XIN_ENG_20061118.0009

MELBOURNE, Nov. 18 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Police injured in clashes with protesters during G20 meeting

A number of police officers were injured during clashes with protesters at several places near the venue of a meeting of the Group 20 (G20), which is being held Saturday in Melbourne, Australia's second largest city.

One police officer was taken to hospital with a suspected broken wrist when police tried to push back protesters who tried to break barricades surrounding the Grand Hyatt hotel in central Melbourne, where finance ministers and central bank governors from 19 countries and the European Union are gathering.

They will discuss issues including world economic conditions, energy security, demographic change, climate change and International Monetary Fund and the World Bank's reforms.

The protesters are about 2,700 people from an alliance of left- wing groups, anti-war activists, environmentalists and religious organizations.

Some protesters were seen throwing garbage bins at police.

Some protesters tried to pull down the barricades and police responded by striking the barricades, yelling at the protesters to back off.

The G20 is an informal forum which first met in December in 1999 following the Asian financial crisis. It brings together Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The European Union is also a member.

The group's members represent around 85 percent of global gross domestic, product, 80 percent of world trade and two-thirds of the world's population.

Nov. 18 , 2006

Saturday

December


AFP_ENG_20061219.0278

BAGHDAD, Dec 19 , 2006, 2006

Iraq on brink of disintegration: think-tank

Iraq faces "complete disintegration into failed state chaos" a respected think-tank warned Tuesday, urging the United States to adopt a radical change of strategy to end the crisis.

The stark analysis from the International Crisis Group came as a Pentagon report confirmed that violence in Iraq has hit record levels and two weeks after a bipartisan US panel branded the situation "grave and deteriorating."

The ICG's new report endorsed the Iraq Study Group's criticisms of White House strategy, but warned the recommendations of former secretary of state James Baker's panel would not be enough to stem the bloodshed.

In particular, the Crisis Group criticised the US insistence on supporting Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's coalition government, and called instead for the international community to open talks with all Iraq's warring parties.

"The Iraqi government and security forces cannot be treated as privileged allies to be bolstered; they are simply one among many parties to the conflict," the ICG said.

"The (Baker) report characterises the government as a 'government of national unity' that is 'broadly representative of the Iraqi people': it is nothing of the sort," it said.

The ICG said Baker's report "calls for expanding forces that are complicit in the current dirty war and for speeding up the transfer of responsibility to a government that has done nothing to stop it."

Rather than blindly backing Maliki's beleaguered regime, the ICG said, Washington and other international and regional actors should adopt "a new forceful multilateral approach that puts real pressure on all Iraqi parties."

The five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Iraq's six neighbours should become an "international support group" for the country.

"But its purpose cannot be to support the Iraqi government. It must support Iraq, which means pressing the government, along with all other Iraqi constituents, to make the necessary compromises," the ICG said.

Such advice will not go down well in the White House, where President George W. Bush has held talks with a range of policy experts and Iraqi officials in preparation for announcing a change of strategy next month.

But the US leader has ruled out working with Iraq's neighbours Iran and Syria, whom he accuses of fomenting the violence, and has given his backing to Maliki, describing him as "the right man for the job."

Dec 19 , 2006

Tuesday

two weeks

next month


XIN_ENG_20061114.0304

KUWAIT CITY, Nov. 14 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Kuwaiti crude oil prices end rising trend

Kuwaiti crude oil prices have seen a halt of rising trend by dropping to 53.62 U.S dollars per barrel (dpb) on Monday, 93 cents lower than that of last Friday, local media reported on Tuesday.

Kuwaiti crude oil prices rose by 80 and 96 cents per barrel on last Monday and Tuesday, or on Nov.6 and Nov. 7, to reach 52.88 dpb and 53.84 dpb respectively.

The rising trend emerged when the prices surged up by 59 cents to 54.55 dpb on Friday from Thursday's 53.96 dpb.

Local media attributed the week-long rising trend of oil prices to the effect of Kuwait's output slash which began on Nov.1.

Global crude oil prices hovered below 59 dollars recently amid warm winter concern, which negatively affected the Kuwaiti prices, said local analysts.

With a self-boasted proven oil reserves of about 101.5 billion barrels, Kuwait now produces 2.3 million barrels of crude oil per day.

Nov. 14 , 2006

Monday

last Friday

Tuesday

last Monday

Tuesday

Nov. 7

Friday

Thursday

now


XIN_ENG_20061112.0203

SANTIAGO, Nov. 12 , 2006 (Xinhua)

26 soldiers die in Chile after bus falls off cliff into river

Twenty-six soldiers died on Sunday when a minibus carrying 31 people fell off a 15-meter cliff into a river in Chile's eighth region, 515 km south of Chilean capital Santiago, Chilean radio said.

The vehicle was carrying the Chacabuco military band from the city of Concepcion to Canete, a town in Arauco province, for a civic event.

The minivan driver lost control of the vehicle close to the Quelen Quelen Bridge, on Route 160. The bus landed in the Tucapel River, and swiftly sank.

Fire crews and the Special Operations Group of Chilean police force, the Carabinieri, rescued five people and took them to the Concepcion Regional Hospital.

Nov. 12 , 2006

Sunday

Route 160


AFP_ENG_20051203.0004

GAZA CITY, Dec 3 , 2005

URGENT  Israeli troops kill two Palestinians in Gaza Strip

Israeli soldiers shot dead two Palestinians in the Gaza Strip early Saturday, Palestinian security officials said.

Dec 3 , 2005

early Saturday


XIN_ENG_20061110.0207

JOHANNESBURG, Nov. 10 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Arafat

By Saud Abu Ramadan

GAZA, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- Two years after late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's leaving from the world, pictures of him reoccurred in the Gaza streets on Friday, a day before a two-year anniversary for his death on Saturday, showing the Palestinians' yearning for the late leader.

Abu Ibrahim Salama, a 65-year-old Gazan man, pointed a huge Arafat picture hanging in front of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) building and said, "Where are you? Where are your days? If you were here, our life would be better."

In the overpopulated poor enclave, Gaza Strip, many Palestinians like Salama still miss their historic and symbolic leader Yasser Arafat and believe that if he was alive, they would not live in such a miserable situation.

