AFP_ENG_20061221.0647

MOSCOW, Dec 22 , 2006, 2006

contracts

The death of Turkmenistan's authoritarian leader Saparmurat Niyazov left wild speculations over his possible successor and fears that Russia might lose exclusive gas exploitation contracts, Russian media wrote Friday.

"His death launched a vicious fight for power in Turkmenistan and, what is more important, a new stage of struggles between Russia, China, the European Union and other interested parties for Turkmen gas," the Kommersant daily wrote.

Succession forecasts were hazy at best, with Niyazov -- known as Turkmenbashi, or Leader of all Turkmens, and self-proclaimed president for life -- having stamped out not only opposition but every possible rival to his authority, newspapers noted in unison.

However, Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov, appointed acting president Thursday, was a likely pretender, the Izvestia daily pointed out, adding that "he was considered an eminence grise in the country, and Turkmenbashi, normally quick to anger, treated him with care."

Turkmenistan's constitution bars an interim president from nominating himself for the top post, but "this norm can be overlooked if necessary."

Chief of Niyazov's presidential guard, Akmurad Redjepov, was another possible candidate, as "he enjoyed Niyazov's special trust and support," Izvestia wrote.

Niyazov's own son Murad, currently a businessman living in Austria, had neither, but "experts say Murad not only knows the political elite very well, but also made contacts with the opposition leaders," the daily said.

"As we are talking about a typical Eastern despotic system, it would be wrong to absolutely discard the possibility of family succession to the throne," the Vremya Novostei daily echoed.

However, Moscow's particular concern lay with the lucrative gas contracts granted Russia's gas giant Gazprom by Niyazov, and which could now be threatened, Russian media warned.

Russia was willing to overlook the many faults of Niyazov's regime for the sake of Turkmen gas, turning a blind eye "to the build-up of a Stalin-like regime combined with a Saddam-kind of an Eastern despotism," even up to ignoring the plight of Turkmenistan's ethnic Russians, the state Rossiyskaya Gazeta wrote.

"The reason for our diplomats' melancholic aloofness is not hard to understand -- Russia's gas interests made us tolerate both Turkmenbashi and his dictatorship. Much the same as the United States tolerated Nicaragua's dictator Somosa, who allowed the United Fruit Company a most comfortable existence," the daily wrote.

Niyazov in his turn pledged to treat Russia as a preferential partner, even while raising gas prices up to 100 dollars per 1,000 cubic meters, Kommersant recalled.

However, now the price was likely to stay the same, while "political pledges to stay loyal to Russia and not to participate in various other pipeline projects and transit to the EU are gone with Turkmenbashi," the daily warned.

Moreover, Niyazov's death could seriously destabilise the country, analysts noted.

"All this region is basically the region of collapsing states, which are very weak and unstable. Russia and other countries would have to try to fill the security vacuum so that the region would not explode and become another sore," Sergei Karaganov, chief of the foreign and defense policy council, said as quoted by Izvestia.

"A dictator's death is always a trial for his people. Sometimes a worse trial than his life had been," Rossiyskaya Gazeta quipped.

Dec 22 , 2006

Friday

Thursday

now


AFP_ENG_19970422.0667

WASHINGTON, April 22 , 1997 (AFP)

US holds tete-a-tete with North Korea by Carole Landry

US officials, still hoping to bring North Korea to the peace table, held a meeting with Pyongyang's envoys in New York Tuesday to keep discussions on the proposal afloat.

The State Department said the meeting in New York touched on joint efforts to account for the remains of Americans missing from the Korean war, missile nonproliferation and the establishment of liaison offices.

But the decision to hold the meeting marked a surprising twist as US officials had insisted bilateral talks would be scheduled only once Pyongyang had given its response to proposed peace negotiations.

Senior US and South Korean envoys left New York Monday after waiting six days for Pyongyang's emissaries to deliver a response to a proposal to begin talks on a peace treaty to replace the 1953 armistice agreement.

US officials maintained that it was not seeking to sideline South Korea from the talks that have stalled over North Korean demands for more food aid.

"We never negotiate this issue without the Republic of Korea," State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns said.

Under the proposal made one year ago by President Bill Clinton and his South Korean counterpart Kim Young-Sam, the two Koreas would enter into negotiations on a peace treaty with the United States and China acting as guarantors.

The State Department insisted Tuesday that the peace offer remained on the table and said US officials will remain in New York to continue discussions.

"The ball is in their court and the ball will remain there until they tell us otherwise," Burns said.

The bilateral meeting was meant to prepare talks scheduled for May 12 to discuss US claims that North Korea is exporting missile technology to Syria and Iran.

The United States and North Korea also discussed "technical problems" in the way of opening up liaison offices in each other's capitals, Burns said.

US and South Korean officials also held informal contacts with the North Koreans to discuss the proposed peace negotiations.

Burns said the North Koreans continue to make appeals for food aid but he reiterated the US view that the humanitarian assistance should not be a condition for Pyongyang's acceptance of the offer.

He argued that North Korea was in need of urgent assistance, asking rhetorically: "Why would we want to link food aid to talks that are moving at the speed of molasses ?".

North Korea's food crisis will be a key topic at a meeting here Friday between Clinton and Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto at the White House.

Japan has refused to give food aid to North Korea, citing abductions of Japanese nationals in the 1970s including a 13-year-old girl who went missing in 1977.

The United States in February offered 10 million dollars of aid and committed another 15 million dollars last week in an apparent bid to induce North Korea to come to the table for peace talks.

The United Nations World Food Program earlier this month launched a new appeal for 126 million dollars in assistance to North Korea, where UN officials have forecast famine by mid-year if there is no help.

Severe floods wiped out North Korea's harvests in 1995 and 1996, bringing food shortages stemming from the regime's economic collapse close to starvation levels.

April 22 , 1997

Monday

six days

one year ago

Tuesday

May 12

Friday

the 1970s

February

last week

this month


AFP_ENG_20051215.0689

MINSK, Dec 16 , 2005

Belarus political prisoner kept from father's funeral: family

A political prisoner convicted to two years in jail for "public insult" to Belarus's iron-fisted leader Alexander Lukashenko was denied a requested one-day leave to attend his father's funeral, his family said.

Valery Levonevsky, leader of the entrepreneurs' strike committee, was only allowed to phone home to voice his condolences, his son Vladimir told AFP late Thursday, saying the jail administration justified their decision by "repeated violations of regime" by Levonevsky.

"I understand that my father is in jail for political reasons, but this is inhuman -- not to let him attend his father's funeral," Vladimir said.

According to lawyer Garry Pogonyailo, it is up to the jail's administrators to grant a leave in case of exceptional circumstances, "and as practice shows, normally those criminals that are not dangerous are allowed to go to funerals."

"But since Levonevsky is a political prisoner, the attitude is very different," he added.

Levonevsky was convicted last September on charge of insult to Lukashenko, which the court saw in a leaflet calling on Belarusians to "come and say if you are against somebody vacationing in Austria, skiing and living as he pleases on your money."

Lukashenko has earned stinging criticism from the West for suppressing liberties and cracking down on his political opponents during ten years at the helm of the former Soviet republic.

Dec 16 , 2005

Thursday

last September

ten years


XIN_ENG_20051116.0094

BUSAN, South Korea, Nov. 16 , 2005 (Xinhua)

By Huang Xingwei

Asia-Pacific Rim ministers pledged on Wednesday to take concerted measures to facilitate free trade and combat avian influenza, terrorism and corruption.

After wrapping up a two-day ministerial meeting, the ministers endorsed a joint statement, saying the 6th World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong next month would be a "critical step" in achieving the successful conclusion of the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) negotiations by the end of 2006 with an ambitious and overall balanced outcome.

The ministerial meeting was held prior to the Economic Leaders' Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in South Korea's southeastern port city of Busan slated on Friday.

APEC MINISTERS COMMITTED TO STRENGTHENING MULTILATERAL TRADING SYSTEM

"Significant progress" must be made at Hong Kong conference in resolving considerable divergence, and a clear roadmap for completing the Doha Round in 2006 must be established,"said the joint statement which will be submitted to the APEC economic leaders.

The ministers recommended that their leaders adopt a stand- alone statement on the DDA negotiations that "provided strong political leadership and commitment necessary to produce a sound platform for successfully concluding the negotiations in Hong Kong ".

The APEC ministers "reaffirmed their deep commitment to the multilateral trading system and their support for the WTO" and agreed that "APEC economies would continue to make contributions towards the successful outcome of the WTO DDA negotiations".

Attempt to unlock the tangle in the WTO negotiations would dominate the APEC summit amid mounting gloom over the outcome of the trade talks.

The statement urged all other WTO members to show flexibility needed to move forward the negotiations by and beyond the Hong Kong talks.

APEC COMMITTED TO ACHIEVING BOGOR GOALS

The APEC ministers also reaffirmed their commitment to achieving the Bogor Goals of free and open trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific region by 2010 for developed members and 2020 for developing members as stipulated in the Bogor Declaration.

The ministers expressed the need of APEC to adapt its focus accordingly and to continue to deliver concrete and business relevant outcomes in the years ahead to realize the Bogor Goals.

The Bogor Goals, named after the city in Indonesia where they were declared in 1994, specify APEC objectives for eliminating developed members' trade and investment barriers by 2010, and those of developing members by 2020.

Ban Ki-moon, South Korea's minister of foreign affairs and trade who chaired this year's APEC Ministerial Meeting, said considerable progress has been made toward APEC's central Bogor Goals.

"The results of the mid-term stocktaking of progress toward the Bogor Goals show that APEC has made great strides in liberalizing trade and investment during the past 16 years," he told a press conference after concluding the ministerial meeting.

"The ministers agreed that, while the APEC agenda should be revitalized to keep pace with the new international trade environment, APEC must ensure that the achievement of the Bogor Goals," said the joint statement issued following the APEC Ministerial Meeting.

In order to accelerate progress toward the Bogor Goals, the ministers also emphasized the Busan Roadmap to the Bogor Goals, which outlines key priorities and frameworks, such as support for the multilateral trading system, strengthening collective and individual actions, promotions of high-quality regional trade agreements and free trade agreements (RTAs/FTAs), the Busan Business Agenda, said the joint statement.

The ministers also reaffirmed their deep commitment to the multilateral trading system and their support for the World Trade Organization (WTO).

"APEC economies would continue to make contribution toward the successful outcome of the WTO DDA negotiations and that the APEC Geneva Caucus must redouble its collective efforts to advance the negotiations in all areas of the Doha Development Agenda," the ministers said.

