XIN_ENG_20061110.0091

COLOMBO, Nov. 10 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Colombo stocks close down

Share prices on the Colombo Stock Exchange closed lower on Friday, with the key Colombo All Share Price Index decreasing by 15.14 points to close at 2,564.81 points.

The highly capitalized Milanka Price Index also decreased by 34. 58 points to close at 3,334.13 points.

A total turnover of 385 million rupees (about 3.85 million U.S. dollars) was recorded during the day with a volume of 14 million shares being traded.

Nov. 10 , 2006

Friday

the day


XIN_ENG_20061128.0198

BEIJING, Nov. 28 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Minister

China's urban centers need to create 13 million new jobs a year, according to the Minister of Labor and Social Security Tian Chengping.

At least 24 million urban residents will be looking for jobs each year in the coming several years but there are likely to be only 11 million openings, said Tian, in an interview with the the Study Times, a newspaper affiliated to the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.

Tian predicts that ten million new laborers will flock to urban areas every year.

The number of university and college graduates who cannot find jobs is also on steadily rising. Tian said 1.24 million university and college graduates who graduated this year did not have a job when they completed their studies.

Job security is being affected by the closure and bankruptcy of some state-owned enterprises (SOE). Tian said 3.5 million employees of the SOE could be laid off between 2006 and 2008.

He said the number of SOE employees dropped from 71 million to just over 40 million between 1998 to 2005.

More than 19 million laid-off SOE workers have been reemployed with many of them finding jobs in the private sector, he said.

Most of the urban unemployed are located in the underdeveloped western and central areas of the country. They are mostly in their 40's and 50's and lack technical skills. Meanwhile many factories are in dire need of skilled workers.

To tackle the problems, the government plans to develop labor-intensive industries and sectors, such as the service industry, private sector and medium and small enterprises, Tian said.

The government will also expand occupational education to train more skilled workers and open more training classes to help the unemployed to start their own business.

The residency registration system is also expected to be reformed, to ensure the free flow of labor and provide equal employment services to local and rural laborers, said Tian.

Nov. 28 , 2006

a year

every year

this year


AFP_ENG_19970423.0078

HONG KONG, April 23 , 1997 (AFP)

Wall Street surge triggers Asian buying by David Williams

A surge on Wall Street triggered a wave of buying across Asia on Wednesday, with some markets also benefitting from favourable domestic data while others reported mild profit taking.

Wall Street on Tuesday experienced its second largest point gain on record following the release of better-than-expected quarterly corporate results.

The Dow Jones industrial average jumped 173.38 points, or 2.6 percent, to 6,833.59. The record was set October 21, 1987 when the Dow soared 186.84 points.

The surge pulled up bourses in Sydney, Hong Kong and Jakarta while improving sentiment in Tokyo. Most other stock markets in the region benefitted largely from bargain hunting on domestic factors, brokers said.

Japanese share prices closed 1.0 percent higher with the key barometer of the Tokyo Stock Exchange up 191.02 points at 18,735.47, due to strong underlying sentiment, brokers said.

"The market was heartened by the rally on Wall Street as well as the yen's continued weakness of the dollar," said Yasuo Ueki, a broker at Nikko Securities Co. Ltd.

Hong Kong share prices were up 1.3 percent in morning trade following the Wall Street gains, with the key Hang Seng Index gaining 165.95 points to close the morning session at 12,746.80.

Herman Chu, senior dealing manager at Anglo Chinese Securities, said "there was strong buying following Wall Street's sharp rise," adding that the index came off its highs as it approached resistance at 12,800 points.

"This is seen as a very strong resistance level and it's not good to push any more at the moment. If I were an investor I would be taking short-term profit at these levels," he said.

Chu said attention would probably switch to blue chips after the next US Federal Reserve Board meeting in late May, which would remove much of the interest rate uncertainty overhanging the market.

In Jakarta, the stock exchange index rose 3.70 points to close morning trade at 649.95 points.

"We seem to be getting a bit of a run on the back of New York," a sales representative with a Japanese brokerage said, adding that people were hunting for bargains among some stocks.

Australian share prices rose 1.0 percent due to the Wall Street rally, the release of data showing a four-year low inflation rate and an agreement on moderate wage rises for much of the country's workforce, brokers said.

The Australian Stock Exchange's main indicator, the all ordinaries index, closed 23.8 points up at 2,471.4.

The inflation data and wages deal "points the market to feeling better about the possibility the Reserve Bank could shave interest rates," said Grant Williams, broker at Reynolds and Co.

Share prices in other regional bourses rallied mostly on technical factors, brokers said.

Stock market indices closed 0.7 percent higher in Seoul and 1.9 percent firmer in Manila on technical factors and ended 1.7 percent up in Taipei due to high hopes for dividend payouts from eletrical issues, brokers said.

In Bangkok, the key SET index was up just 0.05 point at 691.21 at the end of morning trade with investors sidelined ahead of key monthly economic data due for release Thursday, brokers said.

Among the losers, Singapore's blue-chip share index closed 0.1 percent lower at midday Wednesday on profit-taking but bargain-hunting on selected stocks capped overall falls.

Malaysia's stock market benchmark, the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange's 100-share weighted composite index, shed 5.48 points to 1,115.02 in early trade.

Dealers said the US rally had litle impact on the Malaysian market which was depressed due to rumours of a cabinet reshuffle and reports of a rift between Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and a Malay ruler.

April 23 , 1997

Wednesday

Tuesday

October 21, 1987

late May

the end of morning

Thursday

Wednesday


AFP_ENG_20051214.0568

GENEVA, Dec 14 , 2005

Swiss parliament probes CIA flights

The Swiss parliament opened an inquiry into flights over the tiny landlocked nation by CIA-chartered aircraft thought to be carrying suspected terrorists, a parliamentary commission said in a statement Wednesday.

Over the next few weeks, the commission is to probe how much the government knew about the flights, what steps it took and the level of Swiss intelligence involvement.

"The opening of this inquiry was decided by the delegation of adminstrative commissions during its meeting on Tuesday," the delegation said.

With a host of European countries concerned over possible implication in Washington's "war on terror", questions have been raised about 32 flights by US-registered aircraft in Swiss airspace between early 2003 and December this year.

On November 27, the Swiss government demanded explanations from Washington about 27 overflights of its territory by US planes in 2003 and 2004.

The Swiss foreign ministry said it had demanded explanations from US authorities several times about suspected CIA flights, most recently on November 15 through the Swiss embassy in Washington.

The US embassy in Bern said on Wednesday that the US State Department had still not responded.

The European Parliament on Wednesday agreed to launch an investigation into allegations of CIA prisons after a probe by the Council of Europe rights and democracy group concluded that preliminary evidence suggested the United States illegally abducted and detained individuals.

Dec 14 , 2005

Wednesday

the next few weeks

Tuesday

early 2003

December this year

November 27

November 15

Wednesday

Wednesday


AFP_ENG_20061218.0022

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Dec 18 , 2006, 2006

US-Afghan forces kill four insurgents, capture 10

US-led coalition and Afghan troops killed four Taliban militants and arrested 10 suspected "terrorists" in separate raids in insurgency-hit Afghanistan, the US military said Monday.

The forces "seized an enemy weapons cache containing mines and explosives" in an operation near Sperwan Ghar in the troubled southern province of Kandahar, it said in a statement.

During the raid late on Sunday "four insurgents were killed and three coalition force soldiers wounded", it said.

"A coalition air strike and indirect fire supported the operation," it said, adding that there were no military or civilian deaths.

Coalition troops backed by Afghan army soldiers also detained 10 "suspected terrorists" including an Al-Qaeda-linked militant in the eastern province of Kunar early Monday, the coalition said in another statement.

"The operation resulted in the capture of a known transporter of weapons and explosives who is linked to foreign fighter movements in the region," it said.

The man, whose name and nationality were not disclosed, was also responsible for facilitating suicide bombings which have increased in Afghanistan in recent months, the statement said.

The militant was "responsible for facilitating suicide and improvised explosive device attacks against the Afghan population, Afghan national security forces, and coalition forces," it said.

"Credible information led the combined force to believe the transporter and his associates were at the compound," which the rebels shared with women and children, it said.

There were no civilian casualties during the raid, it said.

The Taliban, whose regime was toppled in a US-led invasion five years ago, have dramatically stepped up insurgent attacks on foreign and Afghan security forces.

Some 4,000 people, many of them militants but also troops and civilians, have died in Taliban-led violence this year alone, making it Afghanistan's bloodiest year since 2001.

Dec 18 , 2006

Monday

Sunday

early Monday

recent months

five years ago

this year


WSJ891030-0113
 = 891030
 891030-0113.
 World Markets:
@  London Shares Decline Sharply as Resignation
@  By Lawson, New York Slump Weigh on Market
@  ----
@  A Wall Street Journal News Roundup
 10/30/89
 WALL STREET JOURNAL (J)
 FREST CANDA EUROP JAPAN
 COMMODITY NEWS, FARM PRODUCTS (CMD)
STOCK MARKET, OFFERINGS (STK)
PRECIOUS METALS, STONES, GOLD, SILVER (PCS)

   London share prices closed sharply lower Friday in active trading after Chancellor of the Exchequer Nigel Lawson's resignation slapped the market and Wall Street's rapid initial sell-off knocked it down.

   London shares were depressed initially by overnight losses in New York and by the drop in sterling after Mr. Lawson's resignation.
It showed some early resilience after central bank support firmed sterling, but the weight of Wall Street late in London trading, and signs of further weakness in the British pound, proved a hefty load to bear.
New York stocks recovered some of their losses after the London market closed.

   The Financial Times 100-share index shed 47.3 points to close at 2082.1, down 4.5% from the previous Friday and 6.8% from Oct. 13, when Wall Street's plunge helped spark the current weakness in London.

   The 30-share index settled 42.0 points lower at 1678.5.
Volume was 840.8 million shares, up from 443.6 million Thursday and the week's most active session.

   Dealers said the turnover, largely confined to the 100-share index stocks, partly reflected the flurry of activity typical at the close of a two-week trading account and the start of a new account.
But they said Friday's focus on the top-tier stocks telegraphed active overseas selling and showed the broad-based fears over the status of the U.K. economy and Britain's currency in the wake of the upheaval in Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's cabinet.

   A senior dealer with Warburg Securities noted British Gas, the most active blue-chip stock at 20 million shares traded, was affected by the political implications of Mr. Lawson's departure and Mrs. Thatcher's cabinet shuffle.

   He attributed the unusually high volume to broad-based selling on fears that the Thatcher government may be in turmoil and Britain's Labor Party positioned to regain control of the government and renew efforts at nationalization.