Ahmed Abu Ghazza, a 29-year-old fan of Arafat, told Xinhua that "When Arafat was alive, we were also under siege and Israeli daily offensives, but our life was going well."

He attributed it to Arafat's political skills and tactics, saying that "if he (Arafat) was still alive, Hamas would never win in any legislative elections, because Arafat would never let them win."

Palestinians faced formidable difficulties following Hamas won the legislative elections in January and thus given the mandate to form the current Hamas-led government in late March.

Hamas regime was boycotted by Israel and the international community from the very beginning because the former's adherence to destruction of Israel.

The international boycott and siege pushed the fledging Hamas government and the Palestinian people into dual plights of economy and politics.

However, the Palestinians were not immediately conscious of the significance of Arafat until they witnessed deteriorating life conditions day by day after his pass-away.

Palestinian observers believe that it because the Palestinians were too busy with other affairs to ponder the result of Arafat's leaving from the Palestinian life.

They said, since Arafat's death in a French Hospital near Paris in Nov. 11, 2004, the Palestinians have been experienced too many changes, including electing a new leader to succeed Arafat, municipal elections, the Israeli unilateral disengagement plan, the legislative elections and a new government led by Hamas.

But as time went by, the Palestinians began to be aware of what they lost with the death of Arafat, who was then given high evaluations and praises by the Palestinians from all circles.

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said on Friday that " We really don't want to turn the date of pass-away of the eternal leader Yasser Arafat into an anniversary only, because Arafat should be remembered all the time."

He said that "Yasser Arafat had passed away, while massacres are committed everyday against our people. Yasser Arafat passed away, while our internal situation remains as difficult as it is, while Palestinian blood has been shed by Palestinian hands."

Apart from Arafat's importance in politics, his personal enchantment also attracted a handful of adherents.

Mohamed Ishtayya, a former minister of housing loyal to Arafat told Xinhua that "When I met him for the first time, I really felt so proud, because he gave me the impression that he knows me for a long time."

He added that "after I worked with him closely, I found that he can name almost everyone he met before even if they had met several years ago."

"This is Yasser Arafat, the leader of the Palestinians that everyone is missing. Even in Israel, Israelis believe that he was the only man who could make peace with them," he concluded with pride.

A day before the two-year anniversary of Arafat's death, the desperate Palestinians, who are living in economic and political crisis for months, expressed their missing for the late Palestinian leader.

"I think Arafat was not only an elected president of the Palestinians, but also a leader with a special charisma," said Ahmed al-Jammali, a storekeeper in Gaza City.

Nov. 10 , 2006

Nov. 10

Two years

Friday

Saturday

January

late March

day

Nov. 11, 2004

Friday

several years ago

months


XIN_ENG_20061121.0015

DAR ES SALAAM, Nov. 21 , 2006 (Xinhua)

WTO calls for EAC trade policy review

The World Trade Organization(WTO) has called for a trade policy review by the East African Community (EAC), according to local press reports on Tuesday.

English broadsheet The Guardian quoted a WTO Secretariat's trade policy review released earlier this month as urging Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda to improve their multilateral commitments on both goods and services so as to increase their attractiveness to investment and business.

The WTO review expressed concerns to the multiple and sometimes overlapping regional trade arrangements of the three EAC member countries.

Apart from their own Customs Union, Kenya and Uganda are also members of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern African ( COMESA) while Tanzania is a member of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and is also a signatory to the Agreement on the Global System of Trade Preferences Among Developing Countries (GSTP).

COMESA is a preferential trading bloc that was formed in December 1994 to replace the Preferential Trade Area that had existed since 1981. Tanzania quit COMESA in 2000.

SADC, yet to become a full-fledged customs union, is a regional economic integration union that was formed in April 1980 when it was known as the Southern African Development Coordination Conference.

The WTO review noted that though the EAC member states are free to negotiate bilateral trade arrangement, their overlapping arrangements have caused problems in such aspects as difficulties in identifying origins of products for taxability, in that COMESA and SADC are governed by different protocols.

The East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) is scheduled to debate in early December multiple membership with regional trading blocs so as to solve an eligibility dispute.

The EALA, the legislative arm of the East African Community, will start trading bloc membership debate on Dec. 5 when the East African parliament for Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda meets in Arusha.

Nov. 21 , 2006

Tuesday

this month

December 1994

April 1980

early December

Dec. 5


AFP_ENG_19970410.0100

HONG KONG, April 10 , 1997 (AFP)

US giant enters HK market for paper-free commerce

The US company EDS on Thursday signed a deal giving it a stake in a Hong Kong firm that is developing the use of electronic transactions between companies, a statement said.

Under the deal, EDS will become an equal partner with three other major shareholders in Transportation Community Network Ltd., which is promoting the use of paperless transactions in Hong Kong through its operator Cargonet.

EDS and CargoNet also agreed on a "strategic alliance" to develop the sector among trade and transport companies in Hong Kong and the neighbouring province of Guangdong, the two firms said in a joint statement.

Electronic commerce service is regarded as the latest area of growth in computer networking.

Under it, companies negotiate, conclude and conduct transactions entirely by computer, something that offers a potentially huge saving in costs.

Companies carry out this business via a data centre operated by the information service provider, which makes its money by charging customers a subscription fee.

"After launching in 1995 and achieving a significant client base in 1996, CargoNet is poised for major growth in 1997," CargoNet chairman Richard Pearson said.

"The whole field of electronic commerce is evolving rapidly, and EDS' commitment and support will help maintain a decisive technological lead."

EDS, a provider of information services, is an independent, publicly- owned company listed in New York and London.

It had income of 14.4 billion US dollars last year, with a payroll of 100,000.

A spokeswoman for CargoNet said she was unable to provide any financial details of the agreement signed Thursday.

The other major shareholders in Transportation Community Network are three local firms: HIT Holdings Ltd.; Kenwa Communication Cp. Ltd.; and CSSL.

