AFP_ENG_20061202.0269

LONDON, Dec 2 , 2006, 2006

ATTENTION - Adds Jol quotes ///

Arsene Wenger paid tribute to his side's character after Arsenal bounced back from two defeats to beat local rivals Tottenham 3-0 on Saturday despite the absence of injured skipper Thierry Henry.

"We played with spirit, character, determination and good organisation against a good Tottenham team," Wenger said.

Arsenal had lost successive Premiership matches to Bolton and Fulham and Wenger admitted: "We were under a lot of mental pressure but the team responded well.

"They are inspired by their ambition and they were disappointed by our last two results. We realised that, as a team, we have to give more."

Despite his satisfaction with the performance, Wenger admitted that Arsenal had enjoyed the rub of the green at the Emirates Stadium, with Steed Malbranque missing an early chance to put Tottenham ahead and two of the three goals coming from disputed penalties.

Emmanuel Adebayaor put Arsenal ahead and stand-in captain Gilberto Silva coolly converted both spot-kicks to leave the home side as comfortable winners.

"The two penalties looked to be penalties to me but it happens that you don't get them in some games," Wenger said.

"And there was a turning point at 0-0 when Malbranque had a good chance but didn't take it and we didn't concede early on set points as we have done recently.

"But you have to work hard on your luck and that is what we did today."

Czech midfielder Tomas Rosicky limped off ten minutes after the break and will miss Wednesday's trip to Porto for a Champions League encounter from which Arsenal must take a point to secure their passage to the knockout stages.

"We gave a lot physically in this match but we needed a lift and we have four days to recover before Porto."

Silva also hailed the win as a welcome tonic for the Gunners ahead of the Porto match and next Sunday's trip to Chelsea in the Premiership.

"We knew today it was all about winning the game," the Brazilian said. "But we got the result and we played our best as well, so it is very pleasing.

"Before this game we knew a victory would mean a lot for us because of the important games ahead. When you win a tough match like this, it gives you a lot of confidence. We have done the job today, now we have to continue to do the job against Porto and Chelsea."

Tottenham boss Martin Jol insisted Arsenal's controversial penalties were not to blame for the defeat and admitted his side had missed a chance to capitalise on Arsenal's recent woes.

Jol told reporters: "You can talk about the decisions and they probably did cost us goals, but I would be embarrassed to talk about them too much. We did not lose because of them.

"We saw that Thierry Henry was not playing and we knew Arsenal had lost recent games. We sensed this was an opportunity, so we are disappointed."

Dec 2 , 2006

Saturday

ten minutes

Wednesday

Sunday

today

today


AFP_ENG_19970408.0552

DHAKA, April 8 , 1997 (AFP)

Bangladesh Supreme Court stays order to compensate opposition leaders

The Bangladesh Supreme Court Tuesday temporarily stayed a High Court order requiring the government to compensate four opposition leaders who had been detained illegally, court officials said.

Judge Latifur Rahman Chowdhury issued the stay following a petition filed by the government a day after the High Court ordered the release of the four Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leaders.

The court, in an unprecedented move, also ordered the government to pay 100,000 taka (2,325 dollars) to each BNP leader as compensation.

The Supreme Court will hear the government petition against the compensation order in six weeks.

Three of the leaders - Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Abdul Mannan and Mirza Abbas - were freed hours after the court order on Monday but the fourth, Goeswar Roy, was still being detained as he is also wanted on other matters.

All four were arrested on March 20 under the Special Powers Act of 1974 for "subversive activities" following a series of disruptions in the power distribution system blamed on "sabotage" by the government.

The Act allows detention without specific charges for 120 days, but those arrested can file writ petitions to the High Court against the detention.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed was criticised for using the hated act to detain the four, but on Monday she reiterated the charges at a rally of her ruling Awami League party.

She also referred to a report of the London-based Amnesty International, saying the BNP under former premier Khaleda Zia arrested more than 8,500 people, including journalists, in 1995 alone.

April 8 , 1997

Tuesday

six weeks

Monday

March 20

120 days

Monday


AFP_ENG_19970413.0398

LONDON, April 14 , 1997 (AFP)

Sudanese leader defies UN sanctions to fly out of Libya

Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir left Libya by air Sunday in defiance of UN sanctions against Tripoli, after holding talks with Libyan leader Moammer Kadhafi and government officials from Uganda, Libyan television said in a report monitored here.

The television showed Al-Bashir boarding a plane at the airport in the coastal town of Sirte. Under UN sanctions, flights in and out of Libya are prohibited.

Before leaving, Al-Bashir issued a statement, saying he and Kadhafi had discussed how Arabs should overcome their differences and resist attempts to weaken their unity.

"He stressed, furthermore, that the Arab nation, given its resources and potential, was a superpower which could, once united, impose its will and face up to its enemy," the television said in the report monitored by the BBC.

General Al-Bashir also met members of a Ugandan delegation led by Foreign Minister Eriya Kategaya to discuss a dispute in which each country has accused the other of providing support for rebels operating in the border region.

April 14 , 1997

Sunday


XIN_ENG_20051114.0239

ALATAW PASS, Xinjiang, Nov. 14 , 2005 (Xinhua)

together

As technicians of Sinopec finished their last welding work in Alataw Pass Monday, the oil pipeline linking China and Kazakhstan joined ends after 18 months unremitting efforts.

This marked a perfect accomplishment of the first period of the 1000-km oil pipeline project. The joining serves as a firm foundation for the eventual overall completion of this project soon.

The first transnational oil project between China and Kazakhstan is jointly built by China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and its Kazakh counterpart.

In the first period of the project, 700 million US dollars was invested to build a 813-millimeter pipeline with an oil transfusion capacity of 20 million tons yearly.

More than 200 officials and delegates from the CNPC, the Kazakhstan National Petroleum and Natural Gas Company, the Sino-Kazakh Oil Pipeline Co. Ltd and the local government attended a joining ceremony.

Kairgeldy Kabyldin, vice president of Kazakhstan National Petroleum and Natural Gas Company, said the oil pipeline butt joint is a good example of close cooperation between the two nations.

The construction of the transnational oil pipeline signifies that the energy cooperation between China and Kazakhstan has stepped into a new phase, said Yin Juntai, deputy general-manager of China Petroleum Exploration and Development Company.

He said currently the CNPC has 53 projects in 21 countries, including three exploration projects, four oilfields and two pipeline projects in Kazakhstan. Apart from that, in August, the CNPC successfully purchased the PetroKazakhstan.

The oil pipeline project will also greatly promote the economic growth of Xinjiang, said Ma Ao, an official with the autonomous region's Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture of Bortala.

The Altaw Pass, where the oil pipeline joins, will become a hub of railway, road and pipeline transportation in the near future and this will also mean a great many commercial opportunities, said the official.

The Chinese and Kazakh governments signed an agreement in June, 2003, on studying the feasibility of the joint investment in a transnational oil pipeline. In May, 2004, a framework agreement was signed on overall cooperation in the fields of oil and gas.

Nov. 14 , 2005

Monday

after 18 months

the first period

August

the near future

June, 2003

May, 2004


XIN_ENG_20061127.0299

HARARE, Nov. 27 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Zimbabwe to buy more ambulances to facilitate health service

The Zimbabwean government will next month buy 75 more ambulances to alleviate the shortage of transport in hospitals and clinics throughout the country, the official The Herald reported on Monday.

At a workshop for parliamentarians on reproductive health here, Secretary for Health and Child Welfare Edward Mabiza said the fleet would be imported from South Africa at 16 million rand (2.24 million U.S. dollars).

The move by the government, Mabiza said, was aimed at improving the quality of health care in the country. He added that the government has also embarked on a program to refurbish the old ambulance fleet.

Operations at most clinics and district hospitals were being adversely affected by shortages of ambulances because some of the vehicles were old while others had broken down.

Many hospitals around the country experience serious shortages of ambulances and the worst affected are rural districts and rural health centers.

Nov. 27 , 2006

next month

Monday


AFP_ENG_19970416.0526

THE HAGUE, April 16 , 1997 (AFP)

Netherlands halting efforts to save Fokker

The Netherlands indicated Wednesday it was definitively halting efforts to save bankrupt aviation group Fokker, following the recent withdrawal of the main industrial support for a Fokker relaunch plan.

On April 4, Dutch industrial group Stork said it could not accept the "last chance" scenario presented to it for rescuing the group, thus condemning the plan to failure.

In a letter Wednesday to the Chamber of Deputies, economic affairs minister Hans Wijers said he has reached the "bitter conclusion" that there were "no further prospects" for restoring the Fokker activities.

Hence the state is no longer willing to invest, even though it is still prepared to provide technical support for further efforts by Belgian investor Andre Deleye, who said Saturday that he still had some hope of finding some parties to take over Fokker.

Wijers praised the substantial efforts made by Deleye Investment Group, regretting that no industrial companies or groups had wanted to join in the initiative.

April 16 , 1997

Wednesday

April 4

Wednesday

Saturday


XIN_ENG_20051114.0375

ATHENS, Nov. 14 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Rehhagel continues to reign in Greece

German coach for Greece's National Football team Otto Rehhagel on Monday announced to continue as the Greek national team's head coach for another two years.

The announcement ends speculation that the veteran coach would leave the Euro 2004 champions for another national or Bundesliga side following Greece's failure to qualify for the World Cup 2006 competition in Germany.

During a joint press conference with the Greek Football Federation, he expressed that the devoted players and passionate Greek fans are behind his decision to stay on.

"Never before in my career have the fans and players wanted me to stay on after a team of mine was eliminated," said the coach, who was passionately called as King Otto by his followers in Greece.

"We talked a great deal to the players, and all of the team members asked me to stay," he added.

He also expressed his volition to reward his fans and the Greek public.

"We owe the European championship to the players, and I need to give something back to them; to stay on and continue," said Rehhagel, adding that the team's target is now Euro 2008.

A poll, taken hours after his side failing to qualify for World Cup 2006, showed 88 percent of Greeks were in favor of him staying on.

"The renewal of our cooperation is something all of Greece has been waiting for," said Greek Football Federation president Vassilis Gagatsis.

"We want Otto Rehhagel. We made an early offer because we believe he will once again lead us where all Greeks hope to go."

According to reports, Rehhagel's contract will be worth roughly 800,000 euros a year.

Nov. 14 , 2005

Monday

another two years

now Euro 2008


XIN_ENG_20051128.0143

GAZA, Nov. 28 , 2005 (Xinhua)

centers

Palestinian sources said on Monday that Fatah primaries in central Gaza Strip were postponed following riots occurred at ballot centers.