   British Gas shed 8.5 pence a share to close at 185 pence ($2.90).

   Other dealers added that the blue-chip stocks in general were hit by profit-taking over concerns that London shares will continue posting declines and the uncertainty over sterling given that Mr. Lawson's successor, John Major, had only been in the job one day.

   Besides British Gas, British Steel skidded 1.74 to 123.5 on turnover of 11 million shares.

   British Petroleum fell 5 to 286 on 14 million shares traded.
Dealers said the multinational oil company was pressured by recent brokerage recommendations urging investors to switch into Shell Trading amp Transport.
Shell eased 1 to 416 on turnover of 4.8 million shares.

   Among the other actively traded blue-chip issues, Imperial Chemical Industries dropped 11 to #10.86, Hanson skidded 9.5 to 200.5, and British Telecom fell 10 to 250.

   In Tokyo, stocks closed lower but above intraday lows in active trading.
The Nikkei index was pressured down by profit-taking triggered by sharp advances made through this week and fell 151.20 points to 35527.29.

   In early trading in Tokyo Monday, the Nikkei index fell 148.85 points to 35378.44.

   On Friday, the Tokyo stock price index of first section issues was down 15.82 at 2681.76.
First-section volume was estimated at 1.3 billion shares, up from 886 million shares Thursday.

   An official at Wako Securities said brokerages' excessive expectations about recent advances in Tokyu Group shares and real estate issues were dashed Friday.

   Dealers placed heavy buy orders in the morning to start the first trading day for November transactions.
But they failed to sell these stocks to client investors, who were cautious about the sharp gains these issues made this week, the Wako official said.

   Fund managers said Friday's profittaking was a natural result of the week's "abnormal fever" in buying real estate, shipbuilding, steel and construction shares.

   Frankfurt prices closed lower again Friday, the fourth decline in the past five days and the culmination of a week that saw the DAX index lose 4%.
The DAX dropped 19.69 points Friday to 1462.93.

   Traders said the continued turbulence in other markets, coupled with the drop in London following the Lawson resignation, were responsible.

   Traders said that selling pressure wasn't enormous and that the DAX dropped Friday more on a lack of any substantial buying interest.
They said contributing to the downward drift was the fact that many professional traders had chosen to square positions ahead of the weekend.

   "It's the whole uncertainty about what's happening around us," said Valentin Von Korff, a trader at Credit Suisse First Boston in Frankfurt.
"If you take away the outside influences, the market itself looks very cheap.
What's happening here is n't justified by the fundamentals."

   Traders said the market remains extremely nervous because of the wild swings seen on the New York Stock Exchange last week.
That's leaving small investors with cold feet, they said, and prompting institutions to take a reserved stance on the sidelines as well, at least until the market in New York settles down somewhat.

   Elsewhere, share prices closed lower in Paris, Zurich, Amsterdam, Brussels and Stockholm, and were mixed in Milan.
The British shakeup was widely cited for the declines.

   Share prices also closed lower in Sydney, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taipei, Manila, Wellington and Seoul.
Concern about declines in other markets, especially New York, caused selling pressure.

   Here are price trends on the world's major stock markets, as calculated by Morgan Stanley Capital International Perspective, Geneva.
To make them directly comparable, each index is based on the close of 1969 equaling 100.
The percentage change is since year-end.
@ % This
@ Oct 25 Oct 24 Year
@ U.S. ................... 315.2 316.4 +23.1
@ Britain ................ 646.4 643.1 +18.4
@ Canada ................. 426.9 426.4 +16.3
@ Japan .................. 1547.1 1550.9 + 8.9
@ France ................. 518.6 521.2 +17.1
@ Germany ................ 236.7 241.0 +13.8
@ Hong Kong .............. 2049.2 2068.9 + 1.0
@ Switzerland ............ 212.6 216.5 +23.0
@ Australia .............. 326.0 329.4 +12.3
@ World index ............ 532.4 533.4 + 7.7
@ Weekly Percentage Leaders

   Last week's best and worst performing stocks among those issues that make up 80% of the world's stock market capitalization (in local currency)
@ ISSUE (COUNTRY) CLOSE % CHG
@ WINNING ISSUES

@ Bell Resources (Australia) ....... 1.02 +32.5
@Bond Media (Australia) ........... 0.31 +24.0
@Godo Shusei (Japan) .............. 2380.0 +19.0
@Fonciere Lvonnaise (France) ...... 858.0 +18.8
@Pegasus Gold (Canada) ............ 14.0 +16.7
@Tokyu Corp. (Japan) .............. 2740.0 +15.6
@SAT Telecom (France) ............. 1605.0 +15.5
@Echo Bay Mines (Canada) .......... 18.625 +13.7
@Nippon Express (Japan) ........... 1770.0 +13.5
@UAC (Singapore) .................. 2380.0 +19.0
@ LOSING ISSUES

@MacCarthy amp Stone (England) ...... 0.74 -29.5
@Campeau (Canada) ................. 7.375 -24.4
@Interchase Corp. (Australia) ..... 0.72 -20.0
@LTV (U.S.) ....................... 1.5 -20.0
@Norske Credibank (Norway) ........ 81.0 -18.6
@Laing (John) (England) ........... 1.96 -18.0
@Computer Assoc Intl (U.S.) ....... 12.0 -17.9
@Beverly Enterprises ( U.S.) ...... 5.625 -16.7
@McDermott Intl (U.S.) ............ 19.0 -16.5
@Lex Services (England) ........... 2.41 -16.3

   Source: Morgan Stanley Capital Intl.
Perspective

Friday

night

the previous Friday

Oct. 13

current

Thursday

the week

two-week

Friday

one day

this week

Monday

Friday

Thursday

recent

Friday

the morning

day

November

this week

Friday

the week

Friday

the past five days

a week

Friday

Friday

the weekend

last week

year-end


AFP_ENG_20061223.0223

TEHRAN, Dec 23 , 2006, 2006

ATTENTION - ADDS quotes, background ///

Iran on Saturday vowed it would defy the UN Security Council's decision to impose sanctions by pressing ahead with its nuclear programme and drastically increasing uranium enrichment capacities.

Foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said that Iran would carry out its plan to install and make operational 3,000 uranium-enriching centrifuges at a key nuclear plant, in defiance of the resolution.

Such a move would be an important step for Iran towards enriching uranium on an industrial scale. So far it has two cascades of 164 centrifuges at its uranium enrichment plant in the central city of Natanz.

"This new resolution will not be an impediment to Iran's nuclear progress," Hosseini said, in a statement published by Iranian official media minutes after the resolution was unanimously agreed.

"The Iranian nation, relying on national abilities and within the framework of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and its undeniable rights, will go ahead with its peaceful nuclear plans."

He said this would involve "making operational the 3,000 centrifuges unit in Natanz, in a continuation of Iran's peaceful nuclear activities under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)."

Iran has maintained that it wants to install the new centrifuges by March and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said the Islamic republic will be able to celebrate its "nuclearisation" around that time.

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

Western countries have sought to agree the sanctions in response to Tehran's refusal to suspend uranium enrichment, a process which they fear could be used to make a nuclear bomb.

Enriched uranium can be used both to make nuclear fuel and also, in highly enriched form, the explosive core of a nuclear bomb. Iran insists its atomic drive is peaceful.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran finds the adoption of the new resolution to be illegal and beyond the duties of the UN Security Council and contrary to the rules of the UN charter," said Hosseini.

The spokesman lashed out at its arch enemy United States as well as Britain for exploiting the UN Security Council while at the same time "expanding their own nuclear arsenal."

"This illegal action by the United States and Britain on the UN Security Council will solidify Iranians' will to guard their independence, national sovereignty and preserve their rights for the future of Iran," he said.

Hosseini however did not give details of any retaliation that Iran could itself impose to hit back at sanctions. Top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani has warned of "painful measures" in the case of sanctions.

But senior Iranian lawmakers warned on Saturday that parliament could hit back at the Security Council sanctions against Tehran by blocking United Nations inspections of its nuclear facilities.

A bill to suspend inspections of Iran's atomic sites by the UN nuclear watchdog has already been prepared by parliament and passed by its security and foreign affairs committee.

"The committee has approved a bill, whereby Iran will seriously revise the nature of its relationship with the International Atomic Energy Agency," speaker Gholam Ali Hadad Adel told state television.

"We will have no other option but to bring this bill before parliament for debate, if Iran comes under pressure," he said.

Iran in February stopped applying the additional protocol to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which allows extensive access to atomic sites, after the Security Council adopted a resolution urging Tehran to freeze enrichment.

However, up until now it has still been allowing regular UN inspections of its atomic sites.

Dec 23 , 2006

now


AFP_ENG_20061211.0672

ROME, Dec 11 , 2006, 2006

Four found dead in burning apartment in Italy

Four people including a three-year-old child were found dead, apparently stabbed, in northern Italy on Monday night by firefighters called to a burning apartment building, ANSA news agency reported.

Firefighters found the bodies of three women and the child, some of them bearing what may have been knife wounds, inside the flaming building in Erba, near Lake Como north of the city of Milan, the agency said.

An injured man was also found at the scene and was taken to hospital.

Dec 11 , 2006

Monday night


XIN_ENG_20061106.0004

BEIJING, Nov. 6 , 2006 (Xinhua)

participation' incidents decline

China is sending more policemen to its rural regions following a government call to build a peaceful countryside, a senior public official said here on Monday.

More than 30,000 police stations have been built in rural regions as the government streamlines its larger police stations and redeploys more police officers to "frontier grass roots" rural regions, said Public Security Vice-Minister Liu Jinguo.

Police have been researching the public security situation in villages, safeguarding social order and taking preventive measures against possible security incidents, he said at a meeting of the Central Committee for Comprehensive Management of Public Security.

The Ministry of Public Security claimed that 17,900 incidents involving mass participation were handled nationwide in the first nine months of the year, down 22.1 percent from the same period last year.

"It's overall stable in terms of public security in the rural areas", he said, though he warned China's fast urbanization poses public security concerns in areas bordering urban and rural regions and in relatively developed countryside.

The number of criminal cases investigated by police around the country also fell in the first nine months of the year by 1.2 percent to 3.34 million.

Nov. 6 , 2006

Monday

the first nine months

the year

last year

the first nine months

the year


AFP_ENG_19970421.0445

BEIJING, April 21 , 1997 (AFP)

WTO calls calls for 'urgency' in talks on Chinese accession

World Trade Organisation (WTO) chief Renato Ruggiero called here Monday for a new "sense of urgency" on the issue of China's entry to the global trade body, amid signs of real progress towards a final agreement.