The APEC ministers agreed that high-quality Regional Trade Agreements/Free Trade Agreements maximized the contribution of those agreements to APEC-wide progress toward the Bogor Goals.

Ministers agreed that APEC would develop by 2008 comprehensive model measures as many commonly accepted RTA/FTA chapters as possible for trade facilitation, said the joint statement.

APEC MINISTERS URGE TO EFFECTIVELY RESPOND TO BIRD FLU

In the joint statement, the ministers vowed to accelerate APEC' s ongoing work on infectious disease threats such as avian influenza.

The ministers expressed the concern the threat that the highly pathogenic avian influenza posed to the Asia-Pacific region as well as to the world, said the statement.

"They agreed it was critical to ensure that APEC was prepared for and had the capacity to effectively respond to infectious diseases at the individual, regional and international levels," said the statement.

They approved Vietnam's proposal to host an APEC ministerial meeting on avian influenza in 2006 and called for active participation in the APEC symposium on containing contagious diseases to be held in China in April 2006.

The ministers also called on cooperating with specialized international organizations, such as the WTO, the Food and Agricultural Organization and the World Organization for Animal Health, to prevent spread of the bird flu.

Moreover, ministers called for support to strengthen their regional and international surveillance and responses systems, according to the statement.

"Ministers endorsed the initiative on Preparing for and Mitigating and Influenza Pandemic, with the aim of strengthened collective action and individual commitment on a multi-sectoral basis to prepare for and respond to an influenza pandemic," the statement said.

They also agreed on the recommendations of the cross-sectoral APEC Symposium on Response to Outbreak of Avian Influenza and Preparedness for a Human Health Emergency held in San Francisco in this July, which sought to minimize the threats to animal and human health, including the threat of transmission from animal to human, as well as the economic consequences of avian and other pandemic influenza.

The ministers also instructed all APEC fora to continue to work cooperatively with APEC's Health Task Force and Task force on Emergency Preparedness to achieve this goal.

They also stressed the importance of timely and accurate reporting and capacity building efforts to enable adequate, systematic and well-coordinated prevention. (more)

Nov. 16 , 2005

Wednesday

the end of 2006

Friday

the years

this year

the past 16 years

April 2006


AFP_ENG_20061203.0320

BAGHDAD, Dec 3 , 2006, 2006

Downed US pilot officially listed as dead

Crashed US pilot Major Troy Gilbert whose F-16 fighter went down in Iraq last week was officially listed as killed in action by the US air force on Sunday.

The pilot had been described as "duty status and whereabouts unknown" but following DNA tests made on remains found at the crash site this was changed to "killed in action", the military said in a statement.

US military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Garver, said: "Based on the remains found, the air force is confident of its classification ... We have some remains now from the crash site but we are still looking for more."

Gilbert was supporting US ground troops some 32 kilometers (20 miles) northwest of Baghdad on November 27 when his plane crashed for reasons that are currently under investigation.

It took ground forces several hours to reach the crash site at which an insurgent presence was detected by other US aircraft.

A US military official told AFP at the time that the major's body was missing and was presumed to have been taken by insurgents.

Dec 3 , 2006

last week

Sunday

now

November 27


AFP_ENG_19970427.0490

LUXEMBOURG, April 28 , 1997 (AFP)

EU seeks to make China hold its promises to Hong Kong by Angus MacKinnon

Plans to step up the European Union's ties to Hong Kong after this transfer to Chinese rule on July 1 will be discussed for the first time at a meeting of EU foreign ministers here on Tuesday.

On the table will be a report from the European Commission setting out how the EU should go about defending its extensive interests in the territory -- the bloc's 10th largest trading partner -- and its role in ensuring that Beijing honours its commitments to respect its autonomy.

At the heart of the commission's strategy, drawn up by British commissioner Sir Leon Brittan, is a commitment to continue dealing directly with Hong Kong after the Chinese takeover and to actively developing ties in those areas, such as trade, where it will have autonomy from Beijing.

Other areas earmarked for more "formal and structured" cooperation include investment, customs cooperation and the battle against fraud.

Confidence in Hong Kong's future depends on its new status as a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China not leading to an erosion of the rule of law or key rights such as free speech, the right to assembly and form political parties and data protection, the commission report noted.

Primary responsibility for ensuing that the SAR lives up to its tasks lies with the Hong Kong government and Chinese authorities, but the EU also had a role to play in monitoring events.

"The EU should ensure permanent vigilance and keep a watching brief on developments in Hong Kong," the report states.

To ensure this happens, the commission is proposing to draw up an annual report on the economic, political and human rights situation in Hong Kong. The reports would not only ensure regular discussion in Hong Kong but would also provide the basis for discussions in the EU's political dialogue with Beijing.

The report also called for high-level visits to Hong Kong to be given priority after the handover. "Hong Kong depends on confidence and alertness in the international community is an important guarantee to sustain this confidence," Brittan said.

More controversially, the commission called on EU governments to guarantee that Hong Kong will be assessed on its own merits when a decision is made about whether its population will need visas to visit Europe.

"The benefits which easy travel gives to developing economic and other contacts, and the importance of demonstrating confidence in Hong Kong's future, suggest that freer access to the EU would be in the interests of both the EU and of Hong Kong."

Although Britain has the biggest connections with Hong Kong, it is not the only one with a vested interest in its future prosperity. France, Germany, the Netherlands and Italy all have annual trade with the colony in excess of two billion dollars.

The construction of Hong Kong's new airport alone has involved some 115 European companies and there are some 250 European business which have regional headquarters there.

There are also an average of 50,000 EU citizens in Hong Kong at any one time, including 32,000 who are permanently settled there.

April 28 , 1997

July 1

Tuesday


AFP_ENG_19970415.0194

LONDON, April 15 , 1997 (AFP)

De Larosiere urged to remain at the helm of EBRD

Major shareholders in the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) have urged Jacques de Larosiere to accept their offer to continue as president of the bank for another four years.

Britain's Overseas Development Minister, Baroness Chalker, on Tuesday added her voice to those who are pressing de Larosiere to remain at the helm of the bank after his term of office expires in September.

"You have transformed the bank and shareholders are deeply indebted to you. When the Governors meet in Kiev next year, we very much hope that you will be there, in your second term as President," Baroness Chalker told the annual meeting of the EBRD.

De Larosiere, 67, has been asked by the EBRD's board of governors to serve a second four-year term, but says he has not made up his mind, and will give an answer in May.

Together with the outgoing vice-president, Wall Street banker Ron Freeman, de Larosiere was able to repair the damage from a scandal which, in 1993, forced the resignation of the EBRD's first president, Jacques Attali, criticized for his lavish spending.

Under the Frenchman's presidency, the bank, set up in 1991 to assist the transition to a market economy in the former Communist states of Europe, has frozen its operating costs for the past three years.

At the same time, in collaboration with Freeman, who has worked doggedly to ensure the bank's money goes only to projects which meet sound banking principles, de Larosiere has massively expanded its portfolio of loans and equity investments.

The succession of these two top posts is the main uncertainty hanging over the future of this multilateral institution, which has become an essential partner for the private sector in the former Communist states of eastern and central Europe and the ex-Soviet Union.

On Monday, the United States praised the two men, and underlined the importance of finding a good successor to Freeman, who announced last week he would step down in June to return to his old employer, Salomon Brothers.

The Assistant Secretary for International Affairs at the US Treasury, David Lipton, expressed his "appreciation for what President de Larosiere and Ron Freeman have accomplished in this institution."

Belgian finance minister Philippe Maystadt, for his part, said that Freeman's departure was "a further important argument in favour of a second term of office for Mr de Larosiere, representing stability and continuity at the head of the bank."

April 15 , 1997

another four years

Tuesday

September

next year

May

the past three years

Monday

last week

June


XIN_ENG_20061122.0161

SHANGHAI, Nov. 22 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Bulgarian PM

Bulgaria expects to expand exchanges and cooperation with China and hopes for more Chinese investment, visiting Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev said during a tour of Shanghai.

Stanishev said in a meeting with Han Zheng, acting party chief and Mayor of Shanghai, that his major missions included looking for new approaches to cement trade cooperation and increasing mutual investment.

Stanishev also gave a speech on EU Enlargement and Bulgaria's Contribution to the EU at the prestigious Fudan University.

The Prime Minister said he expected Bulgaria to contribute to the security and stability of southeast Europe after its accession to the European Union.

Stanishev arrived in Beijing on Sunday where he held talks with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, and met with China's top legislator Wu Bangguo and Vice President Zeng Qinghong.

Both sides agreed to take active measures to enhance trade cooperation.

Nov. 22 , 2006

Sunday


AFP_ENG_20051215.0735

PERTH, Australia, Dec 16 , 2005

Australia 96-1 against South Africa at lunch in first Test

Australia were 96-1 at lunch on the first day of the first cricket Test against South Africa at the WACA Ground here Friday.

Brief score: Australia 96 for one (Ricky Ponting 57 not out, Justin Langer 33 not out; Ntini 1-34)

Dec 16 , 2005

the first day

Friday


AFP_ENG_20051205.0160

RAMALLAH, West Bank, Dec 5 , 2005

Abbas condemns Israel blast as act of 'terrorism'

Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas condemned Monday's suicide bomb attack in the Israeli city of Netanya as an act of "terrorism" and vowed to bring the perpetrators to justice.

"We severely condemn this terrorist operation in Netanya," a statement from his office said.

"President Abbas has ordered all the security services to catch whoever is responsible for this attack and bring them to justice."

Dec 5 , 2005

Monday


XIN_ENG_20061115.0327

LAGOS, Nov. 15 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Nigerian government promotes agriculture in north

The Nigerian government approved measures to promote agricultural production in the country's vast north, a senior official has said.

Nigerian Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Adamu Bello said on Tuesday that the government had approved run-off water harvesting projects for irrigation and cattle rearing in northern states of Sokoto, Jigawa and Yobe.

The projects were funded from the debt relief gains under the Millennium Development Goals, he said, adding that the run-off water harvesting structures would bring about 40 million cubic meters of flood water for irrigation and domestic use.

The minister explained that the projects would encourage the production of meat, milk and cheese as well as increase farmers' income and minimize poverty in the benefiting states.

The federal government was working toward addressing the threats of environmental degradation and other severe stress facing the country's land and water resources, he added.