April 10 , 1997

Thursday

last year

Thursday


XIN_ENG_20051116.0158

NAIROBI, Oct. 16 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Marathon star Tergat foresees "world class battle" in London

World marathon record holder Paul Tergat thinks next year's London Marathon will provide an opportunity for a new world-class battle, local media reported Wednesday.

"I am looking forward to facing a great competition on a fast course. Everybody wants to be there," Tergat was quoted by newspaper Kenya Times as saying.

According to the newspaper, the World Food Program's ambassador against hunger and patron of the IAAF's "Athletes for a Better World" charity project, gave a special press conference in Milan in which he spoke about his dramatic win in the 2005 New York Marathon and his future running career.

The former five-time world cross country champion said he is looking forward to future challenges including the next London Marathon on April 23, 2006 which will feature a rematch with Hendrick Ramaala, and another encounter with Haile Gebrselassie who ran 2:06:20 in Amsterdam on October 16, the fastest time in the year.

The Kenyan marathon star also took a chance to look back at his New York achievement.

In one of the most memorable marathon finishes in history on November 6, he just managed to defeat defending champion Ramaala of South Africa after a breathtaking neck and neck battle which ended with his 2:09:30 victory.

"I am recovering from a grueling race which was really a dramatic and painful experience", said Tergat.

"It was a psychological fight in the final 60 meters. The final five miles run on a hilly course were very tough. The key for my success in the final sprint was my mind which enabled me to beat Ramaala into the finish line. It is from my mind that I found the strength to win this dramatic race. I never lost faith in my capabilities."

"When Hendrick Ramaala and Alberico Di Cecco launched their attacks to break away from the rest of the field I did not follow them but focused on running my own race."

Asked if it was more important for him to set a world record in Berlin or to win in New York, he said: "Berlin was very special for me. It was my first win in the marathon after some defeats in my first attempts over the distance and I broke the world record running 2:04:55."

"In New York, I came back from some hamstring problems after my eighth place in London Marathon, to take the second win of my marathon career at the end of an exciting and thrilling battle. I knew that millions of Kenyans watched me in New York via TV, so this win was very important for them."

Tergat also said he is not thinking yet about retirement. "I want to continue for some years. But at the moment it is unlikely that I will run at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. But I can't rule it out. It depends on my fitness. What motivates me is passion for running. It is not a question of age but of mind which is the key for my success."

Oct. 16 , 2005

Wednesday

April 23

October 16

the year

November 6

some years


XIN_ENG_20051123.0176

BEIJING, Nov. 23 , 2005  (Xinhua)

this year

China's foreign trade of electronic and machinery products is expected to hit 780 billion US dollars this year, growing 25 percent year on year, the International Business Daily quoted an official with the Ministry of Commerce as saying.

Li Minglin, director of the Machinery and Electronic Product Import and Export Department under the ministry, also predicted China's process trade this year to hit 690 billion US dollars, up 25 percent.

As a main driving force of China's foreign trade, the trade of electronic and machinery products will continue to grow stably, thanks to a domestic investment rise and further opening of the Chinese market, he said.

Although China's export of electronic and machinery products is growing robustly, unstable factors such as fluctuations in the international trade structure, raw material supply shortages and a Renminbi exchange rate change will have a negative impact, he said.

China's innovation capacity in this area is still weak, lacking independent property rights and core technologies, he said.

In the next five years, China will optimize its industrial structure and encourage the export of machinery and electronic products with high technology and independent intellectual property rights, he said.

Nov. 23 , 2005

this year

year

this year

the next five years


AFP_ENG_19970409.0100

SUVA, April 9 , 1997 (AFP)

Fiji agrees to more ethnic seats in new parliament

Fiji's political leaders agreed Wednesday to retain more ethnic-based seats than open seats in parliament under a new constitution being negotiated here.

The decision was reached unanimously by a 25-member parliamentary select committee appointed to negotiate consensus on a new charter to replace the post-coup document widely seen as racist.

By agreeing to a majority of ethnically elected seats, the review committee has rejected the guiding principle of a three-man commission which reviewed and reported on constitutional reform.

The commission headed by Sir Paul Reeves, former governor general of New Zealand, had recommended 45 open or nationally elected seats as opposed to 25 ethnically elected seats in a 70-member new Parliament.

In a statement late Wednesday, the committee said it had agreed to "the principle of retaining a larger percentage of communal seats and a smaller percentage of open seats."

Details would be worked out later, the committee said.

The select committee last week endorsed a multi-racial cabinet under a new constitution in what Indian leaders immediately hailed as one of Fiji's most significant political concessions since the 1987 coups.

Fijian provincial councils have recently been vocal in their rejection of the Reeves Report recommendation and want instead a majority of seats to be contested on an ethnic roll.

Constitutional talks were adjourned until Monday to allow for a two- day meeting of the Great Council of Chiefs beginning Thursday.

April 9 , 1997

Wednesday

Wednesday

last week

Monday

day

Thursday


XIN_ENG_20051103.0048

BEIJING, Nov. 3 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Japan, DPRK talk over abduction issue, wartime compensation

No conclusion has been reached yet in the one-on-one meeting between the delegations of Japan and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), and they pledged to continue the talks, said head of the DPRK delegation Song Il-Ho here Thursday.

The two sides started their bilateral talks in the Chinese capital Thursday morning, aiming to settle the abduction issue and Japan's wartime compensation to the DPRK, he said.

Before the afternoon session, Song, also vice director of the Asian Affairs Department of the DPRK Foreign Ministry, told reporters they would possibly talk about the abduction issue in the afternoon.

The meeting between the two countries is to "solve problems," said Song, demanding that the Japanese government do something about its compensation for the past problems.

After the morning session, Song told reporters that both sides stated their positions during the opening session in a "good" atmosphere.

Akitaka Saiki, head of the Japanese delegation and deputy head of the Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, said the two sides had "serious exchanges on items of mutual concern."

Diplomatic sources here said the talks are expected to last at least two days.

Prior to the two-way talks between Japan and the DPRK, Li Bin, Chinese ambassador for Korean Peninsula Affairs, met with Akitaka Saiki Wednesday evening. They exchanged views on how to proceed in the next round of the six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue.

