XIN_ENG_20051122.0281

UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 22 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Annan urges restraint after exchange of fire across Israel-Lebanon border

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Tuesday lamented Monday's exchange of fire across the Israel-Lebanon border and called on Lebanon's Hezbollah militias and Israel to exercise utmost restraint.

Annan "deplores in the strongest terms the exchange of fire across the Blue Line yesterday, which resulted in the reported deaths of several Hezbollah fighters and an unconfirmed number of wounded on both sides," a UN spokesman told reporters.

The Blue Line was the withdrawal line for Israeli troops who left southern Lebanon in May 2000 and is a temporary border between Israel and Lebanon.

"The secretary-general appeals to all parties to respect the Blue Line in its entirety," spokesman Stephanie Dujarric said. "He also calls on the government of Lebanon to extend its authority over all of its territory in accordance with Security Council resolutions."

"The secretary-general appeals for a return to calm and calls on all parties to exercise utmost restraint."

The spokesman said the UN peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon has brokered a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon to prevent further escalation of the latest hostilities.

Nov. 22 , 2005

Tuesday

Monday

yesterday

May 2000


AFP_ENG_19970417.0576

KISANGANI, Zaire, April 17 , 1997 (AFP)

UNHCR delays repatriation of refugees until Saturday

The UN refugee agency on Thursday said it was putting off the start of repatriation operations for Rwandan Hutu refugees in eastern Zaire until Saturday.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees earlier announced that the airlift from Kisangani to Rwanda via Goma was scheduled to begin Friday with 80 refugee children from the Biaro camp, which is free of the cholera epidemic reportedly flaring in the nearby Kasese camp.

UNHCR spokesman Paul Stromberg told AFP in rebel-held Kisangani that the governor of the Upper Zaire region feared the epidemic could spread outside the camp.

"We had a two-hour meeting with the governor, during which we tried to explain our point of view," Stromberg said.

"By transporting people in good health, there would be no risk of disease spreading," he said. "But by delaying their departure, they would remain in a haven of cholera."

"There will be a meeting on Friday between health experts. They should find a consensus. We are optimistic, and have postponed the operation by a day," Stromberg said.

At Kasese, 303 cases of cholera have been recorded in the last 10 days, and 19 people have died, while 42 have been treated and released from hospital, the UNHCR has reported.

Some 700 children without adult company have been registered among the refugees in the camps, but UNHCR puts their true figure closer to 4,000.

Up to 100,000 refugees are staying at the two camps.

The Zairean rebel alliance, which seized Kisangani a month ago, on Wednesday gave the go-ahead for their repatriation, which could take two to three months.

The UN agency has three Russian Ilyushin transport planes and one Hercules C-130 at its disposal, but must use the smaller, local airstrip because the international runway had been mined by retreating Serb mercenaries fighting on behalf of the Zairean government.

Despite the obstacles, the UNHCR plans to repatriate more than 1,000 refugees a day once the operation gets underway.

April 17 , 1997

Thursday

Saturday

Friday

Friday

a day

the last 10 days

a month ago

Wednesday

three months


AFP_ENG_19970417.0393

BADEN-BADEN, Germany, April 17 , 1997 (AFP)

Russia-NATO deal to be signed in Paris May 27: Yeltsin

President Boris Yeltsin said Thursday that Russia and NATO will sign an agreement defining their future relations at a summit meeting in Paris on May 27.

Speaking at a joint news conference with Chancellor Helmut Kohl, with whom he had several hours' talks in this western German spa town, Yeltsin said: "We will now have to hurry up."

Kohl for his part said that "there still remains a lot to do, but I see a good chance of success."

April 17 , 1997

Thursday

May 27

now


XIN_ENG_20061104.0206

WASHINGTON, Nov. 4 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Coach fined by NHL despite referee's wrong call

Edmonton Oilers coach Craig MacTavish was fined 10,000 U.S. dollars Saturday for ripping NHL referee Mick McGeough after a loss to Dallas, in which a mistaken call erased an equalizer.

McGeough admitted he made a mistake in disallowing the tying goal with 4.1 seconds remaining following a 3-2 Dallas road victory Friday but the outcome stood and MacTavish was irate at the official after the defeat.

"I can't help but think that ... he feels like he's the show out there," MacTavish said of McGeough.

"You would think that if (Shawn) Horcoff knocked it back with his glove that the linesman would be able to see that. He's one person of 17,000 in the building that saw it that way. It's ridiculous."

That sparked the fine imposed by NHL vice president Colin Campbell.

"The NHL acknowledges the fact that referee Mick McGeough made the wrong call on a play late in the game, which he later admitted," Campbell said.

"While the NHL regrets the missed call, Craig MacTavish's comments after the game regarding the call were totally inappropriate and crossed the line."

Nov. 4 , 2006

Saturday

Friday


AFP_ENG_20051211.0499

SYDNEY, Dec 12 , 2005

Ash continuing to spew from Vanuatu volcano

Thousands of tonnes of ash are continuing to spew from a volcano in Vanuatu, but officials said Monday the activity on the South Pacific nation was not likely to result in a major deadly eruption.

Some 5,000 people have been evacuated to safer areas on Vanuatu's Ambae island since the crater lake on top of Mount Manaro began erupting with gas, steam and ash on November 27.

There were fears that a major eruption could send a deadly torrent of water, ash and lava down the sides of the volcano, but experts said Monday the volcanic activity was likely to continue at the same moderate level for one to two weeks before gradually abating.

"The level of activity has remained steady for the last six or seven days," Lucas Merrigan of the Vanuatu National Disaster Management Office in Port Vila told AFP.

"It's still at level two. Level three is when we start evacuating people off the island -- the scientists don't expect it will get to that."

A spokeswoman for aid agency Oxfam said about 2,000 tonnes of ash were continuing to land on the island daily.

"The information that we've got from the scientists and the vulcanologists on the island is that there's less seismic activity and gas emissions than there used to be... but it could be the calm before the storm," she said.

The eruptions could continue at the same level for another fortnight but were unlikely to become worse, she said.

"They are not predicting a major eruption, they are not predicting that people are going to have to move off the island."

There are fears that ash and acid rain will continue to fall on homes and food crops, leading to the contamination of water supplies and respiratory problems for inhabitants.

The Vanuatu government has not declared a state of emergency but has taken precautions in case the eruptions become worse. Ships are standing by off Ambae in case some of the population of about 10,000 people need to be evacuated.

Dec 12 , 2005

Monday

November 27

Monday

one to two weeks

the last six or seven days

daily


XIN_ENG_20051128.0181

HONG KONG, Nov. 28 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Hang Seng China Enterprises Index closes higher -- Nov. 28

Hong Kong's Hang Seng China Enterprises Index rose 37.73 points, or 0.74 percent, to close at 5,110.03 on Monday.

The index, initiated in August 1995 and re-based on Sept. 6, 2004, tracks the overall performance of 40 Chinese mainland state-owned enterprises listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Hang Seng China-Affiliated Corporations Index rose 3.75 points, or 0.19 percent, to close at 1,976.92.

The index tracks the performance of 30 locally listed companies with a significant equity interest held by entities in the Chinese mainland.

Hang Seng Mainland Composite Index also went up 5.91 points, or 0.31 percent, to close at 1,899.44.

Introduced on Oct. 3, 2001, Hang Seng Mainland Composite Index gauges the performance of 95 Hong Kong-listed companies with principal places of business in Hong Kong and the mainland.

Nov. 28 , 2005

Monday

August 1995

Sept. 6, 2004

Oct. 3, 2001


WSJ891027-0182
 = 891027
 891027-0182.
 Dresdner Bank Acquisition
 10/27/89
 WALL STREET JOURNAL (J)
 EUROP DRSDY F.SGF
 TENDER OFFERS, MERGERS, ACQUISITIONS (TNM)
BANKS (BNK)
 FRANKFURT, West Germany

   West German and French authorities have cleared Dresdner Bank AG's takeover of a majority stake in Banque Internationale de Placement (BIP), Dresdner Bank said.

   The approval, which had been expected, permits West Germany's second-largest bank to acquire shares of the French investment bank.

   In a first step, Dresdner Bank will buy 32.99% of BIP for 1,015 French francs ($162) a share, or 528 million francs ($84.7 million).
Dresdner Bank said it will also buy all shares tendered by shareholders on the Paris Stock Exchange at the same price from today through Nov. 17.
In addition, the bank has an option to buy a 30.84% stake in BIP from Societe Generale after Jan. 1, 1990 at 1,015 francs a share.

today

Nov. 17

Jan. 1, 1990


XIN_ENG_20061117.0294

UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 17 , 2006 (Xinhua)

UN Security Council calls for calm in post-election DRC

The UN Security Council on Friday called on all parties in the run-off presidential election in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to remain calm and avoid violence as they wait for the final results.

"The members of the Security Council appealed to the sense of civic responsibility of the Congolese people, so that the electoral process could continue in a calm and peaceful climate," the 15-nation council said in a press statement read out by Jorge Voto-Bernales, Peru's UN ambassador and the council president for this month.

Stressing that electoral disputes should be settled only through legal procedures, the council urged the parties not to challenge the outcome of the polls by force.

The statement condemned the violent incident that took place in Kinshasa on Nov. 11, in which four people lost their lives, calling on all political actors to refrain from any provocation, incitement to hatred or recourse to violence.

The council "stressed that neither the Congolese people nor the international community would understand or accept a return to violence following the election," it said.

Incumbent President Joseph Kabila had won the presidential run- off held on Oct. 29, defeating Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba, according to results announced by the country's electoral commission Wednesday.

In a three-month-long electoral process meant to cement the country's transition to stability from a six-year civil war, the Congolese people also voted to elect a 500-seat National Assembly and provincial assemblies.

Nov. 17 , 2006

Friday

this month

Nov. 11

Oct. 29

Wednesday


XIN_ENG_20061101.0038

JAKARTA, Nov. 1 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Urgent: IDF confirm large operation in Gaza

Jerusalem, Nov. 1 (Xinhua) -- A spokesman of Israel Defense Force confirmed on Wednesday morning that the IDF is conducting a large operation in Beit Hanoun, in northern part of the Gaza Stripe.

Nov. 1 , 2006

Nov. 1

Wednesday morning


AFP_ENG_20061211.0072

JERUSALEM, Dec 11 , 2006, 2006

Israel downplays chance of conflict with Syria

Israeli officials downplayed the chance of armed conflict with Syria Monday, a day after a senior intelligence officer said Damascus was preparing for war with the Jewish state.

