AFP_ENG_19970415.0314

SEOUL, April 15 , 1997 (AFP)

South Korea's Hanbo founder moved from jail to hospital by Zeno Park

The ailing founder of South Korea's failed Hanbo Group was moved from his jail to hospital after a reported stroke Tuesday as prosecutors investigated a loans-for-kickbacks scandal surrounding the conglomerate, officials said.

Hanbo founder Chung Tae-Soo was taken to hospital following a deterioration in his health, prison authorities said.

"The jailed Hanbo chief was sent out for a medical check at a private hospital," a spokesman for the Seoul Detention Center told AFP.

Chung, who suffers from diabetes, has had high blood pressure since he was jailed on January 31 on charges of embezzlement, tax evasion and bribery, he said.

The jailed tycoon suffered a stroke and paralysis, the South's Yonhap News Agency reported.

Hanbo, the country's 14th largest conglomerate, collapsed in January under 5.8 billion dollars of debt, leading to allegations that it obtained loans without sufficient collateral in return for kickbacks.

The 73-year-old was one of 11 figures jailed, including four lawmakers and one former cabinet minister, for their alleged involvement in the massive loans-for-kickbacks scandal.

"Chung's condition has worsened since he faced a gruelling parliamentary hearing from his jail on April 7," the spokesman said, giving no further details.

Press reports Tuesday said South Korea's parliamentary speaker was resisting prosecutors' demands he be questioned on allegations he also received money from Hanbo.

Speaker Kim Soo-Han was asked to appear at the Prosecutor General's Office after an Inter-Parliamentary Union meeting being hosted in Seoul ends on Tuesday, Yonhap and other news reports said.

But Kim refused to respond to the summons, citing his status as head of the legislature, Kim's aide was quoted as saying.

"We have not been notified by the prosecution (of the reported summoning) but it would amount to challenging the authority of the legislature to investigate the speaker," said Ku Bon-Tae, head of the speaker's secretariat.

The speaker reportedly resented the prosecutor's move, saying: "They may drag me into a questioning room but I will never present myself at the prosecutor's office."

The prosecutors then offered to question him away from the prosecutor's office to spare the speaker the embarassment of appearing in public before cameras, Yonhap said.

It was not clear whether he would appear and Senior Prosecutor Kim Sang-Hee declined to comment on the reports.

The speaker has been accused of receiving 50 million won (56,000 dollars) from Hanbo in political funds.

The prosecution has been investigating politicians reportedly on a list of alleged beneficiaries of money from Hanbo.

The reported summoning of the speaker came after the chairman of the ruling New Korea Party, Lee Hoe-Chang, accused the prosecution of investigating politicians indiscriminately.

"It is not desirable for the prosecution to investigate (politicians) as if it were taking revenge on political circles," Lee said.

The prosecution authorities have come under attack from parliament for allegedly covering up the Hanbo loans-for-kickbacks scandal.

The prosecution had said earlier aside from the four already arrested, it had no plans to investigate other politicians who allegedly took customary "rice cake expenditures" or cash gifts with no clear strings attatched.

The prosecution's sudden toughening of policy toward politicians triggered charges of political conspiracy.

April 15 , 1997

Tuesday

January 31

January

April 7

Tuesday

Tuesday


AFP_ENG_20061202.0429

THE HAGUE, Dec 2 , 2006, 2006

Original Venus singer dies

Mariska Veres, singer for the Dutch group Shocking Blue who had a worldwide hit with their song "Venus" in 1970, died Saturday aged 59, Dutch media reported.

Veres died from cancer. In 1970 "Venus" reached the top of the American music charts but Shocking Blue did not have any other success that matched their big hit. The group split up in 1974.

Their song "Venus" would go on to make it to number one in the American Billboard chart two more times: in 1981 by cover band Stars on 45 and in 1986 in a version by girlband Bananarama.

In the late 1980s Shocking Blue also served as an inspiration for grunge band Nirvana who covered the band's song "Love Buzz" on their 1989 debut album Bleach.

Dec 2 , 2006

the late


XIN_ENG_20061104.0146

TEHRAN, Nov. 4 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Iran shows new generation of anti-helicopter weapons

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) on Saturday tried new generation of anti-helicopter weapons and other military hardware during the ongoing military maneuvers, the official IRNA news agency reported.

Different types of improved anti-helicopter, anti-armor and anti-personnel weapons had been used by the Iranian troops, General Mohammad-Reza Zahedi, commander of the IRGC's ground forces, told a press conference.

The combat capability of these anti-helicopter weapons had been doubled in recent years and they could be used against all types of helicopters, Zahedi said.

Iran's new generation of anti-personnel bullets, which had been used in the war games, could penetrate the most advanced bullet- proof vests, Zahedi said.

The IRGC forces were using modern equipment and tactics to encounter enemies' combat power, the Iranian general said, adding that the IRGC ground forces' weapons could reach as far as 1,400 km into hypothetical enemy's territory.

Zahedi said the war games were intended to show the Iranian military's ability to defend the country against any attack and thereby discourage enemies from inimical contemplation.

The IRGC's 10-day maneuvers, dubbed "The Great Prophet 2," began on Thursday and are to be carried out in the Gulf waters, the Sea of Oman and 14 of the country's provinces.

Nov. 4 , 2006

Saturday

recent years

Thursday


XIN_ENG_20051108.0148

BEIJING, Nov. 8 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Chinese FM, commerce minister to attend APEC ministerial meeting

Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing and Commerce Minister Bo Xilai will attend the 17th APEC Ministerial Meeting from Nov. 15 to 16 in Busan of the Republic of Korea (ROK), Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao announced here Tuesday.

The two ministers will make preparations for the 13th APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting which will be attended by Chinese President Hu Jintao after he concludes his state visit to Britain, Germany, Spain and the ROK.

APEC, which has 21 members, is the most important forum of economic cooperation in the Asian-Pacific region. Aiming to promote multilateral trade system and eliminate trade barriers within the region, APEC has become an active force that helps make regional trade and investment more liberal and convenient, promote regional economic and technological cooperation and economic development.

According to Liu, the upcoming ministerial meeting will give priority to regional trade planning, economic and technological cooperation, trade and energy security, bird flu prevention and control, and anti-corruption.

Nov. 8 , 2005

Nov. 15

Tuesday


XIN_ENG_20051115.0370

CARACAS, Nov. 15 , 2005 (Xinhua)

IDB loans 750 mln US dollars for Venezuelan hydropower project

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) on Tuesday said a 750-million-US-dollar loan had been granted for the construction of the Tocoma hydropower project in Venezuela.

The Washington-based multi-lateral funding body said the money would fund programs in engineering, administration, environmental and social management.

The loan is the biggest ever granted since Luis Alberto Moreno assumed the presidency of the IDB on Oct. 3.

The IDB said in a release that it had approved the loan on the basis that the project would improve Venezuela's power supply and economic competitiveness, creating a more environmentally sustainable power source for economic development, compared with the existing alternatives.

The Tocoma project, the fourth one in the Lower Caroni River Valley,with an installed capacity of 2,160 megawatts, costs a total of 3 billion US dollars.

Nov. 15 , 2005

Tuesday

Oct. 3


XIN_ENG_20061123.0180

KABUL, Nov. 23 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Incident involving NATO troops kills Afghan civilian

An incident involving a convoy of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) killed an Afghan civilian and injured four others near Kabul of Afghanistan, an ISAF statement said on Thursday.

A civilian van was observed driving "suspiciously" near the convoy on the Bagram road, north of Kabul, on Wednesday morning, it said, adding "ISAF troops signaled for the vehicle to stop and fired a number of bullets."

"The driver subsequently lost control of the van and unfortunately crashed," the statement said, adding one civilian was killed and four others injured as a result.

The vague statement didn't say whether the civilians killed and injured were the van's occupants or just passers-by, nor said whether the bullets were shot toward the vehicle or just warning ones.

It is also unclear whether the driver lost control of the vehicle because he was shot or only out of scare.

However, local daily newspaper Outlook quoted Alishal Paktiawal, criminal director of Kabul police, as saying ISAF troops "shot dead one civilian and wounded four others, one of them seriously" in the incident.

The killed one, a resident from the eastern Laghman province, was working at a health facility in Bagram U.S. military base, about 50 km north of Kabul, it added.

The ISAF statement said the casualties were quickly taken to a military hospital in Kabul for treatment, and a senior U.S. commander Benjamin C. Freakley had demanded a "detailed and thorough investigation" into the incident.

The investigation is currently ongoing and the Afghan government will be informed of the results as soon as they are available, it added.

Similar incidents have happened in Afghanistan from time to time before.

On Nov. 15, an ISAF patrol killed two adult civilians and injured a child in the southern Helmand province as their van approached the patrol fast and failed to stop when hand signals were given.

On Aug. 22, ISAF fired bullets toward two boys on a motorbike, killing one of them, in Kandahar city, capital of the southern Kandahar province, shortly after a deadly suicide bombing, as they ignored ISAF's warning to stop.

Civilian casualties have damaged the image of ISAF and reduced their popularity among Afghans.

In a much more severe case, a NATO air strike killed up to 80 civilians in a village of Panjwai district of Kandahar province on Oct. 24, according to locals.

However, ISAF recently said a joint Afghan and NATO investigation found 31 civilians were killed in the incident, which has caused huge rage among locals.

Nov. 23 , 2006

Thursday

Wednesday morning

from time to time before

Nov. 15

Aug. 22

Oct. 24


XIN_ENG_20051122.0143

BEIJING, Nov. 22 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Bush reaffirms one-China policy, says Chinese FM spoksman

United States President George W. Bush has reaffirmed his one-China policy and his stance in opposition to Taiwan independence, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao here Tuesday.

At a regular press conference Liu made the above remarks in response to a question on Bush's just-concluded visit to China.

President Bush enunciated his support to the one-China position when talking on the Taiwan issue with Chinese leaders, Liu said, and Bush also voiced his opposition to any unilateral actions aimed to change the status-quo across Taiwan strait, the spokesman said.

Nov. 22 , 2005

Tuesday


XIN_ENG_20061126.0071

JERUSALEM, Nov. 26 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Israel to display patience and restraint: PM

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday said that Israel would display "patience and restraint" in the face of Palestinian breaching of a cease-fire that went into effect earlier in the day, local media said.

Speaking at a high school in the Bedouin town of Rahat, Olmert said that Israel must give the truce a chance and pledged that " the government of Israel will not miss this opportunity for calm."

"I hope the ceasefire will take effect in the West Bank as well, although it currently does not apply there; however, responsibility and good will may lead to the beginning of serious, open and direct negotiations between us and the Palestinians," Olmert was quoted as saying.