Nov. 3 , 2005

Thursday

Thursday morning

the afternoon session

the morning session

two

Wednesday evening


XIN_ENG_20051119.0177

MOSCOW, Nov. 19 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Chechen PM recovers from kidney operation: report

Chechen Prime Minister Sergei Abramov, who underwent a kidney surgery after a car accident two days ago, is in normal condition and "feels well", the Interfax news agency quoted his aide as reporting on Saturday.

"No one has any doubt any more that the operation was successful. Abramov feels well. However, the doctors have decided to ban access to his room to any outsiders" except his wife and aide, Abramov's aide Tamerlan Mingayev said.

According to the aide, for the past 24 hours dozens of people, including the prime minister's friends, colleagues and representatives of the Chechen government, the Federation Council, the State Duma and other bodies, have come to the hospital, wishing to see Abramov and to ask about his health.

"Abramov is already trying to sit up in bed," Mingayev said. Abramov didn't hit his head during the accident and didn't suffer any cranial or brain injury. He can cope with everything else, the aide was quoted as saying.

In an earlier interview with Interfax, Chechen Health Minister Shakhid Akhmadov, who had arrived at the Central Clinic Hospital, also said the surgery had been successful and that Abramov was out of danger.

The Chechen prime minister was seriously injured in a traffic accident in Moscow on Thursday evening. The accident occured when the car, in which Abramov was riding on his way to the airport for a flight to Chechnya, collided with a truck.

A spokesman for the Chechen administration in Moscow, Ziyad Sabsabi, ruled out the possibility of an assassination attempt on Abramov, the Interfax news agency reported.

The Chechen republic is expected to hold a parliamentary elections on November 27. Abramov was appointed prime minister of the Russian republic in March 2004.

Nov. 19 , 2005

two days ago

Saturday

the past 24 hours

Thursday evening

November 27

March 2004


AFP_ENG_19970415.0497

KINSHASA, April 15 , 1997 (AFP)

Former Zairean PM Kengo flees country: spokesman

Former Zairean Prime Minister Kengo wa Dondo has fled the country and the government is thinking of charging him with treason, government spokesman Kin Kiey Mulumba told reporters Tuesday.

The spokesman said that Zaire's war chest funds were empty and that the government believed Kengo was responsible.

Officials were thinking of issuing an international arrest warrant against Kengo, he said, commenting: "We would like to get that money back."

April 15 , 1997

Tuesday


AFP_ENG_20051215.0658

NEW YORK, Dec 15 , 2005

China's Yao leads West vote getters for all-star game

China's Yao Ming is the leading Western Conference vote-getter with 729,178 votes after the first returns of the 2006 NBA all-star balloting programme, announced Thursday.

Tracy McGrady leads forwards in voting from fans around the world who are responsible for picking the starters for the 55th NBA All-Star Game, which will be played in Houston on February 19.

The Rockets (8-12) are in last place in the Southwest Division due in part to a back injury that has forced McGrady to miss eight games.

Yao is a three-time All-Star averaging a career-high 19.5 points and 9.10 rebounds and McGrady is averaging 24.0 points, 7.3 rebounds and 4.7 assists.

A five-time All-Star, McGrady has garnered 600,507 votes and is followed by Minnesota's Kevin Garnett with 469,497.

Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers is the top vote-getter among Western Conference guards with 664,744 with reigning league Most Valuable Player Steve Nash second with 562,846.

Cleveland forward LeBron James is the leader among Eastern Conference players with 665,849 votes, 19,764 more than Miami Heat center Shaquille O'Neal.

Dec 15 , 2005

Thursday

February 19


WSJ891101-0072
 = 891101
 891101-0072.
 Kimberly-Clark Corp.
@  Net Income Rose 20%
@  In the Third Quarter
 11/01/89
 WALL STREET JOURNAL (J)
 KMB
 EARNINGS (ERN)
PULP, PAPER, PACKAGING (ALL TYPES) (PUL)
 DALLAS

   Despite continuing problems in its newsprint business, Kimberly-Clark Corp. posted a 20% gain in third-quarter net income.

   The consumer-products and newsprint company said net rose to $108.8 million, or $1.35 a share, from $90.5 million, or $1.12 a share, a year ago.
Sales rose 6.2% to $1.45 billion from $1.37 billion.

   After a flat second quarter tied largely to lower newsprint earnings, Kimberly-Clark attributed the gain to improved results in its consumer businesses in North America, Brazil and Korea.
Those gains came from higher prices, particularly for disposable diapers and tissue products, and from increased sales, primarily for feminine-care products, the company said.
Newsprint results continued to be depressed, the company added, because of industrywide price discounting.

   The quarter-to-quarter comparison was also enhanced by charges taken in the year-earlier period, including $11 million related to the modernization of a pulp and newsprint mill in Alabama.
In the 1989 period also, interest expense and tax rates were lower than a year ago.

   In the first nine months, profit rose 10% to $313.2 million, or $3.89 a share, from $283.9 million, or $3.53 a share.
Sales rose 6.7% to $4.27 billion from $4 billion.

   In New York Stock Exchange composite trading, Kimberly-Clark closed at $66.50 a share, up $1.50.

third-quarter

a year ago

a flat second quarter

the year-earlier period

the 1989 period

a year ago

the first nine months


AFP_ENG_20061229.0096

JAKARTA, Dec 29 , 2006, 2006

corrected repetition ///

Indonesia is aiming for zero human cases of bird flu next year as its strategy of poultry vaccination and increasing public awareness appears to be paying off, officials said Friday.

Indonesia has the highest number of fatalities from the H5N1 strain of bird flu, with 57 deaths from 74 confirmed cases. The most recent fatality was that of a 35-year-old woman on November 28.

Mass vaccination of poultry had proved successful in slowing down infection rates, said Bayu Krisnamurthi, head of the national committee for control of avian influenza.

"We are aiming for zero cases of human infection by next year," Krisnamurthi told reporters.

The vast majority of human cases have occurred after contact with infected poultry.

"International organisations such as the FAO (UN Food and Agriculture Organization) are now more convinced that vaccination, the method that we have chosen, has started to show good results," he said.

"Particularly after the latest cases in China and Vietnam, it is proven that mass culling does not guarantee that the environment is free from the virus."

