.

Nov. 18 , 2006

Saturday

Saturday and Sunday

early October

last month

October

Nov. 18-19


AFP_ENG_20061221.0605

HAVANA, Dec 21 , 2006, 2006

by Isabel Sanchez

Interim Cuba leader Raul Castro could signal a passing of the torch to a newer generation of Communist leaders when Cuba's national legislature opens its annual meeting here Friday.

Raul's role as top leader since he took over from his ailing older brother Fidel Castro on July 31 will likely be made clearer at the meeting.

But the probable absence of Fidel, unseen in public since he underwent surgery in July, will spotlight the big question about the future of Cuba and who will lead it, beyond the Castro brothers.

Raul, 75, strongly suggested during a 35-minute speech late Wednesday to the University Students' Federation (FEU) that the time had come for a changing of the guard.

"Whether we like it or not, we're already coming to the end of our duties," he said. "We have to yield to the new generations ... or continue to lead the way for the new generations, gradually of course."

Raul spoke from a table where three generations of Cuban leaders were sitting, including Jose Ramon Machado Ventura, 76, chief of the Organization Department of the Communist Party Central Committee; Vice President Carlos Lage, 55; and his 25-year-old son and FEU chairman Carlos Lage Codorniu.

After the students said in a final statement that they would "defend the martial, Marxist-Leninist, socialist and antiimperialist revolution," Raul replied that he was proud Cuba would be led "by the new generations you represent."

On what style of government they should follow, Raul, also Cuba's defense minister, recommended the leadership should always include exhaustive debate.

He offered a little insight in his own way of doing things: "I confer with a group of 12 generals of one or more stars. They all give their opinions, they all discuss, and in the end, if I don't see a true majority consensus, no conclusion is reached, unless it's an emergency."

With 609 members, the National Assembly of People's Power (ANPP) gives some hints at the future leadership. It is presided over by one of the leading figures of the regime, Ricardo Alarcon, 69, Cuba's former representative to the United Nations.

The legislature comprises now three generations of Cuban leaders, all bound together by "Fidelism" -- from the old guard who rose up behind Fidel Castro in the 1959 revolution, to the newest generation of 30-40 year-olds.

In between are rising figures like Lage; Felipe Perez Roque, 41, Cuba's top diplomat; and Francisco Soberon, 61, president of the central bank.

All were named by Fidel Castro to back his brother in the interim.

Since its creation in December 1976, the ANPP has always been Fidel Castro's venue for laying out in detail the country's direction. His long speeches dominated debates and usually led to unanimous votes backing his views.

It will be only the second time in its 30-year history that Fidel will miss a session of the ANPP.

With a more conservative, quieter style, Raul Castro will preside over the second of the two annual ANPP sessions. In December 2002, his absence was attributed to complications from a mosquito bite.

In the days ahead of the meeting, there has been no indication that he will break from the normal routine. The deputies will review, for instance, the state housing construction program and the "revolutionary" program to protect the environment, themes already discussed Monday and Tuesday by ANPP committees.

Even so, all attention will be focused on any signal about Fidel's health and Raul's future. The meeting takes place with Fidel unseen in public for more than four months and questions about the country's future looming.

"We cannot exclude the possibility that Fidel will choose this moment to make important announcements through his brother, such as laying down the formal process for a transition," said a diplomat from a friendly Latin American country.

The diplomat said Fidel Castro's "political wisdom" could inspire an announcement.

However, he cautioned, "His temperament as a fierce fighter doesn't suggest that he would announce his withdrawal from politics prematurely."

With a personal appearance generally ruled out, the country must hold its breath in wait for a surprise move.

Dec 21 , 2006

Friday

July 31

July

Wednesday

now

December 1976

December 2002

the days

Monday

Tuesday

more than four months


AFP_ENG_20061218.0530

GENEVA, Dec 19 , 2006, 2006

"Heart of Borneo" reveals astonishing array of new species: WWF

In the second remarkable biodiversity find this year, researchers announced on Tuesday they had identified at least 52 new species of animals and plants on the island of Borneo.

The new discovery including 30 unique species of fish, two new species of tree frog, 16 species of ginger, three tree species and a large-leafed species of plant seen nowhere else in the world, the wildlife group WWF said in a press release.

Many of the species were found in the so-called Heart of Borneo, a thickly forested mountainous region covering around 220,000 square kilometers (85,000 square miles) in the centre of the island.