"Syria is constructing military apparatus to try and counter the supremacy of (Israeli) air, ground and naval forces, but nothing indicates that it intends to attack us," Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh told public radio.

The chief of parliament's influential foreign affairs and defense committee, Tsahi Hanegbi, told the radio: "No one in Israel has precise information on Syria's intentions and we are examining all possibilities.

"The army takes into account these estimates and adapts them on the ground," he said.

On Sunday, General Yossi Beidetz, the head of the military intelligence research division, told a cabinet meeting that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was "preparing his forces for a military conflict" with Israel.

"Syria has accelerated the production of long-range missiles and has deployed anti-tank rockets on its border with Israel," a senior intelligence official quoted Beidetz as saying, referring to the armistice line on the occupied Golan Heights.

In a later statement, a spokesman said: "The army does not have any information indicating offensive intentions (by Syria) on the border."

Dec 11 , 2006

Monday

Sunday


XIN_ENG_20061116.0248

SHANGHAI, Nov. 16 , 2006 (Xinhua)

consecutive year

World number one Roger Federer and nemesis David Nalbandian, who joined hands to advance into semifinals here last year, repeated history by making the semifinals at this year's edition on Thursday.

The duo, who were also grouped in Red and joined to make last four in 2005 finale, got through to the semifinals for the second consecutive year here after beating respective enemies with straight sets in the final round-robin matches.

Federer eased through Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia 7-6 (7-2), 6-4 in one hour and 48 minutes while Argentine Nalbandian needed only one hour and 37 minutes to edge past Andy Roddick 7-2, 7-6 (7-4) in an earlier match.

Thus, Federer finishes first in the Red Group with wins and Nalbandian, who are tied with Ljubicic and Roddick on one win and two losses, places second with set winning advantage by claiming four out of eight sets in total.

Nov. 16 , 2006

last year

this year

Thursday

the second consecutive year

one hour


AFP_ENG_19970404.0141

SEOUL, April 4 , 1997 (AFP)

Sou Korea's dependence on foreign loans at 16-year high

The share of foreign debt in South Korean companies' total liabilities soared to a 16-year high of 10.2 percent last year, reflecting a credit squeeze here, the Bank of Korea (BOK) said Friday.

The overseas debt totalled 12.1 trillion won (13.6 billion dollars) in 1996, compared with 8.4 trillion won in 1995 when the ratio stood at 8.4 percent of the total.

Slowing exports and a slump in domestic sales that aggravated credit conditions were blamed for the increase in the foreign debt ratio, a bank official said.

The central bank said in a statement the companies' total liabilities rose 18.2 percent from a year before to 118.2 trillion won last year, following a 12.3 percent expansion in 1995.

South Korean firms took out 37 trillion won, or 31.3 percent of the total liabilities, from local financial institutions in 1996, while raising funds totalling 55.6 trillion won through issuing corporate bonds and stocks, the bank said.

Earlier this week, the finance and economy ministry said it would ease regulations governing the inflow of foreign funds and its heavily protected bond market to stabilize the ailing capital market here.

April 4 , 1997

last year

Friday

last year

Earlier this week


XIN_ENG_20061104.0014

BEIJING, Nov. 4 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Market value of China's securities market over 786 bln U.S.dollar

The market value of companies listed on China's securities market exceeded 6.29 trillion yuan (786 billion U.S. dollars) by the last trading day of this week.

Shanghai Stock Exchange figures show the market value of the Shanghai securities market, including yuan-denominated A shares and foreign-currency B shares, was 4.9 trillion yuan by Friday.

The Shanghai bourse carries 844 stocks with more than one trillion shares. The market value of circulating stocks on the Shanghai securities market is 1.25 trillion yuan.

The market value of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange rose by 2.06 percent in the past week to 1.39 trillion yuan by the last trading day on Friday.

The total market value of circulating stocks on the Shenzhen securities market is 664 billion yuan, 2.43 percent up from a week ago.

The Composite Stock Index on the Shanghai Stock Exchange opened at 1804.37 last week and closed at 1866.36 on Friday, peaking at 1873.66 on Friday.

The Composite Stock Index on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange closed at 4690.43 on Friday, with a weekly rise of 2.9 percent. The total turnover this week of the Shenzhen securities market was almost 65.7 billion yuan, 5.06 percent down from the week before.

Nov. 4 , 2006

the last trading day of this week

Friday

the past week

Friday

a week ago

last week

Friday

Friday

Friday

this week


XIN_ENG_20051108.0082

GAZA, Nov. 8 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Palestinian official says talks on crossing operation make progress

Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat said on Tuesday that clear progress has been achieved over the operation of the Rafah crossing on the Gaza-Egypt border.

"It is agreed that Palestinians who carry Palestinian ID cards can cross the Rafah crossing in both directions without any conditions," Erekat told Palestinian radio "Voice of Palestine."

The agreement was made at an Israeli-Palestinian-European meeting held on Monday night, which was also attended by James Wolfensohn, the Quartet Committee envoy, he said.

"We also agreed on transporting goods abroad via Rafah," Erekat said, adding that goods into the Gaza strip will be transported through the Kerem Shalom crossing.

Israel's security cabinet approved last week an agreement with Egypt to reopen the Rafah crossing under the supervision of European inspectors.

However, Israelis and the Palestinians are at odds over the role of the European inspectors as the Palestinians consider them advisers while Israel wants them to have veto power over security enforcement.

Erekat said more three-party meetings are scheduled in the coming days to discuss the inspectors' role and the installation of observation cameras at the crossing, another outstanding dispute between Israel and the Palestinians.

Meanwhile, Palestinian Chief of Crossings Nazmi Mhanna announced that Rafah will be open for 24 hours for Palestinians as of Tuesday midnight.

The Rafah crossing, the only exit of Gaza to the outside world, was shut down for security reasons shortly before Israel completed withdrawing settlers and troops from the coastal strip in September.

Nov. 8 , 2005

Tuesday

Monday night

last week

24 hours

Tuesday

September


AFP_ENG_19970421.0394

LONDON, April 21 , 1997 (AFP)

Irish corruption inquiry hears of 2m dollar payment to ex-premier

A leading businessman arranged to pay 1.3 million punts (two million dollars) to former Irish prime minister Charles Haughey while he was still head of government, a corruption inquiry was told Monday.

The tribunal was set up in February to trace who received 3.5 million punts of a total 5.63 million punts (nine million dollars) paid out by millionaire supermarket boss Ben Dunne.

The payments controversy first came to light last November when the then transport minister, Michael Lowry, resigned after it emerged that Dunne had paid for an extension worth 400,000 punts (650,000 dollars) to his home.

The tribunal heard Monday that Dunne himself would later tell the court of the 1.3 million punt payment to Haughey, who resigned as premier and leader of the Fianna Fail party in 1992.

The court heard there would be evidence that the money had been requested to "overcome business problems relating to Mr. Haughey."

Speculation over Haughey's involvement has been intense, although until Monday the name of the man referred to as a "very prominent former member of parliament" had never been officially disclosed.

Like the "sleaze" scandal which has dogged the Conservative party during the British general election campaign, the allegations and the inquiry threaten to overshadow Fianna Fail's bid to win power from the ruling coalition in general elections that could be held as early as next month.

But unlike in Britain, the sums involved are much larger, the accusations go right to the top of the party and the inquiry could run in tandem with the election campaign as any decision to suspend it is for the judiciary alone.

April 21 , 1997

Monday

February

last November

Monday

Monday

next month


XIN_ENG_20061122.0292

JERUSALEM, Nov. 22 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Israel facing physical, moral threats from Iran: Olmert

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Wednesday evening that his country is facing dual threats of physical and moral from Iran, Israeli daily Haaretz reported.

"Israel's main problem is threat that comes from those who openly talk about wiping us off the map," Olmert was quoted as saying in Orthodox Union convention in Jerusalem.

Not only the physical one, the moral threat from Iran also plagued Israel, the prime minister added.

He vowed to react to those threats imposed on Israel, saying that "We have heard these voices in the past. We can't afford to listen and not to react."

He also urged the world to take seriously the threat posed by Iran's nuclear program.

There are considerable speculations about the possibility that Israel might attack Iranian nuclear facilities if Iran insists on developing its nuclear program.

On Monday, Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA) reported that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Israel would not attack the Islamic Republic as "its regime is weak and it has many problems."

Ahmadinejad reiterated that Iran's nuclear plan is solely peaceful, saying "Iran is peace loving country and has never attacked another country."

Nov. 22 , 2006

Wednesday evening

the past

Monday


AFP_ENG_19970404.0147

TOKYO, April 4 , 1997 (AFP)

South Korean foreign minister to visit Japan

South Korean Foreign Minister Yoo Chong-Ha will visit Japan for talks with Japanese leaders, a foreign ministry official said Friday.

"Japan is arranging his visit, but the schedule is yet to be fixed," the ministry spokeswoman said.

Japan's Foreign Minister Yukuhiko Ikeda offered the invitation in February when the two met in Singapore, she said. Ikeda visited South Korea in January.

Jiji Press said the South Korean minister would visit Japan for three days from April 14 to meet with Ikeda and Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto.

Yoo will exchange views with Japanese politicians on food aid to North Korea, a new fishery pact between Tokyo and Seoul and other topics, the news agency quoted a foreign ministry source as saying.

Kyodo News, meanwhile, quoted a South Korean foreign ministry source as saying the two countries had "almost reached an agreement for April 17-19."

Kyodo said topics would include a Japanese fund's compensation payment to Asian women who had been forced into sexual slavery for Japanese soldiers during World War II.

April 4 , 1997

Friday

February

January

three days

April 14

April 17-19


AFP_ENG_20051221.0093

JERUSALEM, Dec 21 , 2005

= (PICTURE) =

Israel voiced fears of a potential explosion of Palestinian violence ahead of next month's parliamentary election and said Wednesday it would not allowing any voting in occupied east Jerusalem.

Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz was reported to have told a meeting of his top lieutenants that Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas was losing control and that the radical Islamist movement Hamas was likely to resume its campaign of attacks, particularly from the Gaza Strip.

"The Palestinian Authority is not functioning in the Gaza Strip, there is no guiding hand," Mofaz was quoted as saying by the Yediot Aharonot daily.

"The Palestinian security forces are not obeying the instructions of the PA chairman (Abbas). We have to be prepared for Hamas's return to terror activity."

Hamas, which is participating in the elections for the first time on January 25, is currently observing a moratorium on its campaign of attacks against Israel but that is due to expire at the end of the year.

Khaled Meshaal, Hamas's Damascus-based overall leader, said earlier this month that the truce would not be renewed as "our people are surrounded and are preparing for a new round of conflict."