During a meeting with Foreign Trade Minister Wu Yi, which was held in an "extremely positive atmosphere," Ruggiero stressed that both sides must take advantage of breakthroughs made during March talks on China's WTO accession in Geneva.

"March has been a success, but now we have to build on the momentum with a sense of urgency in order to accelerate negotiations," the WTO director general said.

The breakthroughs in the March talks were China's undertaking to grant individual overseas firms import-export rights three years after joining the WTO, and its pledge to abide by all WTO rules on intellectual property rights from the moment of its accession.

However, according to WTO spokesman Keith Rockwell, Ruggiero also stressed the need for greater flexibilty from China over issues such as market access, especially in the services and agricultural sectors.

"The director general said that movement on market access was something the other WTO members would really insist on," Rockwell said.

According to sources close to Monday's talks, Wu Yi accepted the need for greater flexibility, but insisted that the WTO members take into account China's current level of economic development.

The next round of Geneva talks will be held in May, when hot topics will include non-discrimination against foreign firms, transparency and price controls.

Despite the difficulties presented by these issues, Rockwell said the current atmosphere was overwhelmingly optimistic.

"There is now acknowledgement from all parties that an agreement can be made," he said.

It now appears clear that the WTO is willing to grant China a transition period -- but only in certain sectors -- to come into line with particular WTO requirements.

"The question now is how long a transition period and in which sectors," Rockwell said.

In a speech at Beijing University earlier Monday, Ruggiero admitted that even with the exisiting positive feeling, tough negotiations remained ahead.

"Much of the important work -- and the toughest issues -- have been left to the end," he said, while warning Beijing that WTO membership was crucial to the country's economic future.

"An outward-looking China cannot afford to stand on the sidelines while others write the rules of the game," he said.

"China's entry into the global trading system is about more than trade, it is about China's future role as a world economic leader."

China tried in vain to be a founding member of the WTO in 1995. Before that, it had been seeking admission to the WTO's predecessor, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) since 1986.

"We want China to be a WTO member, but only under the right terms and conditions," Rockwell said, adding that with 27 other nations waiting for admission, China could not be allowed to set any precedents.

"If the rules are altered to suit one entrant, other countries will obviously want the same."

Following his talks with Wu Yi, Ruggiero also met with Vice Premier Li Lanqing. He is scheduled to hold talks with Premier Li Peng on Tuesday, before leaving Beijing on Wednesday.

April 21 , 1997

Monday

March

March

now

March

three years

Monday

current

May

now

now

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday


AFP_ENG_20051217.0027

PERTH, Australia, Dec 17 , 2005

Brilliant Warne claims new wickets record

Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne outstripped Dennis Lillee's 24-year-old record for most wickets in a calendar year on Saturday when he claimed his 85th and 86th in the first Test against South Africa.

Warne bowled opener A.B. de Villiers for 68 before trapping Ashwell Prince lbw for 28, moving past compatriot Lillee's 1981 haul of 85.

"If I had the choice of picking someone to beat the record, I would've picked Warney," Lillee said earlier. "I just think he's a sensational player.

"He's the best leg-spinner I've ever seen, by a mile, and he's probably the best bowler as well."

Warne, the world's leading Test wicket-taker with 647 in 133 matches, began the year with a five-wicket haul in the final Test against Pakistan at the Sydney Cricket Ground in January on the way to a 3-0 series whitewash.

The 36-year-old then picked up 17 victims in a three-Test tour of New Zealand, but it was the 2-1 Ashes defeat in England that brought him within reach of the record.

He took 40 wickets in the five-Test series at 19.92 and added an average of 27.66 with the bat for good measure.

Warne then claimed six ICC World XI wickets in the one-off Test match at the SCG and 16 West Indian scalps before the South Africa series.

He has eclipsed his previous best years of 72 wickets in 1993 -- in just his second season of Test cricket -- and 70 in 1994 and 2004.

Dec 17 , 2005

Saturday

January


XIN_ENG_20061114.0305

BERLIN, Nov. 14 , 2006 (Xinhua)

German stocks close lower

German stocks ended lower on Tuesday on the Frankfurt market.

The 30-share DAX Index lost 6.35 percent to 6,387.38 points.

The MDAX index of medium-sized companies was down 0.21 percent to 8,877.6 points.

The TecDAX index of technologies and science firms lost 0.65 percent to 706.71.

Nov. 14 , 2006

Tuesday


XIN_ENG_20051113.0224

LONDON, Nov. 13 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Spurs dismiss King contract problems

English premier league club Tottenham have dismissed reports saying captain Ledley King had rejected a fresh deal, insisting that they have yet to offer him a new contract.

The 25-year-old's current contract runs until 2008 and Spurs sporting director Damien Comolli said: "We initiated talks with Ledley and his advisors.

"Our discussions are in the early stages and will continue in private.

"It is totally inaccurate to say that he has rejected any offer, we haven't made one."

King plays in central defence for Spurs but was employed in a holding midfield role for England against Argentina on Saturday.

He had the task of man-marking playmaker Juan Riquelme and revealed the game proved a steep learning curve.

"It was difficult for me," he said. "They have got players who like to drop into the hole and at times I found it hard.

"Riquelme is a top-class player and there were times he drifted out wide, dragged me out - and left spaces for other players to move into.

"It is a learning process. I don't play there often so every game is a learning curve and it is a good lesson being up against some of the best."

Nov. 13 , 2005

Saturday


XIN_ENG_20061117.0192

MOSCOW, Nov. 17 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Russia, Sri Lanka sign WTO accession deal

Russia and Sri Lanka on Friday signed an agreement on the completion of bilateral talks on Russia's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Sri Lanka's capital Colombo, Russian news agencies reported.

Russian Economic Development and Trade Minister German Gref and Sri Lankan Minister of Trade, Commerce and Consumer Affairs Jeyaraj Fernandopulle signed the document on behalf of the two sides, Russian WTO negotiator Andrei Kushnirenko was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.

Sri Lanka initially was a member of a working group on Russia's accession to the WTO. It was also one of a number of countries that did not make any demands on Russia and thus did not hold any bilateral negotiations earlier.

As Russia's bilateral accession talks are coming to an end, Sri Lanka expressed the hope to conclude an appropriate agreement, mainly to strengthen the terms of tea exports, which accounts for 96 percent of the country's exports to Russia.

Russia still has to sign bilateral protocols with the United States and Costa Rica, with whom the talks have been technically concluded.

According to Russian presidential aide Sergei Prikhodko, Russia is expected to sign an agreement with the United States on its entry into the WTO on Sunday in Vietnam's capital Haoni, where the 14th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Informal Meeting is held on Nov. 18-19.

Nov. 17 , 2006

Friday

Sunday

Nov. 18-19


XIN_ENG_20061128.0451

MEXICO CITY, Nov. 28 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Stocks close higher in Argentina, Brazil, lower in Mexico

Latin America's three major stock markets closed mixed on Tuesday.

The Buenos Aires stock market closed with the Merval index up 0.81 percent at 1,907.57 points. The trade volume was 16.451 million dollars.

In Sao Paulo, Latin America's biggest bourse, the leading Bovespa index closed at 41,043 points, up 0.31 percent. The trade volume was 983 million dollars.

Mexico City's IPC stock index drooped by 0.4 percent to close at 24,344.95 points. A total of 140.8 million shares were traded at 398.9 million U.S. dollars.

Nov. 28 , 2006

Tuesday


AFP_ENG_19970421.0190

DHAKA, April 21 , 1997 (AFP)

Trial of alleged Bangladesh 1975 coup plotters abruptly adjourned

The trial of the alleged plotters of a 1975 coup in which Bangladesh's founding leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was killed was opened and then abruptly adjourned Monday.

The surprise move came when a defence lawyer tabled a motion of "no confidence" against the judge on the first day of the hearing. The motion will now be ruled on by the High Court.

The court was adjourned about two hours into the trial, and the court set April 29 for the next hearing.

Sheikh Mujib, also father of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed, was slain with most of his family in the August 15, 1975 coup. For more than 20 years, no action was taken against the coup-leaders, until Sheikh Hasina swept his Awami League back into power last year.

Defence lawyer Mahbubur Rahman, a MP of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, moved the no-confidence motion after trial judge Kazi Golam Rasul rejected an appeal to suspend the trial.

Rahman wanted time to first petition the High Court against the indictment of his client Zobaida Rashid, wife of one of the alleged key plotters retired colonel Abdur Rashid.

But Rasul refused the request saying the High Court could issue an order to stay the proceedings at any time during the hearing.

"After receiving any such order from the High Court, the trial of the court would be immediately stopped and therefore there is no reason to wait for a order," he said.

Legal experts said the High Court was likely to issue a stay order to hear the defence petition and may transfer the case to another court.

April 21 , 1997

Monday

the first day

two hours

April 29

August 15, 1975

more than 20 years

last year


XIN_ENG_20061118.0161

CAIRO, Nov. 18 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Gaza

Egypt's Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit Saturday welcomed the adoption of a resolution in the previous day by the United Nations General Assembly deploring the Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip, the official MENA news agency reported.

The adoption of the resolution, which calls for the Israeli troops' immediate withdrawal from Gaza, reflects a world desire to expose Israeli practices against the Palestinian people, Abul Gheit was quoted as saying in a statement.

While expressing satisfaction with the European Union's support for the resolution, Abu Gheit also expressed his deep regret for the United States' opposition to the resolution even though it included a direct appeal to the Palestinian side to halt firing missiles at Israel, MENA said.

Meanwhile, Abul Gheit reiterated Egypt's denunciation of a recent Israeli offensive in northern Gaza's Beit Hanoun town that killed some 19 Palestinian civilians.

He said that he was astonished to find that some powers still allow Israel to act as it pleased and go on with its policy of violating international law and human rights after the deadly attack on Palestinians.

The Arabs resorted to the UN General Assembly and asked for protection of the Palestinian people after the UN Security Council failed to adopt a draft resolution due to a U.S. veto, Abul Gheit said.

The United Nations General Assembly on Friday overwhelmingly adopted the resolution by a vote of 156 to 7 with six abstentions.

The resolution asked the UN secretary-general to set up a UN probe into the Beit Hanoun incident in which 19 Palestinians were killed, including many children and women, on Nov. 8.

It called on the international community, as well as the diplomatic Quartet on the Middle East peace process -- the European Union, Russia, the United States and United Nations - to help stabilize the situation and restart the peace process.