All ballot centers in Deer Al-Balah district and some of centers in al-Bureig and al-Maghazi districts were shut down due to the riots.

Witnesses said a number of gunmen stormed one of ballot stations in Deer al-Balah and ordered all voters and people inside to go away, and the militants claimed that their names are not listed in voting lists and they can not vote.

One Fatah official said such an act proves that holding primaries in central Gaza Strip districts is meaningless.

The primaries started in main Gaza Strip areas Monday morning. The poll in the southern city of Rafah will be held on Wednesday.

Nov. 28 , 2005

Monday

Monday morning

Wednesday


XIN_ENG_20051122.0276

ANKARA, Nov. 22 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Italy supports Turkey's EU membership

Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi said on Tuesday that Italy strongly supported Turkey's entry into the European Union (EU).

"We find Turkey's membership of the EU very beneficial," Ciampi, who arrived in the Turkish capital Ankara on Monday for a state visit, told a joint news conference with Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer after their meeting.

He noted that his visit to Turkey was aimed at strengthening political, economic and cultural relations between the two NATO members.

Italy is the second biggest trade partner of Turkey with bilateral trade volume reaching 11.5 billion US dollars last year.

Ciampi said that Turkey is on the most important energy transfer routes and that opening of Baku-Ceyhan oil pipeline is the proof of it.

Ciampi said that Turkish-Italian cooperation will gain a new momentum with Turkey's getting closer to the EU.

Turkey started entry talks with the 25-member EU in October which is expected to last for a decade.

He pointed out that Turkey and Italy supported development of relations between Western world and Islamic world to prevent conditions which will cause a possible clash among civilizations.

"President Ciampi has arrived in Turkey with a large delegation of businessmen. This shows that Italy shares the same will as Turkey to enhance bilateral economic relations," said Sezer.

He noted, "during the meeting we also stressed the determination to further improve our cooperation in culture, tourism, defense and education areas. Turkey and Italy have also a beneficial cooperation in international institutions especially in NATO."

Ciampi also met with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Nov. 22 , 2005

Tuesday

Monday

last year

October

a decade


AFP_ENG_19970415.0596

ANNAPOLIS, Maryland, April 15 , 1997 (AFP)

US "regrets" Chinese defeat of human rights resolution (hold for expected release around 2345 GMT)

US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright regretted Tuesday a decision by the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva to kill a US-backed motion criticizing China's human rights record.

But in a broad speech at the US Naval Academy here, Albright defended the Clinton administration's decision three years ago to separate criticism of Beijing's human rights record from renewal of its US trade privileges.

"Earlier today, the UN Human Rights Commission decided not to consider a resolution we had co-sponsored that would have urged China to improve its human rights practices. We regret that decision," Albright said.

"We congratulate the government of Denmark for sponsoring that resolution and the others who co-sponsored it," she said.

The United States believes "that human rights are a legitimate subject for discussion among nations. On this, we differ with China," Albright said.

"But we also differ with those who believe that the way to improve human rights conditions in China would be to deny that country the trading status we accord to most others."

Economic openness and political liberalization, she said, "reinforce each other."

China's reputation was further tarnished this year as a result of allegations that it sought to illegally channel campaign money last year to the coffers of congressional candidates.

Renewal of most favored nation trade status for China is virtually certain, although this latest scandal makes it less certain, analysts say.

The Human Rights Commission passed a China-backed "non-action" motion in Geneva on Tuesday, allowing Beijing to evade a Danish-backed censure motion on its human rights record scheduled for debate later in the day.

This effectively kills a Danish motion criticizing Chinese human rights violations that had been supported by the United States, the Netherlands and others.

It was the seventh time that western countries had presented a motion on China's human rights record to the UN Human Rights Commission. This year, however, they were sharply divided on the issue.

Previous attempts to censure China have been defeated by the "non- action" ploy on every occasion except in 1995. No rights motion against China has succeeded since Beijing's bloody crackdown on student protests in Beijing in 1989.

(attention embargo)

April 15 , 1997

Tuesday

three years ago

today

this year

last year

Tuesday

This year


AFP_ENG_20051215.0334

BAGHDAD, Dec 15 , 2005

ATTENTION - UPDATES with polls closing ///

Iraqis polls closed Thursday following a landmark poll to choose a government many hope will restore stability to a nation wracked by violence and sectarian feuding since the fall of Saddam Hussein.

Despite a massive security lockdown, three men died in attacks north of Baghdad while mortar strikes in the capital, including one in the fortified Green Zone claimed by an Al-Qaeda-linked group, wounded four civilians and a US marine.

"The most important thing is for Iraqis to express themselves with ballots, not blasts," Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari said.

Reacting to one blast in Baghdad, Shiite voter Safia Mohammed said: "This is our day of victory, they will not drive us back to our homes, this is the end of terrorism."

Voters went to the polls in large numbers, including Sunni Arabs who had snubbed an election in January.

"Turnout was very strong in all regions, even in Fallujah," a Sunni city in the western Al-Anbar province, senior electoral commission member Hussein al-Hindawi told AFP, without giving details.

Strict security measures brought Iraq to a halt as 15.5 million Iraqis were called to vote for a four-year, 275-member parliament, with top candidates pledging to restore stability and pave the way for an exit of foreign troops.

"It's a national celebration for all Iraqis," declared President Jalal Talabani, the country's first Kurdish head of state.

US President George W. Bush said Iraqi democracy would serve as a "model" for the Middle East, while US ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and three US senators symbolically dipped their fingers in ink used to identify Iraqi voters.

The vote, the third this year, marks a new start following the US-led invasion in March 2003 to oust Saddam, two transitional governments and the adoption of a constitution in October.

Iraqis poured into the streets and walked to polling stations because of a vehicle ban aimed at curbing car bomb attacks.

In the capital and in Fallujah, disabled men in wheelchairs and on crutches joined neighbours to cast their ballots, with many demanding stability and the restoration of public services such as electricity and water.

In the holy city of Najaf, as well as the main southern city of Basra, residents did not wait to celebrate victory for the dominant religious Shiite group, the United Iraqi Alliance.

A total of 7,655 candidates and 307 political entities, nearly triple the number that stood in January, competed for office.

A rare glitch was reported in Fallujah, where some polling stations ran out of ballots following a higher-than-expected turnout.

"The participation of the people so far is very good, it was unexpected," city council president Sheikh Kamal Shakur said.

Vice President Adel Abdel Mehdi, tipped by many as the next prime minister, had forecast earlier that "the next parliament will represent all Iraqis."

Ministers praised a security plan designed to thwart suicide attacks that killed almost 40 people during January's election, Iraq's first free vote in half a century.

The leading secular Shiite candidate, former prime minister Iyad Allawi, complained however that his supporters had been attacked and killed during the campaign.

Top British general Nick Houghton told the BBC that the election gave London "growing confidence" that a transition of security powers, allowing foreign troops to leave Iraq, would begin in the first half of 2006.

In Rome, Defense Minister Antonio Martino announced that Italy would withdraw an additional 300 soldiers from Iraq in January.

Around 2,154 US soldiers have been killed since the 2003 invasion, which Bush admitted Wednesday had been based on wrong intelligence. Bush has estimated that 30,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed.

Adjourned for the election, Saddam's trial on charges of crimes against humanity threatened to exacerbate already high ethnic tensions in the country.

Following purported Al-Qaeda threats to "ruin the 'democratic' wedding", virtually all Iraq's 190,000 police and army were mobilized, with US-led troops providing perimeter security for voting stations.

Civilians were banned from carrying weapons and driving to polling stations that opened at 7:00 am (0400 GMT) and closed at 5:00 pm.

Shiites and Kurds who dominated the transitional administration expected a full-term parliament to cement their grip on power after decades of oppression.

The Sunni minority was keen to prevent a government dominated by religious Shiites and a break-up of Iraq into autonomous Kurdish and Shiite zones.

The new parliament's first task will be to appoint a president and two vice presidents. The presidential council will then have 15 days to name a prime minister, who has 30 days to form a cabinet with parliamentary approval.

On Tuesday, US Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Richard Lugar warned however that an operational government might not be finalised until April.

Dec 15 , 2005

Thursday

January

this year

March 2003

October

January

January

the first half of 2006

January

15 days

30 days

Tuesday

April


XIN_ENG_20061107.0049

GAZA, Nov. 7 , 2006 (Xinhua)

TV

Five Palestinians were killed in a fresh Israeli air raid against the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, Dubai- based satellite channel Al-Arabiya reported.

Nov. 7 , 2006

Tuesday


AFP_ENG_19970423.0292

MANILA, April 23 , 1997 (AFP)

Philippine shopping mall developer expects 20 percent net profit rise

Philippine shopping mall giant SM Prime Holdings Inc. said Wednesday it expects net profit to rise 20 percent year-on-year in 1997 to to 2.4 billion pesos (92 million dollars).

Speaking after the company's annual stockholders' meeting, SM Prime vice-president Joseph Sio said the profit would be generated from an increase in leasable space in the company's huge shopping malls.

SM Prime president Henry Sy cited the expansion of existing malls and reconfiguring of the space in the malls and said this would continue during 1997.

The opening of two new malls in the latter half of the year would boost their company's total leasable space by 20 percent, he added.

April 23 , 1997

Wednesday

the latter half of the year


XIN_ENG_20051102.0287

BELGRADE, Serbia-Montenegro, Nov. 2 , 2005 (Xinhua)

UN, NATO play down threat of paramilitary groups in Kosovo

UN and NATO officials said on Wednesday that paramilitary groups could not undermine the security situation in Kosovo as the UN-administered province is to open future status talks, said reports reaching here from Pristina.

Spokesman of the UN mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) Neeraj Singh said that the threatening statement issued by the self-styled Army for Kosovo Independence would be a daily occurrence during the forthcoming status talks, the official Tanjug news agency reported.

Regardless of threats and other forms of pressure, the Kosovo status will not be decided in the streets or on the Internet, Singh said.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Tuesday appointed former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari as UN envoy for Kosovo status talks, paving the way for the talks to be opened by the year's end.

However, the talks have been overshadowed by the fears that extremists could use violence to protest the outcome for the ethnically-divided province.

Kosovo's Albanian majority demands for an independent state, while its Serb minority and Belgrade officials want the province remains part of Serbia.

NATO-led peacekeeping force (KFOR) spokesman Pio Sabetta rejected any possibility that paramilitary groups might endanger security in Kosovo.