The finds include the world's second smallest vertebrate, a tiny species of fish that measures less than one centimetre (1.25 inches) in length and thrives in the island's highly acidic blackwater peat swamps.

There is also a catfish with a protruding teeth "and an adhesive belly which allows it to literally stick to rocks," as well as six species of Siamese fighting fish, including one species with a gorgeous iridescent blue-green colouring.

The 52 new species have been covered in the past year alone.

In February, scientists said they had had found a "Garden of Eden" in the Foja Mountains, on the island of New Guinea, where they recorded dozens of new species of butterflies, frogs, palms and rhododendrons.

They also found a unique local species of honeyeater bird -- the first new bird to be sighted on New Guinea for more than 60 years -- and determined that the mountains were the home of one of the most elusive bird species of all, a creature called the Berlepsch's bird of paradise.

WWF said many more species waited to be discovered in Borneo, which is divided between Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia, but expressed deep concern about the loss of equatorial rainforest, which is being cleared for rubber, oil palm and pulp production.

"The more we look, the more we find," said Stuart Chapman, international coordinator for WWF's Heart of Borneo programme. "These discoveries reaffirm Borneo's position as one of the most important centres of biodiversity in the world."

Dec 19 , 2006

this year

Tuesday

the past year alone

February

more than 60 years


XIN_ENG_20051111.0143

BEIJING, Nov. 11 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Chinese vice premier encourages oil, gas prospecting

Chinese Vice Premier Zeng Peiyan Thursday highlighted the prospecting of petroleum and gas as an important task of geological survey work.

Efforts should focus on prospecting of strategic mineral resources, especially oil, natural gas, uranium, iron, copper and aluminium, Zeng said at a conference on geological work held by the State Council in Taiyuan, capital of northwest China's Shanxi Province.

Zeng stressed the importance of the geological survey work, considering it key to easing the impact of resource shortages on economic growth.

He noted that major projects in geological surveying should be launched in accordance with the overall layout of national economic and social development. Enterprises are encouraged to take part in mineral prospecting.

He urged to continue the comprehensive survey and assessment of the geological environment in key economic zones and mineral belts.

Nov. 11 , 2005

Thursday


XIN_ENG_20061109.0396

ATHENS, Nov. 9 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Report sees rise in domestic demand, investments in Greece

The economic climate in Greece has returned to a growth course similar to that of the EU-25, while the Greek economy significantly reduced a "shortfall of optimism" that prevailed after the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, a report said.

Economic growth is expected to exceed 3.4 percent this year, boosted by domestic demand and rising investments, said the report issued on Thursday by the Institute for Economic and Industrial Research (IOBE).

It attributed the rising consumption to an expanding consumer credit and stressed that the increasing investments reflected an improving business climate and a recovery in public investments. The economic sentiment index kept rising for the last 12 months.

Consumers, however, remained gloomy over economic developments, the report said. The consumer sentiment index was the third lowest in the EU-25 and the lowest in the Eurozone, a trend prevailing for the last 15 years even in rapid growth periods for the Greek economy.

It underlined a systematic difference between real economic development and how consumers viewed them, the IOBE report said.

The report also blamed the out-of-date laws and regulations, and as for the new legislative initiative, it remained uncontrolled as far as its impact on the economy was concerned.

The report said spending on the country's social insurance system would grow rapidly in the future, warning that if the problem was not timely dealt with, it could undermine efforts for a sustainable reduction of public spending.

Nov. 9 , 2006

this year

Thursday

the last 12 months

the last 15 years

the future


AFP_ENG_20051206.0284

BRUSSELS, Dec 6 , 2005

ATTENTION - RECASTS with meeting ending in failure ///

EU finance ministers failed to agree Tuesday on a list of services to benefit from exceptionally low value added tax, with the incoming German government blocking a deal particularly important to France.

After two and a half years of talks on the list, the ministers decided to let heads of state and government work out at a summit next week such issues as whether hairdressers and restaurantiers should benefit from low VAT rates.

The European Union's current British presidency has been struggling to broker a deal on which industries should be included, but time is running out before the existing list expire at the end of the year.

"We will try our best to get an agreement on an important dossier which matters to a large number of states," said British finance minister Gordon Brown, who chaired the ministers' meeting.

Brown, who is known to have little appetite for lengthy negotiations with EU counterparts, was upbeat about the prospects for a deal at the December 15-16 summit in Brussels.

"We think there is a good chance of reaching an agreement at the council next week," he said.