Yuval Diskin, the head of Israel's Shin Beth internal security service, told the meeting with Mofaz that the weakening of Abbas's Fatah movement would diminish the Palestinian security services' ability to prevent attacks.

"As soon as Fatah is very weak, and it is weak, the security services that are controlled by the old guard have no legitimacy or motivation to act to prevent terrorism, and without internal legitimacy there is no chance that this will happen," he was quoted as saying by Yediot.

Fatah has been riven by divisions to such an extent that faction rebels have submitted a rival list of candidates to the official slate which will compete against each other in voting on January 25.

Hamas has been trailing Fatah in the polls but managed to win control of three major West Bank municipalities in local elections last week, in areas which had traditionally been Fatah strongholds.

Israel has strongly objected to Hamas taking part in what is only the second ever parliamentary polls, arguing that the 1993 Oslo autonomy accords bar anyone who advocates violence to stand in Palestinian Authority elections.

Hamas has been behind the majority of anti-Israeli attacks over the course of the five-year uprising and does not recognise Israel's right to exist.

The movement's participation in the elections was one of the reasons cited by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's office for not allowing Palestinians living in occupied east Jerusalem from participating in January's election.

"We will not allow there to be any polling booths in Jerusalem for the Palestinian elections," an official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

"In the past, we have allowed Palestinians to vote in post offices but not this time."

Israel captured and then annexed east Jerusalem after the 1967 war but the international community still regards the area, home to nearly 200,000 Palestinians, as occupied territory.

"We will not tolerate any political activity and we are also determined to prevent any attack against our sovereignty over our capital Jerusalem, especially as Hamas is taking part in the election," said the official.

The chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat condemned the decision, calling it part of an Israeli design to sabotage the whole election.

"This is clear evidence that they are trying to destroy the election in general so they can say they have no Palestinian partner" in the peace process, said Erakat.

Dec 21 , 2005

next month

Wednesday

daily

January 25

the end of the year

this month

January 25

last week

January

the past


AFP_ENG_19970409.0523

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, April 9 , 1997 (AFP)

Crayfish invade beaches of Northern Cape

More than a thousand tonnes of crayfish have invaded Elands bay, some 200 kilometres (120 miles) north of Cape Town, since the weekend, the second invasion in three weeks.

Police have been forced to set up barriers and scoop up the crayfish with excavators to prevent people from collecting the highly-sought after shellfish.

The crayfish have been heading to the beaches to escape a toxic red tide -- a concentration of micro-organisms which depletes oxygen levels in the water.

Thousands of people have flocked to the coast to collect the crustacea. However South African legislation has strict fishing laws concerning the delicacy. Excepting those holding a special permit, the law limits fishermen to four crayfish per day during the fishing season.

Cape Attorney-General Frank Kahn warned on Tuesday that people collecting crayfish without a permit or those caught in possession of more than four crayfish would be prosecuted, irrespective of whether the crayfish were dead or alive.

Residents in the surrounding areas have nevertheless asked permission to collect and sell the crayfish to raise funding to improve their communities.

Even though the environmental affairs and tourism ministry considered suspending the law, they said it would be "irresponsible to allow communities to access to untested crayfish which may not be fit for consumption."

Fishing authorities have called the red tide an ecological disaster.

April 9 , 1997

the weekend

three weeks

season

Tuesday


AFP_ENG_19970408.0328

MBUJI-MAYI, Zaire, April 8 , 1997 (AFP)

URGENT Kinshasa next target of Zairean rebels

Zairean rebel leader Laurent Kabila said Tuesday in this diamond centre held by his forces that his next "target" was the capital Kinshasa.

April 8 , 1997

Tuesday


XIN_ENG_20051116.0245

BEIJING, Nov. 16 , 2005 (Xinhua)

2nd Ld: China confirms first human cases of bird flu

China's Ministry of Health on Wednesday confirmed two human cases and one suspected case of H5N1 bird flu.

The two confirmed cases involve a nine-year-old boy in Xiangtan County of Hunan Province, central China, and a 24-year-old woman farmer in Zongyang County of Anhui Province in the east.

Earlier Wednesday, the ministry said three human cases had been confirmed.

The boy surnamed He had fever and showed pneumonia-like symptoms on Oct. 10. There was an outbreak of H5N1 bird flu occurred in his village.

Lab tests on the boy's blood serum samples show his H5 antibodies rose by more than four times, which indicates that he was infected by the H5N1 bird flu virus.

Based on clinical and lab tests, experts from the ministry and the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed the boy as a human case of H5N1 bird flu. He was discharged from hospital on Nov. 12 after recovery.

The woman farmer in Anhui developed fever and pneumonia-like symptoms on Nov. 1 and died of prostration of breathing on Nov. 10. Chickens and ducks at her home died one to two weeks before she fell ill and she had contacts with sick and dead chickens and ducks, the ministry said.

Meanwhile, the boy's 12-year-old sister, who had similar symptoms as her brother and died on Oct. 17, was reported as a suspected human case according to WHO standards, said the ministry.

The experts from the ministry suspected the girl of being a human case of H5N1 bird flu, but cannot confirm it by WHO standards due to insufficient evidence from laboratory tests, according to the ministry.

The ministry has reported the cases to the WHO and related authorities in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, as well as some countries.

Nov. 16 , 2005

Wednesday

Wednesday

Oct. 10

Nov. 12

Nov. 1

Nov. 10

two weeks

Oct. 17


AFP_ENG_20061203.0121

BEIJING, Dec 3 , 2006, 2006

China's elderly deserted by own families: report

In China, the case of a 71-year-old homeless man who committed arson to get a place to live -- jail -- has highlighted the plight of millions of desperately poor elderly, state media said Sunday.

Li Zhaokun was detained in November after starting a forest fire on a mountainside in south China's Guangdong province, the Xinhua news agency reported.

Investigators were startled to find that he had only just completed a five-year term for arson, but wanted to return to prison, which at least promised food and shelter, according to Xinhua.

He had attempted suicide twice, but each time he was saved and told to seek help in his home town.

But Li, who had moved from place to place as a child and lost his parents before he was 10, had one problem: "I don't know where I'm from."

Li's case may be extreme, but it reflects growing social pressures in China, as the number of elderly without family networks explodes.

China's modernization is partly to blame, because old customs like the obligation to venerate and care for the elderly are breaking down.

But economic factors are also at work, as millions of young farmers move to the cities in hopes of finding jobs, leaving their parents behind, many with little financial support.

A recent survey covering 10,400 peasants over the age of 60 in 31 provinces showed 45 percent were not living with their children and five percent did not know where their next meal would come from, according to Xinhua.

Sixty-nine percent had just one set of clothes and 67 percent could not afford medicine.

Young farmers were also surveyed, and at least half did not care about their parents' situation, said Zhai Yuhe, a coal mine owner from northeast China's Heilongjiang province, who financed the survey.

"I know a man in his 90s. His six children collectively give him 30 to 50 yuan (3.8 to 6.3 dollars) a month," Zhai told Xinhua.

"But no one offers to accept him in their home. No one would be there to help him if he had an accident or fell ill."

Some elderly are under so much strain that they seek court action to force their children to provide help.

In Beijing, more than 2,000 rural parents sued their children for support last year, according to the city's Intermediate People's Court, Xinhua reported.

Dec 3 , 2006

Sunday

November

last year


AFP_ENG_19970421.0073

VLORE, Albania, April 21 , 1997 (AFP)

Italians dock at rebel held port in southern Albania

Italian forces from the multinational protection force for lawless Albania prepared to dock at the rebel-held port of Vlore early Monday, witnesses said.

The boats arrived off-shore around dawn and were sitting several hundred meters (yards) from the quayside where the troops and their equipment will unload. There were two vessels, an amphibious craft, the San Giusto (eds: correct) and the Vitorio Veneto.

When the troops unload they will be the first to deploy in a rebel- held area of the country which has been gripped by lawlessness and banditry for nearly two months.

Italy leads the 6,000-strong force, half of which has already been deployed in the country. Additional Italian troops and a Greek force of some 130 men and equipment are due to meet up with the soldiers aboard the ships later Monday.

April 21 , 1997

Monday

nearly two months

Monday


XIN_ENG_20061108.0360

BEIJING, Nov. 9 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Xinhua international news advisory -- Nov.9

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

-- As many as 508 schoolchildren in central Peru poisoned after eating government-provided breakfast.

-- Britain supports Macedonia's bid to join the European Union.

-- Donald Tsang, chief executive of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), meets Belgian and European political leaders.

Nov. 9 , 2006

Thursday


AFP_ENG_20061213.0676

PARIS, Dec 14 , 2006, 2006

Weapons buyback massively cut gun deaths: Australian study

A weapons buyback in Australia dramatically ended gun massacres and sharply reduced the number of firearms deaths overall, a study published on Thursday says.

The initiative was launched in 1996, within days of a massacre of 35 people in Port Arthur, Tasmania, by a gunman using semi-automatic weapons.

Under the new law, the federal government banned semi-automatics and pump-action rifles and shotguns and offered to buy these weapons from gunowners, using a levy on income tax.

Tens of thousands of gunowners also voluntarily surrendered non-prohibited weapons, without compensation.

In all, more than 700,000 guns were destroyed in a country with a population of 12 million adults.

Looking back at the effects that this measure has had over the past decade, Australian public-health experts say the benefits have been enormous.

In the 18 years prior to the Port Arthur massacre, Australia experienced 13 mass shootings; there has been none since then, they say.

The rate of homicides, suicides and fatal accidents involving firearms had been declining in the 18 years preceding the new gun law.

After that, the decline doubled, with the biggest fall occurring among the tally of suicides.

"Removing large numbers of firearms from a community can be associated with a sudden and ongoing decline in mass shootings and accelerating declines in total firearm-related deaths, firearm homicides and firearm suicides," says the paper.

It appears in Injury Prevention, a journal of the British Medical Association (BMA). Lead author is Simon Chapman, a professor at the School of Public Health at the University of Sydney.

Dec 14 , 2006

Thursday

the past decade

the 18 years

the 18 years


AFP_ENG_20051210.0457

SYDNEY, Dec 11 , 2005

Australians relish the chance to play Brazil in World Cup

Australians were Sunday coming to terms with drawing champions Brazil in the 2006 World Cup finals, with press reports upbeat that the Socceroos could match the favourites.

Under a frontpage headline of 'We're ready to do battle', The Sunday Telegraph quoted star striker Harry Kewell as saying the Socceroos were excited about the prospect of playing.

"I'm not fussed about who we are playing. We're just looking forward to it," the Liverpool player told the paper.