He told the press in Pristina that KFOR, UNMIK and Kosovo Police Service were investigating uniformed persons who have been observed in the province recently.

Last week KFOR held an exercise to demonstrate NATO troops' ability to deal quickly with potential violence or other security threats in the province.

Nov. 2 , 2005

Wednesday

Tuesday

the year's end

recently

Last week


AFP_ENG_20061214.0097

DOHA, Dec 14 , 2006, 2006

by Dave James

Some goalkeepers study videos, others look for clues in the eyes of their opponents.

But when North Korea goalkeeper Jon Myong Hui faces down a penalty, she dreams of a short, chubby, bespectacled dictator with his finger on the nuclear button.

Jon's secret of the shootout is to think of North Korean leader Kim Jung Il.

"I thought of our Great Leader and I knew with his encouragement and trust in us we would get the victory," said the 20-year-old who saved two Japanese spotkicks in a 4-2 shootout win which gave North Korea a second successive Asian Games women's football gold.

"I looked to the skies of Pyongyang and drew inspiration from him. I only wish he could have been here in person. I hope that our Great Leader Kim Jung Il gets the news of this victory and that he is happy."

The defending champions, Asia's highest-ranked team, enjoyed the better chances throughout a dour final and held their nerve at the end.

North Korea scored all of their penalties with Ri Kum Suk, Ri Un Gyong, Ho Sun Hui and Jong Pok Sim finding the target while Jon kept out Kozue Ando and Homare Sawa.

Despite the victory, North Korean coach Kim Kwang Min was disappointed.

"Although we are similar physically we are better players," said Kim.

"I told them to be aggressive from the start and we should have won in 90 minutes."

Kim has big plans for his team but admits that in his hermit, Stalinist homeland, finding information on other sides in the world is not easy.

"Our initial goal was to be the best in Asia and after that we aim to be the best in the world," he said.

"I'm not quite sure of the standard of football in Europe or the Americas. Once we learn this we will work out a plan to beat them."

Japan coach Hiroshi Ohashi took responsibility for the defeat which left the Japanese still searching for a first Asian Games gold medal.

"I feel responsible for not creating a team which was able to win the match in 90 or 120 minutes," he said.

Japan goalkeeper Miho Fukumoto made a series of good saves to keep her side in the match while Eriko Arakawa set-up Japan's best opportunity in the 72nd minute.

The afro-haired striker skipped inside two defenders, drew the goalkeeper and released the ball into the path of Shinobu Ohno who missed from six yards.

Ohno had the ball in the net in extra time but her smart volley was controversially ruled out for offside.

China grabbed the bronze medal with a 2-0 win against South Korea thanks to two goals from Wang Kun.

Dec 14 , 2006

90 minutes

the 72nd minute


AFP_ENG_20061214.0395

YALA, Thailand, Dec 14 , 2006, 2006

ATTENTION - ADDS one more death ///

Suspected separatist insurgents shot dead four men and injured three, including a policeman, on Thursday in Thailand's restive Muslim-majority south, police said.

A 25-year-old Buddhist trader was gunned down at his mobile stall in Narathiwat, one of three insurgency-torn provinces bordering Malaysia, police said, adding that the victim's nephew was also wounded.

When police rushed to the scene, militants using a mobile phone detonated a bomb near the stall, injuring one policeman, they said.

Also in Narathiwat, a 46-year-old Muslim man, a former village chief, was shot dead by militants.

In neighboring Yala province, six gunmen burst into a local government office earlier in the day and opened fire, killing two Buddhist engineers and seriously injuring a woman.

Deadly attacks have surged in the three southern provinces of Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat in the past month, despite moves by Thailand's post-coup government to forge peace in the region.

The junta chief and coup leader General Sonthi Boonyaratglin was in Pattani Thursday to meet local army commanders, but an army spokesman said the one-day trip was not related to the deteriorating situation in the region.

The area was an independent sultanate until it was annexed by mainly Buddhist Thailand in 1902. Separatist violence has erupted periodically ever since, with the latest unrest killing more than 1,700 people since January 2004.

Dec 14 , 2006

Thursday

the day

the past month

Thursday

January 2004


AFP_ENG_20061211.0682

WASHINGTON, Dec 11 , 2006, 2006

Georgian PM eyes Russia, meets Rice

Georgia's Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli met US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Monday, seeking US support in his country's diplomatic showdown with Russia.

Kicking off a four-day stay in Washington, which includes talks Tuesday with Vice President Dick Cheney, Nogaideli also met national security advisor Stephen Hadley and US Trade Representative Susan Schwab.

As he left the State Department after meeting Rice, Nogaideli called on Russia to join in a bid to end the diplomatic spat set off when Georgia arrested four Russian soldiers in September and accused them of spying.

"The most important issue in relations with Russia for us today is the resolution of territorial conflicts," said Nogaideli.

"We think instead of blaming each other ... we need to move ahead with peace plan implementation in the region and we have discused this with Secretary Rice," he said.

Terry Davidson, a State Department spokesman, said Rice and her visitor discussed a full range of regional security issues, including the Georgian dispute with breakaway regions Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Rice also touched on Georgia's relations with Russia and energy resources in the region, Davidson said.

The United States has strongly backed the Georgian leadership of President Mikheil Saakashvili, who hopes to take his country into the NATO military alliance.

Georgia freed the military officers in October, but the United States has been urging Moscow to lift a sweeping raft of sanctions and for both sides to lower rhetoric.

Russia vehemently opposes Georgia's bid to join NATO and accuses Georgia of planning military action against Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which are supported by Moscow.

Dec 11 , 2006

Monday

Tuesday

September

today

October


AFP_ENG_19970414.0136

NAIROBI, April 14 , 1997 (AFP)

UNHCR reports 150 cholera cases among Zairean refugees

About 150 cases of cholera have been registered among tens of thousands of ailing Rwandan refugees waiting to be repatriated from eastern Zaire, the UN refugee agency said Monday.

UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) spokesman Paul Stromberg said at least five refugees had died of the disease but that it should not hinder the repatriation process.

Although the 150 others were suspected cases for the moment, humanitarian organisations believed they were likely to be cholera. Three positive cases were confirmed last week.

A total of 60 to 100 refugees die every day from disease and malnutrition as they wait for repatriation from their makeshift camps south of Kisangani, the rebel-held city in northeast Zaire.

"Since last week, measures have been taken to isolate and treat suspected cases of cholera, which is endemic in the region. Medicines, soap, have been supplied in sufficient quantities. I don't think it will spread," Stromberg added by telephone from Kigali.

He said it was not thought to be a virulent form of the disease, and that the repatriation process should go ahead as planned.

Cholera, dysentery and malaria are among the many health perils facing approximately 80,000 Rwandan Hutu refugees around the rebel-held city.

The emaciated and ill refugees fled from advancing rebels who now control eastern Zaire. The refugees have had no access to relief food or medical care for most of the six months of the rebellion.

The rebels, who captured Kisangani on March 15, gave a green light 10 days ago for UN agencies to set up an air-bridge to repatriate the Rwandans.

April 14 , 1997

Monday

last week

every day

last week

now

six months

March 15

10 days ago


XIN_ENG_20061109.0013

HARBIN, Nov. 9 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Public petition halts government wild boar cull in NE China

Officials in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province have suspended a proposed cull of wild boar, after about 10,000 local people signed a petition against the plan.

Wild boar have been propagating rapidly under government-backed protection schemes, but invasions by the animals of villagers' homes have been reported in 20 counties and districts in Heilongjiang.

The authorities in the cities of Mudanjiang and Jixi, which have borne the brunt of the damage, had approved a cull of 50 wild boar until the end of December to be supervised and carried out by local forestry officials in designated areas.

Forestry authorities also promised that no individual hunters would be allowed to take part.

Days after the announcement, 10,000 local residents led by wildlife enthusiasts signed a petition against the cull.

Members of a wildlife organization in Harbin Institute of Technology voiced concern that the cull could run out of the government's control.

As wild boar population more than doubled from 30,000 in 2000 to 70,000 in 2005, the province reported 50 cases of attacks on villagers and damage to crops.

China's law on wild animal protection prohibits the hunting of animals under state protection. However, villagers have complained that they have tried every possible method to drive the wild boar away from communities without success.

Tao Jin, a wildlife protection official with the Forestry Bureau, argued that the law allowed government-approved culls when scientific arguments proved the population of certain animals should be checked. But the government decided to suspend the cull in the face of strong public opposition.

The public debate on the conflict between wildlife protection and farmers' livelihoods is still going on here. Wildlife experts have suggested farmers dig moats to protect crops against attacks and the relocation villagers living in deep mountains.

Tao said the government's limited forestry protection funding could not cover the costs of further protection measures. Limiting the wild boar population and developing the controlled breeding of domesticated wild boars might be a solution.

Nov. 9 , 2006

the end of December


XIN_ENG_20051102.0008

HONG KONG, Nov. 2 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Hong Kong stocks finish lower at midday -- Nov. 2

Hong Kong stocks went down 16.3 points, or 0.11 percent, to finish the morning session at 14,555. 96 on Wednesday.

Nov. 2 , 2005

Wednesday


XIN_ENG_20061108.0318

CAIRO, Nov. 8 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Mubarak fears Saddam's execution to fuel violence in Iraq

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said on Wednesday that he feared the recent death verdict against ousted Iraqi president Saddam Hussein and its execution would fuel sectarian and ethnic violence in Iraq.

Mubarak made the remarks in statements to editors-in-chief of the Egyptian national newspapers and the Middle East News Agency ( MENA) on his way back home Wednesday from his three-nation tour.

The trial of Saddam and six of his aides on charges of genocide against Kurds resumed in Baghdad on Wednesday after Saddam and two of his senior aides were sentenced to death on Sunday in a separate trial of Dujail case, in which 148 people were executed in the aftermath crackdown on the town following a failed assassination attempt against Saddam in 1982.

On the situation in Iraq, Mubarak said that Egypt is making efforts to protect interests of the Iraqi people, stop bloodshed and support the Iraqi national unity.

Mubarak returned to Cairo on Wednesday after visits to Russia, China and Kazakhstan. While in Beijing he attended the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Summit which is seen as an important conference to promote China and Africa to construct new strategic partnership and strengthen cooperation between China and Africa.