Like all issues regarding tax harmonisation in the EU, the list must be unanimously accepted by the 25 member states. Exceptions aside, EU rules do not allow a minimum VAT rate of less than 15 percent.

The stakes are high for the sectors concerned and the current deadlock has left business leaders on the existing list -- which includes activities like building renovation, hair cutting and window-washing -- in limbo, wondering if they will benefit from a VAT tax break next year.

Hoping to pave the way for an agreement, Britain has put forward a compromise list taking up member states' main wishes for reduced VAT on services carried out at a local level and which, therefore, do not affect cross-border competition in the EU's single market for goods and services.

Germany's newly installed government is widely seen as holding the key to a deal because progress so far has been held up by opposition from Berlin.

"I think it's true to say that the new German government wants to look at its position on this matter and I think that it was right to leave this up to the council (summit) so that the German government, which has just come into the administration, can examine this in more detail," Brown said.

Paris has been working its close relations with Berlin -- but with little success so far -- in hope of breaking the deadlock and getting reduced VAT for building renovation prolonged and securing lower rates for restaurants as both industries are huge employers in France.

"Our German colleague, Peer Steinbrueck, the new finance minister, was not able at this point to offer his support," said French Finance Minister Thierry Breton.

However, Breton said he had the impression Germany was ready to make a gesture to help reach a deal

"The German minister is ready to embrace some of the British package, which he considers to be too broad. He is ready to make proposals," Breton said.

Dec 6 , 2005

Tuesday

two and a half years

next week

the end of the year

December 15-16

next week

next year


XIN_ENG_20061124.0221

ISLAMABAD, Nov. 24 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Writethru: China, Pakistan sign free trade agreement

China and Pakistan signed a free trade agreement (FTA) on Friday, which is projected to triple their current bilateral trade to 15 billion U.S. dollars within five years.

Under the agreement, China and Pakistan will begin to reduce or eliminate tariffs on all products in two phases from July 1, 2007.

During Phase I, both sides will reduce the tariffs on 85 percent of the products based on different extents of tariff reduction within five years of the agreement entering into force, and 36 percent of the products will be tariff free within three years.

During this phase, China will mainly reduce tariffs on livestock, aquatic products, vegetables, mineral products and textiles, while Pakistan will mainly reduce tariffs on beef and mutton, chemicals and machinery products.

Phase II starts from the sixth year of the entry into force of the agreement. Both sides will further reduce tariffs on the products on the basis of a review of the implementation of the agreement. The aim is to eliminate tariffs on no less than 90 percent of products, both in terms of tariff lines and trade volume, within a reasonable period of time on the basis of friendly consultation and accommodation of the concerns of both sides.

The Free Trade Agreement also covers investments, including investment promotion and protection, treatment of investments, expropriation, compensation for damages and losses and dispute settlement.

China and Pakistan launched negotiations on the agreement in April 2005. Over the past a year and a half, the two sides have had six rounds of negotiations.

The deal would further upgrade bilateral trade and economic cooperation and inject new vigor into the traditionally friendly relations between China and Pakistan, Chinese officials said.

China-Pakistan trade volume exceeded 4.3 billion dollars in 2005, representing a year-on-year increase of 39 percent. The officials said the trade deal could triple bilateral trade to 15 billion dollars within five years.

China mainly exports high-tech products, chemicals, plastics products and household appliances to Pakistan, and imports textiles, leather and aquatic products from the south Asian country.

The conclusion of the FTA came after one and a half years of negotiations between the two countries on market access for goods, rules of origin, trade remedies, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to trade, investments and dispute settlement.

The agreement is the third of its kind reached between China and foreign countries after the China-ASEAN FTA and the China-Chile FTA.

The deal was signed by Chinese Commerce Minister Bo Xilai and his Pakistani counterpart Jumayun Akhtar Khan, in the presence of Chinese President Hu Jintao and his Pakistani counterpart Pervez Musharraf.

Hu arrived here on Thursday for a state visit at Musharraf's invitation. Pakistan is the last leg of Hu's four-nation Asia tour, which has already taken him to Vietnam, Laos and India.

The visit also coincides with the 55th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Pakistan.

Nov. 24 , 2006

Friday

five years

two phases

July 1, 2007

five years

three years

this phase

the sixth year

April 2005

a year and a half

five years

half years

Thursday


XIN_ENG_20051127.0222

YANGON, Nov. 28 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Indonesia launches direct trade route with Myanmar

Indonesia has established the first direct sea trade route with Myanmar with its vessel MV Forkus operating between Jakarta and Yangon in a bid to broaden its network in the Southeast Asian region, business circle said on Monday.