"Look what happened at the last World Cup with the top countries like France and Argentina. They were knocked out in the first round.

"Look what Greece did when they won the Euro (European Championship) in 2004. No one gave them a chance."

But a photograph of soccer fans watching the draw live early Saturday morning Sydney time published in The Sun-Herald told a different story -- all pictured had their heads in their hands or looks of anguish on their faces.

"It's not the 'group of death.' But it feels like it," soccer journalist Michael Cockerill wrote in the same paper.

"Brazil, the best team in the world. Croatia, the most motivated team in the world. And Japan, the best resourced," he wrote in describing Australia's companions in Group F.

But while Brazil were certain to win the group, Australia had the benefit of having beaten all three teams previously, and Brazil had gone down 1-0 at the 2001 Confederations Cup in South Korea, he said.

The optimism was backed by Australian goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer who, in an article published in The Sun-Herald, said the Socceroos would go into the World Cup believing they were world-beaters.

"Playing Brazil in the World Cup is going to be massive," he wrote in a column for the paper. "They are justifiably rated No. 1 in the world, but anything is possible in the World Cup.

"Even though people might say we are crazy and have no chance of beating Brazil, I think that if we don't hold that belief and that mentality before we play then there is something wrong."

The Australians, who are ranked 49th in the world, also won some support from an unusual quarter with Brazilian legend Pele telling The Sun-Herald that Australia could pose a threat to the boys from Brazil.

Asked if Australia had a chance of beating Brazil in their group match in Munich, Pele replied: "I think yes. They beat Uruguay, so why not?"

But he added: "I think it will be a little bit different here though."

The Socceroos earned their first spot at the World Cup in 32 years in November when they beat Uruguay in a dramatic 4-2 penalty shoot-out win after extra time.

Dec 11 , 2005

early Saturday morning

32 years

November


XIN_ENG_20061111.0222

CAIRO, Nov. 12 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Gaza

Arab League (AL) Secretary General Amr Moussa on Saturday regretted the U.S. veto against a United Nations Security Council draft resolution condemning the Israeli attacks against the Palestinian civilians.

Expressing anger and astonishment over the U.S. veto, Moussa said in a statement that the veto would fuel anger over the U.S. protection to the Israeli practices against the Palestinian civilians.

The Arabs would urge the UN General Assembly to take actions to provide protection for civilians in the occupied Palestinian territories and call for respect for the international law, he stressed, adding that the U.S. veto would encourage Israel to continue its aggression.

Arab foreign ministers will discuss the latest developments at an emergency meeting on Sunday, Moussa added.

The United States on Saturday vetoed the UN Security Council draft resolution that would have condemned an Israeli attack in Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza that killed at least 19 Palestinian civilians, and urging a quick withdrawal of Israeli forces from the area.

Nov. 12 , 2006

Saturday

Sunday

Saturday


XIN_ENG_20061108.0247

BEIJING, Nov. 8 , 2006 (Xinhua)

China marks Journalist Day

China issued the 16th China Journalism Awards and the 7th Changjiang Taofen Awards on Wednesday, to celebrate the 7th China Journalist Day.

Li Changchun, member of the Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee Political Bureau, attended the gathering and handed out the top awards.

Liu Yunshan, member of both of the Politburo and Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee, delivered a key-note speech at the gathering, calling on journalists to give top priority to studying the essence of the recent Sixth Plenary Session of the 16th CPC Central Committee.

He called on journalists to "give powerful ideological and public support for building a harmonious society."

Present at the meeting were State-councilor Chen Zhili and Vice-Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) Chen Kuiyuan.

Tian Congming, president of the Xinhua News Agency and chairman of the All-China Journalists Association, also delivered a speech.

Nov. 8 , 2006

Wednesday


XIN_ENG_20061129.0286

BANGKOK. Nov. 29 , 2006 (Xinhua)

30,000 Thais to rally on Constitution Day to demand election

A pro-democracy group of Thailand Wednesday threatened to organize a mass protest on Dec. 10 demanding the government to call a general election within 90 days.

Chanapat na Nakhon, chairman of Democracy Lover Network was Wednesday quoted by Thai news group The Nation as saying that laborers from Bangkok, farmers from ten northeast provinces, five southern provinces and six northern provinces totaling 30,000 people will join the protest at the Democracy Monument.

He denied that his group is pro-Thaksin Shinawatra saying that some members of group was once duped by Thaksin government but they have left his group. "We are purely democracy lovers and we want to restore democracy to the country," he said.

Nov. 29 , 2006

Wednesday

Dec. 10

Wednesday


XIN_ENG_20061102.0173

HAIKOU, Nov. 2 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Senior CPC official calls for nurturing harmonious culture

A high ranking official of the Communist Party of China (CPC) has stressed the importance of nurturing a harmonious culture compatible with the theme of the country's development.

After a four-day tour of the southernmost island of Hainan, Li Changchun, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, ordered local officials to push forward cultural reforms with a focus on rural cultural life.

He urged that a publicity campaign be launched to let people know the significance of building a harmonious society, which should be based on the creation of a core value system.

To achieve this goal, the nation should be armed with Marxism that fits the concrete situations of China, he said.

He visited rural areas in Qionghai city and paid special attention to the development of ecology-friendly villages.

Li said it was important to improve public culture services, to popularize knowledge of modern farming, and to enrich cultural activities for people living in the countryside.

Residential communities, schools, families, and factories should also launch a drive to build a harmonious culture, Li said.

Nov. 2 , 2006


XIN_ENG_20061102.0174

BEIJING, Nov. 2 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Vice president of DR Congo arrives in Beijing

Vice President of Democratic Republic of Congo Abdoulaye Yerodia Ndombasi arrived here Thursday evening for the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.

Forty eight African countries that have diplomatic relations with China are to participate in the two-day summit scheduled to start on Nov. 4.

Nov. 2 , 2006

Thursday evening

Nov. 4.


XIN_ENG_20061102.0303

NICOSIA, Nov. 2 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Ankara ties

Cyprus promised Thursday its continued efforts for the Finnish initiative on Nicosia-Ankara ties after the rotating EU presidency decided to call off consultations with all parties concerned with a view to avert any crisis in EU-Turkish relations.

In a statement, Government Spokesman Christodoulos Pashiardis noted that Nicosia has been officially informed by Finland that no proximity consultations will take place on the Finnish initiative though it will continue its efforts.

"We understand that this development (the cancellation of consultations) is due to the positions and the terms presented by the Turkish side, which with its whole stance has rendered the holding of proximity consultations unachievable," Pashiardis said.

"The Cypriot government will continue to hold consultations with the Finnish Presidency, observing the same constructive stance and attitude that it has maintained so far," he added.

Finland, as the rotating EU presidency, has been 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 Famagusta 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.

However, Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja announced earlier on Thursday that the consultations in Finland were cancelled, but "efforts to find a solution that will enable the uninterrupted continuation of Turkey's accession negotiations and improve the situation of both communities in Cyprus will continue. "

The Finnish presidency is trying to avert any possible derailment of Turkey's EU accession course, following Ankara's refusal to meet its EU obligations and Cyprus' position that Turkey must do exactly that before accession negotiations are allowed to move further on, said Tuomioja.

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. 2 , 2006

Thursday

24 months

the weekend

Thursday

last October

May 2004


XIN_ENG_20061115.0230

WASHINGTON, Nov. 15 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Russia

The U.S. Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii issued a tsunami warning on Wednesday for northern Japan and Russia after a major earthquake hit near the Kurile Islands north of Japan.

The center said it was not known if a tsunami was generated and the warning was based only on the evaluation of the earthquake, which has been upgraded to magnitude 8.1 from the previously reported 7.7.

"An earthquake of this size has the potential to generate a destructive tsunami that can strike coastlines in the region near the epicenter within minutes to hours," it said.

Small tsunami wave of 40 centimeters has been reported by Japan's Meteorological Agency.

The small tsunami wave hit Nemuro, a port in Japan's northernmost island of Hokkaido, at 9:29 p.m. (1229 GMT), the agency said, warning that larger waves could follow. But TV footage of Nemuro has so far shown no signs of any larger tsunami.

The quake, which struck about 390 km east of the Etorofu islands, north of Japan, at 1115 GMT, could generate a tsunami of about 2 meters or more, Japan's Meteorological Agency said earlier. No injuries or damage have been reported so far.

The agency also issued a tsunami warning 15 minutes after the quake, causing authorities to demand the residents living along the northern and eastern coasts of Hokkaido to evacuate to higher grounds.

In Tokyo, roughly 1,700 km southwest of the quake scene, the Japanese government has set up a special office to collect information about tsunami.

Nov. 15 , 2006

Wednesday

15 minutes


AFP_ENG_20061213.0712

HARARE, Dec 14 , 2006, 2006

by Fanuel Jongwe

Zimbabwe's veteran ruler Robert Mugabe may be handed two extra years in power this weekend during the annual meeting of his ruling party which is set to recommend he remain at the helm until 2010.

Mugabe, who has led his country since its 1980 independence from British colonial rule, completes his sixth term in 2008, when presidential elections are due.

But his ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) supporters have held a series of meetings to set the agenda for the conference and agreed to pass a resolution to defer presidential elections to 2010.

"There is a feeling in the party that it would be a good thing to merge the parliamentary and presidential elections in order to save money," party spokesman Nathan Shamuyarira was quoted by the state-run Herald daily.

"It makes commonsense that we should do so, but the item is not on the agenda of the conference, but it could come up from the floor again or from the provinces."

Mugabe opens the conference on Friday in the obscure rural centre of Goromonzi although preparatory meetings were beginning on Thursday.

The ruling party's mouthpiece The Voice said in its latest edition that although simultaneous elections were "not on the agenda, it might end up being partly discussed if the provinces raise it in their reports."

Last year, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Patrick Chinamasa said the government was considering amending the constitution to merge parliamentary and presidential elections before Mugabe's current term expires.

He said ZANU-PF was considering bringing forward the end of the current parliamentary term from 2010 to 2008 to hold both presidential and parliamentary elections that year or stage the presidential elections in 2008 but allow the winner two years and hold presidential polls again two years later.

The third option was for the president to serve seven years from 2008 to 2015 and have concurrent elections from then onwards.

The newspaper said three-day congress, which will debate the theme of "consolidating our independence" will also discuss Zimbabwe's 1,000-percent-plus inflation rate and ravaged economy.

The meeting is also to take stock of the controversial seizure of white-owned farms for redistribution to landless blacks, which critics say has turned the former regional breadbasket into a food-hungry state.

The party conference last year was held against the backdrop of its sweep in elections to a new parliamentary Senate.