Vietnam has reported no new human cases since November 2005, but animal outbreaks have been reported in three provinces over the past week.

Krisnamurthi said the ratio of confirmed to suspected cases had dropped significantly since the bird flu committee was established in March.

"This is important because it means people's awareness of the disease has increased. People are more willing to report and be examined by doctors," he said.

Indonesia has not reported any new cases of human infection since November 28. Since October, 14 provinces have not reported any new outbreaks among poultry.

"Unfortunately this does not guarantee that (the province) is bird flu free," he said.

Aceh province, not among the 14, had reported an outbreak after six months without a case.

Krisnamurthi also announced a substantial increase in spending on prevention of bird flu and pandemic preparedness.

International funding would nearly double, from 35 million dollars this year to 65.54 million dollars in 2007, while government spending would rise from 56 million to 61 million.

He acknowledged that some areas, in particular the vaccination program, remained under-funded.

"We have 60 to 70 million doses of vaccine for 2007. That is about 10 percent of what we need to effectively vaccinate chickens raised in backyard farms."

For 2007, Indonesia would maintain its priorities of continuing with public awareness campaigns and moving to restructure the poultry industry.

"We see the importance is not only to face bird flu, but also to prepare the industry for any other animal-sourced diseases in the future," said Krisnamurthi.

Scientists fear the H5N1 strain of the virus could mutate to become easily transmissible among people, which could in turn lead to a global flu pandemic with a potential death toll of millions.

H5N1 has killed more than 150 people worldwide since late 2003, and triggered the mass slaughter of tens of millions of poultry.

Dec 29 , 2006

next year

Friday

November 28

next year

November 2005

the past week

March

November 28

October

six months

this year

future,

late 2003


XIN_ENG_20051102.0005

JAKARTA, Nov. 2 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Indonesia's infrastructure projects to create 1.9 mln jobs

The infrastructure projects the government will begin to implement in January 2006 are expected to absorb 1.9 million work force, Manpower and Transmigration Minister Fahmi Idris said.

After the completion of a number of infrastructure projects such as roads, bridges and their supporting facilities, some 1.9 million of the work force would find employment, Antara news agency Wednesday quoted the minister as saying on Tuesday.

Some 800,000 people have joined the ranks of the unemployed in various sectors this year, according to Fahmi.

On the other hand, the government would deregulate and eliminate bureaucracy in many sectors to improve the business climate. For example, the government would lower terminal and container handling charges at sea ports, he said.

The government would also shorten the procedures investors have to follow to begin their business in Indonesia. So far it takes more than 100 days for investors to obtain their operating licenses. This lead-time would be cut to a few weeks.

The government also plans to annul regional government regulations that are hampering investment, he said.

Nov. 2 , 2005

January 2006

Wednesday

Tuesday

this year

few weeks


XIN_ENG_20061101.0158

JAKARTA, Nov. 1 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Indonesia sees 0.86 pct inflation in October

Inflation in Indonesia was recorded at 0.86 percent in October as the government is moving closer to achieving a single-digit figure this year, according to a report Wednesday.

The consumer price index (CPI) in all commodity groups rose in October, the Central Statistics Agency said in its latest report.

The CPI in foodstuff was up by 2.17 percent, in food, beverages, cigarettes and tobacco 0.64 percent, in housing, water, electricity, gas and fuel 0.26 percent, in clothes 1 percent, in health services 0.29 percent, in education, tourism and sports 0.1 percent and in transportation, communication and financial services 0.46 percent.

The agency also reported year-on-year inflation eased to 6.29 percent and cumulative inflation in the first 10 months of 2006 stayed low at 4.96 percent.

The government has forecast 2006 inflation of below 8 percent.

Nov. 1 , 2006

October

this year

Wednesday

October

the first 10 months


XIN_ENG_20061123.0138

BEIJING, Nov. 23 , 2006 (Xinhua)

China's State Post Bureau to cooperate with Alibaba in e-commerce

China's State Post Bureau (SPB) will provide delivery services and on-line payment support to e-commerce giant Alibaba.com.

Under a framework agreement, the express mail service (EMS) under China's largest deliverer, would be recommended by Alibaba's on-line payment platform Alipay to its customers.

Alibaba president Ma Yun said the cooperation would help solve the problem of delivery that bottlenecks the country's burgeoning e-commerce.

Most commodities traded on-line in China are delivered by regular mail, small and medium-sized express companies or standard EMS services, which are either too slow or too costly, especially for long-distance deals.

The SPB will develop a special EMS service, 40 percent cheaper than the standard service, for on-line traders at Taobao.com, an Alibaba subsidiary and the country's most popular consumer-to-consumer marketplace, said director Yuan Guoli of the SPB's delivery bureau, without revealing details.

The "special EMS service" will be piloted in Hangzhou, capital of the southern Zhejiang Province, at the end of the year, before being expanded to nationwide next year.

Industry insiders say the strategic partnership could reduce the costs of delivery through large-scale negotiation, and prevent e-commerce fraud as the EMS would check the delivered commodities.

Meanwhile, on-line buyers can remit the payments through post bureaus to their Alipay accounts instead of solely relying on bank cards as they do now, according to the agreement.

The agreement follows moves by the SPB to set up an on-line bookstore and philatelic center at Taobao.com, and a simultaneous issue of greeting cards and special stamps for the New Year on the website and at the bureau's outlets on Nov.1.

Founded in 2003 with an investment of 450 million yuan (56.25 million U.S. dollars), Taobao.com has six million registered users.

By June 30, about a quarter of China's 123 million Internet users were regularly engaged in on-line shopping, 50 percent more than the same time last year, according to the China Internet Network Information Center.

Nov. 23 , 2006

the end of the year

next year

now

June 30

last year


XIN_ENG_20051122.0148

JERUSALEM, Nov. 22 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Israeli warplanes attack Hezbollah target in south Lebanon

Israeli warplanes attacked a suspected Hezbollah target in south Lebanon on Tuesday, local newspaper Ha'aretz reported.

Witnesses were quoted as saying that the Israeli jets fired rockets at the post near the border village of Abayseh, just north of the Lebanon-Israel border.