The route, inaugurated recently, will enable Myanmar export goods to be shipped directly to Indonesia without requiring to transit through intervening ports.

Having a cargo handling capacity of over 8,000 tons, the vessel arrived in Yangon from Chennai Port in India and would proceed to Vietnam after picking up Myanmar goods, a vessel official said, adding that the new route would also facilitate export of Myanmar goods to Malaysia, Singapore, China and India.

There are 24 international shipping lines which stop at four ports of Yangon -- Thilawa, Bo Aung Kyaw, Asia World and Myanmar Industrial Port, of which the Thilawa stands the largest to accommodate the 176-meter-long MV Forkus.

Meanwhile, the two countries' business organizations are also seeking direct trade link between Bandung and Yangon, business circle said.

Indonesia is Myanmar's fourth largest trading partner among members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations after Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia, having a bilateral trade with Myanmar standing at 104.78 million US dollars in the fiscal year of 2004-05 which ended in March, according to official statistics.

Indonesian investment in Myanmar so far went to over 241 million dollars since late 1988 when Myanmar opened to such investment, the figures also show.

Nov. 28 , 2005

Monday

the fiscal year

March

late 1988


XIN_ENG_20051129.0208

PARIS, Nov. 29 , 2005 (Xinhua)

URGENT: French parliament adopts new anti-terrorism law

France's lower house of parliament on Tuesday adopted a new terrorism law, that would increase the use of video surveillance and allow police more time to question terror suspects.

Nov. 29 , 2005

Tuesday


XIN_ENG_20051108.0156

BEIJING, Nov. 8 , 2005 (Xinhua)

upcoming nuke talks

All sides will express views and concerns in the upcoming nuclear talks, and will discuss the implementation of the consensus already reached, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao here Tuesday.

Liu said at a regular press conference that the first phase of the fifth round of the six-party talks is for all sides to express their political will and to show flexibility and sincerity.

He said the Chinese side hopes the talks will provide a platform for all sides to exchange views, increase mutual understanding and listen to the concerns of each other in an equal and candid atmosphere.

As for how long the upcoming talks will last, Liu said 3 days would be an appropriate choice, and the Chinese side still needs to consult with other delegations on the form, theme, contents and goals of the fifth round of the talks.

He said the six-party talks can be conducted in various forms, which would help the talks make progress, as past experences have demonstrated. He hopes the six parties exchange views on relevant issues and concerns through different forms of contact.

When asked to define the success of the six-party talks, Liu said the talks are just a process before the final goal of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula is realized, in which all sides are strengthening mutual understanding and accumulating consensus on relevant issues.

He said it needs common efforts from all sides to step forward to the final goal of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Liu said difficulties and problems are inevitable in this process, and all sides need to show enough patience, sincerity and flexibility on the nuclear issue of the Korean Peninsula to push forward the six-party talks towards its final goal.

The six-party talks aiming at resolving the nuclear issue of the Korean Peninsula includes China, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the United States, the Republic of Korea (ROK), Russia and Japan.

Nov. 8 , 2005

Tuesday

3 days


XIN_ENG_20061126.0012

BEIJING, Nov. 26 , 2006 (Xinhu)

China's young netizens reaches 18.3 million

By the end of the first half of this year,China's netizens totaled 123 million, and those under the age of 18, 18.3 million, accounting for 14.9 percent of the total.

"The Internet has become an important facility in Chinese youth's daily life," an official with the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League said Sunday.

"Through the Internet, the young people can get information for study, work and entertainment," he said,

China's Internet industry is on the upswing and minor netizens are both beneficiaries and a driving force of the industry's development, he said.

"We can cultivate more talents and experts from them through proper guidance," he said.

Meanwhile, the official also pointed out several problems that need to be resolved concerning the influence of the Internet's rapid development on minors.

"The most typical problem is the network addiction," he stressed.

About 13.2 percent Chinese netizens are network addicts, according to a report released in November 2005 by China Youth Association For Network Development.

Nov. 26 , 2006

first half of this year

Sunday

November 2005


XIN_ENG_20061117.0392

BRUSSELS, Nov. 18 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Dutch troops mired in scandal of abuse of Iraqi prisoners: paper

Dutch military interrogators in Iraq were involved in abusing dozens of Iraqi prisoners after the U.S.-led invasion of the country in 2003, a Dutch newspaper said on Friday.