The 25-member European Union joined the Arab states in voting positively after a last-minute effort to soften the tone of the text, while the United States, Israel and Australia were among those who voted against it.

Nov. 18 , 2006

Saturday

recent

Friday

Nov. 8


AFP_ENG_20061205.0205

DOHA, Dec 5 , 2006, 2006

China wins men's Double Trap team gold

China won the men's Double Trap team gold medal on Tuesday to pick up their 17th shooting title at the Asian Games here.

India took the silver and Taiwan the bronze at the Lusail ranges.

The Chinese team of Hu Binyuan, Wang Nan and Liu Anlong finished with 424 points, 15 ahead of the Indian trio of Rajyavardhan Rathore, Ronjan Sodhi and Vikram Bhatnagar.

Hu, the world number two, is also expected to pick up the individual gold medal to be decided later on Tuesday.

Dec 5 , 2006

Tuesday

Tuesday


XIN_ENG_20051129.0232

MAPUTO, Nov. 29 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Mozambican suspected of killing Maputo prison director escapes

A Mozambican man suspect of murdering Jorge Microsse, director of Maputo central prison, has escaped from the city's police headquarters, local media reported on Tuesday.

The suspect, known by the nickname "Todinho", escaped before dawn Monday along with four other inmates.

Although the police have so far refused to confirm or deny Todinho's escape, an official Interior Ministry statement confirmed that five people had escaped from the police cells of the Maputo city command, in the small hours of Monday morning.

Eight policemen, including sergeants and officers, have been detained, accused of negligence in allowing the escape to happen.

Todinho had been waiting trial for the Oct. 21 murder of Microsse, who shortly before his death said he was the target of death threats because of his pledge to crackdown on corruption in the prison system.

Nov. 29 , 2005

Tuesday

Monday

Monday morning

Oct. 21


AFP_ENG_19970419.0167

ZAGREB, April 19 , 1997 (AFP)

Results of elections in Eastern Slavonia expected later Saturday

Results for last week's UN-organised elections in Eastern Slavonia, the last Serb-held part of Croatia, are due to be announced later on Saturday a UN spokesman said.

Spokesman Yuri Chizik told AFP that the results of the local, regional and upper house elections would be announced during the day.

According to Croatian radio, the results will be announced simultaneously in the UN headquarters in Vukovar, the main town in Eastern Slavonia, and in Zagreb.

Polling in the elections began Sunday but in the face of problems with delayed ballot papers and incomplete electoral lists, the UN administration extended the vote until Monday, and in one polling station until Tuesday.

They also relaxed voting rules to allow people not on the electoral lists to vote provided they had a Croatian identity card.

The UN said that it was confident that, after the initial problems, everyone who wanted to vote was able to do so.

Eastern Slavonia was captured by rebel Serbs during bitter fighting in 1991. Under a 1995 peace plan, it is due to return to Croatian control by January next year at the latest, and the elections were a key step in that process.

The announcement of the results was delayed by the need to collect ballots cast by tens of thousands of Croats force out of the region by the Serbs in 1991 -- in the process known as "ethnic cleansing" -- and now living in other parts of the country.

Once the area has returned to Croatian control they will be entitled to return to their original homes.

UN administrator Jacques Klein is expected to meet Croatian President Franjo Tudjman later Saturday to discuss the elections, the post- election period and what happens when the current UN mandate ends, Chizik said.

Currently, the mandate for the UN administration in Eastern Slavonia (UNTAES) is due to end on July 15 after one and a half years.

However, the UN Security Council has said that a further UN presence, as yet undefined, will remain in the region until January.

April 19 , 1997

last week

Saturday

the day

Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

January next year

now

Saturday

July 15

one and a half years

January


AFP_ENG_20061211.0503

PARIS, Dec 11 , 2006, 2006

Paris mayor calls for PSG hooligan ban

The mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoe, on Monday called on Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy to take steps to bar hundreds of potential troublemakers from attending this week's UEFA Cup tie between Paris Saint Germain and Panathinaikos.

Delanoe was speaking amid fears of a repeat of ugly scenes that followed PSG's 4-2 UEFA Cup loss to Israeli side Hapoel Tel Aviv on November 23.

A black off-duty police officer shot dead a PSG supporter and seriously injured another as he tried to shield a Hapoel Tel Aviv fan from a mob of around 150 PSG supporters.

Delanoe said that PSG "should lead by example in the fight against violence, racism and anti-semitism" but that it was "100 percent the responsibility of the Interior Ministry" to deal with the problem, and they could start by preventing potential troublemakers from attending Wednesday night's game.

Panathinaikos have also had their problems on and off the pitch with Greek police detaining 62 of their fans, some of whom were found in possession of weapons and cannabis, after clashing with rivals Olympiakos last month.

Dec 11 , 2006

Monday

this week

November 23

Wednesday night

last month


AFP_ENG_19970430.0089

FORT DAVIS, Texas, April 29 , 1997 (AFP)

Police optimistic about peaceful end to Texas standoff by Francis Temman

Negotiations were moving forward between police and a handful of armed separatists near this remote west Texas community, authorities said.

"Things are looking very positive," said on Tuesday Mike Cox, a spokesman for the Texas Department of Public Safety. "We are optimistic that there is going to be a peaceful outcome."

The separatists in the negotiation are demanding that they be treated as diplomats, CNN television reported.

Police believe that at least 13 people are holed up in a small house they call their "embassy" on the property of Richard McLaren, the self-proclaimed leader of the "Republic of Texas."

The group, which includes one woman but no children, claims the United States illegally annexed the state in 1845.

"We do know they have weapons," Cox said.

At least 75 officers from the Texas Department of Public Safety, the US Border Patrol, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and a special assault unit have surrounded McLaren's property at the Davis Mountain resort near Fort Davis.

Since the standoff began three days ago, authorities have declined to say exactly how many officers are here. But a grocery store owner at Fort Davis said he has sold enough food to feed some 300 men.

The forces are deployed some 1.5 kilometers (one mile) from the "embassy." The police command post is some seven kilometers (4.3 miles) away, not far from a firehouse occupied by the separatists on Sunday and seized by police Monday.

Tensions rose on Monday when Texas Attorney General Dan Morales announced that three members of the group had been charged with "organized criminal activity," and that three others face kidnapping charges.

McLaren and several other Republic of Texas members were wanted on state and federal contempt of court charges.

On Sunday, a separatist "commando" held a husband and wife hostage for some 12 hours in a bid to free Robert Scheidt, one of their comrades jailed on weapons charges.

The couple, Joe and Margaret Rowe, was exchanged Monday for Scheidt. Joe Rowe was treated for minor injuries.

Shortly after mid-day Tuesday, McLaren placed a package outside the residence containing "legal documents" for his attorney, Terence O'Rourke. O'Rourke, who was barred from entering the residence by police, said he has talked to McLaren by telephone.

"He's willing to die for what he believes in," O'Rourke said of his client. But he said: "He doesn't need to be a martyr."

Authorities spent hours retrieving the documents with the help of an armored vehicle because the area around the "embassy" was reportedly studded with explosives.

"It wasn't a major planned operation," Cox said. "We've got some felony warrants to serve and we're going to serve them."

Around 120 residents of nearby properties have been asked by police to leave their homes. Those who sought to return Tuesday were barred by a police roadblock across the only street into the community.

"It's for their personal safety," Cox said.

The Red Cross has set up a shelter for residents in a gym at Fort Davis, and members of the Texas National Guard have set up tents to shield law enforcement officials and their equipment -- which now includes two armored vehicles -- from the blinding Texas sun.

April 29 , 1997

Tuesday

three days ago

Sunday

Monday

Monday

Sunday

some 12 hours

Monday

Tuesday

Tuesday

now


XIN_ENG_20061113.0327

NEW YORK, Nov. 13 , 2006 (Xinhua)

U.S. stocks end higher

U.S. stocks ended higher on Monday, as crude oil prices dived to near 59 dollars.

In the closing trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 23.45, or 0.19 percent, to 12,131.88. The Standard  Poor's 500 index gained 3.52, or 0.25 percent, at 1,384.42, and the Nasdaq composite index rose 16.66, or 0.70 percent, at 2,406.38..

Crude oil prices fell to near 59 dollars on Monday amid warm winter concern, after the International Energy Agency cut its oil product demand growth forecast for 2006.

Crude futures have fallen more than 25 percent from its record 78.40 dollars per barrel in mid-July. Low energy prices would boost corporate profits and consumer spending, which accounts for about two-thirds of the U.S. economic activity.

Nov. 13 , 2006

Monday

Monday


XIN_ENG_20051118.0150

BEIJING, Nov. 18 , 2005 (Xinhua)

China enhances quarantine work to safeguard normal fowl trade

The Ministry of Agriculture recently issued a circular requiring local departments to enhance quarantine and supervision of the poultry trade.

Millions of chickens, ducks, geese and other poultry have been culled after bird flu outbreaks were reported in Xinjiang uygur autonomous region, Liaoning, Hubei, Anhui and Hunan provinces.

The circular requires veterinary and quarantine departments at all levels to improve their quick-response mechanisms and enhance supervision over feeding, slaughtering and stockpiling of poultry.

Unqualified and unlicensed poultry processors are to be closed immediately. The processing, sale, transport and consumption of sick fowl are forbidden, the circular said.

The ministry emphasized the blockade, culling, inoculation and disposal work in epidemic zones, saying the trade of poultry from non-affected zones should not be hampered so as to safeguard normal market order.

The blockade areas should not be expanded without warrant, and special effort should be made to prevent the entry of infected birds from overseas, it said.

The ministry demanded firm action be taken against illegal activities such as falsifying quarantine certificates, arbitrary fee and fine collection by quarantine officials.

The circular asked all relevant departments to enhance information exchange and coordination, so as to ensure the prevention and control of the highly pathogenic bird flu.

Nov. 18 , 2005

recently


XIN_ENG_20061128.0209

COLOMBO, Nov. 28 , 2006  (Xinhua)

Sri Lankan gov't to clarify rebel's position on truce

The Sri Lankan government said Tuesday that it had asked the Norwegian peace facilitators and the Nordic truce monitors to clarify Tamil Tiger rebels' position on truce in the light of comments made by the rebel leader in his annual policy speech.

"We have asked both the Norwegian government and the SLMM (Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission) to clarify the stand on the cease-fire," Keheliya Rambukwella, the minister of Policy Planning and the government's defense spokesman told reporters.

The leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Velupillai Prabakaran in his speech delivered Monday said that the government's use of military power in the Tamil regions has rendered the 2002 cease-fire agreement (CFA) brokered by the Norwegians "defunct".