Nov. 8 , 2006

Wednesday

Wednesday

Wednesday

Sunday

Wednesday

While


WSJ891027-0117
 = 891027
 891027-0117.
 Law:
@  U.S. Threats to Seize Fees
@  Scare Lawyers From Cases
@  ----
@  By Laurie P. Cohen
@  Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal
 10/27/89
 WALL STREET JOURNAL (J)
 CRZYQ
 LAW AND LEGAL AFFAIRS (LAW)
BANKRUPTCIES (BCY)
 JUSTICE DEPARTMENT (JUS)
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION (SEC)

   The government is sharpening its newest weapon against white-collar defendants: the power to prevent them from paying their legal bills.
And defense lawyers are warning that they wo n't stick around if they do n't get paid.

   The issue has come to a boil in Newark, N.J., where federal prosecutors have warned lawyers for Eddie Antar that if the founder and former chairman of Crazy Eddie Inc. is indicted, the government may move to seize the money that Mr. Antar is using to pay legal fees.

   The warning by the U.S. attorney's office follows two decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court last June.
In those cases, the high court ruled that federal law gives prosecutors broad authority to seize assets of people accused of racketeering and drug-related crimes, including fees paid to lawyers before an indictment.

   If the government succeeds in seizing Mr. Antar's assets, he could be left without top-flight legal representation, because his attorneys are likely to quit, according to individuals familiar with the case.
A seizure also would make the case the largest -- and one of the first -- in which lawyers' fees have been confiscated in a prosecution unrelated to drugs.

   "The people who suffer in the short run are defendants, but the people who suffer in the long run are all of the people, because there wo n't be a vigorous private bar to defend the Bill of Rights," says Gerald Lefcourt, a criminal defense attorney who says he has turned down a number of cases to avoid possible fee seizures.

   Mr. Antar is being investigated by a federal grand jury in Newark, where prosecutors have told him that they may soon seek an indictment on racketeering and securities fraud charges.
Under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations law, or RICO, the government has the authority to seek to freeze or seize a defendant's assets before trial.

   According to individuals familiar with Mr. Antar's case, prosecutors issued their warning this week after one of Mr. Antar's attorneys asked whether legal fees might be subject to seizure.
In a letter, prosecutors told Mr. Antar's lawyers that because of the recent Supreme Court rulings, they could expect that any fees collected from Mr. Antar may be seized.
Prosecutors have told Mr. Antar's attorneys that they believe Mr. Antar's allegedly ill-gotten gains are so great that any money he has used to pay attorneys derives from illegal activities.
Therefore, they said, the money can be taken from the lawyers even after they are paid.

   Justin Feldman and Jack Arseneault, attorneys for Mr. Antar, both declined to comment on the matter.

   In Newark, U.S. Attorney Samuel A. Alito said, "I do n't think there's any legal reason to limit forfeiture of attorney's fees to drug cases."
Mr. Alito said his office "just responded to an attorney's question about whether we would go after attorney's fees, and that is different from actually doing it, although we reserve that right."

   Mr. Antar was charged last month in a civil suit filed in federal court in Newark by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
In that suit, the SEC accused Mr. Antar of engaging in a "massive financial fraud" to overstate the earnings of Crazy Eddie, Edison, N.J., over a three-year period.
Through his lawyers, Mr. Antar has denied allegations in the SEC suit and in civil suits previously filed by shareholders against Mr. Antar and others.

   The SEC has alleged that Mr. Antar aimed to pump up the company's stock price through false financial statements in order to sell his stake and reap huge profits.
Mr. Antar, the SEC said, made more than $60 million from the sale of his shares between 1985 and 1987.

   The Justice Department has emphasized that the government's fee-forfeiture power is to be used sparingly.
According to department policy, prosecutors must make a strong showing that lawyers' fees came from assets tainted by illegal profits before any attempts at seizure are made.

   Still, criminal defense lawyers worry that defendants are being deprived of their Sixth Amendment right to counsel and a fair trial if the government can seize lawyers' fees.
They also worry that if the government applies asset-forfeiture laws broadly, the best defense lawyers will be unwilling to take criminal cases unless they are assured of being paid.

last June

soon

this week

recent

last month

a three-year period


bbc_20130322_1353

2013-03-22

Israel PM apologies for Gaza flotilla deaths

Israel's prime minister has apologised to Turkey for "any errors that could have led to loss of life" during the 2010 commando raid on an aid flotilla that tried to breach the Gaza blockade.

Benjamin Netanyahu also agreed with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan to compensate the families of the nine activists who were killed.

Mr Netanyahu had previously only expressed regret for the deaths.

The deal was brokered by US President Barack Obama during a visit to Israel.

Mr Erdogan's office said he had accepted the apology, "in the name of the Turkish people".

In the past, he has always given two conditions for restoring bilateral relations with Israel - an apology and compensation for victims' families.

Nine people were killed on board the Turkish aid ship, Mavi Marmara, when it was boarded by Israeli commandos while trying to transport aid supplies to Gaza in May 2010 in spite of an Israeli naval blockade.

The Israeli government admitted mistakes were made in intelligence-gathering and planning, but insisted its commandos used lethal force because activists had attacked them.

The activists said the troops had opened fire as soon as they boarded the vessel, which was in international waters at the time.

The incident provoked an international outcry and led to a major deterioration in relations between Turkey and Israel.

Before departing for Jordan on Friday afternoon, Mr Obama revealed that Mr Netanyahu and Mr Erdogan had just spoken by telephone.

the past

May 2010

at the time

Friday afternoon


AFP_ENG_19970401.0129

TOKYO, April 1 , 1997 (AFP)

Japan's top 15 corporate collapses

A list of the top 15 collapses in Japanese corporate history after three finance companies applied Tuesday to be wound up, with combined debt of 1,800 billion yen (14.6 billion dollars).

Crown Leasing KK applied to be wound up at the Tokyo District Court with two other Nippon Credit Bank Ltd (NCB). affiliates, Nippon Total Finance KK and Nippon Credit Finance KK.

Date    Company        Liabilities    Business

(billion yen)

1. April 1997 Crown Leasing      1,060.00    finance

2. Oct 1996  Nichiei Finance     1,000.00    credit guarantee

3. Nov 1996  Sueno Kosan        600.00    real estate

4. Nov 1993  Muramoto Kensetsu     590.00    construction

5. Aug 1985  Sanko Kisen        520.00    shipping

6. Oct 1994  Nippon Mortgage      518.49    finance

7. April 1997 Nippon Total Finance    510.00    finance

8. March 1995 Osaka Sogo Shinyo     437.00    finance

9. Aug 1991  Megumikawa         410.00    restaurant
10. Nov 1995  Hyogin Factors       369.20    factoring

11. June 1996 Shin Kyoto Shimpan     348.88    consumer credit

12. Oct 1987  Shinwa Kanko Kaihatsu   309.00    real estate

13. Oct 1995  Tokyo Mortgage Acceptance 300.00    finance

14. April 1997 Nippon Credit Finance   300.00    finance

15. Jan 1991  Nanatomi          296.60    real estate

Source: Teikoku Databank/Tokyo Shoko Research

April 1 , 1997

Tuesday

April 1997

Oct 1996

Nov 1996

Nov 1993

Aug 1985

Oct 1994

April 1997

March 1995

Aug 1991  Megumikawa         410.00    restaurant

Nov 1995

June 1996

Oct 1987

Oct 1995

April 1997

Jan 1991  Nanatomi          296.60


AFP_ENG_19970423.0618

LONDON, April 23 , 1997 (AFP)

Conservative support dips in new polls

Support for the ruling Conservative Party fell in fresh opinion polls to be published, one week ahead of Britain's general election, with three new polls giving the opposition Labour Party as easy winners.

A survey by the polling group MORI for Thursday's Times newspaper showed support for the opposition Labour Party down one to 48 percent, the Conservatives down five to 27 percent and the Liberal Democrats up four to 17 percent. It gave Labour a 21-point lead.

Earlier Wednesday two polls by Gallup -- the first for Channel 4 News and the second for Thursday's Daily Telegraph -- put Labour's lead at 19 percent and 20 percent.

Both Channel 4 and the Daily Telegraph put Labour on 50 percent of voting intentions.

The figures suggested that a poll by the group ICM and published by the left-of-centre Guardian newspaper Wednesday, which claimed Labour's lead had fallen to just five percent, could have been a rogue result.

Ironically neither Labour nor Tory officials believe the gap between the two parties is as wide as the Gallup and MORI polls suggest, although Labour also feel it is not as slim as five percent.

Both parties would prefer a closer race, the Conservatives to engender hope they could still win, Labour to ensure their supporters turn out to vote.

The Channel 4 poll, which was carried out between Friday and Wednesday, also suggested that up to half the electorate had not firmly decided which way they would vote.

The interviews which formed the basis for the MORI figures were carried out on Tuesday.

April 23 , 1997

one week

Thursday

Earlier Wednesday two

Thursday

Wednesday

Friday

Wednesday

Tuesday


AFP_ENG_19970414.0555

ZAGREB, April 14 , 1997 (AFP)

Croatian polls a success for ruling party, Eastern Slavonia by Tessa Fras

The ruling Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) appeared set to keep its majority in the upper house of parliament, according to figures broadcast by television Monday, while polling closed in the troubled Eastern Slavonia region.

With almost all votes in after Sunday's elections, the television said that the ruling party was expected to win 41 seats of the 63 up for election in the 68-seat House of Counties.

However polling stations in Eastern Slavonia closed a day late after Sunday's chaos where incomplete voter registration lists and missing ballot papers led the UN to allow a second day's voting.

The vote in the region is being seen as a key step in restoring Zagreb's control in a region that separatist Serbs captured in bitter fighting in 1991.

Local Serb leader Vojislav Stanimirovic, who hinted on Sunday the Serbs might not recognise the polls, said he was pleased at the efforts made by the UN to ensure the vote was fair.

"Yesterday, there were many reasons for calling for the elections to be annulled but many things have been done to correct these irregularities and for this reason we can say that these elections have been democratic," he said.

People were allowed to vote with just a Croatian identity card while those who had yet to receive such cards were allowed to pick them up during Monday.

US ambassador Peter Galbraith said that the elections in Eastern Slavonia had been fair.

"Nobody is going to say that these were perfect elections but they were fair ... All the people from the region had a chance to cast their vote," he told a press conference, estimating the turnout at around 85 percent.

The ambassador is one of the architects of a November 1995 accord between Zagreb and the rebel Serbs under which Eastern Slavonia is being returned to Croatian control.

The local, regional and upper house elections are a key step in that process. They are being organised by the UN mission in the region, whose mandate is due to end on July 15.

UN chief Jacques Klein said he expected turnout in Eastern Slavonia of up to 90 percent.