The main opposition Movement for Democratic Change split over a decision on whether to contest the polls to the newly created upper chamber.

Since then the MDC, which once posed the biggest threat to Mugabe's rule, has become a pale shadow of its former self with supporters divided between the two factions.

This year's party meeting comes as the country is reeling under chronic economic crises including four-digit inflation, crippling shortages of basic goods, food and fuel and skyrocketing unemployment.

The conference is also expected to discuss food security, new laws to give locals a majority stake in mining firms and calls for an extension of price controls among other measures to address the many economic woes.

Price controls were introduced by the government nearly four years ago to snuff out a burgeoning black market of basic commodities and a new law is under discussion for a new commission to be set up to monitor prices and salaries.

Zimbabwe's top union body has held several protests demanding a solution to the plight of workers bearing the brunt of the economic meltdown.

Dec 14 , 2006

this weekend

Friday

Thursday

Last year

that year

two years

two years

last year

nearly four years ago


XIN_ENG_20051120.0006

BEIJING, Nov. 20 , 2005 (Xinhua)

URGENT: China's peaceful development inevitable, Hu says

China's path of peaceful development is "an inevitable choice" based on its national conditions, its historical and cultural traditions and the current development trend in today's world, Chinese President Hu Jintao said here Sunday.

Hu made the remarks when meeting the press after his talks with visiting US President George W. Bush.

Nov. 20 , 2005

today

Sunday


XIN_ENG_20061107.0330

BRUSSELS, Nov. 7 , 2006 (Xinhua)

EU clears acquisition of Intermagnetics by Philips

The European Commission has cleared the proposed acquisition of U.S.-based Intermagnetics by Philips, said the commission on Tuesday.

The commission concluded that the transaction would not significantly impede effective competition in the European Economic Area (EEA) - the 25 European Union (EU) member states plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway - or any substantial part of it.

Philips markets a wide range of electrical and electronic products, such as lighting products, domestic appliances, consumer electronics, semiconductors and medical systems, including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems.

Intermagnetics manufactures magnets and radio-frequency used in MRI, as well as patient monitors, computer-aided detection systems and so-called functional MRI.

In particular, Intermagnetics currently supplies radio- frequency coils to Philips and several other MRI system manufacturers. Thus, the commission analyzed whether the proposed transaction would enable the new entity to disrupt the supply of coils and to hinder its competitors to compete effectively on the market for MRI systems.

The market investigation has shown that these risks are minimal, mainly due to economic incentives and the presence of several other suppliers of coils for MRI systems, said the commission.

Nov. 7 , 2006

Tuesday


XIN_ENG_20061129.0136

MANILA, Nov. 29 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Metro Manila to suspend classes due to typhoon threat

The Philippine government announced the suspension of classes in all levels Thursday in Metro Manila and nearby provinces of Rizal, Cavite and Laguna, due to the threat of typhoon Durian, local media reported on Wednesday.

The suspension was issued as the typhoon is expected to bring rains and strong winds to Luzon, according to a report by ANC TV.

Weather bureau PAGASA said Durian has intensified further and increased its threat to Luzon. Storm Signal 3 was hoisted over Catanduanes province in the Bicol region, while storm Signals 1 and 2 were also hoisted over 10 other provinces.

Residents in areas under Public Storm Warning Signal 1, 2 and 3 are alerted against possible flashfloods and landslides.

As of 11 a.m. local time, Durian was located 400 kilometers east southeast of Virac, Catanduanes or 360 kilometers east northeast of Catarman, Northern Samar. It was moving west northwest at 26 kilometers per hour (kph) with maximum sustained winds of 150 kph and gustiness of up to 185 kph.

Nov. 29 , 2006

Thursday

Wednesday


XIN_ENG_20061129.0475

PARIS, Nov. 29 , 2006 (Xinhua)

French unemployment rate unchanged at 8.8 percent in October

The French unemployment rate was 8.8 percent in October, unchanged from September, Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin told media on Wednesday.

The number of registered unemployed people who are "immediately available" for work rose by just 400 during October and the jobless rate remained stable at 8.8 percent of the workforce, the Labor Ministry said.

"This month, the figures are stable. We remain at 8.8 percent but with the firm intention of re-starting the fall," Villepin told the Europe 1 radio station.

Fighting unemployment has been a priority of the center-right government of Villepin and the number of unemployed has been steadily falling since March 2005.

Nov. 29 , 2006

October

Wednesday

October

This month

March 2005


XIN_ENG_20051103.0225

MAR DEL PLATA, Argentina, Nov. 3 , 2005 (Xinhua)

US to push for reviving trade talks at summit

US President George W. Bush is expected to push for re-activitating the stalled talks on establishing a Free Trade Zone for the Americas at the Nov. 4-5 Summit of the Americas.

President Bush, while acknowledging plans for the comprehensive free trade zone in the Western Hemisphere were stalled, has insisted that the free trade zone is needed for the Americas.

Bush departed Washington early Thursday for Mar del Plata to attend the summit and will visit Brazil and Panama subsequently.

The president's father, former president George Bush, first proposed the establishment of the Free Trade Zone for the Americas in the 1990's and at the first Summit of the Americas in the United States in 1994, leaders and heads of governments from 34 countries who attended the summit agreed to set up such a free trade zone with January 2005 as the deadline.

However, talks on the Free Trade Zone for the Americas have been bogged down because of disagreements between the United States and countries like Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.

Nov. 3 , 2005

Nov. 4-5

Thursday

January 2005


AFP_ENG_20061225.0195

LONDON, Dec 25 , 2006, 2006

ATTENTION - ADDS detail of broadcast, quotes ///

Queen Elizabeth II on Monday called for the bridging of the generation gap between young and old when she delivered her annual Christmas message to Britain and the Commonwealth.

In a pre-recorded speech, which was broadcast on television and radio and for the first time this year as a podcast, the queen, 80, spoke of how parents, grandparents, the wider family and community all help children grow up.

But, she said, modern life was loosening familial ties and the traditional bonds between the generations.

"The pressures of modern life sometimes seem to be weakening the links which have traditionally kept us together as families and communities," she said.

"As children grow up and develop their own sense of confidence and independence in the ever-changing technological environment, there is always the danger of a real divide opening up between young and old, based on unfamiliarity, ignorance and misunderstanding."

The broadcast Christmas speech -- a tradition started by her grandfather king George V in 1932 -- was recorded this year at Southwark Cathedral on the south bank of the River Thames in London.

It included a montage of some of her many engagements this year and again had a strong religious theme, with footage showing people of all faiths in worship.

It included images of men praying at London Central Mosque, scenes from the opening of Europe's largest Hindu temple in the English West Midlands, and a Jewish reception involving the country's chief rabbi.

Wearing a spring green outfit, the queen -- who has seven grandchildren by her four children -- is also seen talking to schoolchildren as she helps them make a collage of a Christian nativity scene.

The queen, who is head of the Church of England, said all faiths encouraged the bridging of the age divide and had in common the need to help the young become "considerate and active citizens".

As older people lived longer, the monarch said the opportunities had increased to bring old and young together.

Older people could bring an invaluable "sense of context" and the "wisdom of experience" to the energy and ambitions of the young.

"Such advice and comfort are probably needed more often than younger people admit or older people recognise," she said.

The queen's speech came a day after she praised the courage and commitment of her armed forces, particularly those serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, in a separate, recorded Christmas greeting.

Monday's broadcast came at the same time as a Muslim woman in a full-face veil delivered an alternative Christmas message on Britain's Channel 4 television.

The woman, known only as Khadijah said she felt more "liberated" since she began covering her face with the niqab 10 years ago and people should be more tolerant.

Channel 4's decision to air the broadcast came in for strong criticism, particularly in the right-wing press, at a time of fierce debate about the extent of ethnic and religious integration in modern Britain.

But like the queen, Khadijah -- who said she was the great-granddaughter of a suffragette who fought for British women's right to vote -- said her wish was for "peace on earth and good will to all humankind, regardless of race, colour or creed".

Dec 25 , 2006

Monday

Christmas

this year

Christmas

this year

this year

Monday

10 years ago


AFP_ENG_19970430.0203

KUALA LUMPUR, April 30 , 1997 (AFP)

Malaysia-US "open skies" deal to be signed in June

Malaysia and the United States are to sign an "open skies" agreement liberalising bilateral aviation traffic in June, Malaysian Transport Minister Ling Liong Sik said Wednesday.

The national news agency Bernama quoted Ling as saying that the cabinet approved the signing of the pact at its weekly meeting Wednesday.

Ling said the signing would take place after he attended the meeting of transport ministers from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum from June 22-24 in Victoria, Canada.

Malaysia would be the second Asian country after Singapore to sign such an aviation agreement with the United States, which is pushing for an end to protected aviation markets.

April 30 , 1997

June

Wednesday

Wednesday

June 22-24


AFP_ENG_20061201.0459

MOSUL, Dec 1 , 2006, 2006

14 Kurds found murdered in northern Iraq

Iraqi police found 14 Kurdish farmers murdered in a field near the Syrian border, a government official said Friday.

The farmers from the town of Sinjar were shot dead and their bodies were first found by their relatives, said Dakheel Karim, administrator of Sinjar some 50 kilometres (30 miles) from the Syrian border.

Dec 1 , 2006

Friday


AFP_ENG_20061220.0533

TRIPOLI, Dec 20 , 2006, 2006

by Afaf Gueblaoui

It's still possible that the death sentence given to five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor for the infection of hundreds of Libyan children with HIV-AIDS will never be carried out.

Libya's supreme court could call off the execution, legal experts in Tripoli said Wednesday. Or it could be averted if a deal on financial compensation is struck with the families of the affected children.

The six condemned to death Monday had been accused of deliberately infecting 426 children with HIV while they were working at Al-Fateh hospital in Benghazi, Libya's second city on the Mediterranean coast, in the late 1990s.

More than 50 of the youngsters have since died.

The so-called Benghazi Six -- in detention for the past seven years -- had previously been tried and sentenced to die before a firing squad, before a retrial was ordered.

A Libyan lawyer explained Wednesday: "The case now will be automatically referred to the supreme court, which will re-examine it in depth, enabling the defence to present its arguments once more.

"That would be a positive thing," he said.

If the supreme court upholds the verdict, the case would go on to a superior judicial council where a panel of judges would have the power to "reduce, uphold or annul" the harsh sentence, he added.

In addition, Libya and Bulgaria have an extradition agreement that could see the nurses serving time in prison at home in lieu of execution in Libya, the lawyer said.

Defence lawyer Othman al-Bizanti confirmed to AFP on Wednesday that his side would be going to the supreme court to lodge an appeal.