The detainees were allegedly subjected to bright lights, soaked with water and exposed to high-pitched sounds, according to the Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant.

The abuses, involving members of the Dutch Military Intelligence and Security Service, occurred in Samawah in the southeastern Iraqi province of Al Muthanna in November 2003, it reported.

Dutch Defense Minister Henk Kamp, however, denied the accusation, saying that an investigation into the alleged case in 2003 did not reveal any wrongdoings.

But Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende said the allegations would be "shocking" if proved true.

He said an independent commission had been set up by the coalition government to re-investigate the case.

The controversy erupted just five days before the Dutch national parliamentary elections.

Opposition politicians have demanded a recall of Parliament to question Kamp about the allegations, and raised suspicion that the government were trying to cover it up.

The Netherlands had about 1,400 troops stationed in the southern province at the time, but most were withdrawn last year.

Nov. 18 , 2006

Friday

November 2003

five days

last year


XIN_ENG_20061113.0109

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov. 13 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Malaysia's IPI up 3.6 pct in September

Malaysia's Industrial Production Index (IPI) for September rose by 3.6 percent to 136.8 on a year-on-year basis, the Department of Statistics said Monday.

The positive growth was driven by the increases in the manufacturing and electricity indices, which grew by 5.9 percent to 143.7 and by 4.2 percent to 154.3 respectively.

The mining index, however, declined by 5 percent to 111.3, the department said in a statement released here.

Compared with the previous month, IPI for September decreased by 1 percent.

The decrease was due to the lower indices in all sectors, with the electricity index down 3 percent, mining index down 2.7 percent and manufacturing index, down 0.4 percent.

For the third quarter this year, the IPI rose by 5 percent to 137.2 compared with the same period last year.

From January to September 2006, the IPI surged by 5.6 percent to 133.7 as compared with the same period last year.

The IPI is the measure of the rate of change in the production of industrial commodities in real terms over time. These commodities are obtained from the manufacturing, mining and electricity sectors.

Nov. 13 , 2006

September

Monday

the previous month

September

the third quarter this year

last year

January to September 2006

last year


CNN_20130321_821

March 21, 2013

How Obama has weaponized wit

Barack Obama would make a great stand-up comic, not because he's the funniest president ever but because he uses jokes the same way many of us comedians do: as a weapon.

Traditionally, the (intentionally) funny lines by our presidents have had one thing in common: They were self-deprecating. Sure, some presidents have used jokes to take jabs at their opponents, but not to the extent of Obama.

During his tenure, he has increasingly unleashed biting comedic barbs against his critics and political adversaries. These jokes are intended to do more than simply entertain you. They have an agenda.

Obama's humor is often delivered the way a comedian dealing with a heckler would do it. He tries to undermine his opponents with it and get the crowd -- in this case the public -- on his side. I can assure you that having a crowd laugh at your critic/heckler is not only effective in dominating them, it's also very satisfying.

March 21, 2013

tenure


XIN_ENG_20051130.0202

WASHINGTON, Nov. 30 , 2005 (Xinhua)

US economy up 4.3 percent in third quarter

The US economy increased at an annual rate of 4.3 percent in the third quarter of this year, higher than the 3.8 percent rate announced at the end of last month, the Commerce Department said on Wednesday.

The strong gain followed an increase of 3.3 percent in second quarter and is the best showing of the US economy in more than a year -- it is equal to the growth rate in the first quarter of 2004.

Analysts said that the performance offered a fresh testimony that the overall US economic situation had managed to improve despite the destructive hurricanes which hit Gulf coastal areas in August and September.

The report showed that US consumer spending, which accounts for about two-thirds of the US gross domestic product (GDP) and is the lifeblood of economic growth, grew at an annual rate of 4.2 percent in the third quarter, stronger than the 3.9 percent growth rate previously estimated. The revised figure marked the fastest pace in consumer spending since the final quarter of 2004.

US nonresidential fixed investment increased at a rate of 8.8 percent in the third quarter, the same as in the second quarter. However, businesses spending on equipment and software increased at a 10.8 percent annual rate during the quarter. That was better than the 8.9 percent growth rate first estimated for the period and close to the 10.9 percent growth rate seen in the second quarter.

Investment in housing construction and other residential projects grew at a brisk 8.4 percent pace in the third quarter. That was up considerably from the 4.8 percent growth rate initially estimated but was down from the 10.8 percent pace registered in the second quarter.