He said he was "confident that the elections will be able to be certified as being full, fair and honest," and cited "the calm atmosphere, and the fact that the polls were open until the last voter." Final certification could take four or five days, a spokesman for Klein said.

In the rest of Croatia, where voting ended Sunday, results were pouring in from the 21 regions which will each send three members to the 68 seat upper house. The five other deputies are appointed by President Franjo Tudjman. Two of these are to be Serb candidates.

Croatian television said that the Croatian Peasants' Party (HSS) would get nine seats, the Croatian Social and Liberal Party (HSLS) seven, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) four and the Istrian Democratic Party (IDS) two.

Preliminary unofficial results Monday afternoon, with much of the vote counted, Tudjman's HDZ to be the leading party in 19 regions, including one where it was in a coalition with other parties.

Tudjman, quoted by Croatian radio, said he expected an HDZ victory. However, given the proportional electoral system, the effect on the seats in the upper house was not immediately clear.

In Zagreb, opposition parties won a slim majority on the 50 seat city council, a key battleground with the ruling party, according to preliminary results announced in the afternoon.

The local electoral commission said the HDZ would have 24 seats, the opposition Social Democratic Party 14, the opposition Croatian Social and Liberal Party (HSLS) nine and the Croatian Peasants' Party three.

After elections in 1995, the opposition parties controlled the city council, but a crisis ensued when Tudjman four times rejected their choice of mayor, before dissolving the council in April, drawing international criticism.

Croatia is due to go to the polls within months for presidential elections in which Tudjman, 74, is a favourite to win a third term.

April 14 , 1997

Monday

Sunday

Sunday

Sunday

Yesterday

Monday

November 1995

July 15

the last voter

five days

Sunday

Monday afternoon

the afternoon

April


XIN_ENG_20061127.0304

HARARE, Nov. 27 , 2006 (Xinhua)

UN agencies demand probe into situations of Victoria Falls

UN agencies have asked the World Heritage Committee (WHC) to investigate whether Victoria Falls should remain on the World Heritage list following revelations that Zambia has approved the construction of 500 chalets in the rainforest, local newspapers said on Monday.

According to regulations of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the World Conservation Union, the construction of the chalets would negatively impact on the natural state of the rainforest, The Herald said.

After a three-day consultative meeting with the Zambian and Zimbabwean officials, the deputy director of the World Heritage Center in Paris Kishore Rao said the joint consultative meetings were meant to improve conservation programs on both sides of the rainforest.

He said his delegation was looking at various aspects that included tourism regulations and infrastructural development within the rainforest.

He said some of the infrastructural developments were a threat to the site. "We are here to assess the state of the site in terms of the rules and regulations governing the world heritage sites. The regulations are meant to improve the state of conservation and there are specific regulations that we want to see being implemented," he added.

"Some infrastructural developments are a threat to the site and we are making assessments on the both sides of the site," he said.

Rao said the results on whether or not to de-list the site as a World Heritage Site would only be known after a WHC meeting in June next year.

Rao was, however, reluctant to comment on the variance between Livingstone and Victoria Falls in terms of meeting the requirements of WHC. "We are now leaving for Lusaka where we intend to meet government officials there as some of the decisions might be political. So it will be premature if I am to say anything concerning the delisting of the site," he said.

On Wednesday, the commission visited a refuse dumpsite at the Helipad, and on the Zambian side they visited the proposed site of the 500 chalets.

Nov. 27 , 2006

Monday

June next year

Wednesday


AFP_ENG_20061214.0086

HONG KONG, Dec 14 , 2006, 2006

China in the driving seat as Rolls-Royce expands in Asia

China has overtaken Japan as luxury car maker Rolls-Royce's largest Asian market, the legendary marque's chairman and chief executive Ian Robertson revealed Thursday.

The fast-emerging economic giant last year saw sales of the super-luxury Rolls-Royce Phantom soar 60 percent to 70 units.

"That sort of growth is unique it's very special -- usually 5 percent either way means the difference between a great year and a not so great year in other markets," said Robertson, in Hong Kong for the unveiling of the Peninsula Hotel's new fleet of 14 Phantoms.

The United States remains the company's biggest market, with the majority of sales there made in Los Angeles, where the brand has three dealerships.

Britain is the second largest market, with China now third.

Such is the pace of growth amongst Chinese buyers that the company is to expand its four dealerships in Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou to seven with addition next year of offices in Hangzhou, Shenzgen and Chengdu.

Rolls Royce launched the Phantom in 2003, its first model since the former British company was acquired by German auto manufacturer BMW in 1998.

The company hopes to sell 600 of the made-to-measure cars in 2006, setting a 16-year production record, and will launch its long-awaited, yet-to-be-named convertible version in January 2007.

Dec 14 , 2006

Thursday

last year

now

January 2007


XIN_ENG_20061128.0092

RAMALLAH, Nov. 28 , 2006 (Xinhua)

(Recast) Thai government to lift martial law in 41 provinces including Bangkok

(In third paragraph, " Interior Minister Boonrawd Somtas" should be "Defense Minister Boonrawd Somtas")

BANGKOK, Nov. 28 (Xinhua) -- The Thai government has decided to lift martial law, imposed shortly after the Sept. 19 coup, in some parts of the country, including the capital Bangkok, media reports said.

"The cabinet has approved the recommendation by the Council for National Security (CNS) to lift martial law in some parts of the country," Thai Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont was quoted by the English-laguage Bangkok Post website as saying on Tuesday after a cabinet meeting.

Surayud, however, did not specify in which provinces martial law will be removed or when the decision would take effect. Defense Minister Boonrawd Somtas would later provide the list of provinces, Surayud said.

"Martial law will be lifted in 41 provinces and remain in (the other) 35 provinces, due to both domestic and foreign security concerns, as well as concerns about drug smuggling and illegal immigration," Boonrawd later told reporters.

According to Boonrawd, martial law will remain in provinces along the borders and some areas in the interior of the country, including northern and northeastern provinces Khon Kaen, Buri Ram and Chiang Mai, which were considered the strongholds of ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his Thai Rak Thai Party.

Whereas martial law will be revoked in Bangkok and its suburbs, Boonrawd said the government decided to life the martial law in Bangkok for the sake of the country's image and the government was certain that it would be able to control the situation in case of protests and demonstrations.

Under pressure from international arena to lift the martial law since the coup, the military-led CNS on Monday officially sent its proposal to the interim government it installed in regard to lifting martial law in 40 provinces of the country, exclusive of Bangkok.

Nov. 28 , 2006

Nov. 28

Sept. 19

Tuesday

Monday


XIN_ENG_20051103.0036

BEIJING, Nov. 3 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Shanghai stock index down -- Nov. 3

The Composite Stock Index on the Shanghai Stock Exchange closed at 1,095.27 points on Thursday, down 9.52 points from the previous close.

A Share Index: 1,151.42 points, down 10.06 points;

B Share Index: 60.13 points, down 0.22 points;

Total Turnover: 7,510,890,000 yuan.

Nov. 3 , 2005

Thursday


AFP_ENG_20051210.0083

PARIS, Dec 10 , 2005

Spiritual leader of Chechnya's Arab fighters killed: Internet

A Saudi man who is the purported spiritual leader of Arab fighters in Russia's rebel republic of Chechnya has been killed in fighting, an Internet statement said Saturday.

"Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdullah bin Saif al-Jaber al-Buaynayn al-Tamimi, also known as Abu Omar al-Saif, the spiritual guide of the mujahedeen (holy fighters) in Chechnya, was martyred during a fight with the Russians, the enemies of God," said the statement, whose authenticity could not be independently verified.

Sheikh Omar, described as the "judicial chief in the Shura (consultative) council" of the mujahedeen, left Saudi Arabia 10 years ago to fight in Chechnya, it said.

The native of Qassim province, north of Riyadh, had issued numerous fatwas (religious edicts) calling for jihad (holy war) and is the author of several video and audio messages including on the war in Iraq.

In April 2004, another Saudi Abdul Aziz al-Ghamdi, also known as Abu Walid, who was considered by Russian intelligence as the chief of Arab fighters, was killed in Chechnya.

Ghamdi succeeded Arab warlord "Khattab," who was also Saudi-born, after he was killed two years ago.

Saudi Arabia's hardline Wahhabite brand of Islam has a strong following among Chechen rebels fighting Russian authority in the Caucasus republic since 1994.

Dec 10 , 2005

Saturday

10 years ago

April 2004

two years ago


XIN_ENG_20051108.0286

RAMALLAH, Nov. 8 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Israel tries to blow up situations in the region: PNA official

The spokesman of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) Nabil Abu Rudeineh accused Israel on Tuesday evening for trying to blowup the situations in the region.

Abu Rudeineh's accusation came in response to earlier statements made by Israeli Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lieutenant Dan Halutz who said that Israel will continue its targeted killing against Islamic Jihad militants in the Gaza Strip.

Abu Rudeineh told reporters in the West Bank city of Ramallah that the PNA will never allow any attempt that aim at hindering holding the parliament elections set for Jan. 25, 2006.

He added that "the PNA will not allow any side to destroy its efforts that are spent preparing for the coming parliament elections."

Abu Rudeineh, meanwhile, demanded the Israeli government to stop its policies represented by incursions, assassinations and arrests against the Palestinian citizens.

He also demanded the Israeli government to offer help for the PNA in guaranteeing positive atmospheres for the hold of fair Palestinian elections.

Halutz made the statements earlier in the day while briefing the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee in the Israeli Knesset ( parliament) on the security situations in the region.

He said that the policy of targeted killing against Palestinian militants has proven to be extremely effective in restricting Palestinian militants' terror activities.

Targeting the Islamic Jihad members will continue in the Gaza Strip even after the Israeli army had pulled out from the strip, he added.

Nov. 8 , 2005

Tuesday evening

Jan. 25, 2006


AFP_ENG_20061216.0460

GAZA CITY, Dec 17 , 2006, 2006

ATTENTION - UPDATES with new clash ///

Political tension gripped the Palestinian territories Sunday after president Mahmud Abbas called for early elections, dramatically raising the stakes in a long-running power struggle with the ruling Hamas party.

The move set off fears that the standoff between Hamas -- the Islamist movement that swept parliamentary elections at the start of this year -- and the president's own Fatah faction could ignite into full-blown civil war.

A member of the presidential guard was killed and several people injured in what a security official described as an attempt Sunday by Hamas members to storm a presidential guard training camp.