Nov. 15 , 2006

Tuesday


XIN_ENG_20061121.0141

NANNING, Nov. 21 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Wild fruit poisons 43 children in S. China county

Forty-two pupils from a rural primary school and a pre-school boy in south China are recovering after suffering food poisoning caused by wild fruit, said a hospital source on Tuesday.

The local government said the children in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region suffered nausea and dizziness after eating the fruit on Monday afternoon and all were taken to hospital.

All children are from Shuichong Primary School in Hepu County's Shankou Township and the younger boy was in a safe condition on Tuesday.

Test results showed they were poisoned by the fruit of the jatropha curcal, a shrub that is used to produce biological diesel oil and mainly distributed in south China.

The fruit of the plant is poisonous and can cause dizziness, vomiting, diarrhea or shock.

An emergency safety campaign was launched by all primary and middle schools in the county to avoid a recurrence of such incidents, said Wang Yi, deputy head of the county.

Nov. 21 , 2006

Tuesday

Monday afternoon

Tuesday


AFP_ENG_20051213.0662

SYDNEY, Dec 14 , 2005

ATTENTION - RECASTS, ADDS company quotes, analysts ///

Australian flag-carrier Qantas announced Wednesday that it had chosen Boeing's 787 long-haul airliner as the "cornerstone" for a major renewal of its fleet, snubbing rival Airbus for a deal expected to be worth some 20 billion US dollars.

The Qantas board said it would acquire 115 of the new Boeing 787 Dreamliners, rather than the Airbus 350s.

Qantas said it was ordering 65 of the twin-engine, wide-body aircraft for delivery from 2008 for use by Qantas and its budget offshoot Jetstar, which is due to begin international operations in 2007.

The airline also took purchase rights for an additional 50 787's to account for future growth of its fleet.

The decision was a blow for Airbus, which had been pushing its fuel efficient A350 to Qantas.

Qantas Chief Executive Geoff Dixon said the tender had been "very competitive, with excellent options proposed by both Boeing and Airbus".

"The Boeing 787 provides breakthrough technology, enabling us to fly further to more point-to-point destinations throughout the world at a cost equivalent to operating larger aircraft like the Boeing 747-400," he said.

"The Boeing 787 is ideal for operating to Asia, as well the USA and Europe, and with 300 seats, will enable both Qantas and Jetstar to closely target markets without compromising efficiency," he said.

"Its new technology engines, cutting-edge airframe and increased seat count also offer a significant reduction in costs ... compared to the current Boeing 767."

Dixon said one of Qantas' priorities in choosing Boeing was the need to have Jetstar to be ready for international operations by early 2007 "with the fastest possible transition to new technology, more efficient aircraft."

Jetstar would begin its overseas operations with an interim fleet of four A330-200 aircraft and move to a fleet of 10 new Boeing 787s with delivery of the first aircraft scheduled for August 2008.

Qantas Chairwoman Margaret Jackson said the purchase of the new aircraft would be funded from operating cash flow.

"These new aircraft are vital for our continued growth in the face of increasing competition in the years ahead," she said.

"They will cater for international capacity growth and new routes, as well as replacing the Qantas Groups fleet of wide-body Boeing 767-300s," she said.

Center for Asia Pacific Aviation chief executive Peter Harbison said both Boeing and Airbus were likely to have proposed incentives to win the orders.

Airbus had been a strong competitor in the past, offering perks like full pilot training, he said.

Qantas has already approved orders for 12 of Airbus's new super jumbo A380s, with the company planning to fly the aircraft on the Australia-US route after delivery in late 2006.

Dec 14 , 2005

Wednesday

Airbus 350s

early 2007

August 2008

the years

the past

late 2006


AFP_ENG_20061224.0147

JERUSALEM, Dec 24 , 2006, 2006

UAE funds ///

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas sparked hope for the stalled Middle East peace process Sunday by meeting for the first time in six months, but observers warned against expecting too much from the encounter.

The two leaders met at Olmert's residence in Jerusalem late Saturday, kissing and warmly shaking hands after a two-hour dinner followed by one-on-one talks.

"The two leaders expressed their will to cooperate, as true partners, in an effort to advance the peace process" and reiterated support for reaching "a solution of two states living side by side in peace and security," Olmert's office said in a statement late Saturday.

The two leaders' long-awaited encounter -- their first since an informal meeting in Jordan in late June -- sparked hope that the peace process could be nudged from the slumber in which it has been for the past six years.

"Our intention is to begin ongoing negotiations in order to advance the peace process that we want so much," Olmert said Sunday at the opening of a weekly cabinet meeting.

In a phone call with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, also on Sunday, Olmert said his meeting with Abbas "could mark an opening for a better future," his office said.

"The ice has been broken," Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres said. The meeting "again opened the way to negotiations."

But while Israeli officials played up the importance of the encounter, observers on both sides said it lacked in concrete measures and warned against inflated expectations.

"It was a first step, but we won't know if it's important before we see the results on the ground," Ali al-Jarbawi, a political science professor at the Birzeit University in Ramallah, told AFP. "The Palestinian people are looking for results, not meetings."

As part of the measures agreed on during the encounter the Israeli cabinet voted unanimously Sunday to release up to 100 million dollars in customs duties that it has been withholding from the Palestinian Authority since the Islamist Hamas movement formed a cabinet in March.

Hamas is considered a terrorist organization by Israel and the West, which froze all direct aid to the Palestinian government after it took power.

Observers said that the meeting was meant to strengthen Abbas at a time when he is facing off against Hamas in an intense power struggle, which boiled over into deadly armed clashes last week between rival Palestinian factions after the Palestinian president called for early elections.

Olmert said Sunday that he agreed to release the money "in order to help in humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people who suffer among other things due to the failing conduct of their government which is not part of the international community."

The United Arab Emirates is to transfer 30 million dollars to the Palestinian Authority "to help reduce the suffering of the Palestinian people," the official WAM news agency said.

But Israel did not agree to release prisoners -- an important gesture sought by Abbas.

"Olmert did not give Abu Mazen anything real," said Khani al-Masri, an analyst in Ramallah.

Wrote the Israeli newspaper Maariv: "The biggest achievement of Abu Mazen yesterday at the prime minister's residence in Jerusalem lay in the Palestinian flag that was raised in his honor above the entrance."

"He received a lot of promises and a little money... The only asset that Abu Mazen can broadcast to his people today is a little optimism."

Hamas likewise said the encounter did not amount to anything concrete.

"This meeting was meant to throw sand in our eyes... an exercise in public relations," said Wasfi Kabha, the Hamas minister for prisoner affairs. "Both Abu Mazen and Olmert are facing internal crises and they held this meeting just to say there is hope to resume the negotiations."

And the radical Islamic Jihad group said in a statement that it was a waste of time that "is not helping the Palestinian interests."

Dec 24 , 2006

Sunday

six months

late Saturday

late Saturday

the past six years

Sunday

Sunday

Sunday

March

last week

Sunday

today


XIN_ENG_20061129.0450

LUSAKA, Nov. 29 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Zambian gov't works out budget plan for next three years

The Zambian government released on Wednesday a budget plan, the Medium Term Expenditure Framework ( MTEF), for the year 2007 to 2009 to project revenues and outline expenditures for the period.

Speaking at the launch of the plan, Secretary to the Treasury Evans Chibiliti said the three-year plan would focus on consolidating the macro-economic stability achieved in the last few years.

"In this regard implementation of prudent fiscal and monetary policies will continue, particularly by limiting government borrowing," Chibiliti said.

He said government plans to strengthen tax administration and resource mobilization, adding that the three-year budget plan has also incorporated the implementation of the decentralization policy which aims at empowering local authorities to control their own resources.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister N'gandu Magande said the government projects to raise about 32 trillion kwacha (about 8 billion U.S. dollars) in revenue and grants between 2007 and 2009 while the expenditure is projected at 34.3 trillion kwacha (about 8.6 billion dollars) over the same period.

The minister said the government hopes to achieve economic growth of six percent a year and to bring down inflation to no more than five percent from the current level of eight percent.

Magande said the government will in the next three years focus on infrastructure development which includes construction of road, schools, houses and water and sanitation facilities.

The draft plan will be released for public consultation and contribution, said the minister.

Nov. 29 , 2006

Wednesday

the year 2007

the last few years

the same period

a year

the next three years


AFP_ENG_20051212.0555

BEIRUT, Dec 12 , 2005

government

Cabinet ministers of the Shiite Amal-Hezbollah coalition on Monday suspended their participation in the Lebanese government after it voted to call for international probes into murders of anti-Syrian critics.

Dec 12 , 2005

Monday


AFP_ENG_20051217.0186

BRUSSELS, Dec 17 , 2005

ATTENTION - ADDS Austria, Lithuania ///

British Prime Minister Tony Blair was praised abroad and vilified at home on Saturday for clinching an EU budget deal, while German Chancellor Angela Merkel was applauded as a key mediator.

Acting as EU president until the end of the month, Blair sealed agreement overnight on a tighter 2007-2013 spending package with a mechanism to review and perhaps modernise it during the seven-year term.

But it was his decision, under heavy domestic fire, to give up more of Britain's beloved multi-billion euro annual rebate which drew most comment.

"The British presidency deserves praise for its constructive role in a complicated negotiation and for the courage it showed in giving up part of its rebate," Greek Prime Minister Costas Caramanlis said.

European Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso was disappointed that the deal, which represents 1.045 percent of gross national income, was not as big as his EU executive team had sought, but hailed Blair nonetheless.

"I was not always agreeing with my good friend Prime Minister Blair ... but honestly this was a very successful presidency," he told reporters.

French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said Blair had shown strength.

"He is a British prime minister who preferred an internal battle on an idea of the EU, rather than to quietly do his job as a simple British prime minister," Douste-Blazy said.

"He has been intelligent, courageous. He challenged a clear advantage amid a difficult domestic political climate."

The budget freed up important funds for the new member states, many of them former communist countries, and indeed part of the rebate Blair gave up will be headed east from 2007.

"The budget proposals from EU presidency country Britain improved for Estonia with each round in the run-up to the solution," Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip said.

"We can leave the EU summit with the knowledge that we have enough money to lift the economic and social life even more rapidly to the level of older EU member states," he said.

Slovak Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda agreed: "The result is better than we had hoped."

Lithuanian Prime Minister Algirdas Brazauskas said Vilnius was "happy", adding that it would receive some 440 million euros more a year than at present for a total of 8.7 billion over the life of the budget.

Austrian Finance Minister Karl-Heinz Grasser said he was "very pleased" with an "exceptional" deal, which maintained Vienna, London's successor as EU president from January 1, "in the right middle ground" with its net contribution increasing only moderately.