US export of goods and services increased 0.8 percent in this quarter, compared with a strong gain of 10.7 percent in the previous quarter. Imports increased 2.1 percent in the July-September quarter in contrast to a decrease of 0.3 percent in the second quarter.

Nov. 30 , 2005

the third quarter of this year

the end of last month

Wednesday

second quarter

a year

the first quarter of 2004

August and September

the third quarter

the final quarter of 2004

the third quarter

the second quarter

the quarter

the second quarter

the third quarter

the second quarter

this quarter

the previous quarter

the July-September quarter

the second quarter


AFP_ENG_20051214.0099

WIESBADEN, Germany, Dec 14 , 2005

German inflation steady at 2.3 pct in November

Inflation in Germany, the eurozone's biggest economy, remained steady at 2.3 percent in November, way above the European Central Bank's ceiling of 2.0 percent, final consumer price data showed on Wednesday.

The German consumer price index (CPI) declined by 0.5 percent in November from the figure for October, but was 2.3 percent higher than it had been in November 2004, the federal statistics office, Destatis, said in a statement.

The final November CPI data confirmed a preliminary estimate published late last month.

Using the harmonised index of consumer prices (HICP), which is the ECB's yardstick for inflation, the annual rate of inflation in Germany also stood at 2.3 percent in November, the statisticians found.

The ECB defines price stability as consumer price increases of close to but just under 2.0 percent.

Dec 14 , 2005

November

Wednesday

November

October

November 2004

late last month

November


XIN_ENG_20061101.0264

SOFIA, Nov. 1 , 2006 (Xinhua)

plant shutdown

Bulgaria would inform the European Union of an electricity shortage in the Balkan region due to its nuclear power plant shutdown, the BTA newa agency reported on Wednesday.

Bulgarian Energy Minister Rumen Ovcharovis told the Southeast Europe Economic Forum that Bulgaria was expected to inform the European Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs of the decommissioning of units 3 and 4 of the Kozloduy Nuclear Power Plant.

Bulgaria asked the European Commission (EC) to take actions to guarantee electricity supply in the region, "as we will not be able to do it any more," the minister said.

The Kozloduy plant the biggest plant on the Balkan Peninsula, is used to generate power for the region. However, the EC had showed concerns about the security of the facility, since part of the units in Kozloduy were of the same type of those in Ukraine's Chernobyl plant, which witnessed the world's worst nuclear disaster in 1986.

As part of the criteria for Bulgaria's bid for entering the European Union, Bulgaria has already shut down units 1 and 2 in Kozloduy in 2003, and is to shut the other two units by the end of the year.

Also due to delayed deliveries of coal for some thermal plants, Bulgaria's electricity exports for the Balkan Peninsula would be ceased to secure the local electricity supply, the minister said, adding that the EC had promised to do its best to plug the power shortfall in the region.

Currently, Bulgaria's National Electricity Company has received requests for electricity supply from Kosovo, a Serbian province which is currently under international administration, Greece and Macedonia, but tenders for electricity exports to Greece and Kosovo in 2007 had been turned down, the minister said.

Nov. 1 , 2006

Wednesday

the end of the year


AFP_ENG_20061204.0211

PARIS, Dec 4 , 2006, 2006

ATTENTION - ADDS Gallois quotes on capital increase ///

European aircraft manufacturer Airbus is holding talks with partner European governments but no decision on state finance for the new A350 airliner programme is imminent, the head of Airbus said on Monday.

Airbus chief executive Louis Gallois, who is also co-chief executive of parent company EADS, told a press conference that "no decision has been taken or is imminent" concerning a contribution by partner countries to the A350 programme.

Gallois said: "We do not have an imminent need for finance."

He also said: "The board of EADS has asked us to study all possible instruments for financing ... A capital increase is one of them, but only one possibility."

A short time earlier French Economy and Finance Minister Thierry Breton had said that the four partner countries behind the Airbus programme, France, Germany, Spain and Britain, would accompany financing of the A350 programme.

The board of the European Aernoautic Defence and Space Company EADS decided late on Friday to go ahead with the programme to build the A350 series of airliners.

The aircraft was considered to be crucial to the future of Airbus as the main competitor to US manufacturer Boeing, but Airbus is in difficulties over delays of up to 24 months in its other key new programme, for the A380 superjumbo airliner.

Airbus has announced ambitious plans to save money, in part to release funds for the A350 project, but has yet to provide full details of how it will restructure.