A Palestinian boy was shot dead and at least 18 others wounded late Saturday as thousands of armed loyalists of the two rivals, some of them masked, took to the streets of Gaza after Hamas denounced Abbas's move as tantamount to a coup.

"We are going to organize many demonstrations to prove to the president that we have the majority and that his call for elections is unacceptable," senior Hamas official Ahmed Yussef told AFP.

Abbas said elections were the way to resolve the seething tensions with Hamas, which have paralyzed the Palestinian administration and added to the woes of a people suffering from a Western aid freeze.

"We are living through difficult and miserable times," he said.

"To break the vicious circle and prevent our lives from deteriorating further and our cause from eroding, I have decided to call early presidential and legislative elections. Let the people have their say and decide."

No date was set, but a senior aide to Abbas said the polls would take place "between now and three months".

British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who touched down Saturday in Cairo as part of a Middle East tour, welcomed Abbas's call and urged the international community to rally behind the president.

The United States said it hoped that elections would help quell violence, while Israel -- which views Hamas as a terrorist organisation that refuses to recognize the Jewish state -- said it supported the moderate president.

Abbas left the door open to forming a government of national unity, composed of technocrats, thus avoiding what would be the third election in the Palestinian territories since the Palestinian Authority was formed in 1994.

Hamas responded angrily, saying that Abbas's move represented "a coup d'etat against the will of the Palestinian people".

"Today what we have heard from Abu Mazen is a call, which if God willing we will try to avoid, for a civil war," Yussef said earlier Saturday.

Complicating the crisis is the fact that Palestinian basic law does not address the issue of early elections. The current parliament, elected in January, normally would remain in place until the end of 2010.

Abbas's declaration followed a week of rising tensions and violence between his Fatah party and Hamas, and followed the collapse of months of tortuous talks on forming a national unity government.

On Friday, Hamas accused Fatah loyalists of targeting Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniya after his convoy came under fire in southern Gaza, killing his bodyguard and injuring one of his sons.

A Palestinian security official told AFP that Hamas members tried to storm Sunday morning a training camp in southern Gaza for the presidential guard, triggering an intense exchange of automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenade fire in which one camp guard was killed.

Hamas officials were not immediately available for comment.

The Fatah-Hamas talks failed over the Islamists' refusal to bend to Western demands that it renounce violence, recognize Israel and accept past peace deals, and over allocation of key ministerial posts.

Like Israel, the West considers Hamas a terrorist organization. It froze direct aid to the Palestinian government after the Islamists took office, plunging the territories into unprecedented financial crisis.

Dec 17 , 2006

Sunday

Sunday

late Saturday

now and three months

Saturday

Today

Saturday

January

the end of 2010

a week

Friday

Sunday morning


XIN_ENG_20051108.0258

HARARE, Nov. 8 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Former Malaysian PM says world safety deteriorating

Visiting former Malaysian prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad, said on Tuesday world safety has worsened judging by the increasing number of bombings and terrorist cases across the globe.

Mohamad said this in an interview with reporters soon after meeting Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe at State House.

"The world is still not safe today, in fact it is getting worse. For example, travelers are no longer safe because of terrorism while in different places such as America, bombings continue to occur."

He condemned the unipolar world now existing in world politics, saying it was an unfortunate phenomenon that other countries in the world could not tackle.

"It's a bad thing that is happening but unfortunately we can not opt for the other side," he said.

Meanwhile he described Zimbabwe as a rich nation with great potential for development.

He also spoke out in support of the government's land reform program that has seen thousands of landless blacks being given land.

"Zimbabwe is now independent and the whites should know that what they had during the colonial period, they cannot have now," he said.

He will leave Zimbabwe on Wednesday after a three-day official visit for Lesotho to attend the Southern African International Dialogue (SAID), a forum established to discuss various issues affecting the region and the way forward.

Mahathir retired as the Malaysian prime minister in October, 2003 after 22 years at the helm and was replaced by Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Since retirement, he has spent most of his time traveling and delivering speeches.

Nov. 8 , 2005

Tuesday

today

now

now

Wednesday

October, 2003

22 years


AFP_ENG_20051210.0125

KUWAIT CITY, Dec 10 , 2005

ATTENTION - ADDS quotes, comments by UAE minister ///

OPEC members look set to maintain their production quota but have yet to agree on renewing an offer of extra capacity, the cartel's chief said on Saturday ahead of a one-day meeting in Kuwait.

The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries has a production quota of 28 million barrels per day (bpd), but in September the 11-nation group created a standby two-million bpd allocation to offset hurricane disruption to US output.

Sheikh Ahmad Fahd al-Sabah, Kuwait's energy minister and also current OPEC president, said he and fellow ministers would discuss the matter at the meeting on Monday.

Asked by reporters whether there was a consensus on the 28-million-bpd quota, he said: "I believe that we will continue with our production level."

As for the offer of extra capacity, Sheikh Ahmad said: "From the beginning there are different opinions. For that I cannot decide now, we will have to discuss it in the meetings."

Turning to the crucial issue of demand for energy in the second quarter, which typically wanes in line with a warmer climate in the industrialised northern hemisphere, the OPEC chief indicated that now was not the time to make a decision on how to counter such a slump.

Instead, ministers may meet again next month or in early February.

"In our experience always in the second quarter there is a decrease in demand and I think for that reason some of my colleagues have already made their comments about their worries for the second quarter," said Shiekh Ahmad.

"May be we can have a meeting at the end of January, beginning of February to monitor the market for the second quarter."

Kuwait is hosting the 138th OPEC conference at a hotel in Kuwait City amid tight security.

It is only the second time the oil-rich country has played host to the cartel. The last such meeting here was in 1966.

First to arrive Friday was Algerian Energy Minister Chakib Khelil who voiced support for maintaining the status quo, including the extra capacity pledge.

"The position of Algeria is to continue with the two million barrels per day, we have to work for a stable market," Khelil said.

"We should be able to constantly supply so that the economic growth in the world should be maintained," he added.

United Arab Emirates Energy Minister Mohammad bin Dhaen al-Hamli said in Abu Dhabi on Saturday before leaving for Kuwait that OPEC was likely to extend the standby allocation for another period of three months, the official WAM news agency reported.

The majority of ministers -- including OPEC heavyweights Ali al-Nuaimi, oil minister for Saudi Arabia, and Kazem Vaziri-Hamaneh, interim oil minister for Iran -- are not expected in Kuwait until Sunday.

On Friday, Sheikh Ahmad said the meeting was unlikely to decide on the optimal price band mechanism for oil, which hit an all-time high of 70.85 dollars per barrel in New York on August 30 following Hurricane Katrina, which devastated refining and crude production facilities along the US Gulf Coast.

"Maybe we start to discuss the (price band) mechanism ... but there will be no resolution at this meeting," he said.

When asked what he thought was a fair price for oil, he said: "I think it is still between 35 and 55," dollars per barrel.

Hamli for his part put the fair price between 40 and 50 dollars per barrel, said WAM.

Oil prices shot above 61 dollars per barrel for the first time for more than a month in New York trading on Friday before easing to close at 59.39 dollars per barrel on profit-taking.

Dec 10 , 2005

Saturday

September

Monday

now

the second quarter

now

next month

early February

the second quarter

the second quarter

the end of January

February

the second quarter

Friday

Saturday

another period of three months

Sunday

Friday

August 30

Friday


XIN_ENG_20061129.0431

MOSCOW, Nov. 29 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Russian FM warns against discussing energy security without Russia

Discussing energy security without Russia would be unproductive, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday.

"I don't think that attempts to discuss energy security in any format without Russia could be productive and could promote energy security," Lavrov was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying in comments on NATO's debate on the issue at a summit in Riga, Latvia.

"Energy security is a subject that concerns everybody," and the interests of all key players -- suppliers, consumers and transit countries -- should be taken into account, he said.

Russia supplies about 25 percent of the gas and oil consumed in the European Union (EU), which is keen to formulate new principles of energy cooperation with Moscow.

EU leaders want Moscow to commit to the Energy Charter, a document that regulates transit and investment in the energy sector and allows for greater market competition from foreign companies. Russia, however, has so far refused to ratify the charter.

Energy security should be regulated by long-term agreements that would stabilize both supply and demand, Lavrov said.

Nov. 29 , 2006

Wednesday


WSJ891026-0014
 = 891026
 891026-0014.
 Dividend News:
@  Avon Rent-a-Car amp Truck Corp.
 10/26/89
 WALL STREET JOURNAL (J)
 AVON
 DIVIDENDS (DIV)

   AVON RENT-A-CAR amp TRUCK Corp. said it declared a dividend of one warrant for each three shares of common stock.
Currently, Avon, based in Santa Monica, Calif., has 3.3 million common shares outstanding.
About 1.1 million Class C warrants were issued, the company said.
Each of the Class C warrants will enable the holders to purchase one share of common stock at $5.50.
The warrants may be exercised until 90 days after their issue date.
Avon also said it will issue an additional 243,677 of the Class C warrants to holders of its Class A, Class B and unclassified warrants.
Issuance of those warrants will be at the rate of one-third warrant for each warrant exercised.

90 days


AFP_ENG_19970404.0264

ROME, April 4 , 1997 (AFP)

Italy weclomes Albanian refugees with mixed feelings by Anne-Marie Chapelan

While Italy prepares to lead a multinational force to Albania, it has given a mixed welcome to the influx of refugees who have fled across the Adriatic from the stricken Balkan nation.

Since March 13, around 13,000 Albanians have arrived in Italy by boat to rejoin their 64,000 compatriots there, according to officials.

The Albanian immigrant community is second only in size in Italy to the Moroccan community, estimated to number some 119,000.

Albania has been gripped by instability since anti-government protests over the collapse of bogus investment schemes turned into armed rebellion as insurgents took control of a string of towns in the south.

Amid the anarchy, and given that Albania was already Europe's poorest country, many people are desperate to escape, anywhere and anyhow.

A bid by one group to sail across to Italy ended in tragedy last week, when their tug boat collided with an Italian naval ship. Four people were drowned and scores more reported missing, presumed dead.

The influx of refugees, who have been put up in 40 reception centres, has sparked protests.

The mayors of some cities, particularly the more affluent ones in the north, have refused to host refugees. The separatist Northern League has already warned that they will bring disease to the region.

"The delinquents should be thrown back into the sea," complained Irene Pivetti, the former speaker of the lower house of parliament.

The tug boat drama "proved me right," she insisted. "These women and children were taken hostage by unscrupulous criminals. The refugees must return home."