The prime minister added that "In the past few weeks the Israeli and Palestinian offices have been in constant contact, and there are understandings; but these must mature in negotiations, and I hope this will happen soon."

"Although there are still breaches from the other side, I ordered troops to show restraint and to give the ceasefire a chance," Olmert said.

Israel and the Palestinian factions in Gaza officially began the cease-fire at 6 a.m. on Sunday, following an agreement reached between Palestinian National Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian factions.

Abbas made a phone call to Olmert on Saturday to inform him of the deal and Olmert accepted the offer of cease-fire.

However, three Qassam rockets hit Israel in the first few hours after the truce went into effect, causing no damage or injuries.

One of the rockets hit Sderot, another fell in an open area north of the western Negev town, and the third landed close to a local kibbutz. The military wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the continued Qassam rocket fire on Israel.

Abbas on Sunday ordered heads of Palestinian security forces to ensure that Gaza militants respect the truce, Palestinian officials said.

Defense Minister Amir Peretz said Sunday morning that any attempt to fire into Israeli territories would be considered a breach of the cease-fire and treated with severity. According to Peretz, Israel is interested in quiet, but would not accept attacks on its citizens.

Nov. 26 , 2006

Sunday

the past few weeks

Sunday

Saturday

Sunday

Sunday morning


WSJ891026-0018
 = 891026
 891026-0018.
 Business Brief -- Benjamin Franklin Federal SampL:
@  Thrift Plans to Restructure
@  After Loss in Third Quarter
 10/26/89
 WALL STREET JOURNAL (J)
 BENJ

   Benjamin Franklin Federal Savings amp Loan Association said it plans to restructure in the wake of a third-quarter loss of $7.7 million, or $1.01 a share, reflecting an $11 million addition to loan-loss reserves.

   The Portland, Ore., thrift said the restructuring should help it meet new capital standards from the Financial Institution Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act.
A year ago, Benjamin Franklin had profit of $1.8 million, or 23 cents a share.

   In over-the-counter trading yesterday, Benjamin Franklin rose 25 cents to $4.25.

   The company said the restructuring's initial phase will feature a gradual reduction in assets and staff positions.
The plan may include selling branches, consolidating or eliminating departments, and winding down or disposing of unprofitable units within 18 months.

   Initially, the company said it will close its commercial real-estate lending division, and stop originating new leases at its commercial lease subsidiary.

   Details of the restructuring wo n't be made final until regulators approve the regulations mandated by the new federal act, the company said.

third-quarter

A year ago

yesterday

within 18 months


XIN_ENG_20051115.0262

BOGOTA, Nov. 15 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Possible volcano eruption triggers evacuation in Colombia

About 1,500 people living on the slopes of a volcano in southwest Colombia were ordered to evacuate on Tuesday as it has shown signs of an imminent eruption.

Local authorities on Monday issued a mandatory evacuation order following a warning issued by Colombia's Geology and Mines Institute that the Galeras volcano, which lies 540 km southwest of Bogota, is probable to erupt "within days or weeks."

In addition, another 7,500 people living near the volcano have been asked to leave their homes voluntarily.

The last eruption of the volcano, which occurred in 1993, killed nine people, including five scientists who had descended into the crater to sample gases at the moment it blew.

Nov. 15 , 2005

Tuesday

Monday

days or weeks


XIN_ENG_20061110.0191

CHANGSHA, Nov. 10 , 2006 (Xinhua)

China, says offcial

Police are searching for two senior managers of the Xinpo Coal Mine after they fled following Wednesday's fatal gas explosion in Central China's Hunan Province, local government official said Friday.

Li Quanfa and Li Quansheng, head and vice head of the coal mine respectively, are accused of neglecting work safety supervision, said Li Ming, vice mayor of Leiyang City, where the mine is located.

More than 40 rescuers are searching for five missing miners, who likely did not survive the explosion, said Li.

Another five injured were in a stable condition, according to the vice mayor.

The gas explosion, which killed four miners, took place at around 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday in the Xinpo Coal Mine, where 17 miners were working underground. Eight of them were rescued while the nine others were trapped.

Rescuers have retrieved the bodies of four of the miners.

Most of the victims were villagers from the town of Simenzhou, where the mine is situated and families of the four dead have each been compensated 220,000 yuan (25,425 U.S. dollars), said Li.

The cause of the accident remains unclear. The privately-owned coal mine produced 30,000 tons of coal annually.

Nov. 10 , 2006

Wednesday

Friday

Wednesday


XIN_ENG_20061101.0413

WASHINGTON, Nov. 1 , 2006 (Xinhua)

elections: poll

One week before next Tuesday's midterm Congressional elections, Iraq and terrorism top the list of issues that American voters consider "extremely important," a new poll released on Wednesday showed.

The CNN poll, conducted from Friday through Sunday, found that 49 percent of those surveyed said they consider Iraq "extremely important" in deciding how to vote.

Terrorism followed closely, at 46 percent, and the third-biggest issue was ethics in government, with 37 percent of respondents saying they consider it extremely important.

The importance of economy dropped in the poll, which found only 33 percent of those canvassed said it was important in their decision how to vote.

The poll of 837 registered voters had a margin of sampling error at plus or minus three percentage points.

Another poll released on Wednesday suggested that Democrats continued to have a significant advantage heading into the midterms.

The NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll found that Democrats held a 15-point lead over Republicans in voters' preference for control of Congress - 52 percent against 37 percent. President George W. Bush's approval rating remained below 40 percent.

The poll, which was taken of 1,010 registered voters from Friday through Monday and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, also found more than 60 percent of those respondents felt less confident that the war in Iraq would come to a successful conclusion.

Nov. 1 , 2006

One week before next Tuesday

Wednesday

Friday

Sunday

Wednesday

Friday

Monday


XIN_ENG_20061125.0171

CAIRO, Nov. 25 , 2006 (Xinhua)

state in six months

Arab League (AL) chief Amr Moussa on Saturday welcomed proposal by exiled Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal to establish a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders in six months.

"Meshaal's proposal is in line with the basics of the Arab peace initiative," Moussa said in a statement after meeting with Meshaal at the AL headquarters here.

Visiting exiled Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal warned earlier Saturday that the Palestinian authorities could collapse and there would be a third intifada (uprising) if the international community couldn't work out a political solution to a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders within six months.

Moussa said the proposal "is very important", noting that the Hamas official underlined the need to have a time ceiling for the proposal to flesh out.

"The timeframe is very important. Previous failures were due to the lack of timeframes," Moussa said.

For his part, Meshaal said Palestinians are capable of achieving their demand of establishing a state, adding that "we can achieve this with Arab and Muslim support and we expect that we can reap the fruit of our efforts".

On breaking the siege imposed on the Palestinians, Moussa said that it has already been broken with 30 million U.S. dollars from Kuwait arriving in the Palestinian Authority (PA) coffers.

Contacts are continuing with Arab countries to send agreed sums of money to the Palestinians, he added.

Meshaal, who is now in exile in Syria, said Arab countries are committed to paying 52 million dollars every month to the Palestinian Authority.

"The Palestinians must restore their rights or else chaos would be rampant in the region and the PA might disappear altogether," he said.

Regarding the recognition of Israel, Moussa said recognition should be mutual.

Nov. 25 , 2006

Saturday

six months

Saturday

six months

now

every month


XIN_ENG_20051115.0191

LONDON, Nov. 15 , 2005 (Xinhua)

US pullback

Britain is pulling together a coalition to fight the Taliban and al-Qaida insurgency in southern Afghanistan after next year's partial US pullback, the Guardian newspaper said on Tuesday.

Britain is set to take over NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan in early 2006, when the United States plans to withdraw 4,000 soldiers from a parallel force fighting the rebels.

Talks to create a counter-rebel force were allegedly taking place with several countries, including Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

British Armed Forces Minister Adam Ingram said on Monday that elite paratroopers were already training for possible operations in Afghanistan's lawless Helmand province.

As many as 2,000 more British troops are expected to be sent to Afghanistan next year to increase the UK's forces in the war-torn country to almost 5,000, said the report.

"We are not talking war fighting. But there is potential for armed conflict in some areas," an unnamed military source told the newspaper, adding "the reality is that there are warlords, drug traffickers, al-Qaida, al-Qaida wannabes and Taliban."

The report came amid demands from critics for Britain to seek an exit strategy from Afghanistan, where there is no sign of a letup in the bloodshed with a German ISAF soldier reported to be one of the latest killed in car bomb attacks by Taliban fighters.

The report was also published against the backdrop of NATO's announcement on Monday that it had agreed to the US-proposed closer cooperation in Afghanistan between ISAF peacekeeping force and the US-led coalition fighting insurgents.

The agreement is a step towards ending a dispute sparked last year when France, Germany and others rejected a US proposal for an outright merger of the two forces under overall NATO command.

NATO's 9,000-strong ISAF peacekeeping force is present in the relatively stable north, west and in the capital Kabul. The push to the south will bring its numbers up to 15,000 by early next year, with further expansion to the east also planned.

NATO took over command of ISAF in 2003, two years after US-led forces overthrew the Taliban government.

Nov. 15 , 2005

next year

Tuesday

Monday

next year

Monday

last year

early next year

two years


AFP_ENG_19970414.0614

LIMA, April 14 , 1997 (AFP)

Peru hostages in good physical health: doctor

A cardiologist who visited the 72 hostages held in the Japanese ambassador's residence here said Monday that those with heart problems were in good physical shape.

"I would say that the patients in my area of specialty, cardiovascular medicine, are all being well treated," Dr. Miguel Sanchez told Peruvian radio.

Sanchez, a former hostage who has entered the compound periodically since the crisis began December 17, spoke as the hostages completed their 118th day as captives of the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA).

Two of the hostages who suffer from heart problems are Bolivia's ambassador to Peru, Jorge Gumucio, and Moises Pantoja, former president of the Peruvian Supreme Court.

Sanchez spent three hours with the hostages Monday and said that the only problem he noticed is that some of them appear to have put on weight.

But others have taken to exercise and "now are in much better physical shape than before," he said.

On Monday Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori met with top hostage mediator Archbishop Juan Luis Cipriani in an attempt to find a solution to the crisis.

"There are small advances towards a good end," Cipriani said.

The MRTA wants the government to free some 400 imprisoned comrades, and wants improved prison conditions. Fujimori said he will release no prisoners.

The last face-to-face meeting between the government and the rebels came March 12, after which negotiations broke off when the rebel commando said that security forces were digging a tunnel into the residence.

Since then, mediators have shuttled between the government palace and the residence, trying to gain concessions from the two sides to end the crisis.