"The court considers that they are guilty. We consider that they are innocent. It was for that reason that the supreme court was established, to judge such cases," he said.

Monday's verdict triggered an international outcry, with Germany -- which takes over the presidency of the European Union on January 1, the day Bulgaria joins the block -- vowing to maintain pressure on Tripoli.

Supporters of the Benghazi Six argue that hygiene at the hospital was poor before the accused started work there, and that the children were likely infected with unsterilized and previously used medical instruments.

Besides judicial procedures, the question of compensation could result in the lives of the medics being spared.

Saleh Abdelsalam, director of the Kadhafi Foundation, a benevolent group headed by a son of Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi, stressed the need to "reactivate Europe's contribution" to a compensation fund that would enable a deal with families of the affected children.

Bulgaria, in partnership with the European Union, the United States and Britain, created in December 2005 an international fund to help Libya combat AIDS, improve standards at the Benghazi hospital and compensate families.

"Reactiving the fund has become very urgent, now that the verdict has come down, because it will be a tool to meet the goals (treatment and compensation) concerning the children and their families," he said.

According to a judicial source, a deal with the families would mean that they accept "blood money" in lieu of the execution of the accused.

Dec 20 , 2006

Wednesday

Monday

the late 1990s

the past seven years

Wednesday

now

Wednesday

Monday

January 1

the day

December 2005

now


AFP_ENG_19970427.0165

LOS ANGELES, April 27 , 1997 (AFP)

Second moderate quakes rattle Los Angeles area

A moderate earthquake rattled Los Angeles early Sunday for the second day in a row, spiking at 4.9 on the open-ended Richter scale, a spokeswoman with the US Geological Survey said.

There were no immediate reports of damage.

Pat Jurgenson said the quake hit at 4:09 a.m. (1109 GMT) with the center at Val Verde about 48 kilometers (30 miles) northwest of Los Angeles.

She said it was yet another in a series of aftershocks from the January 1994 Northridge quake and that it would probably be followed by other minor ones through the morning.

She said they are all aftershocks of the 6.7 Northridge quake in January 1994 that claimed 61 lives and devastated parts of Los Angeles.

On Saturday, the largest temblor that was centered in the same region hit 5.0 on the open-ended Richter scale. That initial quake was followed by another temblor measuring 4.0 and then several smaller ones.

April 27 , 1997

early Sunday

the second day

4:09 a.m.

January 1994

the morning

January 1994

Saturday


XIN_ENG_20061104.0062

BEIJING, Nov. 4 , 2006 (Xinhua)

from post

Yong Zhansheng has been ousted from his post as deputy procurator-general of Beijing Municipal People's Procuratorate for alleged "serious irregularities" of official disciplinary codes.

Yong has been replaced by another person identified as Lu Xi, according to a decision made at the 32nd meeting of the Standing Committee of the 12th Beijing Municipal People's Congress held on Friday.

Information from the congress gave no further details about the nature of Yong's alleged breach of discipline.

Yong was formerly a member of the elite Party group of the Municipal People's Procuratorate and director of the political affairs section of the procuratorate. He was promoted to the post of deputy procurator-general in July 2003.

Nov. 4 , 2006

Friday

July 2003


XIN_ENG_20051105.0001

HAVANA, Nov. 4 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Castro meets senior Chinese military official

Cuban leader Fidel Castro met with Liang Guanglie, chief of general staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), here Friday on bilateral ties and relations between the two armed forces.

Castro said the Cuban armed forces attaches great importance to developing relations with the Chinese side, and hoped that the two sides will enhance exchanges and cooperation in the future.

Liang, who is also member of China's Central Military Commission, said he was pleased to see the achievements Cuba has made under the leadership of Castro.

Liang said he had reached broad consensus with Cuba's top military leaders and the PLA is confident of forging friendly and cooperative ties with Cuba's Revolutionary Armed Forces.

Liang arrived here Friday for a three-day visit. He also met with Raul Castro Ruz, vice-president of the Council of State and minister of Cuba's Revolutionary Armed Forces, on Friday.

Nov. 4 , 2005

Friday

the future

Friday

Friday


XIN_ENG_20061130.0054

BEIJING, Nov. 30 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Typhoon Durian to reach South China Sea on Friday

Typhoon Durian is moving west towards the Philippines and the eastern part of the South China Sea, according to China's Central Meteorological Station.

It was located to the east of the Philippines (13.5 north latitude, 124.6 east longitude) at 08:00 with winds of up to 216 kilometers per hour (kph) at its epicenter, reported the station.

The station said Durian was moving west at 15 kph to 20 kph but its strength is set to weaken. It forecast that Durian would reach the South China Sea at noon on Friday with winds of more than 61.6 kph.

The station said northeasterly winds had reached speeds of up to 61.6 kph in the East China Sea, the Korea Strait, the northeast of the South China Sea, Bashi Channel and Balintang Channel.

The station forecast fog in the Bohai Sea, the west Yellow Sea, the north Gulf of Thailand and Strait of Malacca with vision of no more than 10 kilometers.

Nov. 30 , 2006

Friday


AFP_ENG_19970421.0652

AUCKLAND, April 22 , 1997 (AFP)

NZ Women's Affairs minister bans strip shows in her bar

New Zealand Women's Affairs Minister Christine Fletcher rected angrily Tuesday to news that a bar she owns has staged a raunchy Australian strip show.

"I'm quite horrified," Fletcher said. "Some may call it entertainment -- I reject that. It's exploitation not only of women's bodies but of men's bodies."

Fletcher with husband Angus own the Whitianga Hotel on the Coromandel coast, east of here.

A standing-room only, all-male audience paid 10 New Zealand dollars (seven US) a head to watch the five-woman 'Seductions Australia' group strip themselves naked.

Fletcher said she had known nothing about the show and they would now reconsider the contract of their hotel manager, Hugh Rhodes.

She said they had wanted the hotel to be a place for families and a strip show was "entirely inconsistent with our vision".

April 22 , 1997

Tuesday

now


AFP_ENG_20051206.0124

STOCKHOLM, Dec 6 , 2005

ATTENTION - ADDS share price, details ///

The Swedish telecommunications giant Ericsson said Tuesday that it had signed a big contract to run the entire network of British mobile phone operator 3.

Ericsson said the deal was its largest managed-services contract ever and one of the largest such deals in the telecommunications industry.

The company gave no figures for the value of the contract, but its largest single contract previously was a five-year managed-services deal with 3 in Italy for 15 billion kronor (1.9 billion dollars, 1.6 billion euros).

The agreement announced on Tuesday, which gives Ericsson responsibility for the management of the 3 network and its IT infrastructure, runs over seven years, it said.

Ericsson said it would also be in charge of 3's ongoing radio network rollout, the maintenance of 6,300 existing radio sites and the management of the operator's core network and operations centre.

3 was to retain ownership of the network and its IT assets as well as responsibility of the strategic direction of the network.

Some 1,000 staff would be moved from 3 to Ericsson as part of the accord.

Ericsson shares rose 3.4 percent to 27.70 kronor on the Stockholm stock exchange following the announcement, having been suspended just ahead of the statement.

3, the first company to have launched third-generation mobile services in Britain, has 3.2 million customers in Britain and 10 million worldwide, Ericsson said.

Ericsson, which claims to have the industry's most comprehensive managed services offerings, currently has such agreements with 55 operators worldwide, representing 50 million customers.

Dec 6 , 2005

Tuesday

Tuesday

seven years


AFP_ENG_20061203.0010

BEN GURION AIRPORT, Israel, Dec 3 , 2006, 2006

France's Royal arrives in Israel

The presidential candidate of France's Socialist Party, Segolene Royal, arrived in Israel Sunday, three days after kicking off a Middle East tour in neighboring Lebanon.

Royal, who is aiming to become France's first woman head of state, will be going "to make the necessary contacts," party spokesman Julien Dray had told French radio station Europe 1 last week.

Her trip to Israel and the Palestinian territories was to show her support for "dialogue," Dray said.

"She wants to show that her presidency will be effective and useful for our fellow citizens and for peace in the world," he said.

The spokesman added, however, that a visit to Syria during the trip "was not on the agenda".

A top Israeli official speaking on condition of anonymity has said that Royal was expected in Israel for a 48-hour stay.

She was due to meet with Palestinian youths at the French cultural center in Gaza City Sunday morning and hold talks with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.

In the late afternoon Royal was expected to meet with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.

A meeting with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz was scheduled for Monday.

Royal, 53, is currently leading in polls in France ahead of the presidential elections to be held in April.

French President Jacques Chirac, who turned 74 on Wednesday, is considered unlikely to seek a third term in office.

Dec 3 , 2006

Sunday, three days

last week

Sunday morning

the late afternoon

Monday

April

Wednesday


XIN_ENG_20061129.0187

HIROSHIMA, Japan, Nov. 29 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Results of men's volleyball world championship (update 1)

Following are the results from the second round matches of 2006 men's volleyball world championships in Japan on Tuesday:

Group E in Sendai:

Puerto Rico lost to Tunisia, 2-3 (40-38, 26-28, 25-16, 22-25, 11-15);

Argentina lost to Canada, 2-3 (25-19, 25-18, 21-25, 20-25, 13- 15);

Poland bt Serbia Montenegro, 3-0 (28-26, 25-19, 25-19);

Japan vs Russia;

Group F in Hiroshima:

Brazil bt Bulgaria, 3-1 (25-22, 20-25, 25-22, 25-16);

Cuba lost to United States, 0-3 (22-25, 17-25, 22-25);

Germany lost to Czech Republic, 1-3 (23-25, 27-25, 21-25, 13-25)

France vs Italy;

Nov. 29 , 2006

Tuesday

40-38, 26-28, 25-16, 22-25, 11-15

25-19, 25-18, 21-25, 20-25

28-26, 25-19, 25-19

25-22, 20-25, 25-22, 25-16

22-25, 17-25, 22-25

23-25, 27-25, 21-25, 13-25


XIN_ENG_20051116.0222

KUWAIT CITY, Nov. 16 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Kuwait stock exchange index down

Kuwait Stock Exchange index closed at 11,777.6 points on Wednesday, 77.9 points down from Tuesday's finish.

The turnover was 188 million Kuwaiti dinars (639.2 million US dollars) as 329 million shares were traded in 13,385 deals.

Nov. 16 , 2005

Wednesday

Tuesday


AFP_ENG_20051207.0368

PARIS, Dec 7 , 2005

ATTENTION - ADDS comment, background ///

French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin told the French parliament on Wednesday that "the (French) government wants to get an overall agreement on reduced rates of VAT (sales tax)" in the European Union.