Prabakaran also said that the government's action "has effectively buried the CFA."

The rebel leader said the actions of the majority Sinhala governments had led the rebels with only one option: an independent state for the Tamil people. He appealed to the international community to "recognize our freedom struggle."

Rambukwella said despite the rebel leader's pronouncement to resume the independence struggle after six years of peace negotiations, the government was committed to furthering the process of negotiations and would keep the window opened for the LTTE to return to talks.

The LTTE leader's policy speech has renewed fears of full scale war resuming in the island's Northern and Eastern provinces.

Norway's peace effort began in 2000 saw the LTTE and the government meeting face to face eight times for negotiations since 2002.

The process became marred by high cost of violence with the government, saying that over 3,000 people died in the conflict between December 2005 and October 2006.

More than 60,000 have been killed in Sri Lanka since the LTTE launched its separatist campaign in the mid-1980s.

Nov. 28 , 2006

Tuesday

Monday

six years

December 2005

October 2006


AFP_ENG_20061211.0616

INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana, Dec 11 , 2006, 2006

Pacers banish Jackson for bad conduct

Stephen Jackson was suspended by the Indiana Pacers for Monday's game at Chicago after a heated exchange with coach Rick Carlisle, the National Basketball Association club announced Monday.

The veteran guard's banishment came for conduct detrimental to the team in a 107-105 loss Saturday at Cleveland. He was replaced by Darrell Armstrong 2:46 before the end of the first half and let Carlisle know he was unhappy about it.

"I substituted for (Jackson) and he came to the bench and an exchange ensued that I felt was inappropriate, detrimental to the team, so I made a decision to remove him from the bench," Carlisle said.

"As of right now, this is a one-game situation. I expect that this is an incident that is isolated and will be dealt with as such."

Notorious for his role in the riot at Detroit two years ago, Jackson was arrested for allegedly firing a gun outside an Indianapolis strip club in October.

Jackson is averaging 12.3 points and 3.4 assists in 22 games with the Pacers this season, his third with the team.

Dec 11 , 2006

Monday

Monday

Saturday

now

Detroit two years ago

October


AFP_ENG_20051214.0372

SKOPJE, Dec 14 , 2005

Macedonia pleads for French support over EU candidacy

Macedonia's president on Wednesday sent a letter to his French counterpart pleading for Paris to reverse its stance against the former Yugoslav republic gaining official EU candidacy.

"The citizens of Macedonia believe in Europe and believe in France. Candidacy would be a huge opportunity, but an obligation as well," President Branko Crvenkovski said in the letter to France's Jacques Chirac.

Crvenkovski made the appeal ahead of a summit Thursday of EU leaders in Brussels, at which the tiny Balkan state was hoping to be granted the official status of a candidate for EU membership.

France has emerged as the most vocal opponent of Macedonia's official candidacy as the 25-nation bloc struggles to reach an agreement over its 2007-2013 budget plans.

In his letter, the Macedonian president said Skopje "fully understands" the problems that Brussels faces, but added he believed that giving his country the status would represent a "victory" for Europe.

"I am addressing you as the president of France, a state that has always actively supported ... Macedonia on its path towards Europe," Crvenkovski told Chirac in the letter.

"Your personal contribution has been an integral part of my country to get to the place where it belongs -- in the European family" of nations, he said.

"Macedonia does not fear for its future and expects the European Council in Brussels to confirm all of our achievements by giving us candidate status for EU membership," said Crvenkovski, referring to the pace of reforms in the country since the end of an ethnic Albanian uprising in 2001.

French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy has said Paris was questioning Macedonia's candidacy because it would "send a signal to the public... that we are heading for more enlargement".

French and Dutch voters rejected the European Union's carefully prepared constitution earlier this year, plunging the bloc into its deepest political crisis.

Dec 14 , 2005

Wednesday

Thursday

earlier this year


AFP_ENG_20051206.0104

COLOMBO, Dec 6 , 2005

Sri Lanka army chief seeks talks with Tigers amid blasts

Sri Lanka's new army chief took command Tuesday with a call for talks with Tamil Tiger rebels to defuse tension in the northern town of Jaffna after 14 soldiers were killed in two blasts.

Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka said he wanted to re-establish communication links with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to prevent attacks against government forces.

Fonseka's maiden press conference after assuming command of the country's 120,000-strong army was delayed for nearly half an hour after suspected Tiger rebels blew up an army tractor, killing seven security personnel.

He played down Tuesday's blast, the second since Sunday when another seven soldiers perished in an identical attack, and sounded a conciliatory line in sharp contrast to his military reputation as a hawk.

"There has been a communication gap between us and the LTTE," Fonseka said. "The LTTE has said they did not carry out the attacks. We don't have 100 percent evidence, but we think they did it.

"If they did not do it, who else could have done it. And we need to stop them."

"It is important to establish contact with the LTTE to ensure that the peace process will not collapse," he said, adding that the Tigers and the government had not maintained direct contact at field level for several months.

Sri Lanka's peace broker Norway has tried but failed to arrange a top-level meeting between the two sides to strengthen the February 2002 truce.

Fonseka said he did not believe that the escalation of violence in the island's former rebel stronghold of Jaffna would lead to fresh hostilities.

"I don't think this is a build-up to a war. Even if the attacks are indeed by the LTTE we know it is by a small group and we can deal with it," he said.

Dec 6 , 2005

Tuesday

Tuesday

Sunday

several months

February 2002


AFP_ENG_19970418.0623

MONS, Belgium, April 19 , 1997 (AFP)

Belgian police renew searches after more human remains surface by Bertrand Pinon

Police prepared for new efforts Saturday to track down a suspected serial killer after the discovery of more dumped human body parts near this southern Belgian town.

The latest remains, comprising a thigh, an arm, a forearm and a hand, were found in three bags Friday by municipal workers cleaning drains in a residential area of Havre, a suburb of Mons, public prosecutor Pierre Honore said.

The macabre find brought to 15 the total number of garbage bags to turn up in the area since March 22. All the others contained neatly- severed female body parts, except for one stuffed with clothing.

They add up to between four and six suspected victims of a murderer being dubbed the "killer of Mons." Only one so far has been identified, thanks to a tattoo.

She was Martine Bohn, a 43-year-old French prostitute living locally, whose torso had already been fished out of a river in July last year.

Honore said late Friday that like the earlier remains, the limbs would be sent for analysis by forensic experts in Liege.

The police probe would be intensified Saturday, he added.

The chain of finds began on March 22 with nine garbage bags in the suburb of Couesmes, containing the limbs of three women. Another bag, holding the upper part of a torso, turned up nearby two days later.

Two supermarket bags containing a foot, an ankle and the head of a woman aged between 35 and 40 were found in Havre on April 12.

Honore's department has also been in contact with French prosecutors just over the border in Valenciennes, to see if there is any link with the pelvis of a still-unidentified woman's body found in January 1996 at Chateau l'Abbaye, northern France.

The search for a pattern in the killer's operations has uncovered a dark twist in his choice of dumping grounds for the bags.

Apparently playing a cat-and-mouse game, the killer has left the remains of his victims in places with suggestive names: Rue du Depot (Dump) near the River Haine (Hate), on Chemin de l'Inquietude (Worry) and the banks of the River Trouille (Jitters).

The latest finds were in an area known as La Poudriere, or the Powder- keg.

Belgian police are under heavy pressure to solve the killings in the wake of strong parliamentary criticism of bungled investigations into missing children kidnapped by a suspected paedophile ring.

Prime Minister Jean-Luc Dehaene Friday promised disciplinary axction against those responsible for mishandling the cases.

April 19 , 1997

Friday

March 22

July last year

late Friday

Saturday

March 22

two days

April 12

January 1996

Friday


AFP_ENG_19970424.0118

BEIJING, April 24 , 1997 (AFP)

China anti-drugs war confirms narcotics pandemic by Giles Hewitt

China's new crackdown on drugs has confirmed how narcotics abuse has spread rapidly across the country, snaring the young and fanning violent crime and the spread of AIDS, press reports said Thursday.

While public security authorities have hailed the success of the campaign launched this month, the predominant feeling is one of concern at the extent of drug trafficking and abuse.

"The situation ahead of us is extremely serious," Public Security Minister Tao Siju was quoted as saying in the latest edition of the bi-monthly magazine, Democracy and the Legal System.

Pointing to a sharp increase in drug trafficking cases last year, Tao warned that the smuggling gangs were becoming "increasingly sophisticated, well organised and armed."

China currently has some 520,000 registered drug addicts, but even Tao admitted that the figure was nowhere near the actual number.

"Drugs are not only a threat to public security, but also to society as a whole," Tao said, pointing out that between 60 and 70 percent of HIV carriers in China had contracted the virus from sharing needles.

Meanwhile, a report carried by the Xinhua news agency on Thursday demonstrated the pandemic nature of China's drug problem, which only five years ago was almost exclusively restricted to the southwestern province of Yunnan, bordering the heroin-producing Golden Triangle region.

On April 15, a major trans-provincial drug-trafficking cartel was broken up in the the new western municipality of Chongqing, with six suspects arrested and 3.33 kilograms (7.3 pounds) of heroin seized.

The ongoing campaign also resulted in the arrest of all members of an 11-strong trafficking gang in Beijing, together with 5.8 kilograms (12.76 pounds) of heroin.

In the northern province of Shanxi, one of China's most-wanted drug traffickers was arrested on April 1 in the city of Datong after eight years on the run.

Police said 50 drug-related crimes had been uncovered this month in Datong alone, resulting in the arrest of 64 suspects.

In Yunnan, some 588 kilograms (1,295 pounds) of heroin were seized in the first three months of this year.

Xinhua also carried a statement from the Public Security Ministry confirming the arrival of the Western designer drug, Ecstasy, which is known here as the "rocking head pill."

"It is dangerous to health and harmful to social stability," it said, adding that the drug had surfaced in major cities like Shanghai, Beijing, Shenyang and Shenzhen.

In Shanghai on Tuesday, police arrested five drug traffickers and confiscated a total of 6.3 kilograms (13.86 pounds) of heroin and 60,000 yuan (7,200 dollars) in cash.

The current anti-drug campaign is slated to last until the end of September.

The China Youth Daily on Thursday said the rise in drug abuse was especially serious among teenagers, and warned that not nearly enough was being done in schools to educate young people about the dangers of narcotics.

"Schools only seem to act once their students are found to be taking drugs, whereas they should be looking to take more preventative measures," the newspaper said.

According to the report, 46 percent of the drug addicts uncovered last year in the southern city of Guangzhou were less than 18 years old.