There was no immediate word on casualties.

The air strikes broke a tense calm along the Israel-Lebanon border on Tuesday, after the Hezbollah attacks sent Israelis to bomb shelters across the north on Monday.

At least four Hezbollah gunmen were killed on Monday trying to kidnap soldiers from outposts of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) on the Lebanese border, and seven Israeli soldiers and four civilians were wounded in the series of clashes.

This was considered the broadest Hezbollah attacks since Israeli army withdrew from south Lebanon more than five years ago.

Hours before the Tuesday air strike, IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz said that Israel has a " very diverse basket" of military means at the ready.

"We are ready with a basket of operations. The basket of means in our hands is very diverse, and we will know how to use it with judgment," Halutz said.

As an armed group in Lebanon, Hezbollah played an important role in fighting Israel, which ended its 22 years of occupation in south Lebanon in May 2000.

Defying a UN Security Council resolution in September 2004 to disarm, the pro-Iranian group vowed to keep fighting Israel and defending Lebanon.

Nov. 22 , 2005

Tuesday

Tuesday

Monday

Monday

five years ago

Tuesday

22 years

May 2000

September 2004


XIN_ENG_20061114.0089

SEOUL, Nov. 14 , 2006 (Xinhua)

S.Korea, UAE to sign agreement on military cooperation

South Korea and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are expected to sign a military agreement this week to strengthen their cooperation, the South Korean Defense Ministry said Tuesday.

South Korean Vice Defense Minister Hwang Kyu-sik, who left for the UAE on Tuesday on a four-day trip, will sign an agreement with UAE officials on Wednesday, the ministry said, adding that the agreement would help increase exchanges between the two countries' militaries as well as their defense-related industries.

Hwang was also expected to discuss ways to expand South Korea's exports of weapons to the UAE during his visit, the ministry said.

Nov. 14 , 2006

this week

Tuesday

Tuesday

Wednesday


XIN_ENG_20051104.0255

STOCKHOLM, Nov. 4 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Norway's dual role in Sri Lanka peace talks under fire

Norway's role in Sri Lanka has come under fire during the nation's election campaign, Norwegian Broadcasting reported on Friday (NRK).

Norway is both facilitating the peace talks between Colombo and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) as well as leading the international observer force in Sri Lanka.

"It is unfortunate that Norway is both mediating between the two sides in the civil war, and at the same time heading the observer force which is supposed to criticize those who break the ceasefire," a spokesman for the Sri Lanka Democracy Forum said to NRK.

"Norway will consider withdrawing from the leadership of the international observer force," said Norway's International Development Minister Erik Solheim.

He underlined, however, that such a move must be taken in close cooperation with the two sides in the conflict.

Nov. 4 , 2005

Friday


XIN_ENG_20051129.0176

JOHANNESBURG, Nov. 29 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Axed South African deputy president declines comment on rape investigation

Former South African deputy president Jacob Zuma Tuesday declined to comment on an ongoing investigation against him led by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) over allegations of rape, saying that he would reserve comment until after the investigation had been completed.

A number of media reports had speculated that Zuma would announce his resignation as deputy president of the ruling ANC on Tuesday should he be charged formally.

A media release issued by lawyer Michael Hulley on behalf of Zuma said that they'd been advised by members of the South African Police Service that the investigation into the alleged rape remained incomplete, and that more time was warranted in order to complete the investigation under the direction of the NPA.

"We acknowledge that the SAPS are the appropriate agency to deal with allegations of such a serious nature and that they should be allowed to complete their work free from interference and speculation.

"In the circumstances, Zuma, out of respect for due process, will reserve any further comment on the matter until such time as the SAPS have completed their work."

"We feel that such an approach is in keeping with the integrity with which the police have dealt with the investigation, in contrast with that of some media organizations," the statement said.

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) received a docket from the police on allegations last week. It has to decide whether Zuma should be prosecuted.

Immediate comment from the NPA on Zuma's statement was not available.

According to various media reports, a 31-year-old woman said she was raped at Zuma's house in Forest Town, Johannesburg, in early November.

Zuma has denied the rape allegation. He goes to court in July next year to defend himself against charges of corruption, which he has also denied.

Many of Zuma's supporters believe there is a campaign against him to stop him becoming the next president of the African National Congress.

Nov. 29 , 2005

Tuesday

last week

early November

July next year


XIN_ENG_20051115.0005

ISLAMABAD, Nov. 15 , 2005 (Xinhua)

4th Ld: Two bomb blasts in southern Pakistan kill at least four

At least four people were killed and several others injured on Tuesday morning in two bomb blasts in the southern Pakistani port city of Karachi, according to local TV reports.

One blast occurred near the Pakistan Industrial Development Corporation (PIDC). Another blast occurred outside a foreign food restaurant, said the Karachi police chief Mushtaq Shah.

Two five-star hotels are located close to the bomb blast site.

Shah said that investigation into the blast has started. Police have sealed the blast site.

Several cars were also damaged and widows of the nearby building shattered.

Ambulances rushed to the site to take the injured to hospitals.

Nov. 15 , 2005

Tuesday morning


XIN_ENG_20051110.0246

BRUSSELS, Nov. 10 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Declining birth rate puts brakes on population growth in Netherlands

Population growth in the Netherlands is curbed both by declining birth rate and increasing number of emigrants, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reported Thursday.

New births in the first nine months of 2005 fell to 142,000, 4, 000 less than the same period of 2004, while 89,000 people moved out of the country in the same period, an increase of the same margin than a year before.

The population increased by less than 25,000 in the first nine months of 2005. This is 7,000 less than in the same period of 2004, CBS figures show.

Population growth started slowing down in 2000. In the first nine months of that year the number of inhabitants increased by over 90,000.

The birth rate is expected to decrease even further over the next few years, said the CBS.

It is expected that 190,000 children will be born in the whole year of 2005, whereas some 207,000 children were born in the year 2000. The number of births is expected to drop below 180,000 by 2010.

A major cause of the decline is the falling birth rate in the early 1970s, which means the number of women aged around 30 is decreasing. Then there is the downward effect of the unfavorable economic situation, said the CBS.