Roberto Rambaldi, a top official with the Catholic humanitarian agency Caritas, said: "There is a hidden racism in Italy, an underlined xenophobia."

Many of the immigrants were considered "liars or burglers," he said, even though they often did work that Italians did not want, such as labouring in fields or looking after the elderly.

"Albania is a violent country which has been a fulcrum of oil and arms trafficking (toward the former Yugoslavia)," he added, "where it was easy to make money."

But the main problem was the link between organised crime in Albania and Greece and the Italian Mafia, especially in prostitution and child exploitation.

"How can a country of 57 million people, the fifth economy in the world, be afraid of thousands of refugees?" asked Luigi Manconi, spokesman of the Green party.

Left-wing and anti-racist organisations plan to hold a rally Sunday in the souther port of Brindisi in a show of solidarity with the refugees.

April 4 , 1997

March 13

last week

Sunday


AFP_ENG_20061218.0198

BAGHDAD, Dec 18 , 2006, 2006

ATTENTION - UPDATES with deaths ///

Iraqi Red Crescent aid workers suspended work in war-torn Baghdad on Monday after two dozen of their colleagues fell victim to the latest mass kidnap to shock a city plagued by sectarian violence.

At least 14 Iraqis were killed in a string of bombings and shootings as new US Defence Secretary Robert Gates prepared to take office in Washington amid deepening US divisions about how to handle the worsening crisis in Iraq.

"Only in Baghdad have we stopped, to make more pressure to free those who have been kidnapped," the Iraqi Red Crescent's secretary general Mazen Abdallah told AFP one day after the abductions.

"We are the only organisation working in all Iraq. We don't want to stop," he added, emphasising that the closure applied only to the Red Crescent's health and relief workers in the capital.

In addition to the main branch targeted in the kidnapping, the Iraqi Red Crescent has closed another 40 subsidiary offices in Baghdad, affecting more than 600 staff, a large proportion of them security guards, Abdallah said.

Thirteen of the 30 men snatched in Sunday's brazen raid by gunmen dressed in police uniforms have been released, including three guards from the nearby Dutch embassy and 10 Red Crescent guards and drivers, Abdallah added.

But 17 people, including relief and health workers -- a mixed group of Shiite and Sunni staff -- are still missing following the second mass abduction to terrorise Baghdad in less than a week.

The International Committee of the Red Cross, part of the same movement, has called for the immediate and unconditional release of the hostages, and condemned the kidnapping as a breach of international humanitarian law.

Fully aware of the ugly sectarian tensions threatening to rip Iraq apart, Abdallah said he ordered his staff not to reveal their family names while at work, in order not to disclose their religious or ethnic background.

With US experts and politicians increasingly anxious over how to manage the chaos in Iraq, where around 129,000 US troops are clashing with insurgents and training local forces to take over, a new defence secretary was to take office.

Gates, a former Central Intelligence Agency director, will be sworn in at the Pentagon just three days after his predecessor Donald Rumsfeld, blamed for the current mess in Iraq, was given a full honours send-off.

His arrival precedes the announcement of a new policy on Iraq set to be unveiled by US President George W. Bush early next year -- a new strategy that Gates is likely to be involved in shaping.

Options under consideration reportedly include boosting the number of US soldiers by between 20,000 and 50,000 to secure Baghdad, forging an alliance between moderate Iraqi Shiites and Sunnis at the expense of radicals on both sides, or even throwing the US lot in with the majority Shiites.

Bush has effectively dismissed a report by the Iraq Study Group, a bipartisan panel of foreign policy luminaries, which recommended wrapping up US combat operations in the country by early 2008.

Meanwhile, the violence continues unchecked. In Baghdad, five people were killed and 19 wounded when a car bomb exploded in a bustling marketplace in the mixed Shiite-Sunni neighbourhood of Saidiyah, a security source said.

A national electricity employee, a police colonel and a university guard were also killed in separate attacks, security sources said.

Five more civilians were killed in the Baquba area, north of Baghdad, with one attack targeting mourners accompanying bodies to the Shiite religious south for burial, police and medical sources said.

In the northern city of Mosul, unidentified gunmen ambushed and shot dead Khayreddin al-Dabbagh, a member of the municipal council, police said.

The US military also announced that two more troops were killed in action, bringing the number of US fatalities in Iraq since the 2003 invasion to 2,946, according to an AFP count based on Pentagon figures.

Dec 18 , 2006

Monday

Sunday

less than a week

three days

early next year

early 2008


XIN_ENG_20051124.0292

LONDON, Nov. 24 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Legend Best's hour are numbered, says doctor

Football legend George Best faces no chance of recovery and his final hours are numbered as his deteriorating condition was irreversible, his personal doctor said on Thursday.

Best, 59, could not recover from the internal bleeding that developed last night, Professor Roger Williams said.

Just before 1300 GMT, he said the former Northern Ireland international would not survive another 24 hours.

Family and friends have visited Best in London's Cromwell Hospital, where he has been treated for a lung infection.

Later on Thursday, Professor Williams added there had been "no change, just deterioration" in Best's condition.

When Best's closest family arrived at the west London hospital, they asked the gathered media not to film or photograph them as they went in.

Best has been in hospital for eight weeks, after initially suffering flu-like symptoms, but deteriorated with a lung infection on Friday.

Professor Williams said: "Mr. Best is coming to the end of the long road of his ill health.

"The situation is that medically the intensive care team and everybody concerned have managed to cope with pretty well all of the complications except the one that has happened again during the night - this bleeding.

"Although [the blood] has been replaced, it has now affected the lungs and other parts, and there is really no return from that situation.

"It is just not possible to recover from that."

He added: "He is still having standard medical care and treatment but I have to tell you that his hours are numbered now and it's all very upsetting."

Nov. 24 , 2005

Thursday

last night

Thursday

eight weeks

Friday

the night

affected

now


XIN_ENG_20051118.0083

TOKYO, Nov. 18 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Dollar stays at lower 119 yen level in Tokyo

The US dollar inched up to the lower 119 yen level Friday in Tokyo, as market players sold the yen following the announcement by the Bank of Japan that it is maintaining its super-loose monetary policy.

At 5 p.m., the dollar was quoted at 119.22-24 yen, up from Thursday's 5 p.m. quotes of 118.76-86 yen in New York and 118.98- 119.00 yen in Tokyo.

It moved between 118.70 yen and 119.29 yen during the day, trading most frequently at 118.90 yen.

The euro was quoted at 1.1712-1714 dollars and 139.63-67 yen against Thursday's 5 p.m. quotes of 1.1743-1753 dollars and 139.59- 69 yen in New York and 1.1654-1656 dollars and 138.66-70 yen in Tokyo.

Nov. 18 , 2005

Friday

Thursday

the day

Thursday


AFP_ENG_20061217.0145

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, Dec 17 , 2006, 2006

30 Taliban rebels killed in NATO Afghan raid

A NATO-led airstrike in southern Afghanistan this week killed up to 30 Taliban fighters including two commanders, the governor of the troubled Kandahar province said Sunday.

Warplanes from the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) bombed a compound serving as a Taliban command post in the Panjwayi district of the volatile Kandahar province on Wednesday.

The alliance at the time did not provide information on casualties, saying that toll was being assessed.

"According to intelligence reports, we've killed 30 Taliban including some of their commanders," Kandahar governor Asadullah Khalid told a news conference on Sunday, four days after the raid.

He said Taliban regional commanders Mullah Abdul Wali and Mullah Sher Jan, and low-ranking rebel commander Mullah Abdul Nafi, were among those killed in the air raid.

Hundreds of ISAF troops backed by Afghan security forces this week launched a major operation in Panjwayi, a known Taliban stronghold where in mid-September troops fought a major battle with insurgents.

More than 1,000 militants were killed in the earlier operation named "Medusa".

ISAF on Friday dropped leaflets on insurgent positions warning them to leave the area before troops force them to quit.

The governor, citing security reasons, did not provide details on the latest operation, named "Baaz Tsuka".

Despite being forced out from power five years ago, remnants of the Taliban are still active and have been carrying out fierce attacks.

Some 4,000 people, including 1,000 civilians, have died in Taliban-led violence this year, the bloodiest since the toppling of their regime in late 2001.

Dec 17 , 2006

this week

Sunday

Wednesday

Sunday, four days

this week

Friday

five years ago

this year

late 2001


XIN_ENG_20051112.0068

GAZA, Nov. 12 , 2005 (Xinhua)

PNA insists on release of all Palestinian prisoners

A senior Palestinian official said on Saturday that the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) will not reach any agreement with Israel before release of all Palestinian prisoners.

Minister of Prisoners' Affairs Sufian Abu Zayda told the Voice of Palestine that the PNA insists on releasing all the Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails without any discrimination.

Abu Zayda made the remarks after visiting ill Palestinian prisoners in Al-Ramla and Beer Sheva detentions, where some of them received medical treatment.

"The prisoners' health condition needs an immediate interference of international human rights institutions and medical teams," he said.

He accused the Israeli prison authorities of negligence toward ill prisoners.

There are reportedly more than 8,000 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.

Israel claims that it will never release those "with blood on their hands," referring to Palestinians who were involved in attacks on Israeli targets.

Nov. 12 , 2005

Saturday


XIN_ENG_20061125.0038

DAR ES SALAAM, Nov. 25 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Tanzania ready for Anoca Games

Tanzania has confirmed participation in the forthcoming Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa (Anoca) Zone Five U-20 Games.

Tanzania has thus joined Burundi, Egypt, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda in the Games to be held in Nairobi of Kenya between Dec. 1 and 5.

The Anoca Games will feature four sports of track and field, boxing, cycling and basketball.

Nov. 25 , 2006

Dec. 1


XIN_ENG_20051127.0068

KATHMANDU, Nov. 27 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Nepal

Four people were killed and 15 injured in a road accident in central Nepal on Sunday, local police office said.

The accident occurred when a passenger bus bound for Narayangarh from Pokhara skidded off the road and fell into Trishuli river on the Mugling-Narayangarh road section of Chitwan district, some 200 km west of Kathmandu, local police office said in a statement.

The mishap occurred when the bus tried to overtake a mini truck, the police noted.

The injured are undergoing treatment at the Mahendra Adarsha Hospital and College of Medical Sciences Teaching Hospital in Bharatpur, the police said, adding, the condition of three is serious.

Nov. 27 , 2005

Sunday


AFP_ENG_19970407.0268

SRINAGAR, India, April 7 , 1997 (AFP)

Four Moslem militants killed after Kashmir grenade attack

Indian border guards shot dead four Moslem guerrillas here Monday following a failed grenade attack on a police officer, officials said.