April 14 , 1997

Monday

December 17

Monday

Monday

March 12


AFP_ENG_19970414.0388

MOSCOW, April 14 , 1997 (AFP)

Yeltsin sacks transport minister

Russian President Boris Yeltsin on Monday sacked his transport minister, Anatoly Zaitsev, the Interfax news agency reported, quoting informed sources.

Yeltsin issued a decree to fire Zaitsev, who had assumed the post in August 1996. He is to be replaced by his deputy, Nikolai Aksenenko.

Zaitsev, 57, is on the board of a company that plans to build a high- speed rail link between Moscow and Saint Petersburg, a multi-billion dollar project that has drawn wide criticism the past two years.

Between 1988 and 1996, Zaitsev ran the Oktiyabrskaya railway between the two cities.

Also Monday, Yeltsin accepted the resignation, tendered on April 5, of the head of Russia's top tax authority, Vitaly Artyukhov, Interfax quoted the same sources as saying.

Artyukhov had been in his post since February 1996.

Tax collection is a serious problem in Russia, where last year only 60 percent of taxes owing were paid. So far this year only 50 percent of tax targets have been achieved.

April 14 , 1997

Monday

August 1996

the past two years

Monday

April 5

February 1996

last year

this year


AFP_ENG_19970404.0249

KINSHASA, April 4 , 1997 (AFP)

Zairean premier fights to save his job by Michael Adler

New Zairean premier Etienne Tshisekedi fought to save his job Friday, rebuffed by rebels in the east and assailed by his political opponents at home just two days after taking up the post.

Opposition parties were expected to meet here Friday to discuss whether to replace him as prime minister, according to newspaper reports, after he angered just about everybody in sight in that short period.

With rebels advancing on two more key towns and peace talks due to start in South Africa at the weekend, this latest political crisis could not have come at a worse time for Zaire.

Tshisekedi, a long-time opponent of President Mobutu Sese Seko, made it clear in his first day in office Thursday that he would take up and finish his old political battles with the head of state.

He snubbed Mobutu by not giving a single job in his 24-member government to supporters of the president, and then compounded that by offering six to Laurent-Desire Kabila's rebels, including defence.

He praised the rebels for defending the national interest by fighting corruption, but dismissed the planned peace talks in South Africa between rebel and Mobutu officials this weekend as pointless.

Tshisekedi also dismissed the current transitional parliament, saying it should be replaced by a legislature conceived in 1992 but never ratified by Mobutu.

He then announced his government line-up without getting prior approval from Mobutu, contrary to the 1994 constitution, which he also rejects.

His overtures to Kabila's rebels were snubbed. They had earlier warned him not to assume the premiership and insisted they would not work for any government while Mobutu was president.

Press reports in Kinshasa said the "family" of oppposition parties, the Political Conclave Force (FPC), was ready to meet Friday to decide whether to replace him.

Under the 1994 constitution, the opposition suggests the prime minister, who must be approved by Mobutu. In turn the premier must name a government that includes supporters of the president.

In Pretoria, the domestic SAPA news agency quoted unnamed diplomats as saying the peace talks would likely begin on Sunday.

SAPA said officials were locked in "delicate discussions" to prepare for the talks between Mobutu's envoy Honore Ngbanda Nzambo and representatives of Kabila.

Nzambo arrived Thursday while the rebel delegation led by Bizima Karaha, in charge of international relations in the rebel alliance, was reported to have left Goma in eastern Zaire.

South African officials on Friday would not confirm the rebels' arrival, nor whether the talks would start Sunday.

Kabila's Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo- Zaire will be able to negotiate from a position of strength with troops advancing toward the key Zairean towns of Lubumbashi and Mbuji Mayi.

Since they began their offensive in mid October, they have seized more than one quarter of Zaire, including the third city Kisangani, and pledged to march into Kinshasa by June.

Zairean soldiers were reported to have begun looting and shooting early Friday in Mbuji Mayi, the capital of diamond-rich Eastern Kasai province.

So far in the six-month Zairean conflict, government soldiers have gone on the rampage before fleeing without a fight. Tensions in Mbuji Mayi have been high in expectation of an imminent rebel attack.

Rebel forces are also reported to be closing in on Lubumbashi, Zaire's second city and the capital of the mining-rich Shaba province.

In New York overnight, the United Nations called on Kabila to "stop the killing" and let humanitarian aid organizations work unhindered to aid the several hundred thousand refugees left helpless by the civil war.

The United States separately called on Kabile to assist in repatriation of refugees, and to reconsider his rejection of the invitation to join the new government.

April 4 , 1997

Friday

two days

Friday

the weekend

first day

Thursday

this weekend

Friday

Sunday

Thursday

Friday

Sunday

October

June

Friday


AFP_ENG_19970409.0167

LONDON, April 9 , 1997 (AFP)

London shares follow Wall Street higher

Shares here rose on Wednesday morning on the wings of an overnight rally on Wall Street, which reversed early losses to close 50 points higher than at the previous close, dealers said.

The FT-SE 100 index of leading shares rose by 22.7 points to 4,292 points.

In Paris, the CAC-40 index opened 34.72 points higher at 2,613.72 points.

Despite the rise in share prices, London traders said that market sentiment remained cautious because of the strength of the pound sterling, which, they fear, might hit future profits of British exporters.

In addition, they fear that British and US interest rates will be raised in the short or medium term.

Key institutional investors have decided to stay away from the market in the run-up to general elections that will be held on May 1, dealers said.

Oil stocks rose after positive broker comment encouraged heavy buying on Wall Street. Shares in British Petroleum (BP) rose by two pence to 684.5 pence and Shell oil stocks rose by 11 pence to 1,050.5 pence.

Banking shares rose after dealers predicted there would be further consolidation in the world's banking system. Abbey National shares rose by 10 pence to 781 pence, NatWest bank stocks rose by seven pence to 710.5 pence and Lloyds TSB shares rose by five pence to 507.5 pence.

Shares in British drinks groups fell after a slump in whisky sales in Britain. Shares in Allied Domecq, which produces the Teachers whisky brand, fell by one pence to 443 pence and Guinness shares fell by 0.5 pence to 495.5 pence.

April 9 , 1997

Wednesday morning

May 1


AFP_ENG_19970409.0497

KINSHASA, April 9 , 1997 (AFP)

Mobutu uses troops to dismiss PM and appoint general by Michael Adler

Zairean President Mobutu Sese Seko used his troops Wednesday to stop a demonstration backing Prime Minister Etienne Tshisekedi, even arresting him briefly, and then replaced him with an army general.

Security forces under the command of Mobutu's son, Major Mobutu Kongolo, detained Tshisekedi around midday (1000 GMT) Wednesday as he attempted to enter the prime minister's office building to begin running his new government.

A few hours later in flashes on state radio and television the government announced that Mobutu had named the defense minister in the outgoing government, General Likulia Bolongo, to be prime minister.

Mobutu declared a state of emergency Tuesday and is now running the government by decree, thus short-circuiting the constitutional debate which had pitted him in a power struggle with Tshisekedi since he appointed the long-term opposition leader premier a week ago.

Zairean journalist Michel Ladi Luya told AFP Wednesday that Mobutu was clearly trying to assert his authority in Kinshasa, and the rest of Zaire he controls, as he is on the defensive against rebels who have seized the wealthy eastern third of the central African state.

"He is trying to save his skin, by showing the the regime has not yet lost," Ladi Luya said. "He feared an uprising of the people if he did not" put on this show of force.

US officials were saying in Washington this week that Mobutu is finished and should quit but UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said rebels led by Laurent Kabila will not be able to capture the rest of Zaire.

In any case, Mobutu needs to show some strength if he is to hope win something in talks that have already started between his regime and the rebels.

Officials from Tshisekedi's Union for Democracy and Social Progess (UNDP) party told AFP Wednesday that they would continue to demonstrate but did not say what their strategy would be. They said they saw themselves as allies, albeit non-violent, of Kabila.

In Wednesday's demonstration, troops sealed off access to the parliament office building, and Tshisekedi's car was stopped at a crossroads about one kilometre (half a mile) away, with thousands of people gathered around it.

He got out of the light brown Peugeot 405 and was walking towards the office building when he was arrested. At first he was surrounded by some 30 armed civil guard troops who were protecting him. Behind him stretched the huge crowd.

But troops from the elite Special Presidential Divison (DSP) plowed into the crowd in armored cars, hitting Tshisekedi's car, and troops behind them fired tear gas. The crowd began to disperse and the civil guards who were with Tshisekedi fled.

Tshisekedi, making the V victory sign with his fingers, still advanced however and a line of troops guarding the prime minister's offices shot in the air as he approached.

He kept coming, along with some 50 supporters, and troops finally grabbed him, threw him into a four-wheel drive jeep and took him away.

Earlier, soldiers charged and tear-gassed a crowd of around 1,000 people who had gathered outside the prime minister's house to accompany him to his offices in a planned mass march.

Tshisekedi has angered both opposition parties and pro-Mobutu groups by declaring Mobutu's regime illegitimate.

Mobutu Kongolo brought Tshisekedi, after he had been detained home to his residence, an official said.

April 9 , 1997

Wednesday

Wednesday

A few hours

Tuesday

now

a week ago

Wednesday

this week

Wednesday

Wednesday


CNN19980223.1130.0960
 NEWS STORY

 Despite the recent possibility of military conflict with Iraq, oil prices  have  been falling, that's because of a worldwide glut of oil.
 Now with a diplomatic solution to the crisis seemingly at hand, get set for oil prices from the Brent north sea variety  to light swede crude to fall further.

 Oil prices  have come down from the middle of October from a twenty-two dollar barrel level down to the fourteen dollars we 're seeing today.
 that 's built up a heck of a momentum and that momentum  will look  to increase.
 ah next up is that thirteen dollar a barrel level we saw in the winter of nineteen ninety-four.

 Weakened oil prices  have  already made life easier for motorists at the gas
 pump.
 Gas prices fell nearly two cents a gallon over the last two weeks. That according to the Lundberg survey of ten thousand gas stations nationwide.

recent

Now

the middle of October

today

the winter of nineteen ninety-four

the last two weeks


XIN_ENG_20061123.0377

VIENNA, Nov. 23 , 2006 (Xinhua)

IAEA chief voices support for resuming talks on DPRK nuclear issue

Mohamed ElBaradei, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), on Thursday welcomed the positive signals sent by relevant parties about the resumption of talks on the nuclear issue of the Korean Peninsula.