But in Britain, the press flayed Blair over his "surrender".

"Blair's the seven billion pound loser," declared the mass-circulation Sun, as it savaged "the feeble premier" for compromising on the rebate won by then Conservative prime minister Margaret Thatcher in 1984.

The right-wing Daily Mail struck a similar note, talking of "Blair's surrender" and "spectacular U-turn" arguing that "in return for the gigantic cash handover, he was set to get virtually nothing."

The conservative Daily Telegraph said he "had performed his biggest climbdown over Europe" by giving up part of the rebate "without winning any commitment from France on early reform of farm subsidies".

Most praise however was reserved for Angela Merkel, Germany's first woman chancellor taking part in her first summit, for her behind-the-scenes diplomacy, shuttling between her partners.

Merkel played an "important role", Sweden's Svenska Dagbladet daily said in its online edition. "She agreed to a higher budget level, and therefore to paying more, so Blair could gather his 'Christmas presents' for those who were dissatisfied."

France's Le Figaro went further. "It appeared as if without her Europe would have found itself in a new political crisis."

Major Spanish daily El Pais said she had played a key role.

"Merkel played an essential part in reducing the gap separating Blair and a Chirac who seemed inflexible," it wrote.

French President Jacques Chirac, who appeared to have come away with the EU's farm aid system he so staunchly defended virtually intact, was largely criticised.

Czech daily Lidove Noviny said France, once "Europe's motor", had become its "nightmare".

Dec 17 , 2005

Saturday

the end of the month

the seven-year term

a year

January 1


XIN_ENG_20061119.0034

BEIJING, Nov. 19 , 2006 (Xinhua)

BOCOG sets up Olympic lecturer team

The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the 2008 Olympic Games (BOCOG) has launched its Olympic lecturers team to cope with increasing demand for knowledge about the Olympics.

The team is composed of heads of relevant BOCOG departments and its key staff members, who will serve as a bridge linking BOCOG and all walks of life, urging them to actively spread Olympic knowledge, listen to the voice of the community and answer the inquiries.

In August 2005, a small group was set up to give lectures on the Olympics, with up to 200 Olympic-themed lectures held so far.

Nov. 19 , 2006

August 2005


AFP_ENG_20061214.0052

JERUSALEM, Dec 14 , 2006, 2006

Israel court says targeted killings 'legal' in some cases

Israel's Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that the legality of targeted strikes against suspected Palestinian militants should be determined on a case-by-case, army radio reported.

"We cannot determine in advance that all targetted killings are contrary to international law. At the same time, it is not possible that all such liquidations are in line with international law," the radio quoted the ruling as saying.

The legality of all targeted killings must be examined on a case by case basis," it said.

Dec 14 , 2006

Thursday


AFP_ENG_19970405.0039

BOMBAY, April 5 , 1997 (AFP)

Indian political crisis to make bourses cautious

India's stock markets will remain cautious next week, when the country's 10-month coalition government is to face a crucial confidence vote in parliament, analysts said Saturday.

On the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), India's oldest and largest, the barometer 30-share sensitive index shed 113.16 points or three percent during a week of sharp swings, to close on Friday at 3,550.37 points.

The broadbased 100-share national index was down by 45.22 points or 2.85 percent and closed at 1,539.75 points.

India was thrown into a political crisis March 30 when the Congress (I) party withdrew its parliamentary support to the United Front government led by Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda.

Hit by the unexpected development, panicky Indian stock market speculators sold heavily the next day, pulling the BSE sensex down by more than eight percent in a single day.

Prices recovered moderately during the week as domestic and foreign institutional investors bought at low, attractive price levels.

Analysts and stock brokers said trading sentiment would be cautious when the market opens Monday.

"Everybody will be waiting for the confidence vote on Friday. The political situation is the key sentiment for the markets now," said stock broker Ajit Ambani.

Ambani said no fresh buying support was expected. "I do not expect any big jump or fall in prices next week. Prices are likely to be at current levels," he said.

Average daily business volumes were up to 190 million dollars from 171 million dollars the previous week.

In trading, the Associated Cement Co. lost 103.25 rupees to 1,367.75 rupees, Bombay Dyeing fell 10.50 rupees to 111.25 rupees, while Glaxo lost 3.75 rupees to 273.25 rupees.

Reliance Industries fell 16.25 rupees to 268.75 rupees, State Bank of India fell 37.50 rupees to 271.50 rupees, Tata Engineering was down eight rupees to 367 rupees, and Tata Steel fell by 14 rupees to 163.75 rupees.

April 5 , 1997

Saturday

a week

Friday

March 30

the week

Monday

Friday

next week

the previous week


XIN_ENG_20061102.0289

CAIRO, Nov. 2 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Arab League pledges continued efforts to resume Somali negotiations

The Cairo-based Arab League (AL) said on Thursday that it would continue its efforts to help resume Somali parties' negotiations on the crisis they are facing.

AL Secretary General Amr Moussa promised in press statements to exert further AL efforts to resume negotiations till the Somali crisis was resolved.

Although Somali negotiations are facing difficulties due to conflicting stances, the AL has kept contacts to stop the Somali crisis from any possible escalation and have Somali factions return to negotiations, Moussa said.

He added that talks could resume in the coming few weeks as the AL keeps in touch with the Somali government and the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) to resume negotiations.

Moussa further noted that the AL delegation to the Somali crisis negotiations will meet and discuss a demand for a fact- finding commission proposed by some Somali parties, before discussions on all aspects of the Somali question.

Somalia was plunged into lawlessness in 1991 after the ousting of strongman Mohamed Siad Barre and the nation of some 10 million population was then divided into a patchwork of fiefdoms governed by unruly warlords.

Nov. 2 , 2006

Thursday

the coming few weeks


XIN_ENG_20051108.0201

NAIROBI, Nov. 8 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Nairobi world conference to focus on sport, environment

The linkages between sport, peace and the environment will be the main focus at the Sixth World Conference on Sport and Environment to be held in Nairobi from November 9 to 11, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) said here Tuesday.

The conference, one of the key activities under UNEP's long term strategy on sport and environment, will be attended by 300 heads of National Olympic Committees, international sport organizations, UN agencies as well as sport stars, according to a UNEP statement.

The three-day meeting, organized by the International Olympic Committee and UNEP, will review the environmental activities of the Olympic Movement and other sport stakeholders. Within the course of the conference the participants will take part in panel discussion on key themes relating to sports, peace, environment and sustainable development.

This edition follows on from the one held in Turin, Italy, in December 2003, where delegates from all five continents shared experiences and ideas on sustainable development in and through sport, and how it could be better promoted and achieved.

Nov. 8 , 2005

November 9

Tuesday

December 2003


AFP_ENG_20051213.0029

BAGHDAD, Dec 13 , 2005

ATTENTION - ADDS quotes, background ///

Iraq's first Kurdish head of state Jalal Talabani said Tuesday that he would not seek a second presidential mandate if the post remained largely ceremonial following this week's watershed general election.

"In keeping with the new constitution, the president of the republic does not have the power to participate in the management of state and therefore I would not agree to become an honorary president," said Talabani.

"I refuse to present my candidacy in such circumstances," he added in a statement released overnight.

Iraq goes to the polls on Thursday to elect its first full-term parliament since the 2003 US-led invasion and the fall of Saddam Hussein.

"The president of the republic must be a real president, active in the leadership of the state, for the simple reason that Iraqis expect a lot from him," said Talabani.

"They address numerous demands to him, they call on him to end injustice and to help them solve their problems. If the president is honorary, he cannot respond to these demands."

The 72-year-old Talabani leads the main Kurdish coalition contesting Thursday's election, an alliance of his Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and Massud Barzani's Kurdistan Democratic Party.

The first task of the elected 275 members of parliaments will be to appoint, by a two-thirds majority, a president and two vice-presidents.

The presidency council will then have 15 days to name a prime minister, who will form a cabinet to be put to parliament for approval.

The constitution, adopted at a referendum in October, limits the powers of the four-year head of state in order to guard against any return to the decades of authoritarian dictatorship during the Saddam Hussein era.

A strong man who hates to be made a fool of, Talabani publicly reprimanded Shiite Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari, accusing him of violating Iraqi law and exceeding his authority by taking decisions without consulting the president.

Dec 13 , 2005

Tuesday

this week

Thursday

Thursday

15 days

October


AFP_ENG_20061211.0730

HONG KONG, Dec 12 , 2006, 2006

Hong Kong gold opens higher

Hong Kong gold prices opened higher Tuesday at 629.00-629.50 US dollars an ounce, up from Monday's close of 628.40-628.90 dollars.

Dec 12 , 2006

Tuesday

Monday


AFP_ENG_20051206.0199

BAGHDAD, Dec 6 , 2005

ATTENTION - UPDATES throughout, CONTAINS pool copy ///

Known only as "Witness A", a Shiite woman gave chilling testimony Tuesday of how she was jailed for four years and beaten by intelligence agents at the mesmerising trial of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

Speaking with her voice disguised and sitting behind a heavy beige curtain, to protect her identity from journalists in the press box, her testimony got off to a tearful start as she recalled events in the early 1980s.

Aged 16 when she was rounded up by Saddam's forces in the Shiite village of Dujail, she said she was taken first to intelligence headquarters before being flung into Iraq's notorious Abu Ghraib prison.

"My youth ... was destroyed," said the woman recalling the legacy of her experiences. Today she described herself as a housewife.

Saddam, for decades one of the most feared leaders in the Middle East before being ousted by invading US-led troops in 2003, is on trial with seven henchmen for the massacre of 148 people from the Shiite village of Dujail in 1982.

He and his seven deputies, who have pleaded not guilty, face the death penalty by hanging if convicted over the killings, which followed an assassination bid against Iraq's former strongman during a visit to the village.

Taken to an operation room at intelligence headquarters, the woman said a man ordered her to remove her clothes before pistol whipping her and lashing her with cables. In all six witneses were to testify Tuesday.

"He said take off your clothes. He hit me with the pistol and I was forced to take off my clothes and he lifted my legs upward and he hit me with cables and asked me to talk," she was translated as saying.

Just metres away on the other side of the court room, relayed television footage showed a silent Saddam sitting in the dock, his eyes blinking.

"They lifted my legs upwards and they tied my hands and they would beat me with cables and hit me with electric shocks -- how can you describe that?" said the witness at a later point.

"I cannot discribe what was there," she said of her time in Abu Ghraib, where she recalled how men were forced to strip naked and run in front of women.