EU finance ministers, meeting in Brussels on Tuesday, had failed to agree on a list of services to benefit from an exceptionally low sales tax.

France is seeking to reduce sales tax on hotels and restaurants to 5.5 percent from the current 19.6 percent.

Referring to promises made to reduce the tax burden on restaurants and hotels, Villepin told the French National Assembly (parliament): "A commitment was taken by the president of the Republic by my predecessor (Jean-Pierre Raffarin) and I will fight to ensure it is honoured."

He added: "The (French) government wants to get an overall agreement on reduced rates of VAT because it is for us about creating jobs and defending the purchasing power of French people."

The issue of VAT tax harmonisation is to be discussed by European heads of state during a summit on December 15-16.

Dec 7 , 2005

Wednesday

Tuesday

December 15-16


XIN_ENG_20051105.0183

BALAKOT, Pakistan, Nov. 6 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Indonesia's Telkom-2 sattellite ready for launching

JAKARTA, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) --After it was delayed for several times, Indonesia's Telkom-2 satellite will be launched on Nov. 9, 2005, a senior official of PT Telcom has said.

"Cuttently, Talcom-2 satellite had been located at the launching site since September 23, 2005 to undergo several tests," the Business News magazine quoted Vice President Director of PT Telcom, Garuda Sugardo, as saying in its latest edition.

The launching will be done by Ariene-5ECA blasting rocket Flight No.167, owned by France, he said.

Telcom-2 satellite will be located at 118 BT above Indonesian territory replacing Palapa B4, which term of operation had ended in 2004.

The satellite, made since 2002 by the Orbital Science Corp. of the United States, was a Star-2 Bus type satellite with a capacity of 24 transponder, and the total cost for launching of the satellite is 170 million US dollars.

The satellite will operate for 15 years with scope of area including ASEAN and the surrounding areas.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yodhoyono is scheduled to witness the seconds of the launching of telcom-2 satellite from the main controlling station in Cibinong, said Garuda.

So far, Indonesia has launched eight satellites, namely Palapa A-1, Palapa A-2, Palapa B-1, Palapa B-2, Palapa B2P, Palapa B2R, Palapa-B4 and Telcom-1.

Nov. 6 , 2005

Nov. 6

Nov. 9, 2005

September 23, 2005

15 years


AFP_ENG_20061203.0193

BAGHDAD, Dec 3 , 2006, 2006

ATTENTION - UPDATES tolls, ADDS dead US soldier ///

Shell-shocked Baghdadis on Sunday cleared the bloody wreckage from the latest deadly bomb attack on their city, as the United States sought a new strategy to pull Iraq back from the abyss.

The death toll from Saturday's triple car bombing rose to 60 overnight as more men, women and children succumbed to wounds suffered when the blasts tore through a crowded shopping street at nightfall, medics said.

Meanwhile, at least 23 Iraqis were killed in violence Sunday.

After more than three-and-a-half years of mounting sectarian conflict, the attack, while vicious, was neither unexpected nor especially deadly; more than 1,800 Iraqi civilians were slaughtered in November alone.

But each new massacre hammers a wedge deeper between Iraq's Sunni and Shiite communities and chips away at the credibility of the country's beleaguered unity government and the US-led coalition force propping it up.

The bombers were back at work Sunday, when an insurgent wearing an explosive belt detonated himself next to a police station near the northern oil city of Kirkuk, killing three officers, Major General Torhan Yussef told AFP.

Further south, at least 16 people were murdered in and around the restive town of Baquba, according to security and medical sources.

A sniper killed a civilian in Sinea, an insurgent stronghold in northern Iraq, police Captain Saad Nuri told AFP, while three civilians were gunned down in a mixed area just south of Baghdad, according to a security official.

American soldiers killed six suspected insurgents, two women and a child when they called in an air strike to dislodge gunmen from a safehouse west of Baghdad late Saturday, the US military said in a statement.

A US soldier was killed by a roadside booby trap on Saturday, US headquarters said, bringing the death toll since the March 2003 invasion to 2,885, according to an AFP tally based on Pentagon figures.

British troops, meanwhile, clashed with Shiite militia during a search operation in the southern city of Basra, Iraqi police said.

Amid the carnage, there is a growing realisation in Washington that the current US strategy is failing and pressure is mounting for either a major change of course or rapid pullout of the 138,000 US troops deployed in theatre.

Attention has focused on the Iraq Study Group -- a high-level bipartisan panel of experts headed by former secretary of state James Baker -- which is due to pass its recommendations to President George W. Bush this week.

But on Sunday a leaked memo from former defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld, written in his last few days in office before resigning last month, revealed the administration has long known of the need for a change in the Iraq plan.

Rumsfeld's rambling three-page memo cites a shopping list of possible tactical and strategic changes, some of them mutually exclusive, but admits: "In my view it is time for a major adjustment.

"Clearly, what US forces are currently doing in Iraq is not working well enough or fast enough," Rumsfeld wrote, in a document passed to the New York Times and later confirmed as genuine by the Pentagon.

The former secretary's main ideas have been much discussed in recent weeks and may well figure among Baker's recommendations, or those of a parallel Pentagon review of the operation also expected imminently.

In particular, Rumsfeld favours placing more US trainers directly with Iraqi units, withdrawing other American troops from combat into five large bases by July next year, and sending commandos to hunt down Al-Qaeda and Iranian agents.

He also implicitly criticises other US government departments when he says the Pentagon should "give up" asking them for help and hire retired soldiers to advise Iraqi ministries.

Instead of spending money rebuilding cities like Fallujah that rebelled and were recaptured by US forces -- "rewarding bad behaviour" --- Rumsfeld suggests paying off political and religious leaders "as Saddam Hussein did".

Judging by leaks to the US media, Baker will also recommend increasing the number of US army trainers, while withdrawing troops from combat and by early 2008 leaving only 70,000 in Iraq in a support role.

The White House may well be receptive to this idea, but seems opposed to another: that of reaching out to US foes Iran and Syria to persuade them to use their influence to calm the unrest in neighbouring Iraq.

However Tehran's role in Iraqi affairs will come up for discussions when powerful Shiite leader Abdel Aziz al-Hakim meets Bush in Washington on Monday.

Dec 3 , 2006

Sunday

Saturday

Sunday

November

Sunday

late Saturday

Saturday

March 2003

this week

Sunday

last few days

last month

recent weeks

July next year

Monday


XIN_ENG_20051105.0053

MACAO, Nov. 5 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Japan picks 3 golds in karatedo

Japan claimed three gold medals from its national sport of karatedo at the East Asian Games on Saturday.

Kasuga Wakabayashi won the women's individual kata title for her two straight wins in the three-people field. Macao's Cheung Pui Sui picked the silver with one win and Yip Ching Yee from Hong Kong got the bronze for her two losses.

Takashi Katada triumphed in the men's individual kata and Vong Ka Seng of Macao finished runner-up. The only other participant - Mallada Vicent Patrick Pablo - fouled out, losing a sure bet medal.

Natsuki Fujiwara walked away with a gold medal from the women's 53kg kumite and Macao's Kou Ma Ni grabbed the silver.

DPR Korean Ha Ryon-bok and South Korean Kim Jin were joint third.

Chinese Taipei landed two titles through Hsieh Cheng-kang in the men's 55kg-kumite and Huang Hsiang-chen in the men's 60kg kumite.

The host struck gold too, with Pereiracarion Paulacristina winning the women's 60kg kumite.

Nov. 5 , 2005

Saturday


AFP_ENG_19970419.0094

MECCA, Saudi Arabia, April 19 , 1997 (AFP)

Hajj draws to close, as relatives await news of fire victims

The annual pilgrimage to Mecca drew to a close on Saturday as frantic relatives awaited news of the 343 pilgrims killed in a huge blaze four days earlier.

Some two million pilgrims who spent a week praying at Islam's holiest sites began to leave Mecca, birthplace of the Prophet Mohammad, for the western city of Jeddah to catch planes, buses and boats home.

They spent their last day here walking round the Kaaba from dawn. The Kabaa is a square building constructed around a black stone, traditionally brought to earth from paradise by the Archangel Gabriel.

Saudi officials said 343 pilgrims were killed in an enormous fire Tuesday which swept through their camp at Mina, just south of Mecca.

Most were from India and other Asian countries, Indian officials said.

The Saudi authorities announced Saturday that another 1,537 pilgrims were injured in the inferno which incinerated 70,000 tents, with 25 of them still in hospital and some in a coma.

However, they were yet to announce the identities of the victims.

An advisor to the Saudi interior ministry, Saed al-Arabi al-Harshi, said Saturday that "the fire destroyed everything" in the pilgrims' camp.

"Identification is difficult and will take time because some bodies are badly charred," he said, quoted by the official Qatari News Agency.

The victims' plastic identity badges, which they are given in exchange for their passports during the week-long pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, were destroyed in the inferno, the official said.

April 19 , 1997

four days earlier

week

last day

Tuesday

Saturday

Saturday


AFP_ENG_19970417.0397

SARAJEVO, April 17 , 1997 (AFP)

Steiner blasts Serbs for "travesty" trial of Zvornik Seven

The trial of a group of Bosnian Moslems dubbed "The Zvornik Seven" accused of murdering four Serbs began Thursday with a senior international mediator dismissing it as a "travesty of justice" because defence lawyers had been barred from the court.

Deputy High Representative Michael Steiner said the trial of the seven, who were arrested in May last year, was unconstitutional because Serb officials had refused to let the defence lawyers for the Moslems into the court Thursday morning to represent their clients.

"This trial can only be judged to be a travesty of justice," said Steiner, adding that the case could result in sanctions against the Serbs.

"This is one typical case to which we must refer when the (Serb Republic) complains about getting less financial assistance than" the Moslem-Croat Federation, the other entity that makes up post-war Bosnia.

Bosnian Serb justice minister, Branko Petric, announced on Monday that the lawyers would be barred from the court because they came from the federation, and hence were not subjects of the Serb Republic.

The lawyers were told they could act only as "assistants" to court- appointed lawyers.

But Steiner said that in banning the officials, Petric had "violated the constitution of Bosnia-Hercegovina."

The trial opened in the eastern Bosnian town of Zvornik, in Serb- controlled territory, which was the scene of some of the most brutal "ethnic cleansing" of non-Serbs during Bosnia's 43-month war.

The case of the Zvornik Seven has mystified observers ever since the men turned themselves in to US peacekeepers last May after running into a group of Serbs on the road between Zvornik and Tuzla, in the Moslem-Croat Federation.