"Surveys in schools have shown that many students would be willing to experiment with drugs out of curiosity," it added.

April 24 , 1997

Thursday

this month

last year

Thursday

five years ago

April 15

April 1

eight years

this month

the first three months

this year

Tuesday

the end of September

Thursday

last year


XIN_ENG_20051111.0229

STOCKHOLM, Nov. 11 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Danish foreign minister condemns Amman bombings

Danish Minister of Foreign Affairs Per Stig Moeller on Friday condemned the bombings against three hotels in Amman, Jordan, Ritzau News Bureau reported.

"Once again, we see that terrorists have brought their contempt for human life to bear on innocent people," Moeller said. "These kinds of acts can in no way be justified."

Moeller said that the bombings would not prevent him from visiting Jordan on Sunday as part of a series of visits in the Middle East.

Moeller pointed out that terrorists had become increasingly more brazen in their methods.

"And that highlights the importance of continuing to strengthen international cooperation in the fight against terror," he said.

The foreign minister also said that Jordan was one of the Middle-Eastern countries that was doing most to implement reforms.

"It is characteristic that terror attacks have been targeted against reformers in the Middle East, such as Jordan. Therefore it is vital that we continue to expand our cooperation and dialogue with Middle-Eastern countries," Moeller said.

Nov. 11 , 2005

Friday

Sunday


AFP_ENG_20061209.0249

DOHA, Dec 9 , 2006, 2006

Hidayat takes gold over arch rival Lin

Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat from Indonesia won the men's Asian Games singles badminton gold medal over arch rival Lin Dan of China 21-15, 22-20 here Saturday.

Dec 9 , 2006

Saturday


XIN_ENG_20061106.0010

YUANPING, Shanxi, Nov. 6 , 2006 (Xinhua)

China coal mine

Rescuers on Monday were still searching for the 30 miners trapped in a coal mine explosion which had claimed 17 lives in north China's Shanxi Province on Sunday.

About 90 rescuers in eight teams went down more than 300 meters to search for the trapped miners, while others were busy moving exhaust fans, cables, timber and other materials into the mine.

Officials with the rescue headquarters said the resumption of ventilation and power supply is vital for rescue operation.

Initial investigations suggest that human errors were blamed for the fatal accident.

The mine should have been evacuated since gas had accumulated to a dangerous level on Sunday morning after exhaust fans stopped working due to power failure. However, power supply resumed without safety measures and caused the explosion.

According to the rescue headquarters, 393 workers were working in the mine when the blast took place, and 346 miners escaped.

The accident occurred at 11 a.m. Sunday in the Jiaojiazhai Coal Mine of Xuangang Company under Datong Coal Mine Group, in Xinzhou, a central-north city of Shanxi Province.

All the victims are miners of Datong Coal Mine Group.

The Shanxi government on Monday ordered all the coal mines in the coal-rich province to operate in accord with work safety regulations, saying any one who violate regulations will be punished.

Nov. 6 , 2006

Monday

Sunday

Sunday morning

11 a.m.

Sunday

Monday


XIN_ENG_20051126.0150

LIBREVILLE, Nov. 26 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Opposition hold large-scale rally in Gabonese capital

The Gabonese opposition held here a large-scale rally Saturday, gathering support for Pierre Mambounbou, who was defeated in last elections and vowed to replace Africa's longest serving leader Bongo Ondimba in Sunday's polls.

Several thousands of people, dressed in red T-shirts, symbolic for Union of Gabonese People Party, accumulated in the capital's Rio district in the afternoon, dancing and singing to show their support for Mambounbou.

"We need change, Gabon needs change. Bongo has been president for nearly 40 years, it's too long and there's not much change in our country," said Demar, a crane driver in Libreville.

Despite of the challenges from other four candidates, Bongo is widely expected to win Sunday's elections that are seen as a one- sided contest which will prolong his 38 years rule in Gabon.

Gabon is one of the few countries in central Africa that has never -- since its independence from France -- been affected by an armed conflict.

It is a small country with only about 1.5 million people, yet Gabon's people has one of the highest per capita incomes in Africa, largely due to the country's substantial revenues from petroleum exports.

Nov. 26 , 2005

Saturday

Sunday

the afternoon

nearly 40 years

Sunday


AFP_ENG_20051212.0486

WASHINGTON, Dec 12 , 2005

US envoy predicts high turnout in Iraq election

The US State Department's coordinator on Iraq predicted Monday a high turnout in this week's parliamentary election and said pre-poll violence had dropped sharply in recent days.

Washington also does not expect a new Iraqi government to ask for the withdrawal of US troops "any time in the near future," James Jeffrey told a briefing at the Foreign Press Center here.

Jeffrey spoke ahead of the election Thursday for Iraq's first permanent legislature of the post-Saddam Hussein era, a milestone US officials hope will undermine the Iraqi insurgency and allow American troops to pull out.

Dismissing concern that minority Sunni Muslims would stay away from the polls, Jeffrey said, "I do believe that there will be a very high turnout from all groups in the country.

"We hope, but cannot guarantee, that violence will be down, but I believe that even if the level of violence were to spike, that the Iraqi people ... will in large numbers go and vote."

Jeffrey gave no figure for predicted turnout. About 59 percent of eligible Iraqis cast ballots last January for an interim parliament, and 64 percent voted in the October 15 referendum on a new constitution.

The US envoy said that unlike the runup to January's ballot, "the level of violence has dropped my almost any measure over the past few days and we hope that that trend continues."

He gave no backup data but speculated this "might indicate that, particularly in some of the Sunni Arab areas, people are making a major commitment to vote, including among circles close to the insurgency."

Iraqi parties have started to make rumblings about a timetable for the withdrawal of US troops in Iraq, currently numbering some 160,000 for the election but expected to drop by 20,000 afterward.

Jeffrey repeated the US line that American forces would leave if asked but said, "We don't think that the Iraqi government, or a Iraqi government, will take that step any time in the near future."

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who spent a day in Iraq last month, was briefed by Sunni and other groups on the security situation, including "the interest in an eventual transfer" to local security forces, Jeffrey said.

"But this was underlined very, very strongly -- nowhere more strongly than by Sunni Arabs -- they (US forces) should not be withdrawn until there are capable Iraqi troops that can move in and take care of the security situation."

Jeffrey said if some Iraqis such as the faction led by Shiite firebrand cleric Moqtada Sadr sought a timetable for the US withdrawal, "there are many other groups that reject that."

Dec 12 , 2005

Monday

this week

recent

the near future

Thursday

last January

October 15

January

the past few days

the near future

last month


WSJ891027-0084
 = 891027
 891027-0084.
 Financing Business:
@  Blockbuster Entertainment Corp.
 10/27/89
 WALL STREET JOURNAL (J)
 BV
 BOND MARKET NEWS (BON)

   BLOCKBUSTER ENTERTAINMENT CORP. said it raised $92 million from an offering of liquid yield option notes.
The gross proceeds from the sale of the notes, which will be due on Nov. 1, 2004, will be used to reduce existing debt and for general corporate purposes, the company said.
The debt reduction is expected to save the Fort Lauderdale, Fla. home video concern about $2 million a year in interest expense.
The zero-coupon subordinated notes have no periodic interest payments.
Each note is being offered at $308.32 per $1,000 principal amount at maturity, representing an 8% yield to maturity.
In addition, each note can be converted into Blockbuster Entertainment common stock at a rate of 13.851 shares per note.
Merrill Lynch Capital Markets Inc. is the sole underwriter for the offering.
The notes will have a principal amount of $300 million at maturity.
Blockbuster shares closed yesterday at $18.75, down $1.125, in New York Stock Exchange trading.

Nov. 1, 2004

yesterday


XIN_ENG_20051117.0403

MEXICO CITY, Nov. 17 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Scientists discover new gene linked with schizophrenia

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 17 (Xinhua)-- A new gene has been identified to link with higher risk of schizophrenia and depression, scientists reported on Thursday.

Schizophrenia and related mood disorders are thought to arise from a combination of genetic and environmental factors, but researchers have had difficulty identifying the specific genes involved.

Earlier studies have found a gene called DISC1, operating in a way that may contribute to the disorder, may make people susceptible to schizophrenia. However, the function of its encoded protein has been unclear.

The new research, appearing in the Nov. 18 issue of the journal Science, presented genetic and biochemical evidence suggesting that the DISC1 protein interacts with an enzyme called phosphodiesterase 4B (PDE4B), which in turn influences the activity of the signaling molecule cAMP.

This signaling system has previously been implicated in learning, memory and mood in other experimental systems, which is consistent with the idea that alterations in the system may contribute to schizophrenia, according to the researchers.

Damage to the gene PDE4B is also seen to increase the risk of developing mental illness. In addition, the researchers have discovered that DISC1 acts as a regulator for PDE4B, creating a 'pathway' between the two genes.

"The new genetic link we have made to PDE4B and how that links back to DISC1 sheds much needed light on these debilitating disorders. It also suggests a new way of thinking about developing better and effective medicines," said David Porteous, a professor at the University of Edinburgh, Britain, who led the study.

The new discovery may in the future lead to the eventual development of new drugs to treat mental health problems, the researchers said.

"Our insights into the important role that the proteins PDE4B and DISC1 may play in the mis-function of the brain that leads to schizophrenia will lead our thinking in the development of new treatments for this disorder," said Peter Hutson, co-author of the study from the drug maker Merck Sharp  Dohme.

Nov. 17 , 2005

Nov. 17

Thursday

Nov. 18

the future


AFP_ENG_19970411.0312

KUALA LUMPUR, April 11 , 1997 (AFP)

Malaysian opposition calls on politician to resign

A Malaysian opposition leader Friday called for the resignation of a high-ranking Malaysian politician charged with attempting to take undeclared currency out of Australia.

Muhammad bin Muhammad Taib, chief minister of Malaysia's central state of Selangor, was earlier Friday ordered by an Australian court to attend a three-day committal hearing beginning August 19.

Muhammad, 51, who was not required to attend the court hearing Friday, was charged with failing to declare the equivalent of 2.4 million ringgit (981,000 US) in December 1996.

Under Australian law it is an offence to carry more than 5,000 dollars in cash into or out of the country without declaring it.

Parliamentary opposition Lim Kit Siang called on Muhammad to "resign or take immediate long leave until the outcome of the court proceedings in August."

"If Muhammad loves Malaysia, he should resign as Selangor chief minister to end the enormous embarassment he is causing the nation with endless international reports about his vast wealth," Lim said in a statement.