In at times confused testimony in which she repeatedly invoked God, she said that at least three of her toenails fell off because she was forced to walk in the desert.

Presiding judge Rizkar Mohammed Amin repeatedly asked her not to deviate from the topic and relate her evidence directly to Saddam.

"Your honour he is the president of the country, he is the protector of the people, when the people are tortured and imprisoned, who ordered that?" she said at one such prompting.

Amin at one point said her evidence was different from in December 2004 and asked to know why but she gave no answer.

She was cross-examined by both the prosecution and defence, who wanted to see the woman face-to-face. The proceedings were then closed off to journalists and the heavy curtain pushed to one side.

A defence lawyer asked her if she had had her photo taken at Abu Ghraib, in an apparent reference to photos that emerged during last year's US military prison abuse scandal of Iraqi detainees at the same prison. She replied "No."

After a recess for lunch, another woman, "Witness B", began to give evidence to the court, an AFP correspondent said.

Born in 1937, the second witness was arrested and held for four months along with her husband and seven children in 1981, the year before the Dujail massacre.

Dec 6 , 2005

Tuesday

four years

the early 1980s

Today

Tuesday

December 2004

last year

four months

the year


APW19980213.1310
 NEWS STORY
 02/13/1998 14:26:00

w2112 Cx1f wstm-
r i Cx13  Cx11  BC-Australia-Republic 4thLd-Writethru   02-13 0603

 BC-Australia-Republic, 4th Ld-Writethru,0602

Constitutional convention votes for republic, against links to

British monarchy QL
UR Eds: ADDS 2 grafs at end with reaction from former prime minister
Paul Keating QL
UR AP Photo CANB101,102,103 QL
UR By ALAN THORNHILL QC
UR Associated Press Writer QC

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) _ Turning its back on 210 years of
loyalty to the British royal family, a constitutional convention
voted overwhelmingly Friday to make Australia a republic under its
own president.
Prime Minister John Howard, a monarchist himself, promised to put the question to a national referendum next year after
convention delegates voted 89-52 for a republic, with 11
abstentions.
Spontaneous applause echoed through the chamber and public
galleries as the crucial vote passed by a wide margin.
``I want a referendum,'' Howard said. ``The Australian people
are owed the opportunity of expressing an opinion on this.''
``It would be a travesty in common sense terms of Australian
democracy for that proposition not to be put to the Australian
people,'' Howard said.
Even in his own Cabinet, Howard is becoming increasingly isolated with his monarchist stance. Treasurer Peter Costello,
Environment Minister Robert Hill and Attorney General Daryl
Williams all voted to support the republic Friday.
``This convention will be seen as a turning point in our
history,'' Australian Republican Movement spokeswoman Mary
Delahunty said.
Pro-republicans hope to have an Australian president by the
opening of the 2000 Olympics and the 100th anniversary of
Australian federation.
Calling for an amended constitution with a new preamble, to be written by Australian poets, republican Janet Holmes a Court said,
``We need the smell of eucalyptus in this, and the feel of red
dust.''
Monarchists hope to defeat the republic at the referendum.
``The phony war has finished and the real referendum campaign
has clearly begun,'' Australians for a Constitutional Monarchy
executive director Kerry Jones said.
``Well may  we say  `God save the Queen,' for nothing will save
the republic,'' outraged monarchist delegate David Mitchell said.
``The idea of a republic will fall to dust through the grace of
almighty God.''
Polls have shown public support for a republic increasing,
rising from about 35 percent several years ago to about 51 percent
this year, as pro-monarchist sentiment diminishes.
Australia has been independent since 1901, but like many
Commonwealth nations it still recognizes the British monarch as its
head of state.
Howard said Queen Elizabeth II is taking a great interest in the
convention.
``She is, I can assure you, from what I've been told, she's following the thing very closely and taking the view it's our
business.
``It's no secret that she's indicated to me ... she is a 20th
century democrat, understands that the role of the crown in
Australia rests in the hands of the Australian people as it has for
almost a hundred years.''
The model for a republic, adopted over bitter objections from
those advocating direct election of a president, is for
presidential nominations to be made with public input and the
winning candidate decided by a two-thirds majority of Parliament.
Former prime minister Paul Keating, who put the republic issue
in the spotlight in his unsuccessful 1996 campaign for re-election,
welcomed the result.
``This is an important step along the path towards Australia
claiming its full sovereignty, and due recognition that the
monarchy can no longer serve us appropriately,'' Keating said.

(PROFILE
(WS SL:BC-Australia-Republic, 4th Ld-Writethru; CT:i;
(REG:EURO;)
(REG:BRIT;)
(REG:SCAN;)
(REG:MEST;)
(REG:AFRI;)
(REG:INDI;)
(REG:ENGL;)
(LANG:ENGLISH;))
)

AP-NY-02-13-98 1426EST

02/13/1998 14:26:00

210 years

Friday

next year

Friday

several years ago

this year

almost a hundred years


AFP_ENG_19970409.0548

GENEVA, April 9 , 1997 (AFP)

Denktash ready to meet Clerides

Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash said Wednesday he was prepared to meet his Greek Cypriot counterpart, Glafcos Clerides, to try and forge a solution to the Cyprus question, but warned he would not let his community be "colonised" by the Greek majority.

Speaking to journalists after talks with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, Denktash said he was optimistic about UN plans to try and get the leaders of the feuding communities on the divided island together for a June meeting.

But he stressed that his base position going into any talks would rule out any notion of Greek supremacy over the Turkish-held north of the Mediterranean island.

"I have been inviting Mr. Clerides to come to the negotiating table and to discuss a bizonal, bicommunal federation resting on the partnership of two politically equal communities (...) and they have been running away from it all this time," Denktash said.

"He (Clerides) has attempted to change the agenda by making a unilateral application to the EU, and pretending that this application is an application by Cyprus, when it is an application by Greek Cypriots only. So naturally we cannot accept that kind of tactics," the Turkish Cypriot leader said.

Cyprus has been divided since Turkey invaded the northern third of the island in 1974 after a military coup in Nicosia aimed at uniting the island with Greece.

Denktash's breakaway Turkish-Cypriot northern state declared in 1983 is recognized only by Ankara.

April 9 , 1997

Wednesday

June


AFP_ENG_20061222.0209

TOKYO, Dec 22 , 2006, 2006

ATTENTION - ADDS quotes by Abe ///

Japan urged Russia on Friday to be "responsible" but said it was confident it would receive gas supplies as planned after Moscow took control of the massive Sakhalin-2 project from British and Japanese companies.

Japan, which has few natural resources of its own, is the primary market for the gas from the 22 billion-dollar project off Russia's east coast, which would have been the world's biggest privately financed energy project.

"We want the Russian side to take responsible policies," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki told a news conference in Tokyo.

"Our country relies on energy resources from abroad. It is important to see the project go ahead smoothly to secure energy resources and provide stable supply," said Shiozaki, the government spokesman.

On Thursday, Russia's state-run Gazprom secured control of the project and agreed to pay 7.45 billion dollars to the consortium led by Anglo-Dutch giant Royal Dutch Shell.

Shell and its two Japanese partners, trading houses Mitsui and Co. and Mitsubishi Corp. will become minority owners.

The project had been halted when Russia accused the companies of environmental violations, a move widely seen by foreign investors as a way for the government to muscle in and take control.

But Prime Minister Shinzo Abe welcomed the latest deal.

"It means a lot that Japan secured the energy supply from Russia," he told reporters.

"I would like to use diplomacy to diversify the sources of energy and ensure stable supply," Abe said.

Japan's oil supply comes almost exclusively from the Middle East, whose turbulence is a constant worry for businesses and policymakers here.

"The signed contract ensures a stable supply for Japan's domestic demands, which I highly value," Akira Amari, Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry, said of the Gazprom deal.

"The Japanese government has been sending Russia its requests through diplomatic routes," he added.

Japan had previously warned Russia that a failure to receive gas from the project would set back overall bilateral relations.

Asked whether Russia made the environmental allegations to gain control of the project, Amari said: "I feel that way but I cannot assert it in my position (as trade minister)."

Russia was infuriated when the Sakhalin-2 announced a doubling of costs for the project. Under the original production sharing agreement, the state was only to receive a share of the profits after the group recouped its investment.

The two Japanese companies said in a joint statement that they will "make utmost efforts to ensure liquified energy gas supply as scheduled to existing customers in Japan, South Korea and the west coast of the United States."

"In addition, Gazprom and the three existing shareholders reaffirmed to do our best to solve the issue of the approval and license," they said in a joint statement, in an indirect reference to the environmental allegations.

Risk assessment agency Standard and Poor's said the share transfer would not affect the ratings of Mitsubishi Corp. and Mitsui -- and that if anything they would benefit.

"Difficulties in negotiations with the Russian government had increased uncertainty over Mitsubishi and Mitsui and Co's investment in the Sakhalin-2 project," it said.

The risks "may recede due to Gazprom's participation in the project."

Dec 22 , 2006

Friday

Thursday


AFP_ENG_20061214.0342

BERLIN, Dec 14 , 2006, 2006

EU enlargement positive for German economy: study

European Union enlargement has had a positive effect on the German economy so far, boosting gross domestic product by around one percentage point, and the benefits are likely to continue as the bloc expands further, a study showed on Thursday.

A study commissioned by the German Economy Mininstry showed that Germany, the eurozone's largest economy, had already largely profited from the extension of the EU from 15 to 25 nations in May 2004.

"And the study shows that the upcoming membership of Bulgaria and Romania will also have a slightly positive effect on overall economic developments in Germany," the ministry said in a statement.

"The positive effect of the fifth round of enlargement, which will be completed with the entry of Bulgaria and Romania, represents around one percent of German GDP in the long term," the statement said.

The two central European states are set to become the EU's 26th and 27th members on January 1.

"From a long-term perspective, Germany's potential in terms of foreign trade is not yet exhausted," the ministry said.

Economic immigration of citizens from most of new EU states had increased since May 2004 but "has fallen short of forecasts," largely as a result of interim regulations limiting such influxes, it said.

Dec 14 , 2006

Thursday

May 2004

January 1

May 2004


AFP_ENG_20061212.0756

HONG KONG, Dec 13 , 2006, 2006

concerns

Hong Kong share prices opened 0.21 percent lower Tuesday following Wall Street's pullback overnight after the US Federal Reserve warned yet again of inflation risks despite acknowledging that the economy has weakened, dealers said.