The men told the troops they were Moslem refugees from the former enclave of Srebrenica and asked for protective custody, but the US commander handed them to the Serb police.

A US colonel later failed to secure the men's release from a Serb jail, and UN officals said the men were beaten by their Serb captors.

The Serb authorities allege that the men killed four Serb woodcutters, whose mutilated bodies were shown to UN investigators soon afterwards in a forest nearby.

Some of the men were found to be on a list of thousands of persons who went missing from Srebrenica after Bosnian Serb forces overran it in July 1995. Most of the missing are believed to have been massacred.

Three of the men are charged with the murders of the four woodcutters, one is charged with murdering a Moslem person, and the remaining three are charged with illegal possession of weapons.

April 17 , 1997

Thursday

May last year

Thursday morning

Monday

last May

July 1995


AFP_ENG_20061219.0086

BEIJING, Dec 19 , 2006, 2006

US, North Korea hold first direct talks in six-party forum

The United States and North Korea Tuesday held their first direct talks on Pyongyang's nuclear weapons since multilateral disarmament negotiations resumed here after a 13-month break, officials said.

"The US and North Korean delegations are meeting this afternoon," a spokesman at the Chinese press center for the six-nation talks told AFP.

A South Korean official confirmed that chief US envoy Christopher Hill had met directly with his counterpart from North Korea, Kim Kye-Gwan.

Dec 19 , 2006

Tuesday

this afternoon


WSJ_20130318_731

March 18, 2013

A New Game for Microsoft's Kinect

Microsoft Corp. broke sales records in 2010 when it released its Kinect - a movement-tracking device that enabled Xbox users to play their favorite games through gestures alone, without need of a controller.

Now, with the help of outside developers, the software giant is hoping to move the Kinect beyond gaming.

Microsoft is expanding into China with a company-funded incubator program for outside developers to build products based on Kinect technology for a range of industries including health care and retail.

In the U.S., 11 companies were selected last year for the accelerator's first three-month class in Seattle, out of nearly 500 applicants. Microsoft said it has identified three companies for the China program to run through June.

The company gives each participating startup in the Seattle program $20,000 to create software that can be used with Kinect for Windows, but it is isn't asking for any ownership stakes or intellectual property rights. Microsoft also doesn't have any veto power over the ideas.

What Microsoft gets are developers around the world working on ideas that could potentially open up Kinect for Windows' technology to new markets - and convince consumers and businesses to buy the company's hardware and make use of the potential apps.

The Windows-ready Kinect sensor, which would be necessary for any business that wants to use these potential new technologies, is currently selling for $250 through Microsoft, more than twice what Microsoft charges for the gaming-only Xbox version.

March 18, 2013

Now

last year

three-month

June

currently


WSJ891102-0059
 = 891102
 891102-0059.
 International Brief -- N.V. DSM:
@  Third-Period Net Rose 63%
@  Because of Lower Charges
 11/02/89
 WALL STREET JOURNAL (J)
 EUROP N.DSM
 EARNINGS (ERN)

   N.V. DSM said net income in the third quarter jumped 63% as the company had substantially lower extraordinary charges to account for a restructuring program.

   The Dutch chemical group said net income gained to 235 million guilders ($113.2 million), or 6.70 guilders a share, from 144 million guilders, or 4.10 guilders a share, a year ago.

   The 32% state-owned DSM had eight million guilders of extraordinary charges in the latest quarter, mainly to reflect one-time losses in connection with the disposal of some operations.
The charges were offset in part by a gain from the sale of the company's construction division.

   Last year, DSM had 71 million guilders of extraordinary charges for the restructuring program and other transactions.

   The earnings growth also was fueled by the company's ability to cut net financing spending by half to around 15 million guilders.
Also, substantially lower Dutch corporate tax rates helped the company keep its tax outlay flat relative to earnings growth, the company added.

   Sales, however , were little changed at 2.46 billion guilders, compared with 2.42 billion guilders.

the third quarter

a year ago

the latest quarter

Last year


AFP_ENG_20051212.0328

BEIRUT, Dec 12 , 2005

ATTENTION - ADDS reax ///

A vocal anti-Syrian newspaper boss and lawmaker was killed in a massive car bombing in Lebanon Monday, the latest in a wave of attacks targeting critics of Damascus.

Police said the car bomb blew up near Gibran Tueni's armoured four-wheel drive vehicle, blasting it off the road into a ravine 100 metres (yards) away and engulfing it in flames.

Three other people were killed in the attack which came just a day after Tueni returned to Lebanon from France, where he had taken refuge fearing his life could be in danger.

The bombing also followed the handover of a report by UN chief investigator Detlev Mehlis to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on his probe into the murder of Lebanese ex-premier Rafiq Hariri, an attack blamed on Syria.

Tueni, the 48-year-old director of the top-selling An-Nahar newspaper, was killed as well as his driver Nicolas Flouti and two other people.

International condemnation was swift, with the US embassy in Beirut branding it a "barbaric" murder of one of Lebanon's "greatest champions for liberty and freedom".

Pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud said he was "outraged" by the killing, describing Tueni as Lebanon's "symbol of freedom".

"His death only serves the enemies of Lebanon who have been exerting all efforts to weaken the country."

About 30 other people were wounded in the attack in the Christian suburb of Mkalles as Tueni was heading in a convoy to his Beirut office at around 9 am (0700 GMT).

A dozen cars were turned into charred shells by the powerful blast, some flung into neighbouring woodland, and windows were shattered as far as 500 metres away.

Tueni's wife Siham rushed down into the ravine where teams from the Red Cross dragged her husband's body from the smouldering wreckage while police experts searched for clues.

Druze leader and fellow MP Walid Jumblatt pointed the finger at Syria over the bombing, the 13th such attack since the blast that killed Hariri in February and plunged Lebanon into chaos not seen since the 1975-1990 civil war.

The attacks have created a climate of fear in Lebanon, with several anti-Syrian figures such as Hariri's MP son Saad spending much of their time out of the country.

"The terrorist message has come to us... the person who threatened on television to make the whole world pay the price," Jumblatt said, alluding to remarks by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Russian television on Sunday.

Assad, referring to possible UN sanctions against Damascus, said that if the situation in Syria and Iraq was not good, the Middle East would be unstable and the whole world would pay.

But Syrian Information Minister Mehdi Dakhlallah denied any role, and blamed "foreign interference."

"Syria denounces all attacks whoever the victims," he told LBC television. "Whatever the differences between this or that person, Syria does not subscribe to these methods, which are used by the numerous enemies of Lebanon."

Many Lebanese blame Damascus for Hariri's death and the other attacks, charges Syria denies.

But the Hariri killing threw the spotlight on to Syria's dominant role in its smaller neighbour and in April Damascus pulled out the last of its troops from Lebanese soil after a 29-year military presence.

The UN Security Council, which has threatened international sanctions agains Syria, was due to receive the Mehlis report later Monday.

His first report in October concluded that top Syrian and Lebanese security officials were implicated in the killing and chided Damascus for failing to cooperate with the probe.

Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora was due to hold a cabinet meeting later Monday, where ministers were expected to call for an international tribunal to look into the attacks.

"I want an inquiry under the supervision of the Security Council on all the crimes committed by Syria," said Druze Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh, who is Tueni's uncle and himself escaped an attempt on his life in October.

Tueni, a Greek Orthodox who turned An-Nahar (Today) into a veritable anti-Syrian tribunal, became an MP after elections in May and June which gave anti-Syrian parties a majority.

Another An-Nahar journalist, Samir Kassir, was killed in June and one reporter with the paper said Monday: "We are all afraid."

The last attack was on September 25 when May Chidiac, 40, a Christian news presenter and political talk show host, was maimed by a bomb in her car.

Married twice, Tueni was father of four girls, including twin daughters born just a few months ago.

Dec 12 , 2005

Monday

February

Sunday

April

Monday

October

Monday

October

May

June

June

Monday

September 25

May Chidiac, 40

a few months ago


AFP_ENG_20061220.0691

BEIJING, Dec 21 , 2006, 2006

Man attacks schoolchildren in northwest China, kills two

A man attacked a group of schoolchildren with a knife in northwest China, killing two of them and injuring three others plus their teacher, state media reported Thursday.

The man dashed towards the pupils and their teacher when they were about to cross the street in front of their school in the Xinjiang autonomous region on Wednesday afternoon, Xinhua news agency reported.

One pupil died on the spot and another died in hospital, it quoted police as saying, adding they were aged nine or 10 years old.

Another three children and the injured teacher were in stable condition, Xinhua reported.

Police arrested a 38-year-old man but said the motive for the attack was still unknown.

Dec 21 , 2006

Thursday

Wednesday afternoon


APW19980418.0210
 NEWS STORY
 04/18/1998 06:07:00

w1416 Cx1f wstm-
r i Cx13  Cx11  BC-Hungary-Astronaut     04-18 0248

 BC-Hungary-Astronaut

First and only Hungarian astronaut moving to the United States

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) _ Tired of  being sidelined, Hungarian
astronaut Bertalan Farkas  is leaving for the United States  to start
a new career, he said Saturday.
``Being 48 is too early  to  be retired,'' a fit-looking Farkas
said on state TV's morning talk show.
With American astronaut Jon McBride, Farkas set up an
American-Hungarian joint venture called Orion 1980, manufacturing
space-travel related technology.
Farkas  will move to the company's U.S. headquarters.
Farkas, an air force captain,  was sent into space on board the
Soyuz 36 on May 26, 1980. He spent six days aboard the Salyut 6
spacecraft with three Soviet astronauts, Valery Kubasov, Leonid
Popov and Valery Riumin.
McBride, 54, of Lewisburg, West Virginia, was part of a
seven-member crew aboard the Orbiter Challenger in October 1984 and
later served as assistant administrator for congressional relations
for NASA.
Farkas expressed the hope he  one day follow in the
footsteps of fellow astronaut John Glenn, who at 77 is about  to go
into space again.
On May 22, 1995, Farkas  was made a brigadier general, and the
following year he  was appointed military attache at the Hungarian
embassy in Washington.
However , cited by District of Columbia traffic police in
December for driving under the influence of alcohol, Farkas  was ordered home and retired.
(ab/dc)

(PROFILE
(WS SL:BC-Hungary-Astronaut; CT:i;
(REG:EURO;)
(REG:BRIT;)
(REG:SCAN;)
(REG:ENGL;)
(LANG:ENGLISH;))
)

AP-NY-04-18-98 0607EDT

04/18/1998 06:07:00

Saturday

May 26, 1980

six days

October 1984

one day

May 22, 1995

the
following year

December