"Malaysia must not be put through another four month's agony and international embarrassment over his 2.4-million-ringgit cash caper in Brisbane and frequent reports about his Australian properties," he said.

"The reports not only embarass Malaysia but reinforces international perceptions that the anti-corruption agency (ACA) is impotent when faced with corruption in high political places," he added.

Muhammad had said the undeclared money was entrusted to him by his three brothers to buy property in Brisbane's Gold Coast but Australian newspaper alleged he owned multi-million-dollar properties in the country.

ACA officials on Tuesday flew to Brisbane to probe allegations of Muhammad's property investments in Australia including a two-million- ringgit (800,000-dollar) house and various properties.

Muhammad was about to board a flight to New Zealand on December 23 last year when a customs official opened his suitcase and allegedly discovered the cash in Malaysian, Singaporean and New Zealand currency.

Muhammad, who is also the vice-president of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's ruling UMNO party, came into the limelight six years ago when he incurred the wrath of the Selangor sultan by secretly marrying his second daughter, Princess Zahariah Sallahuddin.

April 11 , 1997

Friday

Friday

August 19

Friday

December 1996

August

four month

Tuesday

December 23 last year

six years ago


AFP_ENG_20051216.0611

WASHINGTON, Dec 16 , 2005

vote

The US House of Representatives backed a resolution Friday asserting that the Palestinain Islamist movement Hamas should not be allowed to participate in Palestinian elections.

The resolution, which said that Hamas should not be permitted to participate in Palestinian polls until it recognizes "Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state," was approved by a voice vote of 397 to 17 with seven abstentions.

Hamas scored a resounding victory Friday in local elections in the main West Bank cities in what was one of the clearest indicators of the Palestinain Islamist movement's strength ahead of January's parliamentary contest.

According to preliminary results provided by a senior election official, Hamas was savouring victory in three of the West Bank's four major cities, while rival Fatah was left licking its wounds following a week of violence and bitter divisions which nearly split the dominant party.

The results are expected to bode well for Hamas ahead of the January 25 parliamentary election.

The US congressional resolution also urged Hamas -- which is designated a terrorist group by the US State Department -- to "permanently disarm and dismantle their terrorist infrastructure."

Dec 16 , 2005

Friday

Friday

January

January 25


XIN_ENG_20061117.0206

BEIJING, Nov. 17 , 2006 (Xinhua)

China's first ever space textbook declassified and published

The formerly classified manuscript written by the father of China's space and missile industry has been published.

Qian Xuesen's manuscript entitled "A General Introduction to the Missile" hit the shelves in Beijing on Friday, 50 years after Qian first used it to teach 156 university students, China's first generation of space scientists.

"The manuscript was China's first textbook on space and missiles but it was defined as a classified document in 1956," said Shi Lei, vice president of the China Astronautic Publishing House, the book's publisher.

"Although the content of 'A General Introduction to Missile' was passed on by word of mouth between different generations of Chinese space scientists, few people ever saw the manuscript," Shi said.

"The publishing of the book marks the 50th anniversary of China's space industry and the 95th anniversary of Qian's birth," he said.

Born in 1911 in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou, Qian Xuesen, or Tsien Hsue-sen, left for the United States after winning a scholarship in 1936. He earned a doctorate and became a professor at the California Institute of Technology. In October 1955, Qian and his family returned to Beijing.

He led the development of China's first nuclear-armed ballistic missiles and worked on its first satellite, launched in 1970.

Qian retired in 1991. His research formed the basis for the Long March CZ-2F rocket that carried China's astronaut Yang Liwei into orbit.

An autographed copy by Qian was given to the National Museum of China.

Nov. 17 , 2006

Friday, 50 years

October 1955


AFP_ENG_19970423.0296

ABU DHABI, April 23 , 1997 (AFP)

Investors race for world's biggest Islamic bank by Nadim Kawash

United Arab Emirates (UAE) investors are racing to subscribe in the world's biggest Islamic bank that is to be set up by the oil-rich Gulf states, dealers said Wednesday.

Many of them have sold shares in other institutions to secure cash for their stake in the Emirates Islamic Bank (EISB), which will be based in Abu Dhabi and partly owned by the UAE government, they said.

"I have been flooded with queries about the date of the subscription, which I expect to begin within a few weeks," said Bassam al-Ramahi, deputy manager of the Emirates Commercial Centre, a leading brokerage house.

"Many dealers are selling their shares to get cash to contribute to the bank. I am sure that the bank's capital will be far oversubscribed because the government participation gives confidence to investors," he told AFP.

Bankers said the central bank had already approved the project and it would be launched once its statute is finalized. The state-owned Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and other official institutions are among the key shareholders.

The project had initially been called the Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank and was confined to investors from the emirate. But it was changed to cover the whole UAE following applications by other emirates to set up similar banks.

The official daily Al-Bayan said the bank would have a paid-up capital of 1.2 billion dirhams (326 million dollars) and an authorised capital of three billion dirhams (817 million dollars).

"Our expectations are that subscription would reach double the authorised capital in a short period of time given the large liquidity in the market. This could prompt shareholders to raise the paid-up capital," Ramahi said.

The venture will be the biggest Islamic bank in the world in terms of capital. The Cairo-based Faisal Bank is currently the top Islamic bank.

EISB is the second Islamic bank in the UAE after the Dubai Islamic Bank, at present the second biggest in the world, with a capital of 135.6 million dollars.

Al-Bayan did not specify the size of the government's shareholding in EISB but bankers expect it to be less than 50 percent. They said investors from other Gulf Arab states would be given a limited access to the project.

"This project it highly feasible and I am certain there will be a rush by investors," said Zuhair Kaswani, another UAE stockbroker.

"The UAE has a large number of banks but the market here and in other regional states can accommodate more given the expanding business opportunities. As you see, most banks are making high profits every year."

The UAE, a major OPEC oil-producer, has 19 national banks and 28 foreign units, with assets of around 46 billion dollars. It has suspended permits for new foreign commercial banks but allowed opening of representative offices.

EISB was planned after several other Middle East banks opened Islamic banking units to take advantage of the growing demand for such operations.

"There are two main factors for the expected success of the EISB project. The first is that there is a growing tendency by the public to invest in Islamic banks for religious reasons," Ramahi said.

"The second factor is purely economic. Most Islamic banks here are now ensuring higher returns for investors compared with commercial banks."

Islamic banks do not deal in interest which is prohibited in Islam as usury. Their main activities cover financing of projects and charging a percentage of the profits as well as trading in property, cars and other items.

April 23 , 1997

Wednesday

a few weeks

every year


CNN_20130322_248

March 22, 2013

FAA to close 149 regional airport control towers, spare 40 others

The FAA on Friday announced it will close 149 regional airport control towers because of forced spending cuts -- sparing 40 others that the FAA had been expected to shutter.

A four-week, phased closure of the 149 control towers will begin on April 7, the FAA said.

The FAA had been expected to announce the closure of 189 low- or moderate-volume towers staffed by contractors. Before Friday's announcement, it said it would consider keeping a tower open if the airport convinces the agency it is in the "national interest" to do so.

By congressional mandate, the FAA must cut nearly $600 million from its nearly $48 billion budget this fiscal year. Because the majority of its 47,000 employees are air traffic controllers, it is impossible to cut its budget without affecting controllers, the agency says.

March 22, 2013

Friday

four-week

April 7

Friday

this fiscal year


XIN_ENG_20061130.0370

ABUJA, Nov. 30 , 2006 (Xinhua)

AU extends Darfur peacekeeping force's mandate for 6 months

The African Union (AU) is to extend the mandate of its peacekeeping force in Sudan's Darfur region for six months, an AU delegate said here on Thursday.

The delegate, who is participating in the AU's peace and security council meeting in Nigerian capital Abuja, said the commander of the AU force would be appointed by the AU after consultations with the United Nations and the Sudanese government, which has declined the deployment of UN peacekeepers in Darfur.

The AU Peace and Security Council agreed in September to extend the mandate of its forces in Darfur to the end of this year with the helps to be provided by the UN and the international society.

Nov. 30 , 2006

six months

Thursday

September


XIN_ENG_20061107.0153

BEIRUT, Nov. 7 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Roundup: Lebanese leaders resume "ice-breaking" talks amid debates

Lebanon's top politicians resumed all-party talks on Tuesday to discuss the demand by Hezbollah guerillas and its allies for the formation of a national unity government.

The round-table talks kicked off on Monday amid an abyss between Hezbollah and the anti-Syrian parliamentary majority who threatened to stage mass protests.

After the Monday talks, Lebanese parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who hosts the talks in central Beirut, said that the atmosphere at the first session had been positive.

The participants had succeeded in "breaking the ice" and agreed on a "media truce" to stop attacking each other by media reports.

"It is necessary to reach a solution because we cannot stay in this situation. Everyone is keen to unite in order to resolve issues," Berri added.

All major political leaders attended the Tuesday's dialogue amid tight security, except for Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah for safety reasons, who was represented by cabinet minister Mohammed Fneish as well as parliament members Mohammed Raad and Hussein Hajj Hassan.

Hezbollah is calling for the formation of a national unity government to "face up to the challenges with which Lebanon is confronted".

Nasrallah has said he wants his Shiite party, which has two ministers in the cabinet dominated by the ruling anti-Syrian parliamentary majority, and allies to comprise one-third of the cabinet. That effectively means that Hezbollah and its allies could veto key decisions.

A two-thirds vote in the cabinet is needed to pass decisions that are not made by consensus. A resignation of one-third of the cabinet automatically brings down the government.

Nasrallah has threatened that if talks fail, Hezbollah would " go to the streets" to demand a unity government and call for early parliamentary elections.

In response to Nasrallah's warning, anti-Syrian Christian leader Samir Geagea said his camp was ready to stage counter- protests.

The dialogue, launched in early March, had been scheduled for July 25. But the outbreak of the 34-day Israel-Hezbollah conflict on July 12 has prevented the resumption of the talks.

During the previous sessions, the political leaders failed to reach consensus on the future of Lebanese president Emile Lahoud, a staunch Syrian supporter, and the disarmament of Hezbollah.

Last year, there were bombings to target anti-Syrian figures and commercial centers in Christian areas, killing two prominent anti-Syrian journalists and a politician.

The largest explosion was in Feb. 2005, killing former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and 22 others in central Beirut.

Anti-Syrian groups have accused Damascus of backing the bombings, an accusation denied by Syria which later was forced to withdraw its army from Lebanon.