The statement, which accompanied the Fed's widely expected decision to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 5.25 percent, is being interpreted to mean that the central bank might raise rates again if inflation accelerates, disappointing investors who had been looking for signals for a rate cut.

The Hang Seng Index opened down 39.50 points at 18,867.67.

Dec 13 , 2006

Tuesday


AFP_ENG_20061214.0561

JOHANNESBURG, Dec 14 , 2006, 2006

South African cricket championship scores

Scores after first day of South African four-day cricket championship matches on Thursday:

At Newlands, Cape Town

Cape Cobras v Highveld Lions

Lions 287-3 in 94 overs (N.McKenzie 135, J.Ontong 120 no; M.Zondeki 2-31)

At Goodyear Park, Bloemfontein

Free State Eagles v KwaZulu-Natal Dolphins

Eagles 262-3 in 90.1 overs (H.Dippenaar 71 no, M. van Wyk 57 no)

At SuperSport Park, Centurion

Northern Titans v Eastern Cape Warriors

Warriors 268-8 in 85 overs (M.Goodwin 77, A.Jacobs 70; J.Morkel 4-47)

Dec 14 , 2006

Thursday


AFP_ENG_20051213.0091

Dec 13 , 2005

Tel: Nicosia (357) 22-758-826

Middle East news highlights on Tuesday:

+ Lebanon in crisis after latest killing

+ UN Security Council studies report

on Hariri murder

+ Iraqis living abroad start voting

+ Palestinians, Israelis in gunbattle

AMMAN: Iraqis living in 15 nations start voting ahead of Thursday's general election (Iraq-vote-foreign)

BAGHDAD: Iraq marks the second anniversary of the capture of ex-dictator Saddam Hussein, who was found at the bottom of a hole on a farm by US troops.

- Five-day public holiday begins as part of security measures seeking to minimise bloodshed for Iraq's watershed general election on Thursday

- US ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad holds news conference (1130 GMT)

- Abdel Aziz al-Hakim, the leader of the powerful United Iraqi Alliance list, gathers together Shiite tribal leaders in a final campaign bid ahead of Thursday's election.

- Monitoring developments after deadline set by kidnappers to kill four Western peace activists held in Iraq expires.

BANGKOK: Jordan's King Abdullah II begins a two-day private visit Thailand, followed by an official one-day visit (Thailand-Jordan-royal)

BEIRUT: Lebanon is facing new political turmoil after the killing of a leading anti-Syrian journalist, with five Shiite ministers protesting a government decision to call for an international probe into a wave of attacks (Lebanon-attack)

- The family of slain MP and newspaper boss Gibran Tueni receive condolences ahead of his funeral Wednesday, while schools are closed.

- Anti-Syria political parties and figures gather at An-Nahar newspaper offices.

CAIRO: The new Egyptian parliament holds its first session a week after the final round of month-long polls that saw the ruling party keep its grip on power and Islamists make spectacular gains (Egypt-politics)

DUBAI: Dubai film festival (to 17)

KUWAIT CITY: Organisation of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries meets, a day after OPEC decided to maintain its current output.(OAPEC-oil).

NABLUS, West Bank: Fourteen Palestinians and two Israeli soldiers wounded in armed clashes on streets of Nablus (Mideast-unrest).

RAMALLAH, West Bank: Central committee of ruling Fatah faction meets in bid to settle on a final list for January's parliamentary election (0900 GMT).

TEHRAN: Press conference by Iranian government spokesman Gholam Hossein Elham

UNITED NATIONS: UN Security Council to examine a new report which pointed to fresh evidence further implicating senior Syrian officers in the murder of Lebanese ex-premier Rafiq Hariri

Dec 13 , 2005

Tuesday

Thursday

Thursday

Thursday

Wednesday

a week

January


XIN_ENG_20061110.0255

SHANGHAI, Nov. 11 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Shanghai posts big-margin growth in trade with Africa

Shanghai recorded 7.48 billion U.S. dollars in trade with Africa in the first 10 months of this year, a growth of 35.1 percent from the same period last year, local customs sources said.

The total included 1.33 billion U.S. dollars in exports, up 19.8 percent, and 6.15 billion U.S. dollars, up 38.9 percent.

From January to October, Shanghai's external trade amounted to 350.27 billion U.S. dollars, up 22.4 percent over the same period of last year.

Over the 10 months, Shanghai's imports of primary products declined due largely to price hikes for raw materials on international markets.

The city imported 2.94 million tons of plastic in primary form, down 2.3 percent from a year earlier, 2.44 million tons of rolled steel, down 22.3 percent, and 485,000 tons of unprocessed copper and copper products, down 43.6 percent.

According to the local customs sources, foreign-funded businesses made up 223.83 billion U.S. dollars, or 63.9 percent, of Shanghai's total foreign trade.

Nov. 11 , 2006

the first 10 months

this year

last year

January

October

the same period of last year

the 10 months

a year earlier, 2.44


AFP_ENG_19970430.0270

HONG KONG, April 30 , 1997 (AFP)

Diaoyu Island group in HK sets mid-May for protest date

A Hong Kong group said Wednesday it planned to make a landing next month on the Diaoyu Islands, an archipelago claimed by China, Japan and Taiwan.

The group, which backs China's claim, announced the protest after Japanese supporters of Tokyo's claim said they wanted to land there in May.

The protestors, called the Protect the Diaoyu Islands Committee, are led by members of the Democratic Party, Hong Kong's largest political group.

Tsang Kin-shing, a legislator, said a group of 40 people would fly from Hong Kong to Taipei and team up with around 100 others from Taiwan and the United States.

They would then set sail from a northern port in Taiwan to the archipelago, hoping to land there on May 18 "and camp there for four to five days," Tsang said.

He added "there is a possibility that we will meet them (the Japanese)."

"We will do our utmost to refrain from violence. We intend to ask them whether they have applied for a visa from China in order to be there."

The islands, believed to lie in an oil-rich area of the East China Sea, are known to Chinese as the Diaoyus and to Japanese as the Senkakus.

The three-way dispute over ownership was revived last July after an ultra-right-wing Japanese group erected a lighthouse on one of the islands as a symbol of Tokyo's claim, sparking anti-Japanese sentiment in Hong Kong, Taiwan and China.

April 30 , 1997

Wednesday

next month

May

May 18

last July


AFP_ENG_20061212.0172

RIYADH, Dec 12 , 2006, 2006

Saudi beheaded for murder

A Saudi man convicted of murder was beheaded by the sword on Tuesday in the capital of the Gulf Arab monarchy, the interior ministry announced.

The ministry, in a statement carried by state news agency SPA, said Mosfer bin Mubrak al-Qahtani had shot dead a fellow Saudi, wounded a number of other people, and damaged homes and cars.

The beheading in Riyadh brings to at least 36 the number of executions in Saudi Arabia this year. At least 83 were put to death in 2005 and 35 the year before.

Executions are generally carried out in public in the oil-rich kingdom, which applies a strict form of Islamic law. The death penalty is applied for murder, rape, apostasy, armed robbery and drug trafficking.

Dec 12 , 2006

Tuesday


AP_20130322

March 22, 2013

105 U.S. Kids Died From Flu, CDC Says

The flu season is winding down, and it has killed 105 children so far - about the average toll.

The season started about a month earlier than usual, sparking concerns it might turn into the worst in a decade. It ended up being very hard on the elderly, but was moderately severe overall, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Six of the pediatric deaths were reported in the last week, and it's possible there will be more, said the CDC's Dr. Michael Jhung said Friday.

Roughly 100 children die in an average flu season. One exception was the swine flu pandemic of 2009-2010, when 348 children died.

The CDC recommends that all children ages 6 months and older be vaccinated against flu each season, though only about half get a flu shot or nasal spray.

All but four of the children who died were old enough to be vaccinated, but 90 percent of them did not get vaccinated, CDC officials said.

This year's vaccine was considered effective in children, though it didn't work very well in older people. And the dominant flu strain early in the season was one that tends to cause more severe illness.

The government only does a national flu death count for children. But it does track hospitalization rates for people 65 and older, and those statistics have been grim.

In that group, 177 out of every 100,000 were hospitalized with flu-related illness in the past several months. That's more than 2 1/2 times higher than any other recent season.

This flu season started in early December, a month earlier than usual, and peaked by the end of year. Since then, flu reports have been dropping off throughout the country.

"We appear to be getting close to the end of flu season," Jhung said.

March 22, 2013

a month

a decade

the last week

Friday

each season

This year

the past several months

recent season

early December

a month

the end of year


XIN_ENG_20051130.0182

BEIJING, Nov. 30 , 2005 (Xinhua)

contries "of great importance"

BEIJING, Nov. 30 (Xinhua)-- Senior Chinese diplomats said Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's impending visit to five countries in Europe and Asia will further improve the mutual understanding and trust between China and the five countries, highlighting the visit as "of great significance".

According to Chinese Foreign Ministry's announcement, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao will pay official visits to France, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Portugal and Malaysia from Dec. 4 to 15, and he will also attend the ninth Summit between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the ninth ASEAN plus China, Japan and the Republic of Korea Summit and the First East Asian Summit in Kuala Lumpur.

Zhao Jun, director of the Chinese Foreign Ministry's European Department at a briefing on Wen's visit here Wednesday called the visit to the four European countries "another big event" after Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to Europe in November.

China and France have maintained good momentum of development in the all-round strategic partnership and the political mutual trust continues to grow as the two state leaders realized their first annual mutual visit in 2004 and met twice in 2005, Zhao said.

The latest Chinese official statistics show that China and France have achieved a breakthrough in economic and trade cooperation with the two-way trade volume valued at 17.58 billion US dollars, up 31.3 percent over the same time of previous year in 2004.

From Jan. to Oct. this year, bilateral trade volume reached 16.64 billion US dollars, up 17.3 percent over the same time in 2004.

Great successes were also scored in the Chinese culture year in France and French culture year in China, Zhao said, noting relevant activities remarkably helped the two peoples to expand mutual understanding and friendship.

"We are satisfied with the current comprehensive growth of Sino-French relations", Zhao stressed, adding that Wen will hold talks with French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, meet with French President Jacques Chirac and President of the French national Assembly Jean-Louis Debre, deliver an important speech in Paris, visit French and European aviation and space companies and sign a series of important agreements of cooperation.

In response to a reporter's question on Wen's visit to Slovakia, Zhao recognized that the joint statement signed between China and Slovakia in 2003 marked a landmark for the growth of bilateral relations in the new era.