There are more and more children whose parents remain unmarried. In the first nine months of 2005, one in three children was extra- marital, compared to one in six 10 years ago. Almost half of all first children born in 2005 were born outside marriage.

On Jan. 1, 2005 there were a quarter of a million unmarried couples with children. Ten years earlier there were less than 100, 000.

Nov. 10 , 2005

Thursday

the first nine months

the same period of 2004

a year

the first nine months

the same period of 2004

the first nine months

that year

the next few years

the whole year of 2005

the year 2000

the early 1970s

the first nine months

six 10 years ago

Jan. 1, 2005

Ten years

less than 100, 000


AFP_ENG_19970427.0116

PARIS, April 27 , 1997 (AFP)

Air France Europe guarantees 60% of flights despite strike

The management of Air France Europe said it could guarantee 60 percent of flights Sunday, despite a decision by pilots to extend a strike until Monday.

The most severe disruption was expected on flights from Paris' Orly airport to the three main southern cities of Nice, Marseille and Toulouse.

Almost all these flights were cancelled on Friday and Saturday, but AFE said "some" would be running Sunday.

All flights from Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport would be running as usual, as well as flights between provincial towns.

The strike was called in protest over the conditions of the carrier's merger with state-owned Air France.

April 27 , 1997

Sunday

Monday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday


AFP_ENG_20061221.0033

SYDNEY, Dec 21 , 2006, 2006

Australian shares close down 0.43 percent on resource selling

Australian share prices closed down 0.43 percent Thursday, retreating from Wednesday's record highs as investors sold resource stocks after metal prices fell in overnight trading, dealers said.

They said profit taking also weighed on the local market while rises in banking stocks provided support.

The benchmark SP/ASX 200 fell 24.3 points to 5,583.5 from yesterday's record high of 5,607.8, while the broader All Ordinaries Index shed 25.2 points to 5,561.7, from Wednesday's record high of 5,586.9.

Dec 21 , 2006

Thursday

Wednesday

yesterday

Wednesday


APW19980501.0480
 NEWS STORY
 05/01/1998 09:13:00

w2844 Cx1f wstm-
r w Cx13  Cx11  SETTING-THE-STAGEsked     05-01 0665

 SETTING-THE-STAGE sked

MALAYSIA
Setting the stage for Net convergence, NEW STRAITS TIMES-MANAGEMENT TIMES
QL
xfdws SETTING-THE-STAGE sked
Emerging Markets Datafile
April 30, 1998
NEW STRAITS TIMES-MANAGEMENT TIMES
ENGLISH
COPYRIGHT 1998 BY WORLDSOURCES, INC., A JOINT VENTURE OF FDCH,
INC. AND WORLD TIMES, INC. NO PORTION OF THE MATERIALS CONTAINED
HEREIN MAY BE USED
IN ANY MEDIA WITHOUT ATTRIBUTION TO WORLDSOURCES, INC.

MALAYSIA'S aggressive move into the information age could not come in a more opportune time.
With the convergence of communications and information
technologies (IT) coupled with the coming of age for the Internet
and its related technologies, the stage is set for Malaysians to seize the chance to transform into a knowledge society and become
worthy opponents/players in the global market space.
The Internet, the global network of computers, is now far reaching into the country - extending its embrace to include every
nook and cranny of the nation - opening doors to not only a diverse
range of information sources but also an exhaustive list of
possibilities to create new applications which add value to
people's lives.
In the business world, the Internet - through intranet and
extranet solutions - has become an invaluable tool for companies to
harness so as to gain a competitive edge.
The solutions are also vital components in developing the
borderless marketing flagship application which is a vital element
for spearheading the development of the Multimedia Super Corridor
(MSC) project.
The application will create the necessary framework and
infrastructure to support electronic commerce (e-commerce)
initiatives in the country.
However, it is important to note that installing or implementing
Internet technologies for technology's sake would not ensure
instant success.
For e-commerce to flourish with full-blown end-to-end business
transactions, strategic planning which incorporates both business
and technology plans that are complementary is necessary for an
organisation to see feasible returns on investment.
Intranets, through the use of Internet technology, are positioned as a platform for companies to optimise, expand and
transform new channels of business.
When strategically implemented, an intranet solution will provide the ability to mediate mission-critical, decision support
functions in organisations. It will also help further improve
communications and collaboration at all levels in an organisation.
With intranets in place, it is only logical for organisations to
respectively link the network to other companies' for extended
business purposes through extranets.
While this will enable the sharing of information among
enterprises, security issues such as firewalls and encryption as
well as access and control procedures, and the trust levels that
enterprises have with each other will emerge and there will be a
need to address them.
Other than usage in business, Internet technology is also beginning to infiltrate the lifestyle domain. ``Smart homes'' have emerged bringing a wealth of information and entertainment to
families over telecommunications lines.
The art of socialising is also experiencing a change where
Net/virtual relationships are fast overtaking or becoming parallel
with the normal human relationships.
Whether this would prove positive or otherwise towards society
in the future is yet to be seen.
All in all, the Internet has a lot to offer. However, its value
and benefits are only as good as how we use it.

Copyright 1998 NEW STRAITS TIMES-MANAGEMENT TIMES all rights
reserved as distributed by WorldSources, Inc.
(PROFILE
(WS SL:SETTING-THE-STAGE sked; CT:w;
(REG:ENGL;)
(LANG:ENGLISH;))
)

AP-NY-05-01-98 0913EDT

05/01/1998 09:13:00

time

the future


XIN_ENG_20061127.0142

RAMALLAH, Nov. 27 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Afghanistan eager to earn prestige when coming back to sports family

By sportswriter Liu Yang

DOHA, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- History was made in 2004 when the six-member Afghanistan team entered the Athens Olympic Games. Two years later, Afghanistan is eager to earn prestige from the sports world in Doha Asian Games.

"After being a long time away from the sports family, now we are entering the family again," Din Mohammad Safi, the Chef de Mission, told Xinhua.

The flag-raising ceremony for Afghanistan delegation was held in the Athletes' Village on Monday.