In an address to the Board of Governors of IAEA, ElBaradei said that the nuclear weapon test launched last month by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) underscored "the importance and urgency of finding a negotiated solution to the current situation regarding the DPRK's nuclear program."

"The resumption of dialogue between all concerned parties is indispensable and urgent," he added.

He also stressed that the DPRK's test was "a matter of deep regret and concern" and constituted a "serious challenge" to the current international nuclear non-proliferation regime.

At present, he noted, the IAEA stood ready to work with the DPRK and all concerned parties toward a solution to assure the international community that all nuclear activities in the DPRK would be "exclusively for peaceful purposes."

As to Iran's nuclear issue, ElBaradei said that due to Iran's limited cooperation with IAEA, the IAEA was unable to move forward in its efforts to confirm the absence of undeclared nuclear material and activities in Iran.

He described Iran's recent decision to allow IAEA experts to inspect two nuclear sites as "steps in the right direction."

The IAEA chief expressed his hope that through dialogue between Iran and its partners, conditions would be created to achieve a comprehensive solution that addresses the respective concerns of all parties.

At Thursday's meeting, the IAEA Board of Governors decided that it would temporarily not provide technical assistance to Iran's Arak heavy water nuclear reactor program.

Christopher Hill, U.S. assistant secretary of state, said on Tuesday after a whirlwind one-day visit to Beijing that he believed the six-party talks dedicated to resolving the unclear issue on the Korean Peninsula would probably resume in mid-December.

The six-party talks, launched in 2003, were suspended last November when Pyongyang walked out in protest against financial sanctions imposed by Washington.

After carrying out a nuclear test on Oct. 9, the DPRK government agreed to return to the talks which also involve China, Japan, South Korea, Russia and the United States, but did not say a specific date.

Nov. 23 , 2006

Thursday

last month

Thursday

Tuesday

last November

Oct. 9


XIN_ENG_20061109.0356

PARIS, Nov. 9 , 2006 (Xinhua)

French force fires Taliban units with laser-guided bomb

A French Mirage 2000-D warplane used a laser-guided bomb against Taliban units in the south of Afghanistan on Oct. 30, the defense ministry in Paris said on Thursday.

The Mirage's action was part of the Serpentaire air support mission, and the target on the ground was designated by U.S. and British troops engaged with Taliban fighters, the ministry said.

In the past four months, French aircraft have opened fire eight times in Afghanistan, it said.

They are part of France's contribution to Operation "Enduring Freedom" and support for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan.

Nov. 9 , 2006

Oct. 30

Thursday

the past four months


AFP_ENG_19970417.0297

CAIRO, April 17 , 1997 (AFP)

Ancient pharaonic sarcophagus seized in Egypt

Egyptian authorities have foiled an attempt to smuggle a priceless limestone pharaonic sarcophagus containing a wooden statue out of the country, a government daily reported Thursday.

The discovery was made in the town of Ihnassiya in Beni Sueif province, 125 kilometers (65 miles) south of the capital, Al-Akhbar newspaper said.

Ihnassiya is the site of the ancient city of Henen-nesut, later known as Herakleopolis, which rose to importance in the 9th-10th Dynasty when its rulers controlled large parts of Egypt.

According to Al-Akhbar, the authorities acted on a tip-off about tomb thieves in the area and carried out a raid. They arrested an unspecified number of people trying to remove the coffin by night.

The uncovered coffin contained a wooden sculpture with colorful pharaonic decorations, the newspaper said.

April 17 , 1997

Thursday

night


XIN_ENG_20061108.0324

DAMASCUS, Nov. 8 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Syria criticizes UN envoy over allegation of weapons smuggle

Syria criticized on Wednesday the top UN diplomat on Lebanese ties with Syria Terje Roed-Larsen over his recent allegations that Damascus continues to smuggle weapons into Lebanon, the official SANA news agency reported.

The allegations were "an attempt to again escalate atmospheres in the region and further deteriorate Syria's relation with Lebanon more than ever," said Syria's foreign ministry in a letter to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and President of the Security Council.

It added that Larsen's allegations also seek to divert the UN Security Council attention away into "marginal issues rather than following up its main duties through concentration on non- essential and insignificant issues and neglecting the sensitive issues which destabilize safety and stability of Lebanon."

"Mr. Larsen also ignored Israeli flagrant continued violations of Lebanon's sovereignty, airspace and waters and national soil," said the letter.

It stressed that "the statements issued by Lebanese official circles, including Ministers of Defense and Foreign Affairs and Army Commander, had denied as unfounded Mr. Larsen's allegations and were a strong blow to the credibility of the report and its writer."

"Such reports which are full of fallacies and selectivity could only lead to weakening the credibility of the peoples in the region in the honesty of some UN envoys," said the letter.

Syria has pledged to increase border security to stop flow of weapons into the Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas in accordance with UN resolution 1701 which brokered a truce between the militant group and Israel after a 34-day-long war.

Nov. 8 , 2006

Wednesday


XIN_ENG_20061123.0072

HANOI, Nov. 23 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Vietnam, Bulgaria to boost all-round cooperation

Vietnam and Bulgaria have agreed to foster their comprehensive cooperation, especially in the fields of trade, health and tourism, their top leaders said here Thursday.

After their talks on Thursday morning, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and his visiting Bulgarian counterpart Sergey Stanishev witnessed the signing of three bilateral cooperation deals on economy, tourism and healthcare.

Earlier, they discussed directions and measures to bring the friendly ties and comprehensive cooperation, especially that on trade and economy, to a new height, and other issues of common concern.

Stanishev's visit, taking place at Vietnam's accession to the World Trade Organization, and Bulgaria's upcoming entry to the European Union, will contribute to deepening and broadening the Vietnam-Bulgaria cooperative relations on the basis of mutual benefit and development, Dung said at a press briefing after the talks.

He thanked Bulgaria for its assistance to Vietnam during his country's national liberalization and construction process.

Stanishev, starting his three-day official visit to Vietnam on Thursday, said the two countries should beef up their cooperation, especially on energy, agriculture, and education and training.

Nov. 23 , 2006

Thursday

Thursday morning

Thursday


AFP_ENG_20051206.0118

LIVERPOOL, England, Dec 6 , 2005

Gazza arrested after hotel fight

Former England star Paul Gascoigne has been arrested after allegedly assaulting a photographer outside a Liverpool hotel.

The incident happened hours after Gazza was sacked as manager of Nationwide Conference North side Kettering Town after just 39 days in charge, with team bosses complaining about his drinking.

Gazza was to be questioned by police later Tuesday in connection with an incident at the Hope Street Hotel in Liverpool.

A Merseyside Police spokesman said: "A 38-year-old man was arrested following reports of an alleged assault outside the Hope Street Hotel at around 11.30pm last night.

"He is currently in custody at a police station in the city and will be interviewed by detectives later today."

Gascoigne, 38, had visited the city to speak at a fund-raiser for a drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre.

The Sun newspaper reported that freelance photographer Steve Farrell, nursing a cut eye, complained to police that he had been assaulted as he was on the street outside the hotel alongside other snappers.

Earlier Monday, Kettering Town chairman Imraan Ladak had decided to remove Gascoigne as manager.

Ladak said he spoke to Gascoigne after 37 separate incidents since he became manager.

He said Gascoigne was "under the influence of alcohol before, during and after several first-team games and training sessions".

The one-time Newcastle, Spurs, Lazio and Rangers midfielder admitted drinking a double brandy before one game, but insisted he had been "stitched up".

Confronted with claims that he had been under the influence of drink at a recent match, Gascoigne told Sky Sports News: "So what? I tell you the truth, I had a double brandy before the game.

"Before it used to be four bottles of whisky. It's not any more."

He added: "As far as I'm concerned I'm not sacked because I never signed a contract."

He was also dismissive of Ladak's knowledge of the game, describing him as "a doctor" who was a "control freak".

"He told me he's been watching football for 20 years, five days a week, and knows how football should be played," he said.

"Well, the guy can't trap a bag of cement as far as I'm concerned."

Dec 6 , 2005

39 days

Tuesday

last night

today

Monday

20 years


XIN_ENG_20051128.0124

URUMQI, Nov. 28 , 2005 (Xinhua)

coming five years

China is launching a water supply project to ensure safe drinking water for the 80 million rural population who are suffering from serious shortage of water supply and disqualified drinking water, according to the Ministry of Water Resources.

China will step up construction of water supply projects at the country's towns and villages and further popularize the utilization of tap water in the rural areas between 2006 and 2010, said Pang Jinwu, deputy director of the ministry's planning department.

To ensure safe drinking water for the rural people, the country will give priority to the treatment of disqualified water supply in the rural areas which are afflicted with high content of fluorine, arsenic and various kinds of pollutants, official said.

And effective measures will be taken to control the spread of water-borne schistosomiasis, he added.

According to the official, China invested 20 billion yuan (2.4 billion US dollars) between 2001 and 2005 in efforts to provide clean drinking water for 60 million people in rural areas.

At present, more than 300 million people in rural areas still have no access to qualified drinking water, the official said, adding the aim of providing safe drinking water supply for rural people will be achieved by 2020.

Nov. 28 , 2005


WSJ891027-0159
 = 891027
 891027-0159.
 Poughkeepsie Savings
@  Abandons Plan to Sell
@  South Carolina Offices
 10/27/89
 WALL STREET JOURNAL (J)
 PKPS
 TENDER OFFERS, MERGERS, ACQUISITIONS (TNM)
 POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y.

   Poughkeepsie Savings Bank said a plan to sell its South Carolina branch offices to First Citizens Bank, of Columbia, S.C., fell through.

   Poughkeepsie also expects to post a one-time charge of $8.3 million, resulting in a net loss for the third quarter.
The charge represents a write-down of the goodwill associated with Poughkeepsie's investment in the banks it is trying to sell and its North Carolina branches as well.

   The thrift announced the plan Aug. 21.
Among other reasons, high fees regulators imposed on certain transfers of thrift deposits to commercial banks "substantially altered the economics of the transaction for both parties," Poughkeepsie said.

   Additionally, the bank is increasing its loan-loss reserves for the third quarter by $8.5 million before taxes.

   In the year-earlier third quarter, Poughkeepsie Savings had net income of $2.8 million, or 77 cents a share.

   Poughkeepsie said it is continuing to try to sell itself, under a June agreement with a dissident-shareholder group.
The bank also said its effort would continue past the Nov. 1 deadline set in that agreement and that the litigation between the two sides might resume as a result.
The thrift and the holders had suspended their lawsuits as part of the agreement.

the third quarter

Aug. 21

the third quarter

the year-earlier third quarter

June

Nov. 1


XIN_ENG_20051124.0096

BEIJING, Nov. 24 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Chinese NPC vice-chairman meets Togolese guests

China appreciates Togo's support to the one-China policy as well as the human rights issue, said Xu Jialu, vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC), here Thursday.