Two other militants were arrested after the shootout with the Border Security Force (BSF). A BSF spokesman had earlier said three men had been detained.

The initial attack occured in a busy street in a residential area near Islamia College, the spokesman said.

A group of militants threw a grenade and opened fire at the car of deputy superintendent of police Mohammed Shafi Pattro. He escaped unhurt.

Dozens of BSF personnel, who are deployed on Srinagar's streets, rushed to the site and cordoned off several houses from where the militants were firing.

A prolonged gunbattle followed in which four militants died. A BSF officer said: "Our men recovered four AK-47 rifles and a universal machine gun (from the place)."

It was the bloodiest gunbattle in downtown Srinagar since a pro-India Moslem party took office in Kashmir in October, ending almost seven years of federal rule in the Himalayan state.

Moslem militants are fighting for Kashmnir's independence from India. Around 20,000 people have died in the campaign since 1989.

April 7 , 1997

Monday

October

seven years


AFP_ENG_19970427.0493

JAKARTA, April 28 , 1997 (AFP)

Indonesian opposition complains of bias in campaign coverage

Indonesia's main opposition party has complained about unfair media coverage just two days into the official campaigning period, claiming that a state-owned television station was biased.

The Moslem-led United Development Party (PPP) has strongly protested "the discriminatory attitude" of the state-owned television channel Televisi Republik Indonesia (TVRI) in reporting the campaign, which started Sunday.

In a press statement received here late Sunday, PPP Secretary General Tosari Wijaya protested the fact that TVRI did not report his party's successful campaign in North Sumatra while other private television channels did.

The Media Indonesia daily Monday also reported that in Solo, Central Java, a local journalist was mobbed by supporters of the ruling Golkar party after he failed to display the party's finger sign. His motorcycle was damaged in the encounter, the daily said.

Indonesia on Monday entered the second day of its 27-day election campaign with the country's three government-recognised political parties drumming up support in separate islands.

Golkar members are scheduled to address rallies on Sumatra and Bali island, the Lesser Sunda islands and in East Timor, a party schedule show.

Golkar Chairman Harmoko, who is also information minister, is scheduled to address a rally in Aceh and North Sumatra while several other cabinet ministers are also on the list of party speakers for the day.

Executives of the PPP, without party chairman Ismail Hasan Metareum who will rest for the day after campaigning in North Sumatra Sunday, will address the population in Sulawesi and Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of Borneo island.

The third and last state-recognized party, the rift-plagued Indonesian Democracy Party (PDI), is due to campaign in Java, the Moluccas and Irian Jaya, the election campaign rooster show.

The party's campaign will not involve popular former PDI chairwoman Megawati Sukarnoputri which was deposed in mid-term by a state-backed rebel congress in June and replaced by Suryadi.

The PDI headquarters here could not say where chairman Suryadi would campaign in Java on Monday or what the plan was for the capital.

Suryadi has remained unpopular among the PDI masses and has faced frequent opposition rallies during his visits to PDI branches nationwide, especially in Java.

Megawati, daughter of founding president Sukarno, said this week that she would not take part in the election campaign but urged supporters to monitor the elections closely.

Indonesia's 124 million eligible voters will elect candidates to 425 seats in parliament in the May 29 polls, choosing from among the country's three official political parties -- Golkar, PPP and PDI. Campaigning ends on May 23.

Suharto's Golkar has had landslide victories in the past five elections since 1971, and is expected to do the same this year. Golkar has been repeatedly criticized for using government facilities and officials to gain support in the elections.

April 28 , 1997

two days

Sunday

late Sunday

Monday

second day

the day

June

Monday

this week

May 29

May 23

this year


AFP_ENG_20061201.0387

BERLIN, Dec 1 , 2006, 2006

Mubarak due for Berlin talks after 'signs of hope' in Mideast

Egyptian President Hosni Hubarak will hold talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel here on December 10 to discuss "signs of hope" for peace in the Middle East, the German government said on Friday.

"The German government has an interest to protect, nurture and support the growth of the small but fragile plant which seems to be developing," the government's chief spokesman Thomas Steg said.

He listed the positive signs as Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's conciliatory speech to mark the anniversary of the death of Israel's first premier, David Ben Gurion, and moves to encourage Hamas to exchange prisoners with Israel.

"You could say there is a glimmer of hope on the horizon," Steg said.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier started a Middle East tour on Thursday.

Mubarak's visit is part of a flurry of diplomacy as Germany prepares to take over the presidency of the European Union and the Group of Eight most industrialised nations on January 1.

Dec 1 , 2006

December 10

Friday

Thursday

January 1


XIN_ENG_20061118.0252

COLOMBO, Nov. 19 , 2006 (Xinhua)

11 killed, 17 injured in Sri Lanka road accident

At least 11 people were killed and 17 others were injured in a serious motor accident Saturday in Sri Lanka's northwestern province, police said Sunday.

A van and a bus collided head on Saturday night at Gokarella, 112 kms from the capital, the police said.

The passengers in the van were returning to the central province village of Kandalama when it was hit by the bus which was heading towards Colombo, the police added.

The bus driver told the police that he was unable to control the bus while negotiating a bend.

The injured were admitted to hospitals at Kurunegala, Dambulla and Galewela, while at least 2 of the critically injured were transported to the National Hospital in the capital.

Nov. 19 , 2006

Saturday

Sunday

Saturday night


XIN_ENG_20061130.0211

SEOUL, Nov. 30 , 2006 (Xinhua)

S. Korea to pay all its late allotted charges to international agencies

The South Korean government announced on Thursday that it will pay all its late allotted charges to affiliated international agencies by next year, one year earlier than was originally planned.

South Korea plans to pay 116 million U.S. dollars that it owes in share expenses in agencies such as the United Nations, the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, by 2007, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

The South Korea's Yonhap News Agency said the South Korean government made the decision apparently for the upcoming inauguration of former South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-Moon to the post of U.N. Secretary-general on Jan. 1 2007.

Nov. 30 , 2006

Thursday

next year

one year

Jan. 1 2007


XIN_ENG_20051115.0132

BRUSSELS, Nov. 15 , 2005 (Xinhua)

EU audit watchdog gives qualified approval to EU accounts

The European Union (EU)'s top financial watchdog has given a qualified approval of the EU accounts for 2004, the European Court of Auditors (ECA) said in a report Tuesday.

Speaking at the European Parliament plenary session in Strasbourg, France, ECA President Hubert Weber said that the court was unable to sign off the EU accounts for the 11th consecutive year, according to a press release on the EU's website.

But Weber added that compared with the previous year, the quality of the accounts had improved, with nearly one-third of EU spending ratified by the ECA, a jump from 6 percent in 2003.

However, Weber said that for a variety of spending accounts, notably agricultural spending, the court was not in a position to approve.

"The supervisory and control systems are not yet implemented and operating effectively and payments are still affected by errors," he told European legislators.

But he stressed that this did not mean that fraud was rife throughout the EU.

"The court's opinion on these matters cannot be interpreted as all transactions of the 2004 payment budget being affected by error as an indication of fraud," he said.

Agricultural spending was particularly error-strewn, Weber said, although the European Commission (EC) and national governments had improved their controls compared to the previous year.

He said that new control measures covering 59 percent of farm payments had had a positive impact "where properly applied," while checks covering 37 percent of the agricultural payments not covered by these new measures "did not provide reasonable assurance that they comply with legislation."

Weber was particularly critical of the national authorities, who account for 80 percent of budget payments, saying "the improvement in systems and controls at the level of the commission has not been reflected in those within the member states."

When urging national authorities to work more closely with the commission to identify areas for improvement, Weber suggested, for example, the scope of current checking procedures be extended to include the legality and regularity of expenditure.

Reacting to the ECA report, the European Commission said in a statement that it broadly agreed with the ECA conclusions.

The EC Vice-President Siim Kallas, who is responsible for relations with the Court of Auditors, said the report was "fair and balanced," adding that it had taken note of the improvements in the implementation of the Common Agricultural Policy and the commission's management systems.

He admitted that there was still a lot to do and called for more cooperation from national and regional governments in improving budget spending.

Nov. 15 , 2005

Tuesday

the 11th consecutive year

the previous year

the previous year


XIN_ENG_20051126.0207

LHASA,  Nov. 27 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Tibet gains 200-mln-yuan non-governmental relief fund

The Tibet Development Foundation in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous region has raised nearly 200 million yuan (24.7 million US dollars) and launched 640 supporting projects with no strings attached, according to sources of the foundation.

The supporting projects launched by the foundation cover many fields, like culture, education, medical care and ecological protection.

The Brightness Project, for instance, has helped 20,000 cataract sufferers regain eyesight since it was launched in 1993. The relief money provided by the project for medical care has amounted to 80 million yuan (9.9 million US dollars) so far.

Sunshine Program, another aid project launched by the foundation this June, has installed solar-energy stoves for 191 rural households. It has also offered other equipment powered by solar energy for free.

The foundation was initiated in 1987 by the tenth Panchen Lama and Ngapoi Ngawang Jigme, vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. Its principle is to assist the local government to further improve Tibetan residents' living standards.

Nov. 27 , 2005

this June


XIN_ENG_20051130.0007

KATHMANDU, Nov. 30 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Agro-product collection center benefits farmers in central Nepal

Farmers of Eastern Chitwan in central Nepal, who were affected by the lack of buyers and relevant market of the green vegetables they produce in their own land, have been able to increase annual income after having set up an Agro-production Collection Center in the district.

The selling and storing of vegetables in the highly equipped collection center has benefited at least 6,000 farmers of six Village Development Committee (VDCs) of this area, Chairman of the center, a non-government organization, Chudamani Bartaula told reporters on Wednesday.

Through this collection center, a total of 2.9 million kg of vegetables worth about 42.9 million Nepali rupees (612,857 US dollars) was sold last year, which has been considerably contributing in the economic development or the rural area, Bartaula said.

According to Bartaula, the local cooperative organizations have also been providing loans so as to make the business more effective and to enhance the living conditions of the farmers.

Up to now, the center has invested a total of 196,000 rupees (2, 800 dollars) as a loan to the farmers and has also been providing technical assistance in order to expand vegetable production through 228 shareholders.

Now, the commercial vegetable production is on 2,000 hectares of land in the VDCs, and the farmers of this area are becoming self-reliant gradually after the establishment of the center two years ago, Bartaula added.

Nov. 30 , 2005

Wednesday

last year

now

two years ago