Dec 4 , 2006

Monday

Friday


AFP_ENG_19970429.0207

LONDON, April 29 , 1997 (AFP) -

As Britain's general election campaign enters its final 48 hours we plan to file the following stories and portraits of leading figures:

LONDON:     Despite their mutual hostility during the

British election campaign, the ruling

Conservatives and the main opposition Labour

party have only one stark policy difference:

constitutional reform.

Britain-vote

660 words moved

by Jean-Louis Pany

LONDON:     British opposition leader Tony Blair

has managed to break the ruling Conservatives'

traditional stranglehold on the press,

reinforcing his Labour party's support in

Thursday's general elections

Britain-vote-press

600 words around 1115 GMT

By Henry Meyer

LONDON:     The Monster Raving Loony Party, the Elvis

Presley Party, the Legalise Cannabis Party

and a host of eccentrics have all been locked

in intense campainging for elections they know

they cannot win.

Britain-vote-outsiders

540 words moved

by Olivier Thibault

LONDON:     Once nicknamed "Bambi," today measured against

US President Bill Clinton, Labour leader Tony

Blair, 43-year-old barrister, appears likely

to be Britain's next prime minister.

Britain-vote-Blair

600 words around 1200 GMT

LONDON:     Although Tony Blair has transformed the face

of his party into "New Labour," there are

still plenty clinging to the party's

socialist roots, and to avoid losing those

votes, Blair has John Prescott at his side.

Britain-vote-Prescott

500 words around 1030 GMT

LONDON:     With his flame-red hair, permanent frown

and frequent and fiery proclamations, Robin

Cook, chosen by Labour leader Tony Blair as

his foreign secretary if the party wins.

Britain-vote-Cook

550 words around 1040 GMT

LONDON:     Gordon Brown, a 46-year old Scotsman who will

become Chancellor of the Exchequer if the

Labour Party wins May 1 elections, has

fostered the image of a "safe pair of hands"

in running the British economy.

Britain-vote-Brown

500 words around 1045 GMT

LONDON:     Marjorie "Mo" Mowlam, who will become

Northern Ireland Secretary if Labour wins
Thursday, is seen as more dynamic than her

Tory predecessor, but she will have little

room for manoeuvre in the embattled province.

Britain-vote-Mowlam

600 words moved

by Philippe Bernes-Lasserre

LONDON:     Cherie Blair, the wife of the man tipped to

become Britain's next premier, has tried hard

to avoid the reputation that dogs Hillary

Clinton, seen by many Americans as the real

power behind the throne.

Britain-vote-Cherie

450 words around 1100 GMT

LONDON:     His colleagues call him "Honest John," his

opponents label him "Gray Man." Prime Minister

John Major, all but dismissed as loser of the

general elections, leaves a legacy of

transition in Downing Street.

Britain-vote-Major

600 words around 1300 GMT

We have also moved:

Britain-vote-quotes

Britain-vote-Downing

April 29 , 1997

Thursday

Thursday


XIN_ENG_20061107.0055

TOKYO, Nov. 7 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Tornado kills 9 in Hokkaido of northern Japan

A tornado hit eastern Hokkaido town of Saroma Tuesday afternoon, killing at least nine people and injuring 10 others at a tunnel construction site, Kyodo News said.

About 20 people were buried under collapsed prefabricated houses at the work site, police and firefighters said, adding that at least six other people are missing.

Some 10 buildings collapsed in the town when the tornado took place at 1 p.m., and electricity to part of the town and to the neighboring city of Kitami was cut off, local officials said.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's official residence has set up a liaison office at its crisis management center to deal with the accident.

Nov. 7 , 2006

Tuesday afternoon


AFP_ENG_19970429.0086

NEW DELHI, April 29 , 1997 (AFP)

India's ruling coalition stunned as party leader scandal by Pratap Chakravarty

India's new ruling coalition was left reeling Tuesday by plans to prosecute the leader of its largest government partner for corruption amid doubts over its future stability, alliance leaders said.

Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral's nine-day-old fledgling government has been rocked by the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) plans to prosecute Bihar state Chief Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav.

"This has come as a bolt from the blue to us," Jaipal Reddy, spokesman of the 13-party United Front administration, told AFP.

Reddy said the Front, which assumed office April 21 after the coalition replaced former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda with Gujral, was assessing the fallout of the CBI's decision.

"We are still trying to come to grips with things," he said as leftist partners of the centre-left coalition and the media mounted pressure on Yadav to quit his political posts and face prosecution.