In a meeting with Kpatcha Gnassingbe, minister delegate in the Presidency in charge of Defence and Veterans, Xu said China and Togo enjoy profound friendship and fruitful cooperation in various fields.

China is ready to further enhance friendly cooperation with Togo in various fields, said Xu.

Kpatcha said Togo values the relations with China, and will, as always, support China in the Taiwan issue and other international and regional affairs.

Kpatcha hoped that his visit would be conducive to promoting exchanges and cooperation between the two nations, in a bid to push forward the Togo-China friendly ties.

Nov. 24 , 2005

Thursday


XIN_ENG_20061121.0089

BEIJING, Nov. 21 , 2006 (Xinhua)

WAC takes China's trademark office to court

The Washington Apple Commission (WAC) has taken the Chinese Trademark Review and Adjudication Board to court after its application to register a trademark was rejected.

The application was rejected because the trademark contains the word Washington, the capital of the United States.

But WAC said Washington is also a person's name and, historically speaking, was used earlier as a personal name than as a geographical name.

According to Chinese trademark law, well-known foreign geographical names must not be used as trademarks, but exceptions can be made for geographical names that have other meanings.

The Trademark Review and Adjudication Board, which is responsible for handling trademark disputes, claimed Washington is better known in China as the capital of the U.S. than as a person's name, and so cannot be considered an exception.

WAC said its trademark, which has already been registered in the United States, is known the world over and that it has no intention of monopolizing the geographical name. It contends that the trademark will not have a negative impact on competition.

Washington State is one of the major apple-producing areas in the U.S.

The Intermediate People's Court has not yet handed down its decision on the case.

Nov. 21 , 2006


XIN_ENG_20051122.0333

BRASILIA, Nov. 22 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Brazil to warm up for World Cup in Switzerland

Brazil will be based at a luxury lakeside hotel in Switzerland in the run-up to next year's World Cup finals in Germany, the Brazilian Football Confederation said Tuesday.

The four-time world champions will prepare for the defence of their crown in Weggis, on the shores of Lake Lucerne, from May 22 to June 4 and will have exclusive use of the hotel, the CBF said on its official website.

The tournament starts on June 9.

The CBF did not say whether Brazil had fixed up any friendly internationals during the period.

Nov. 22 , 2005

Tuesday

May 22

June 4

June 9

the period


XIN_ENG_20051111.0159

BRUSSELS, Nov. 11 , 2005 (Xinhua)

EU, China to enhance cooperation on product safety

China and the European Union (EU) signed a Memorandum of Understand (MOU) on Friday to set up a consultation and cooperation mechanism on product safety.

Both sides have agreed to exchange information and establish a series of joint initiatives to help safeguard consumers' health and safety.

"The MOU is a voluntary agreement between legislators on food and non-food product safety, which aims to promote common interests and enhance the safety of products traded between the regions," said a press release of the European Commission.

The agreement will also help in reaching solutions to any trade problems and in forging a common view on safety standards, it added.

China is the EU's second largest trading partner, accounting for 8.8 percent of the EU's total trade in 2004. Food products and consumer goods such as electrical appliances, toys, household items and clothing, make up a large proportion of the EU's imports from China.

In the area of non-food consumer goods, the agreement focuses on developing and improving communication channels between the EU and China authorities in order to raise the overall level of product safety.

In 2004, the EU imported over 2 billion euros (about 2.4 billion US dollars) worth of Chinese agricultural goods and food, while exporting over 1 billion euros (about 1.2 billion dollars) worth of such products to China.

Nov. 11 , 2005

Friday


XIN_ENG_20051128.0108

BEIJING, Nov. 28 , 2005 (Xinhua)

New Chinese historic sites granted certificates of world heritage

A batch of Chinese historic sites, including the historic center of Macao, were granted the certificates of world heritage here on Monday.

Chinese State Councilor Chen Zhili, Edmund Ho Hau Wah, chief executive of the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) and Koichiro Matsuura, director-general of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) attended the certificate awarding ceremony in Beijing.

The historic center of Macao was added to the World Heritage List at the 29th session of the World Heritage Committee, held in Durban, South Africa, in July this year.

The heritage in Macao comprises about two dozen monuments, including the Buddhist Ma Kok Temple, the Catholic Holy House of Mercy, the Old City Walls, the Fortress Hill and a number of churches.

The relics, most are still in use, have witnessed the earliest pervasion of Western religious culture in the oriental continent as well as its ensuing coexistence with the local culture.

The other sites awarded the certificates include the capital cities and tombs of the ancient Koguryo Kingdom of China, the three imperial mausoleums dedicated to first and second emperors and the two empresses of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), as well as to the ancestors of the emperors, all in Shenyang, capital of Liaoning Province, and the Shenyang Imperial Palace of the early Qing Dynasty.

These sites were added to the World Heritage List at the 28th conference of the World Heritage Committee in July 2004 in Suzhou, a scenic city in Jiangsu Province, east China.

Joining UNESCO's Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage in 1985, China now has 31 sites on the World Heritage List, the third most next to Italy and Spain, and it is now playing an active role in protecting the world heritages.

Nov. 28 , 2005

Monday

July this year

July 2004

now

now


AFP_ENG_20061202.0469

WASHINGTON, Dec 2 , 2006, 2006

ATTENTION - ADDS quotes, detail, background ///

The United States said Saturday that the Cuban regime must take steps toward democracy before Washington would consider any "deepening" of bilateral relations, responding to Raul Castro's invitation to come to the negotiating table.

"The dialogue that needs to take place is one between the Cuban regime and the Cuban people about the democratic future of the island," Janelle Hironimus, a State Department spokeswoman, told AFP.

"As we have consistently stated, any deepening of our engagement with Cuba depends on that dialogue and the Cuban regime's willingness to take concrete steps toward a political opening and a transition to democracy," she said.

Raul Castro, Cuba's defense minister and interim leader since his ailing brother Fidel underwent surgery in July, said in a speech to troops earlier Saturday: "Let me take this opportunity to express our willingness to settle the long US-Cuba disagreement at the negotiating table."

"Of course, that is, as long as they accept that we are a country that does not tolerate any reduction of its independence, and based on the principles of equality, reciprocity, non-interference and mutual respect," he told Communist Party and military leaders at Cuba's first military parade in a decade.

"Until that happens, after almost half a century, we are prepared to wait patiently for the moment when common sense takes root in the halls of power in Washington," he said.

The parade marked the 50th anniversary of the armed forces and capped belated 80th birthday celebrations for Fidel Castro, Cuba's leader since 1959.

The speech by Raul Castro, coming in the vacuum of Fidel Castro's public disappearance since his intestinal surgery in July, seemed to confirm a desire to ease the traditionally strained tensions with Washington.

The policy of willingness to talk with the United States if respected as an equal is standing Cuban policy.

But Raul Castro's timing and mention of the negotiating table -- as Cuba is consolidating its changing of the communist guard -- suggests some growing autonomy on his part.

A few weeks after taking the reins of government from his brother on July 31, Raul Castro hinted at some openness to dialogue with the United States in an interview with the Communist Party newspaper Granma, suggesting ties might be normalized on equal terms.

But the US had shot back that it was not talking to "Fidel light."

Since Fidel Castro's illness removed him from the scene, the United States has made numerous appeals for Cuba to open up to democracy.

Cuba, Latin America's only one-party communist regime, and the United States do not have full diplomatic relations. Each maintains an Interests Section, a diplomatic office, in the other's capital.

The United States has maintained a trade embargo against Cuba since 1962.

Dec 2 , 2006

Saturday

July

Saturday

a decade

half a century

July

A few weeks

July 31


XIN_ENG_20051123.0370

COLOMBO, Nov. 24 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Sri Lanka wildlife officials told to guard against bird flu

The Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWLC) of Sri Lanka has urged wildlife officials to guard against possible detection of signs of bird-flu as the bird- migration season began, Daily News reported Thursday.

The DWLC in cooperation with the Sri Lankan Animal Production and Health Department conducted a workshop recently to help wildlife workers learn about bird flu and possible methods through which the virus could enter the country.

Birds fly into tropical countries to escape harsh winters and take refuge in Sri Lanka's wetlands such as Bundala, Kumana and Anawilundawa. These national parks are habitats to a wide range of fauna.

The workshop studied different possible aspects of the virus affecting Sri Lanka's birdlife with migratory birds joining local waterfowl in catchment areas.

Nov. 24 , 2005

Thursday


AFP_ENG_20061204.0613

NEW YORK, Dec 4 , 2006, 2006

UN turns spotlight on sexual abuse by peacekeepers

UN chief Kofi Annan on Monday opened a high-level conference here that turned the spotlight on continuing sexual exploitation and abuses by a minority of UN peacekeepers serving around the world.

"Acts of sexual exploitation and abuse by both civilian and uniformed UN personnel continue," the outgoing secretary general told a gathering of more than 100 senior leaders from the world body, non-governmental organizations, UN member states, academics and victim advocates.

"There have been crimes such as rape, paedophilia and human trafficking. My message of zero tolerance has still not got through to those who need to hear it -- from managers on the ground, to all our other personnel."

Monday's conference came close on the heels of a BBC expose that found allegations of child prostitution and rape involving the UN peacekeeping missions in Haiti and Liberia.

In an interview with the BBC last week, UN Assistant Secretary General for peacekeeping operations Jane Holl Lute conceded that the abuse reported in Haiti "is going on ... and I don't challenge the facts as they were presented".

She insisted, however, that the United Nations was working to deal with cases of abuse by peacekeepers, telling the broadcaster that the UN had "accepted our responsibility for dealing comprehensively with this."

Monday, participants at the one-day conference approved a statement in which they reaffirmed their determination to prevent future acts of sexual exploitation and abuse by UN and non-governmental organization (NGO) personnel.

They specifically committed themselves to implementing 10 key goals, including developing organization-specific strategies to deal with the problem, incorporating standards on induction materials and training courses for their personnel and preventing perpetrators of abuse from being "(re-) hired or (re-) deployed."

Other goals include taking appropriate action to "protect persons from retaliation" where allegations of sexual abuse are reported, investigate allegation "in a timely and professional manner" and providing "basic emergency assistance to complainants".

Dec 4 , 2006

Monday

Monday

last week

Monday


AFP_ENG_19970418.0314

MADRID, April 18 , 1997 (AFP)

James Baker on Western Sahara mission

Former US secretary of state James Baker will meet the leader of Western Sahara's Polisario Front in Algeria on April 26, as part of a bid to resolve the dispute over the former Spanish colony, a Western Saharan source said here Friday.