Political mutual trust is further boosted, bilateral economic and trade cooperation has scored remarkable growth and exchanges in the fields of science and technology, culture, education, sports and tourism continue to increase, Zhao said, highlighting that Wen's visit to Slovakia will be the first by a Chinese leader since Slovakia gained independence in 1993.

"Premier Wen will exchange views with Slovak leaders on furthering China-Slovakia friendly and cooperative ties and issues of common concern, and the two sides will also sign some bilateral documents", Zhao said.

When touching on the China-Czech relations, Zhao said that Czech President Vaclav Klaus and Czech Prime Minister Jiri Paroubek's respective successful visits to China last and this year witnessed increased bilateral exchanges and cooperation in various fields and helped enhance the scale and level of bilateral cooperation.

China will join in hands with Czech to push forward bilateral relations on the basis of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, Zhao said, noting that Wen's visit to Czech will also be the first visit by a Chinese leader since the country claimed independence in 1993.

"Premier Wen will exchange views with Czech leaders on promoting bilateral ties and issues of common concern and sign some bilateral documents", Zhao added.

The relations between China and Portugal have developed smoothly since they forged diplomatic ties in 1979, Zhao said.

"Wen is the first Chinese premier to visit Portugal over the past 13 years," he said, adding that the high-level contacts would enhance mutual understanding, trust, and cooperation.

During his stay in Portugal, Wen is expected to hold talks with Prime Minister Jose Socrates, and meet President Jorge Sampaio and Parliament Speaker Jaime Gama, he said.

The two sides would also sign some cooperative documents covering politics, trade, judiciary, education and public health.

Wen's visit to Malaysia and his attending to the ten plus one, ten plus three and East-Asian summits would be an important diplomatic move by Chinese leaders at the end of the year, and would achieve good results, said Cui Tiankai, director of the ministry's Asian Department.

Malaysia is China's friendly neighbor and an important member of the ASEAN, and Wen's visit is of significance to furthering bilateral good-neighborly relationship and the strategic partnership between China and the ASEAN, he noted.

According to Cui, Wen will meet Supreme head of state Sultan Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin Syed Putra Jamalullail and Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, exchanging views on bilateral cooperation, the relationship between China and the ASEAN, as well as regional and international issues of common concern.

Wen will deliver speeches when attending the regional summits, he said, noting the year of 2006 will be the 15th anniversary of the establishment of the dialogue partners between China and the ASEAN, and the ten plus one meeting of this year is particularly important, he said.

China will sum up the experience over the past 15 years and put forward its own proposals to further cooperation, he noted, stressing that China will push cooperation on bird flu control during the meeting.

As for the ten plus three summit, Cui said, China will give a positive appraisal for the achievements of East-Asian cooperation and advocate building up an East-Asian community and supporting ASEAN's leading role in the community.

The first East-Asian summit will be attended by ten ASEAN members, China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand. The participants will exchange views on international and regional political and economic issues.

"China would like to have dialogue with the other participants on major regional issues to push forward cooperation and achieve common prosperity in Asia and other regions," Cui said.

Nov. 30 , 2005

Nov. 30

Dec. 4

Wednesday

November

Jan.

Oct. this year

year

this year

the past 13 years

the end of the year

the year of 2006

this year

past 15 years


XIN_ENG_20051107.0235

HELSINKI, Nov. 7 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Helsinki launches "Finland on the web" campaign

National "Finland on the web" campaign was launched on Monday in Finland in a bid to increase citizens' knowledge of the Internet.

The campaign "Finland on the web" is part of the Finnish Government Information Society Programme and it is organized in close cooperation with companies, municipalities, regional councils and various state organizations.

During Nov. 7-11, libraries and citizens' service centers of over 280 municipalities in Finland will participate in this event and provide e-services training for free.

The event targets especially the working-age population and the elderly, local media reported.

Nov. 7 , 2005

Monday

Nov. 7-11


XIN_ENG_20051127.0170

MOSCOW, Nov. 27 , 2005 (Xinhua)

UPDATE-2: Russia's Chechnya votes to elect parliament amid tight security

Amid tight security, Chechens voted on Sunday to elect a parliament that officials say will enable the war-ravaged region to function as a normal part of the Russian state after years of conflict.

The fourth vote in the region since 2003, which came after two presidential elections and one constitutional referendum, this parliamentary poll will give Chechnya a full set of government bodies.

A total of 600,000 voters were registered in Chechnya for the polls, which will elect 58 deputies to the two-chamber parliament - - the Republican Council (upper house) and the People's Assembly ( lower house). The election has drawn 342 candidates from eight parties.

Polling stations opened at 8:00 a.m. (0500 GMT) amid heightened security in this volatile region, where separatist rebels have frequently targeted security forces as well as civilians in bombing attacks for much of the past decade, Russian news agencies reported.

The Interior Ministry deployed 24,000 police and troops to provide security and metal detectors were set up at polling stations to guard against weapons and explosives, the Itar-Tass news agency said.

Chechen President Alu Alkhanov pronounced the poll valid about four hours into voting, citing reports of voter turnout reaching the threshold for validity.

"Based on reports we have received from the heads of districts and territorial election commissions, I can officially announce that the Chechen parliamentary elections are valid," Alkhanov said.

The polls closed at 6:00 p.m. (1500 GMT) and Chechen Elections Commission Chairman Ismail Baikhanov put the turnout at 57 percent.

Preliminary results will be announced by Monday noon but official results will only be available by the end of next week, Baikhanov said.

President Vladimir Putin has called the election a "milestone" that will boost stability in the republic and the whole North Caucasus region.

About 20 observers from international groups including the Council of Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States visited polling stations to monitor the vote.

Alkhanov met with international observers for the election Sunday, saying the election will "confirm Chechnya's path of construction, peace and cooperation with those who share these guidelines."

"Democratic processes in the republic will become more dynamic, as we will have the power body crowning the republican statehood," Alkhanov said.

Alkhanov wanted the new parliament to convene as soon as possible to adopt laws. "We plan to hold the first meeting between Dec. 10-15," he said.

Many in the war-ravaged region expected the new parliament to focus on ending the violence.

"We have a goal of termination of the warfare. Our mission will be complete when shooting ceases and abductions stop," Chechnya's First Deputy Prime Minister Ramzan said.

Nov. 27 , 2005

Sunday

8:00 a.m.

past decade

Monday

the end of next week

Sunday

Dec. 10-15


XIN_ENG_20061114.0057

BEIJING, Nov. 14 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Sex fairs gaining popularity in China despite dissenting voices

Encouraged by the success of the fourth Guangzhou Sex Culture Expo, held earlier this month, family planning officials from Liaoning, Beijing and Shanghai have promised to follow suit.

Altogether 500,000 visitors visited the expo from Nov. 4-6, ten times the number for the first such event in 2003.

An official with the State Population and Family Planning Commission heralded the expo as an opportunity for the general public to learn about sex, health and science.

Population and family planning officials from Liaoning, Beijing and Shanghai attending a symposium on population in Beijing, said they would travel to Guangdong to visit the fair. They hope to sponsor similar sex fairs in their own areas next year.

Foreign participants attending the symposium said the fourth Guangzhou sex fair helps promote sexual awareness and a code of sexual conduct.

"The fair reflects the development of Chinese society and is laudable," they said.

Beijing and Shanghai had planned to organize sex expos in the past but the events were called off because of negative publicity.

Though Chinese attitudes towards sex have become more liberal in recent decades, many people are still conservative about sex.

When the fourth Guangzhou sex culture expo opened on Nov. 4, some netizens dismissed it as "morally decadent" or a "legalized sex show".

"Culture is simply a cloak for a sexual display," said one netizen.

"Why do we have to mimic westerners with their obsession about sex," said another netizen, "conservative attitudes about sex are fitting and proper for Asian people and part of the graciousness of oriental life".

Zhu Jiaming, from the China Sexology Society, denied that sex culture festivals were vulgar and said that such opinions were backward.

"Sex is an objective reality for all human beings. We have to stay up with the times," said Zhu.

Nov. 14 , 2006

this month

Nov. 4-6

next year

the past

recent decades

Nov. 4


WSJ891102-0023
 = 891102
 891102-0023.
 Business Brief -- RMS International Inc.:
@  Financing Sources, Waivers
@  On Debt Are Being Sought
 11/02/89
 WALL STREET JOURNAL (J)
 RMS
 EARNINGS (ERN)

   RMS International Inc., Hasbrouk Heights, N.J., facing a cash-flow squeeze, said it  is seeking other financing sources and waivers from debenture holders.

   The company said that because of softening sales it isn't in compliance with requirements that it maintain $3 million in working capital.
RMS distributes electronic devices and produces power supplies and plastic literature displays.

   RMS said it had a loss of $158,666, or 10 cents a share, in the third quarter, compared with a year-earlier loss of $26,956, or two cents a share.
Sales rose to $3 million from $2.9 million.

   For the nine months, the company reported a net loss of $608,413, or 39 cents a share, compared with year-earlier net income of $967,809, or 62 cents a share.
Sales rose to $9.8 million from $8.9 million.

the third quarter

year-earlier

the nine months

year-earlier


AFP_ENG_20051216.0434

MOSCOW, Dec 16 , 2005

Ukraine-Russia gas dispute not to be politicised: Putin

A dispute between Russia and Ukraine over gas supplies to the strategic transit country should not be politicised, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday after a telephone discussion with Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yushchenko.

"We are in agreement on not politicising the question of gas," Putin said, quoted by the Interfax news agency.

Yushchenko had assured Putin that he would not allow "the politicisation of this question and I agree with him," the Russian leader said.

"A market exists and all our partners should benefit from equal conditions. Economic matters are one thing, politics another," Putin said.

Analysts have detected in the current dispute Moscow's disapproval of last year's "orange revolution", which set Kiev on a pro-Western course.

The Russian energy giant Gazprom has said the dispute threatens supplies through Ukraine to other European countries, the main transit route for Russian gas supplies to Europe.

The dispute centres on a demand by Gazprom that Ukraine pay market prices for gas supplies to Ukrainian consumers, rather than sticking to the current barter arrangement whereby Ukraine gets cut-price gas in exchange for providing transit to other countries.

Gazprom chairman Alexei Miller said earlier this week that supplies to the Ukrainian market could be cut altogether if Kiev did not agree to the company's terms by January 1.