Another senior Front leader asking to remain anonymous said the possible prosecution of Yadav, who also heads the centrist Janata Dal (People's Party), could effect the new government's stability.

"Yadav is an important man in the Front and this will have an impact on the government's image and stability," he said, but ruled out a split in the Janata Dal, which accounts for 46 of the Front's 180 members of parliament.

The Congress (I) party, which has given its parliamentary support to keep the coalition in office, however, said the crisis could herald the disintegration of the United Front.

"There never was any unity in the Front and now it will fall apart," Congress leader Rajesh Pilot told AFP.

Yadav, a wily politician, Monday refused to step down after the CBI on Sunday implicated him and 55 other politicians and bureaucrats in the 271-million-dollar financial corruption scandal.

Reports Tuesday said the Indian home ministry will rush federal troops to the crime-prone eastern state because of fears of a backlash.

Yadav has also warned he would "govern Bihar from prison" if he is arrested.

India's main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (Indian People's Party or BJP) and other political rivals of Yadav have called a general shutdown in Bihar on May 3 to demand his ouster.

National dailies Tuesday said Yadav must step down and warned Gujral to face his first crisis as premier with wisdom.

"Yadav must resign," The Pioneer said.

"To cling on limpet-like to the seat of power smacks of autocratic disregard for established norms," it said.

But The Pioneer warned: "The other half of the story in the decline of Yadav is the impact it will have on the United Front.

"The knives in the United Front will soon be out, and the crisis may well prove impossible to contain," it said.

The Times of India said Yadav's prosecution would lead to political in-fighting.

Several of the 55 charged by the CBI are already in jail in connection with the scandal, which surfaced January 27, 1996.

The CBI has claimed that a coterie of politicians, bureaucrats and firms in Bihar had been siphoning huge sums since 1977 from a state government fund set aside to buy cattle feed.

April 29 , 1997

Tuesday

April 21

now

Sunday

Tuesday

May 3

Tuesday

January 27, 1996


AFP_ENG_19970429.0693

TOKYO, April 30 , 1997 (AFP)

Tokyo shares sharply higher on Wall Street upsurge

Japanese share prices got off to a strong start in post-holiday trading Wednesday, following a surge on Wall Street the previous day, brokers said.

The Nikkei stock average gained 307.83 points, or 1.6 percent, from Monday in the first one hour to stand at 18,978.20 at 10 a.m. (0100 GMT).

"The upsurge in New York encouraged market participants here," Harushige Kobayashi of Yamaichi Securities Co. Ltd. said, adding the Tokyo market would probably hold firm for the day.

"The next target for the Nikkei will be around 19,200 points scored in late February," he said.

The Dow Jones index in New York gained 179.01 points Tuesday -- its second biggest one-day rise in terms of points -- to close at 6,962.03.

A broker with a mid-sized securities house here said: "Declines in volume amid the holiday week is having a positive effect on the market, with a smaller number of investors turning sellers on the upside."

Harushige said overall share prices also got a boost from Mitsubishi Chemical Corp.'s share buy-back plans.

The nation's largest chemicals maker announced on Monday it would outlay 40 billion yen (315 million dollars) on a buy-back of 100 million shares.

April 30 , 1997

Wednesday

Monday in the first one hour

10 a.m.

the day

late February

Tuesday

the holiday week

Monday


XIN_ENG_20051113.0292

TAIYUAN, Nov. 14 , 2005 (Xinhua)

At least 10 killed in road accident in north China province

A road accident in north China's Shanxi Province killed at least 10 people, mostly students and teachers, early Monday morning, local police said.

A heavy-duty truck veered to one side of a village highway in Qinyuan county at around 6:00 a.m. Monday, hitting a group of students and teachers who were on their way to a nearby school, said Nan Xinyan, a spokesperson with the county's traffic police headquarters.

Nan said investigation is going on.

Nov. 14 , 2005

early Monday morning

around 6:00 a.m.

Monday


XIN_ENG_20061113.0209

BEIJING, Nov. 13 , 2006 (Xinhua)

China, France hail agricultural cooperation

Chinese Vice Premier Hui Liangyu on Monday met with visiting French Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries Dominique Bussereau and hailed the agricultural cooperation between the two countries.

The agricultural sectors of China and France complement each other and boast huge potential for cooperation, Hui said.

It is in the fundamental interests of the two peoples to step up China-France agricultural cooperation, Hui said.

Hui said that he hoped the Chinese and French agricultural sectors would build closer links.

Nov. 13 , 2006

Monday