Baker, 66, was named UN special envoy for Western Sahara in March and charged with relaunching the peace process there.

The meeting with Mohamed Abdelaziz in Tindouf, southwest Algeria, will be his first visit to the region since his nomination.

Baker will also visit refugee camps housing Western Saharan refugees, the source told AFP.

Spain withdrew from Western Sahara in 1976, prompting Morocco and Mauritania to claim sovereignty over the area while the nationalist Polisario Front, supported by Algeria, unleashed an independence war.

The United Nations has proposed a referendum on whether the territory should become part of Morocco or an independent state.

However the plebiscite has been repeatedly postponed since 1992, because the two sides cannot agree on criteria for determining who has the right to vote.

April 18 , 1997

April 26

Friday

March


XIN_ENG_20051113.0171

SINGAPORE, Nov. 13 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Singapore recruits students as crime prevention ambassadors

The Singapore police are recruiting students as young crime prevention ambassadors as part of efforts to reduce crime involving the youth.

"To reduce youth crime, particularly shop theft and rioting, the National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC) has been engaging students to act as Student Crime Prevention Ambassadors (CPAs)," Senior Minister of State for Law and Home Affairs Ho Peng Kee said at the launch of the annual Festive Season Crime Prevention campaign on Sunday.

He said that the aim is to teach students crime prevention strategies and they in turn can become mentors for fellow students.

NCPC believes that peer influence exerts a strong influence on youths, guiding them to make sound choices in life, he added.

Starting next year, a new program will be rolled out at 32 schools, teaching National Police Cadet Corps (NPCC) trainees to stop crime.

"It consists of a 3-year program where NPCC Cadets would acquire crime prevention skills and knowledge and embark on school and community projects under the supervision of both the school officers and the police liaison officers from the NPCs," he said, adding that "this program serves to strengthen the link between the police and the schools, establishing NPCC as a platform for its youths to become efficient crime prevention police youth ambassadors."

Pointing out that over the first nine months of this year, there have been increases in incidents of housebreaking, robbery, snatch theft and handphone theft, he stressed that crime prevention is everybody's business.

Nov. 13 , 2005

Sunday

next year

the first nine months

this year


XIN_ENG_20051127.0057

RAMALLAH, Nov. 27 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Israel considers releasing jailed Fatah leader: lawyer

Khader Shqirat, lawyer of the jailed Fatah leader Marwan al-Barghouti, said on Sunday that Israel is considering releasing Barghouti after he won the Fatah primaries.

Shqirat told reporters that Barghouti's victory in Fatah's internal elections in the West Bank city of Ramallah last week would make Israel seriously consider his release.

Israeli Army Radio quoted senior Israeli security sources as saying that Israel's military and security establishments are mulling on the issue of releasing Barghouti.

Meanwhile, Yosi Belin, an Israeli party head, called on the Israeli government to release Barghouti, saying that his victory among the young generation in Fatah could help both Israel and the Palestinians to achieve a permanent peace.

Barghouti's wife Fadwa told reporters that Shqirat will visit her husband in his Israeli jail and inform him of the good news that he had won the primaries.

Barghouti, a top Fatah leader in the West Bank and member of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), was arrested in April 2002 in Ramallah by Israeli army in its Defensive Shield operation.

An Israeli court convicted Barghouti of leading the armed Intifada (Uprising) against Israel in which several Israelis were killed, and sentenced him to life imprisonment.

Nov. 27 , 2005

Sunday

last week

April 2002


VOA19980303.1600.2745
 NEWS STORY

 While the expansion of the Internet has been a blessing for researchers,
 students and the just plain curious, the new opportunities mentioned by Mr.
 Gates are also being used by some rather unsavory characters. A new report
 says there has been a dramatic rise in the growth of hate groups in the
 United States over the past year. And many of them are using the Internet to spread their messages of racial superiority.
 VOA's Jim Teple has details from our southeast news bureau.

 The Southern Poverty Law Center, a civil rights monitoring group based in
 Montgomery, Alabama, has long monitored such groups as the Ku Klux Klan.
 More recently it has followed the growth of the militia movement and church
 groups that preach a message of white supremacy and anti-semitism.
 The new study written by Mark Potach, who edits the Southern Poverty Law
 Center's Intelligence Report, warns that such groups grew rapidly last
 year, mostly by recruiting younger members. Mr. Potach says the growth is
 surprising since membership in hate groups usually declines during periods of economic
 prosperity.

 We in fact have seen hate group numbers dropping through the nineties, uh but
 this year they jumped up uh twenty percent, quite a dramatic rise.

 Mark Potach says over four hundred hate groups have been identified and many are becoming increasingly successful at recruiting younger members through the
 use of Internet web pages and the promotion of racist rock music.

 The Internet has certainly helped uh hate mongers to organize and uh to feel that
 they are part of a larger community, even if uh they are essentially uh, you
 know, angry people sitting in their bedrooms uh all alone.
 Uh, in addition, white power racist music has become uh quite
 popular in certain sectors. Uh, there are over fifty thousand CDs a year
sold with uh lyrics that are quite uh unbelievable.

 Many of these new members are joining chapters of the so called Christian
 Identity Movement which cites Biblical scripture as a foundation for a
 belief in white supremacy and anti-semitism. Mark Potach says such members are also intensely attracted to apocalyptical fantasies.

 The approach of the year two thousand has many of these groups in a kind of
 millennial frenzy. Uh, uh a- they believe, or at least many of them believe,
 uh that they are approaching the Battle of Armageddon in which they will be pitted against the uh kind of Satanic forces trying to take over the world.

 Mr. Potach notes older, more traditional groups like the Ku Klux Klan are also opening new chapters, thanks in part to their ability to use new
 technologies like the Internet. The Federal Bureau of Investigation says
 it received more than eight thousand reports of hate group crimes last
 year. Law enforcement authorities say such reports are likely to increase
 as police departments are now beginning to more accurately report hate
 crimes than they have in the past.
 Jim Teple, VOA News, Miami.

the past year

More recently

last
 year

the nineties

this year

a year

the year two thousand

last
 year

now

the past


XIN_ENG_20051130.0278

OTTAWA, Nov. 30 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Former Canadian prime minister challenges sponsorship scandal inquiry

Former Canadian prime minister Jean Chretien on Wednesday filed an expected challenge against a judicial inquiry which blamed him for a notorious corruption scandal.

Justice John Gomery was biased against him and Gomery's conclusion was not backed up by the information given at the inquiry, Chretien said in his appeal.

Wednesday is the last day of a 30-day limit that Chretien could file the challenge in a Federal Court since the release of the Gomery report. In his initial investigation report released on Nov. 1, Gomery confirmed a system of illegal kickbacks and contributions that funneled millions of dollars to the federal Liberal Party in Quebec.

He described Chretien as the architect of the program, and his chief of staff Jean Pelletier as the man who implemented it. And Prime Minister Paul Martin, then Chretien's finance minister, was exonerated of any wrongdoing over the scandal.

Chretien's appeal came when Martin launched his Quebec election campaign on Wednesday with a star candidate astronaut Marc Garneau who was asking Quebecers to turn the page on the sponsorship scandal.

The Liberal popularity in Quebec was hit most hard by the scandal which led to the defeat of Martin's minority government on Monday by a non-confidence vote in the House of Commons.

However, Chretien's associates said that the timing of the appeal was linked to the time limit yet has nothing to do with the election.

Nov. 30 , 2005

Wednesday

last day

Nov. 1

Wednesday

Monday


XIN_ENG_20051123.0085

RAMALLAH, Nov. 23 , 2005 (Xinhua)

11 Palestinians, three Israeli police officers wound in Jenin

Some 11 Palestinians and three Israeli border police officers were injured during heavy clashes in the West Bank city of Jenin on Wednesday morning, sources from both sides said.

Palestinian security sources said large Israeli troop containing some eighty tanks stormed the city's center early Wednesday accompanied by dozens of jeeps and military vehicles.

The Israeli army imposed a curfew at the area while the operation was taking place, they added.

Palestinian medical sources confirmed that 11 armed men were injured in the clashes.

Israeli army radio said that three Israelis policemen sustained light wounds Wednesday in an exchange of fire with armed Palestinians during an operation to detain suspect militants in the town of Jenin.

Violent gunfights promptly ensued at the scene involving Israeli forces and Palestinian gunmen, according to witnesses.

As Israeli soldiers fanned out through Jabal Abu Dheir, Al Marah, Jenin Refugee Camp, the industrial area and the Eastern neighborhoods, they encountered arms fire from Palestinian armed men, the witnesses clarified.

Meanwhile, Israeli army forces operating northeast of Tulkarem recovered a handgun, two hunting rifles and ammunition, and detained the homeowner early Wednesday, Israel radio said.

Nov. 23 , 2005

Wednesday morning

Wednesday

Wednesday

early Wednesday


XIN_ENG_20061123.0283

BAGHDAD, Nov. 23 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Roundup: Bombings kill 153 in Baghdad, indefinite curfew imposed

A series of coordinated bombings killed 153 people in a Shiite militia stronghold in eastern Baghdad on Thursday, prompting the authorities to impose an indefinite curfew.

A further 201 people were also injured when four car bombs in short succession struck 55th Square, al-Sadrain Square, the popular Hai market and Mudhafar Square in Sadr City on Thursday afternoon, a well-informed Interior Ministry official told Xinhua.

The anonymous official denied the earlier report that Mudhafar Square was hit by a mortar round.

There are additional two car bombings near the Shiite district, causing no casualties, the official added.

Shortly after the bloodbath, some 13 mortar rounds shelled a Sunni district in northern Baghdad in retaliation, leaving at least 10 people wounded.

Sadr City in eastern Baghdad is a stronghold for thousands of followers of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. The revered cleric's militia Mahdi Army is often accused of getting involved in the sectarian violence, in which thousands of people have been kidnapped and tortured and their bodies dumped.

Angry residents and armed militiamen flooded the streets to protest the bloody attacks, denouncing Sunni militants behind it. Some people warned the latest carnage was likely to inflame sectarian passions and pushed the country closed to a full-scale civil war.

The Interior Ministry has imposed an indefinite curfew on Baghdad, Iraqi state-run television reported.

The Iraqiya channel quoted an Interior Ministry official as saying that the curfew began at 8:00 p.m. (1700 GMT) Thursday and all people and vehicles must stay off the streets of the city until further notice.

In other violence, gunmen attacked a Shiite ministry in central Baghdad, prompting fierce clashes with security guards.