Dec 16 , 2005

Friday

last year

this week

January 1


WSJ891026-0108
 = 891026
 891026-0108.
 GM Hughes
@  Profit Fell 22%
@  In Third Period
@  ---
@  GMAC Net Slipped 3.1%;
@  Electronic Data Systems
@  Says Earnings Rose 16%
@  ----
@  By Neal Templin
@  Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal
 10/26/89
 WALL STREET JOURNAL (J)
 GM GME GMH
 AUTOMOBILES (AUT)
EARNINGS (ERN)

   General Motors Corp.'s big defense and automotive electronics unit, GM Hughes Electronics, said net income fell 22% in the third quarter, reflecting declining military spending and slumping GM vehicle production.

   Meanwhile, net at GM's finance arm, General Motors Acceptance Corp., fell 3.1%.
By contrast, Electronic Data Systems Corp., GM's data processing subsidiary, boosted net 16%.

   GM closed down $1.875 at $44.875 in New York Stock Exchange trading yesterday.
Earnings for GM common stock, reflecting the performance of GM's core automotive operations, will be disclosed this morning.
GM Class H, which represents a dividend interest in Hughes earnings, closed at $29, up 25 cents in Big Board composite trading.
GM Class E, which represents a dividend interest in EDS profit, fell 75 cents to $52.25 on the Big Board.

   The earnings drop at GM Hughes Electronics is a sign of tough times at both the defense operations of Hughes Aircraft Co. and GM's North American automotive operations, which are a primary customer for the Delco Electronics Corp. side of the GM Hughes unit.

   Profit at the unit fell to $110.6 million, or 37 cents a share, from $142.4 million, or 45 cents a share, largely because of a $24 million one-time charge associated with Hughes's previously announced plan to reduce employment by at least 6,000 people by year end.
Even excluding the charge, however , net fell 5%.

   In addition, GM's North American vehicle production fell 8.4% from a year ago, which hurt Delco Electronic's earnings, a company spokesman said.
That decline was reflected in revenue for the GM Hughes unit, which edged down to $2.58 billion from $2.63 billion.

   In the nine months, GM Hughes net fell 6.6% to $486.6 million, or $1.48 a share, from $521 million, or $1.58 a share.
Revenue rose 3.5% to $8.47 billion from $8.18 billion.

   At GMAC, net dropped 3.1% to $234.5 million from $241.9 million.
The finance unit attributed the decline to higher borrowing costs compared with a year earlier.
GMAC said its automotive financing and leasing business rose 35% in the U.S., largely because of dealer and customer incentives used to boost sales.
GMAC profits are combined with earnings from the rest of GM's operations and attributed to the company's traditional common stock.

   In the first nine months, GMAC's earnings fell 8% to $859.5 million from $930.2 million.

   At EDS, third-quarter profit jumped 16% to a record $110.9 million, or 93 cents a share, from $95.9 million, or 79 cents a share.
Revenue rose 12% to $1.37 billion from $1.22 billion.

   In the nine months, EDS earned $315.8 million, or $2.62 a share, up 13% from $280.7 million, or $2.30 a share.
Revenue rose 14% to $4.03 billion from $3.54 billion.
Revenue from non-GM accounts was 45% of EDS's total business in the latest nine months, compared with 40% a year earlier.
The company has said it wants to boost non-GM revenue to at least 50% of its total business by the end of 1990.

the third quarter

yesterday

this morning

year end

a year ago

the nine months

a year earlier

the first nine months

third-quarter

the nine months

the latest nine months

a year earlier

the end of 1990


AFP_ENG_19970408.0043

KUALA LUMPUR, April 8 , 1997 (AFP)

Malaysia's central bank moves to allay unease over lending curbs

Malaysia's central bank Tuesday moved to clear up confusion over new bank lending curbs which have depressed the stock market in the past week.

Bank Negara deputy governor Fong Weng Phak admitted "monetary measures are always difficult to implement but it is unfortunate that people have over-reacted without understanding or rationalising" the policies.

"The measures are not meant to curtail or squeeze the economy but to reallocate financial resources to the more productive manufacturing and services sectors," Fong told a news conference.

The key index on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange recovered 1.4 percent at the close of morning trade Tuesday, from its Monday close. During last week's trading, the index plunged 6.6 percent following Bank Negara's announcement on March 28 of new credit-tightening measures.

The central bank limited lending to the property sector to 20 percent of banks' total outstanding loans, excluding homes costing 60,000 dollars and below, infrastructure projects and industrial facilities.

In the area of share financing, it maintained a 15 percent lending cap for commercial banks but broadened the definition to include loans to holding companies and investment firms which use credit to finance share trading.

"We know there shall always be grey areas and loopholes but we think it's timely to implement these preemptive measures before the asset inflation bubble bust," Fong said.

Clarifying the rules, Fong said the limits exclude a wide segment of the property sector, including "owner-occupied" houses, apartments, shophouses, hotels, theme parks, holiday resorts, as well as equipment and machinery.

Lending for initial public offers for manufacturing and infrastructure companies and stock options for employees would not be covered under the measures.

Guarantees given by merchant banks for profits of companies seeking to list on the local bourse -- part of the securities commission's requirements -- are also exempted from the credit curbs.

"We do not want banks who have exceeded the limits to pull back the existing credit lines but to trim exposure to the two sectors. As their loan base expands, the ratio will fall," Fong said.

Banks are expected to submit by April 15 proposals to reduce lending to the two sectors and dialogues have been held with bank executives to clarify doubts, he added.

"The number of banks who have exceeded the limits is not large. This is not an industry-wide issue. We have the luxury of time to implement these measures while the economy is still strong," Fong said.

"The fate of the economy and the banking sector is intertwined. It is not right for us to do nothing after seeing the experience of other countries," he added, alluding to neighbouring Thailand, recently rocked by a financial crisis triggered by bad property debts.

April 8 , 1997

Tuesday

the past week

Tuesday

Monday

last week

March 28

April 15


XIN_ENG_20051116.0271

WASHINGTON, Nov. 16 , 2005 (Xinhua)

US judge halts Guantanamo trial of Aussie: report

A US federal judge has halted the war crimes trial of an Australian terror suspect detained in the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the New York Times reported on Wednesday.

In her ruling, US District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly suspended for several months the US military's plan to resume the trial of David Hicks, the Aussie charged with fighting for the Taliban in Afghanistan.

The move follows a request made by his lawyers, according to the report.

Kollar-Kotelly cited the Supreme Court's decision last week to review the legality of the military commissions being used to try Guantanamo detainees with war crimes.

The court ruling concerns the case of Salim Ahmed Hamdan, who was a driver for Osama bin Laden and has been accused of participating in terrorist activities.

After the Supreme Court agreed to consider the issue, the Pentagon said it would nonetheless go forward with plans to try Hicks under the same procedure.

The military commission which sits at Guantanamo had been scheduled to hear motions in the Hicks case beginning on Friday.

However, Kollar-Kotelly's ruling halted the process. She also ordered that Hicks's trial should be postponed until after the Supreme Court rules in the Hamdan case, which is expected in June next year.

Hicks and Hamdan, along with seven other Guantanamo detainees, have been charged with war crimes.

The Kollar-Kotelly ruling means, in effect, that none of the proceedings can go forward until the Supreme Court resolves the issue of the legality of the military commissions.

Last year, another US district judge ruled that the commissions violated both domestic laws and international conventions.

However, in July 2005, a three-judge appeal court, including John Roberts before he became the chief justice of the Supreme Court in October, overturned that ruling.

Nov. 16 , 2005

Wednesday

last week

Friday

June next year

Last year

July 2005

October


AFP_ENG_19970415.0521

WASHINGTON, April 15 , 1997 (AFP)

US to give 15 million dollars in aid to North Korea by Sarah Jackson-Han

The United States will provide 15 million dollars in emergency aid to North Korea to help feed young children in the famished communist country, the State Department said Tuesday.

The new aid -- 50,000 tonnes of US corn to be given through the UN World Food Programme (WFP) -- is targeted at nursery school- and kindergarten-aged children, State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns said.

"I think we're talking about food arriving as quickly as a couple of months," he said, adding that the first two ships bearing 10 million dollars in US food aid pledged in February would arrive in the first two weeks of May.

The aid, valued at about 15 million dollars and announced after a series of high-level US visits to East Asia, brings total US emergency assistance to North Korea to 33.4 million dollars since 1995, when flooding damaged Pyongyang's already low food supplies.

One US official, who asked not to be named, said the US pledge was sharply lower than the amount of aid Pyongyang requested.

No reaction was immediately available from the WFP.

"There are roughly 2.4 million children under the age of six who we believe are adversely affected" by the food shortage, Burns said. "We think the food situation will reach a critical stage this spring with children severely at risk."

On April 7, the United Nations launched an urgent appeal for 126 million dollars to help North Korea, citing a sharp deterioration in recent months. The WFP estimates North Korea's grain shortfall for 1997 at 1.8 million to 2.3 metric tonnes.

Burns denied any link between the emergency aid and North Korea's expected announcement this week that it will take part in four-party talks aimed at reaching a permanent peace treaty between the two Koreas.

"We view the issue of food for children as a humanitarian issue only," Burns said.

Analysts here regard the aid nonetheless as part of a package deal aimed at baiting the heavily armed, tightly closed country out of its international isolation.

Senior diplomats from North Korea, South Korea, and the United States were to meet Wednesday in New York to hear Pyongyang's answer to a year-old US and South Korean proposal for the four-way peace talks.

The four-way talks, with China and the United States acting as intermediaries, are aimed at hammering out a peace agreement to replace the 1953 armistice that ended the Korean War.

Seeking to address a longstanding US concern, North Korea has also just agreed to meet US official in New York from May 12-13 for a new round of talks aimed at curbing Pyongyang's suspected missile exports.

US officials have long expressed concern about suspected North Korean missile exports to the Middle East and pressed Pyongyang to continue discussions on the issue begun a year ago in Berlin.

Some 37,000 American troops are still stationed in South Korea, locked in a tense and bitter truce with the North since the shooting war between them ended 44 years ago.

April 15 , 1997

Tuesday

February

the first two weeks of May

this spring

April 7

recent months

this week

Wednesday

May 12-13

a year ago

44 years ago


XIN_ENG_20051130.0037

BEIJING, Nov. 30 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Hushen index up -- Nov. 30

The Hushen 300 Index reflecting the whole fluctuation of China's Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges closed at 873.83 points on Wednesday, up 2.52 points from the previous close.

About one fifth of the total shares listed in the two markets have been chosen as samples of the Hushen 300 Index, accounting for 60 percent of the market value in China's stock market.

Nov. 30 , 2005

Wednesday