Nov. 7 , 2006

Tuesday

Monday

Monday talks

Tuesday

March

July 25

July 12

Last year

Feb. 2005


XIN_ENG_20051115.0031

HEFEI, Nov. 15 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Isolation on bird flu epidemic ends in east China city

Isolation on bird flu epidemic in Tianchang, a city in east China's Anhui Province, was relieved Tuesday, the local government has announced after a 21-day quarantine check.

A bird flu outbreak took place in the city on October 20, killing 550 poultry, and the city has made tremendous efforts in the treatment of the bird flu outbreak, blockade and disinfection of affected areas.

A final check jointly organized by the Anhui Provincial government and Chuzhou city government on Monday confirmed the city has met the standards set by the Ministry of Agriculture and is therefore in a position to end epidemic isolation.

Live poultry markets 10 kilometers in circumference from the affected region have also reopened after a three-week closure.

But the city government said it will continue to strictly monitor the formerly affected areas in Liangying village, where the epidemic broke out on Oct. 20. Thousands of live poultry had been killed ever since and all poultry farms have vaccinated their livestock.

Tianchang, seated on the course of migratory birds' migration route between Siberia in the north and Australia in the south, is a midway rest place for one million migratory birds every year. All monitoring stations in the city are monitoring migratory birds' activities round-the-clock.

Nov. 15 , 2005

Tuesday

October 20

Monday

Oct. 20

every year


AFP_ENG_19970407.0174

GAO, Mali, April 7 , 1997 (AFP)

Mali's nomadic election campaign hits the home stretch by Serge Daniel

Mali's political parties are hitting the dusty roads in the run-up to Sunday's legislative elections, wooing voters with "victory caravans."

It is an appropriate way to campaign in a desert country more than twice the size of France, and which had 35 years of single-party rule until its first free elections in 1992.

Though it is one of the world's poorest nations, Mali -- home to nine million people -- has recently acquired a reputation as one of Africa's most democratic states.

Thirty-five years of one-party rule ended in 1992 with the election of Alpha Oumar Konare, who is one of 10 registered candidates for presidential elections to be held in May.

Sunday will see the first round of the legislative polls, to be followed by a run-off on April 27. More than 1,500 candidates are in the running nationwide, representing at least 34 of Mali's 62 political parties.

Cars, motorcycles and bicycles make up the various campaign caravans that are criss-crossing northern Mali with loudspeakers blaring the virtues of their respective candidates.

Most evident are the governing Alliance for Democracy in Mali, which took 76 of the 129 seats contested in 1992, and the Bloc for Democracy and African Integration.

"For us, an election is not won with a platform, but with the ability of the parties to mobilize their supporters," one candidate said.

The mood is even livelier than it was five years ago in the north, the stronghold of a long-running Tuareg insurgency that formally ended in 1992.

Wooing voters, candidates are giving away T-shirts and rice. Some village chiefs have found themselves the recipients of motorcycles and sheep.

It is not rare to see in villages the heads of donkeys sacrificed in anticipation of a candidate's victory at the polls.

Merchants are delighted, saying they would not mind an election every month because of the extra business that campaigning has brought to them.

Happy too are the marabouts, the Moslem monks of North Africa, whose advice is regularly sought out by candidates.

In Gao, some 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) north of the capital Bamako, election officials say 289,000 people have registered to cast ballots at 450 polling stations.

Seventy of the polling stations will be mobile, bringing democracy to the voters where they live and work.

"We are ready," said Bakayoko (eds: one name), the chief returning officer in Gao.

To deal with bandits, who are blamed for recent thefts of four-wheel- drive vehicles, a special security unit has been set up to assit the national election commission.

It is tasked with guarding ballot papers, see-through ballot boxes and indelible ink as they are distributed over the countryside.

In far-off places with names like Bourem, Menaka and Djebock, voting will take place "under supervision," officials said.

"The aim is to deter any interference by armed bandits, so that the return of peace is genuine in the north," one official told AFP.

April 7 , 1997

Sunday

Thirty-five years

May

Sunday

April 27

five years ago

every month


AFP_ENG_20061217.0084

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 17 , 2006, 2006

Malaysia's Anwar signals political return, warns of Islam debate

Malaysia's ex-deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim Sunday said debates over Islam's role in the nation had become divisive and "worrying", in statements marking his full-time return to politics here.

The comments from Anwar, who also said he will contest the next elections, come amidst growing tensions between Malaysia's majority Muslim Malays and minority Chinese and Indians.

"The worrying thing is the Muslims feel their position and their power, including the religious courts, are being eroded," Anwar told reporters on the sidelines of a forum of Muslim scholars and activists.

"The non-Muslims feel that they are being marginalised and discriminated against," he said.

Malaysia is seen as a moderate Muslim-majority nation, but race relations have been strained by a series of controversial court cases involving the rights of Muslims and non-Muslims, and questions over which group takes precedence.

The government has banned activists from discussing religious rights and called on the media to stop highlighting race-related issues.

"We have come to the stage where it is considered to be unhealthy," Anwar said, asked about debates on the perceived Islamisation of Malaysia.

"The position by the prime minister and the government to deny the rights of non-Muslims ... or deny an open public discourse on the subjects ... have exacerbated the entire problem," he said.

Anwar, 59, has criss-crossed betweeen Malaysia and overseas destinations since his release from prison in 2004 on sodomy and corruption charges, including the United States, where he was a professor with Georgetown University.

But Anwar, who returned permanently to Malaysia earlier this month, said he had finished his tenure and announced his full-time return to politics here.

Asked if he will contest elections to be a member of parliament in late 2008, he replied: "Of course. It's my right, which they used the courts to deny."

Dec 17 , 2006

this month

late 2008


XIN_ENG_20061129.0209

DOHA, Nov. 29 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Injured Roslin to miss Doha's Asiad

Malaysian shuttler Roslin Hashim was confirmed here on Wednesday to miss the upcoming Asia Games slated here for Dec. 1-15 due to an elbow injury.

Roslin is nursing an elbow injury sustained at the Holland Open two weeks ago and he will be replaced by Wong Choon Han for the men's singles event, Abdullah Sani Karim, chef de mission of the Malaysian delegation told Xinhua by telephone.

Malaysia king Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin, who was scheduled to compete in the equestrian event of the Doha Asiad, also quit the Games due to a royal ceremony at home.

Sultan Mizan will be coronated as the 13th Yang di-Pertuan Agong on Dec. 13.

Nov. 29 , 2006

Wednesday

Dec. 1-15

two weeks ago

Dec. 13


AFP_ENG_20061211.0662

LOS ANGELES, Dec 11 , 2006, 2006

ATTENTION - ADDS details ///

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Portland in the northwest US state of Oregon has settled with around 150 people claiming they were abused by priests, authorities said Monday.

Oregon District Court Judge Michael Hogan, who mediated in the case, said in a statement those seeking damages had dropped their lawsuits after agreeing settlement with church authorities.

No figure for the settlement was revealed and parties in the case have been forbidden from discussing the deal in public.

The Portland Archdiocese filed for bankruptcy protection in 2004 as it staggered under a 135 million-dollar lawsuit claiming sexual abuse by members of its clergy.

The Roman Catholic Church in the United States has been rocked by clergy pedophilia scandals in recent years.

Several priests have been convicted and four dioceses have gone bankrupt after being ordered to pay huge civil penalties and interest.

Earlier this month, the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles said it had agreed to pay 60 million dollars to settle accusations by 45 people that they were sexually abused by priests.

Dec 11 , 2006

Monday

recent years

Earlier this month


AFP_ENG_20051204.0496

NEW DELHI, Dec 5 , 2005

oil-for-food scam

The Indian government was braced for a storm in parliament Monday after fresh allegations that the former foreign minister and the ruling Congress party were involved in a scam to profit from a UN oil-for-food deal in Iraq.

"We will be adopting an aggressive posture" during the coming week in parliament, Vijay Kumar Malhotra, a leader of the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said Sunday.

"We will insist on Natwar Singh's resignation from the union cabinet and Sonia Gandhi's resignation as chairperson of the National Advisory Council," a body that provides an interface between the government and civil society, Malhotra said.

Malhotra's comments followed new revelations at the weekend by a former Indian ambassador and Congress insider that former foreign minister Natwar Singh and the Congress party got special vouchers to purchase oil cheaply from Baghdad in 2001.

In an interview with India Today magazine, Anil Matherani, India's former envoy to Croatia, said the Iraqis had rewarded Singh with an oil allotment for his "personal service."

Matherani, who said the comments were not for publication and taken out of context, worked closely with Natwar Singh in the Congress party before being posted as ambassador to Croatia. He was recalled to Delhi at the weekend after his revelations.

"The fact of the matter is that both allottees ... in my view are exactly the same ... one has been (given) to Natwar and the other one to the Congress party," Matherani told the national news weekly.

Singh led a four-member team to Iraq in 2001 that included Matherani.

"One (was) for Natwar's personal services. Don't forget that he has been the one who has been espousing Iraq's cause."

The comments caused a furore in parliament late Friday and the opposition demanded afresh that Singh be dumped from his current role as cabinet minister without portfolio that was assigned during an investigation into oil-for-food allegations made in a United Nations report.

Singh was also sacked from his post in the Congress Steering Committee, the party's highest decision-making body overnight, a decision taken in a meeting chaired by Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi, a Congress party spokesman said Monday.

It came after Singh, who has consistently denied any wrongdoing, refused to resign from his cabinet post Sunday.

In October, former US Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker said in a report to the UN that former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's regime manipulated the oil-for-food programme to extract about 1.8 billion dollars in surcharges and bribes.

Volcker named Singh as a beneficiary of four million barrels of Iraqi oil allotted to Zurich-based firm Masefield AG.

Congress, India's oldest political party, is also listed as a beneficiary of a separate allotment of four million barrels of oil as part of the transactions.

Singh has consistently denied any wrongdoing, as has the Congress party.

But the opposition, whose earlier campaign to embarrass the government in parliament through a discussion and vote fell through last week, seemed determined to capitalise on the opportunity presented by Matherani's revelations.

Political analysts described the crisis as the biggest challenge yet for the Manmohan Singh-led government which completed one year in office in May.

"It's a very, very big problem for the government," said T.R. Ramachandran, bureau chief of the Tribune newspaper.

"The target (for the opposition) has shifted from Natwar Singh to Sonia Gandhi. Congress strategists are trying their best to deflect the flak from her," he said.

Another analyst Rashid Kidwai, who has written a biography of Sonia Gandhi, said the controversy had snowballed into a major crisis through "inept handling."

"I do not think the party realised the gravity of the situation."

Dec 5 , 2005

Monday

Sunday

the weekend

the weekend

Friday

current

Monday

Sunday

October

last week

one year

May