"Up to 30 gunmen attacked the Health Ministry in Bab al-Mu' adham area at about 2:30 p.m. (1130 GMT), prompting fierce clashes with Iraqi army and police forces," an Interior Ministry source told Xinhua.

"There is no immediate police report on casualties," the source said, adding that there were some people being taken to nearby hospitals.

Deputy Minister Hakim al-Zamily told the Iraqi state-run television Iraqiya that since Thursday morning the ministry building has been shelled by mortar rounds and machine-gun fire.

Recently, the Iraqi Health Ministry controlled by al-Sadr are frequently targeted. Zamily himself survived assassination attempt on Monday when gunmen attacked his convoy in Bab al-Mu'adham area, killing two of his bodyguards.

A day before that, Ammar Assafar, another ministry deputy was kidnapped when gunmen wearing police uniforms stormed his house in Baghdad's northern district of Adhamiyah.

Earlier this month, militants in police uniforms stormed a building of the Iraqi High Education Ministry in central Baghdad, kidnapping about 100 people, some of whom were released later.

Nov. 23 , 2006

Thursday

Thursday afternoon

Thursday

2:30 p.m.

Thursday morning

Monday

Earlier this month


XIN_ENG_20061116.0076

MANILA, Nov. 16 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Fiscal deficit of Philippines drops greatly in first 10 months

The fiscal deficit in the first 10 months this year of the Philippine government reached 56.3 billion pesos (1.12 billion U.S. dollars), lower than 115.5 billion pesos (2.23 billion U.S. dollars) incurred during the same period last year, the Philippine Central Bank said on Thursday.

The lower deficit was a result of better revenue performance and lower-than-expected spending due to the non-approval of the 2006 proposed budget bill, said the central bank.

Moreover, the first ten months' deficit is just 45 percent of the full year target of 125 billion pesos (2.5 billion U.S. dollars).

From January to October, government revenues were up by 19 percent compared to the same period last year, with collections of the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Bureau of Customs reaching 522.8 billion pesos 10.5 billion U.S. dollars) and 159.8 billion pesos (3.2 billion U.S. dollars) respectively.

The Philippine government is cutting its fiscal deficit as part of its fiscal reform package which is aimed at reaching zero deficit by 2010, the year President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's presidential term expires.

Nov. 16 , 2006

the first 10 months this year

last year

Thursday

ten months

January

last year

the year


XIN_ENG_20051117.0406

BANGKOK, Nov. 18 , 2005 (Xinhua)

4 Vietnamese traffickers arrested

HANOI, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) --The Vietnamese police have just arrested a drug seller from a central province and three of his customers from Hanoi capital, confiscating 2.8 kg of heroin, 800 amphetamine and some 8,500 US dollars, local media reported Friday.

The police arrested the three middle-aged men from the capital city's rural districts on Nov. 16 after detecting the drugs hidden in their car, newspaper Young People said.

The men confessed that they bought them from a man named Vi Van May from Nghe An province. When local police approached May's house in Ky Son district on the morning of Nov. 16, he embraced two of his little children and a grenade in the house.

May did not surrender to the police until the afternoon of Nov. 17.

Last year, Vietnamese authorities reported 12,068 drug-related crimes, seized 239.4 kg of heroin, and arrested 18,260 people involved. Under the country's laws, anyone possessing, trading or trafficking heroin of 0.6 kg or above can be sentenced to death or life in prison.

Nov. 18 , 2005

Nov. 18

Friday

Nov. 16

May

the morning of Nov. 16

the afternoon of Nov. 17

Last year


AFP_ENG_19970411.0603

BONN, April 12 , 1997 (AFP)

Schroeder would lead the SPD to victory over Kohl, poll shows

Gerhard Schroeder would lead the social democratic SPD party to victory if he were selected to face Chancellor Helmut Kohl in next year's general elections, according to an opinion poll published Saturday.

Schroeder, who heads the state government in Lower Saxony, would win 56 percent of the vote against 33 percent for Kohl, the poll, conducted by the DIMAP institute and published by the daily Bild, indicated.

With Oskar Lafontaine as its champion, the SPD would lose with 40 percent of the vote against 45 percent for Kohl's CDU Christian- Democratic Union, according to the poll in which 1,100 people were questioned.

Kohl would win by an even bigger margin - 47 percent - against an SPD led by Rudolf Scharping, the leader of the SPD's parliamentary group whom only 36 percent of those questioned said they would back.

The SPD leadership said on April 3 that Kohl's decision to run for chancellor again would not affect its decision to wait until next year to pick its own candidate for the country's top post.

Asked how they would vote if the elections took place this week, 41 percent of those polled said they would vote SPD (plus one percent) and 35 percent said they would back the CDU.

April 12 , 1997

next year

Saturday

April 3

next year

this week


XIN_ENG_20051102.0297

UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 2 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Annan to speak on bird flu

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan is scheduled to deliver his first major speech on avian flu Thursday, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric announced Wednesday.

In that speech which is to be delivered at the Time Global Health Summit in New York, the Secretary-General is expected to describe the highly complex challenges involved, and outline a set of key priorities for the UN system and the international community as a whole -- actions needed in seeking to avert, and preparing for the possibility of, a human pandemic, Dujarric said.

"Annan will describe the coordination mechanism set up by the UN family to address the threat, and call for collective action among all partners of the United Nations," he added.

Nov. 2 , 2005

Thursday

Wednesday


XIN_ENG_20051119.0247

BEIJING, Nov. 20 , 2005 (Xinhua)

URGENT: Chinese president to visit US early next year

Chinese President Hu Jintao will pay a visit to the United States early next year, according to sources close to the talks between Hu and visiting US President George W. Bush, who offered an invitation, Sunday morning.

Nov. 20 , 2005

early next year

Sunday morning


XIN_ENG_20061121.0308

KHARTOUM, Nov. 21 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Sudanese government disregards Washington's warning on Darfur

The Sudanese government on Tuesday brushed aside a U.S. warning on its Darfur issues by saying that they did not know the plan referred in the warning.

Ali al-Sadig, the spokesman of the Sudanese Foreign Ministry, told reporters that his government knew neither Plan A nor Plan B, which were talked about by Andrew Natsios, the U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan.

On Monday, Natsios warned that the United States and other countries would resort to what he called "Plan B" if Khartoum refused to change its position on the peacekeeping issue in Darfur by Jan. 1.

"On Jan. 1, either we see change or we go to Plan B," Natsios told reporters at the State Department, without elaborating the details.

Describing Natsios' statement as "inappropriate and not helpful for resolving the problem in Darfur," the spokesman said that "The U.S. envoy ignored the fact that agreements had been reached at the joint meeting of the UN, the AU, the Arab League and the Sudanese government in Addis Ababa on Thursday on most of the questions it discussed."

He reiterated that the Sudanese government would only accept a UN presence within the AU Mission in Darfur in the form of experts and technicians as well as the technical assistance that the AU force needs.

Nov. 21 , 2006

Tuesday

Monday

Jan. 1

Jan. 1

Thursday


XIN_ENG_20061119.0196

ROME, Nov. 19 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Italian lower house approves govt's 2007 budget

Italian lower house on Sunday approved the government's planned 2007 budget, which included heavily protested tax increases and spending cuts.

The budget, which suggested 15 billion euros of spending cuts, passed by 311 votes to 251, one day after the government won a confidence vote on a series of measures tied to the budget, which must be approved by the Senate before the end of the year.

Italian Premier Romano Prodi, who narrowly beat former premier Silvio Berlusconi in April's general election, has been struggling to gain support among some of its allies for the budget, which is aimed at promoting growth and bringing the Italian deficit to within 3 percent of GDP by next year to meet Rome's EU commitments.

Nov. 19 , 2006

Sunday

one day

the end of the year

April

next year


AFP_ENG_20061213.0551

WASHINGTON, Dec 13 , 2006, 2006

US mulling Darfur no-fly zone at urging of Blair

The United States and Britain are considering the imposition of a no-fly zone over Sudan's war-torn Darfur region if the Khartoum government does not allow a UN-led peacekeeping force into the area, the State Department said Wednesday.

Blair raised the no-fly zone option during a meeting here last week with US President George W. Bush amid growing frustration with Sudan's refusal to comply with agreements on the peacekeepers, department spokesman Sean McCormack said.

Dec 13 , 2006

Wednesday

last week


AFP_ENG_19970422.0195

KINSHASA, April 22 , 1997 (AFP)

Zaire premier says army can defend capital against rebels

Zaire's Prime Minister Likulia Bolongo has called on residents of Kinshasa to denounce all suspect people, saying the army can defend the city against rebels but needs public support.

In a television interview late Monday, General Likulia declared that the Zairean armed forces, the FAZ, was able to hold the city against rebels who have swept across the eastern half of the country, but needed "the support of the people".

He claimed that inhabitants of all the towns conquered by Laurent Kabila's guerrillas since October were putting up "strong resistance to the rebels", but denounced wide divisions among Zairean politicians which had weakened the strength of the armed forces.

Likulia also renewed Zairean charges that "certain neighbouring countries" had sent regular troops to fight for the mainly Tutsi rebel alliance, claiming that Kabila was dependent on help from these forces. Zaire has previously accused Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi of involvement, charges denied by all these countries.

On peace talks which have been under way in South Africa, Likulia said he was "confident" they would achieve a settlement.

"But if they collapse, the FAZ is ready to end a truce and resume fighting," he said.

Frequently, Zaire's rag-tag army has looted and fled towns ahead of rebel advances and Kabila's men now control more than half the country, including the mineral-rich southeastern provinces crucial to the economy.

Likulia said he would talk to the transitional parliament, the High Council of the Republic, on the situation in the country, where "the state coffers are empty", but for notes with a face value of between 100,000 and one million new zaires.

180,000 new zaires are worth one dollar, but the biggest note in circulation is the 50,000 new zaire bill, because Zaireans refuse to take other notes arguing that they will worsen inflation.

On Monday, the United States urged Zairean President Mobutu Sese Seko and Kabila to hold talks in South Africa, lamenting the difficulty in arranging the meeting.

It is "important for the rebels and the government to respond favorably to the South African proposal" for a summit, said State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns.

Obstacles to holding the meeting were "quite disappointing, because we think the only way that any progress is going to be made in the current civil war in Zaire" is through such dialogue, Burns said.

Washington will give "all necessary support" to the efforts of the South African government and the UN special envoy Mohamed Sahnoun to arrange the direct talks, he said.

The question was raised during a meeting early Monday between Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and South African Vice President Thabo Mbeki.

Sahnoun said Monday that there is "still a small hope to concretize the meeting." He told AFP that both parties "continue to say they're ready" to meet.

Last Thursday, Sahnoun and South African Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Aziz Pahad, peace mediators in the ongoing conflict, announced in Cape Town that the two foes had agreed to meet.

But Saturday, Kabila toughened his position, saying he only would meet Mobutu to discuss the conditions for the president's departure, while the head of state refuses to stand down.

The rebels have seized all key cities apart from the capital Kinshasa and are seeking to oust Mobutu, ruler for the past 32 years.

April 22 , 1997

late Monday

October

now

Monday

Monday

Monday

Thursday

Saturday

the past 32 years


XIN_ENG_20061103.0057

BEIJING, Nov. 3 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Beijing

Chinese President Hu Jintao rolled out red carpet on Friday morning at the Great Hall of the People in downtown Beijing, to welcome five presidents of African countries, who were here for a two-day China-Africa summit.

Hu met, on separate occasions, with five African presidents, including Denis Sassou-Nguesso of the Republic of Congo, Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, Alhaji Ahmed Tejan Kabbah of Sierra Leone, Paul Kagame of Rwanda and John Agyekum Kufuor of Ghana.

Hu extolled the upcoming Beijing Summit of the Forum on China- Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), saying it is a great undertaking in the history of China-Africa relations.

At the two-day summit slated for Nov. 4-5, leaders of China and African countries will review the development of China-Africa relationship and blueprint the future cooperation, Hu said.

The Chinese president said the summit will have a significant impact on enhancing mutual understanding and trust between China and African leaders, deepening traditional friendship, bolstering pragmatic cooperation and promoting South-South cooperation.

He also expressed China's appreciation to the five countries for their adherence to the one-China policy and "precious support" to China in international affairs.

Presidents of the five countries said China, which has been offering consistent and firm political and economic support to Africa, was seen as a favorable partner by African people.

The presidents agreed the Beijing Summit, with its significant impact on China-Africa relations, were warmly supported by the governments and people of their countries, saying they hope African countries and China make full use of the summit and draw up future cooperative plans to achieve common development.

While meeting Sassou-Nguesso, Hu said the friendly cooperation between China and the Republic of Congo has been going on smoothly since the two countries established strategic partnership more than a year ago.

"We've been exploring new ways to serve our mutual best interest and to create a win-win situation," he said.

Sassou-Nguesso, who was elected African Union (AU) chairman for the 2006 session at the sixth AU summit in the Sudanese capital Khartoum in January, spoke positively of his country's relations with China, saying the two sides are putting into practice their consensus for cooperation.

During a meeting with Museveni, Hu said bilateral ties will be consolidated through strengthening friendly exchanges and exploring cooperation potential, noting the two countries share mutual trust and close cooperation, vowing China is willing to push forward mutual friendship to a new level.

Museveni said China had granted important support when Uganda strove for national independence, and offered assistance in Uganda 's economic development. He said Uganda hopes to expand cooperation with China in fields of railway, energy, processing of agricultural produce and tourism.

When meeting with Kabbah, Hu said the relations between the two countries have developed smoothly on the basis of equality, mutual respect and trust.

Kabbah said Sierra Leone is under economic reconstruction and willing to see cooperation with China in trade, investment, infrastructure building and health.

In his meeting with Kagame, Hu said he believed the friendly cooperative relations between China and Rwanda would advance in a healthy and rapid manner.

Kagame recognized the effective cooperation between Rwanda and China in agriculture, fishery, sanitation and the construction of public utilities. Bilateral coordination in international affairs was favorable, he said.

When meeting with Kufuor, Hu said China wishes to enhance cooperation with Ghana in areas of infrastructure construction, telecommunications and human resources.

The high quality of the road and other projects that the Chinese side helped construct in Ghana has received applause from the Ghanaian people, who wish to enhance cooperation with China in trade, investment, power development, information networks and road construction, so as to fulfill win-win and mutual benefit, said Kufuor.

Forty eight African countries that have diplomatic relations with China are to participate in the two-day summit focusing on " friendship, peace, cooperation and development." Since FOCAC was established in 2000, economic and trade cooperation between China and Africa has entered a new era, with comprehensive, rapid and stable development.

Nov. 3 , 2006

Friday morning

Nov. 4-5

a year ago

January


AFP_ENG_20061212.0787

JAKARTA, Dec 13 , 2006, 2006

Indonesia jails Muslim militant over Australian embassy bombing

An Indonesian court has sentenced a Muslim militant to three years in jail for storing explosives used in the 2004 suicide bombing of the Australian embassy here, a court clerk said Wednesday.

Twelve people, including the bomber, were killed when an explosives-laden van exploded in front of the mission on September 5, 2004.

Judges at the state court in Surabaya, East Java, sentenced Ahmad Arif Hermansyah, 27, on Tuesday, a court clerk who identified himself only as Bambang told AFP.

"The panel of judges found him guilty of having intentionally assisted acts of terrorism and withholding information on act of terrorism," Bambang said, adding that the defendant and his lawyers had filed an appeal.

The sentence was two years lighter than what the prosecution had recommended.

Prosecutors had accused the defendant of agreeing to store a cardboard box for a friend, who was tried separately, but failing to ask what it contained.

Prosecutors said it contained explosives later used in the embassy attack. They also told the court the defendant had been an active member of the Jemaah Islamiyah militant network in 1997.

Jemaah Islamiyah is accused of being behind a series of bombings and other attacks in Indonesia and the region in the past years, including the 2002 Bali bombings which killed 202 people.

Dec 13 , 2006

Wednesday

September 5, 2004

Tuesday

the past years


XIN_ENG_20061101.0323

NICOSIA, Nov. 1 , 2006 (Xinhua)

confirmed

Cyprus Government Spokesman Christodoulos Pashiardis said Wednesday that proximity talks in Helsinki concerning Turkish obligations towards European Union (EU) and Cyprus has not yet be confirmed.

Pashiardis made the remarks to the press after a cabinet meeting, as Finland, the rotating EU presidency, is working on a draft proposal, providing for opening of Turkish occupied port of Famagusta under the EU administration for 24 months in combination with the opening of Turkish ports to ships carrying the Cypriot flag and the transfer of Varosha to the UN.

For the purpose, it has been focusing on preparing the ground for a possible meeting over the weekend in Helsinki between Cyprus and Turkey.

Pashiardis told the press that the return of Famagusta is the prime issue. "Without the return of Famagusta to its lawful inhabitants, there is no room or possibility for the Finnish initiative to be successful."

Asked if Nicosia objects to the presence of Turkish Cypriots at the possible talks in Helsinki, Pashiardis replied that if there is finally an invitation, the presence of any Turkish Cypriot will be merely to make an impression.

"Only the Turkish army has a say and it will be present in the Helsinki negotiations with a representative of the Turkish government," said Pashiardis.

Cyprus has been divided since 1974 when Turkey militarily intervened and occupied the north of Cyprus following a coup by a group of Greek officers.

Turkey, a country aspiring to become an EU member state, does not recognize the Republic of Cyprus and has failed so far to implement the EU-Turkey Customs Union Protocol, which provides for opening of its ports and airports to Cyprus.

The EU formally launched talks with Turkey over the country's accession last October. The negotiations are expected to last at least a decade and Ankara is required to meet a number of criteria spelled out by the EU before entry.

The Republic of Cyprus, which entered the EU on behalf of the whole island in May 2004, is able to block Turkey's entry talks with its veto.

Nov. 1 , 2006

Wednesday

24 months

the weekend

last October

May 2004


XIN_ENG_20061108.0369

MEXICO CITY, Nov. 8 , 2006 (Xinhua)

DEMOCRATS WIN CONTROL OF SENATE: AP

DEMOCRATS WIN CONTROL OF SENATE: AP

Nov. 8 , 2006


XIN_ENG_20061126.0255

WASHINGTON, Nov. 26 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Raptors cruise past Indiana

Chris Bosh scored 17 points and grabbed 11 rebounds on Sunday as Toronto cruised past Indiana 92- 83 at Air Canada Center in Toronto.

Italian Andrea Bargnani contributed 14 points while Jorge Garbajosa and Jose Calderon added 13 each for the Raptors, who have won two of three since dropping six straight games.

Danny Granger and Stephen Jackson both scored 18 points and Jermaine O'Neal poured in 15 points with 11 rebounds for the Pacers, who have lost two of their last three.

Jamaal Tinsley also netted 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting with four assists in defeat, while Al Harrington chipped in 11 points with 14 rebounds.

Toronto, who shot 43.5 percent (37-of-85) from the floor, went on a 19-9 run in the first quarter and ended the frame with seven consecutive points.

Indiana shot a dismal 37.2 percent from the field.

Nov. 26 , 2006

Sunday

the first quarter


XIN_ENG_20061117.0315

NEW YORK, Nov. 17 , 2006 (Xinhua)

New York crude oil futures fall below 56 dollars

New York crude oil futures fell below 56 dollars Friday as concern over supply eased.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in December, which expired Friday, fell 45 cents to close at 55.81 dollars a barrel, the lowest settlement price since June 15, 2005, after hitting 54.86 dollars.

In London, Brent North Sea crude for delivery in January gained 45 cents to settle at 58.99 dollars a barrel.

This winter in northeast United States, the world's largest consumer of heating fuel, is warmer than normal till now. Moreover, the weather in northeast would be warmer than normal from December until February, the U.S. National Weather Service said on Thursday. The warmer winter could boost the distillate stockpiles and weaken the fuel prices.

The Paris-based International Energy Agency lowered its forecast of oil product demand growth last Friday. The global average daily demand in 2006 may reached 84.5 million barrels per day, an 1.1 percent increase on the previous year, instead of its previous forecast of 1.2 percent.

Nov. 17 , 2006

Friday

December

Friday

June 15, 2005

January

now

December

February

Thursday

last Friday

the previous year


XIN_ENG_20051103.0312

BEIJING, Nov. 4 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Xinhua International News Advisory -- Nov. 4

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

-- EU ignorant of CIA secret prisons: EU commissioner.

-- Peruvian congress approves bill on maritime territory.

-- Arms seized in outskirts of Mar del Plata ahead of the 4th Summit of the Americas.

Nov. 4 , 2005

Friday

the 4th


XIN_ENG_20061122.0321

BEIJING, Nov. 23 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Xinhua international news advisory -- Nov.23

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

-- Hu Jintao delivers speech in India.

-- Chinese president arrived in Islamabad.

-- WTO chief calls for relaunch of Doah Round talks.

-- Uruguay legislators ratify protocol of Mercosur Parliament.

-- Argentina condemns assassination of Lebanese minister.

Nov. 23 , 2006

Thursday