"We lost some prestige during the war. We came back here to earn the prestige of the sports world. And we want to find what we lost in the past," he said after the ceremony.

The south Asian country Afghanistan, with a population of 26 million, could not achieve so much success in the international sports due to its political unsettle and wars within the country.

Roia Zamani won bronze for Afghanistan in the women's 72kg taekwondo at the 2002 Busan Asian Games.

"Afghanistan TV stations also came to Doha to broadcast the competitions, and the Afghan people are quite enthusiastic with the Asian Games," Safi said.

"Winning or losing is not important for our delegation. We want to learn from the Asian Games, and be a part of the sports family. "

It has a long tradition of sports as Afghanistan first competed in the Berlin Olympic Games in 1936. Its best result came from wrestler Mohammed Ebrahimis who finished fifth at Tokyo Olympiard in 1964.

In the Athens Games, Afghanistan sent women for the first time in the 100m track event and judo but did not win any medal.

For a country devastated by the wars, Afghanistan needs the helping hands from the sports family.

"Our young people need the sports to change their life and we have asked for help from some sports federations."

"China is the sports powerhouse in Asia, and we have contacted our embassy in Doha, hoping China to send some coaches to our country," Safi said.

Nov. 27 , 2006

Nov. 27

Two years

now

Monday


XIN_ENG_20051123.0352

CARACAS, Nov. 23 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Road accident kills 19 in central Venezuela

Nineteen people were killed and several others injured in a bus-truck collision in central Venezuela on Wednesday, said Venezuelan Deputy Director for Land Transportation Ivan Noguera.

Noguera told reporters that the cause of the crash, which happened on a highway across a valley in the Miranda state, had not been finally determined. But he said the heavy rainfall hours before the accident could be blamed for the tragedy.

Firemen, the National Guard and other rescuers were sent to the spot of the collision.

According to a local fire brigade officer working at the scene, signs on the spot showed that because of overspeeding the bus lost control and swerved into the opposite lane, colliding with the truck carrying Coca Cola products.

The people injured in the accident have been hospitalized. Police are conducting further investigation into the accident.

Nov. 23 , 2005

Wednesday


AFP_ENG_19970405.0043

HANOI, April 5 , 1997 (AFP)

Hanoi sets up commission for new trans-Vietnamese highway

Hanoi has set up a commission to oversee the construction of Vietnam's second main road artery linking the north to the south of the country, a report said Saturday.

The first of the Southeast Asian country's major infrastructure projects will be completed through a mass moblisation of Vietnamese workers.

The 12-member road commission is headed by Prime Minsiter Vo Van Kiet and which includes several ministers.

"This is a major project which will use the labour of milllions of people," Kiet was Saturday quoted as saying by the daily Vietnam News.

The "Truong Son" highway will be built parallel to the existing main road which runs along the country's coast and is exposed to floods and typhoons.

The new 1,800-kilometer (1,125-mile) road will follow some of the route of the famous Ho Chi Minh trail which was the major supply route of the communist forces fighting the Americans during the Vietnam war.

It will link the capital Hanoi with the southern hub of Ho Chi Minh City and will initially have two lanes which will later be expanded to four and then to six in some places after 2002.

The feasability study for the project is expected to begin in June and work should start next year. The total cost of the project will could come to as much as 5.5 billion dollars.

April 5 , 1997

Saturday

Saturday

June

next year


XIN_ENG_20051110.0193

PARIS, Nov. 10 , 2005 (Xinhua)

IEA revises down forecast for growth of oil demand in 2005, 2006

The International Energy Agency (IEA) said Thursday that it has revised down its forecast for the growth of world oil demand this year and next year.

In 2005, global demand for oil would rise by 1.5 percent to 83.3 million barrels per day, and by 2.0 percent to 85.0 million barrels per day in 2006, the IEA said.

It has lowered its forecast for the growth of global oil demand by 70,000 barrels per day to 1.20 million barrels per day for 2005 and by 90,000 barrels per day to 1.66 million barrels for 2006.

"With crude and product prices now below pre-hurricane levels and refinery and crude capacity returning, the market appears to have weathered the storm," said the IEA in its monthly report.

"But while spot prices are below their peaks, it must not be forgotten that just a few months ago 60-dollar per barrel crude prices reflected extreme market tightness. Moreover there is potential for further tightness to emerge, particularly if the weather (in the northern hemisphere) turns cold and recent buoyant economic growth continues," said the report.

Nov. 10 , 2005

Thursday

this year

next year


XIN_ENG_20061117.0259

HANOI, Nov. 17 , 2006 (Xinhua)

ties

U.S. President George W. Bush on Friday reiterated his support for Congressional approval at a earliest time of his country's Permanent Normal Trade Relations ( PNTR) with Vietnam.

The visiting U.S. president said this when meeting with Vietnamese State President Nguyen Minh Triet. A bill on the PNTR was voted down at the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this week.

The U.S.-Vietnam relationship is multi-faceted and forward looking, said a joint statement between the two countries issued after the two leaders' talks.

The two leaders reiterated their efforts to ensure that bilateral relations are stable, constructive, broad-based, and conducted on the basis of equality and mutual benefit.

The two presidents also discussed the growing cooperation between the two countries to address regional and global concerns, the statement said.

They pledged to increase cooperation to halt the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and related technology and materials in accordance with international and national laws and each country's capacities.

The two presidents also discussed the cooperation on the health issue and agreed to further strengthen cooperation on combating bird flu and HIV/AIDS, and the settlement of environmental contamination near former dioxin storage sites.

They expressed satisfaction with progress on resolving outstanding issues from the Vietnam War, and agreed that the two sides would continue cooperation in this respect.

Triet reaffirmed his government's continued efforts to assist the United States to ensure the fullest possible accounting for Americans who remain missing in action, through both joint and enhanced unilateral actions.

Bush invited Triet to visit the United States in 2007, and the Vietnamese president accepted the invitation, said the statement.

Bush arrived in Vietnam on Friday for a four-day official visit to the country. He will also attend the 14th APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) Economic Leaders' Meeting on Saturday and Sunday.

Nov. 17 , 2006

Friday

this week

Friday

Saturday and Sunday


AFP_ENG_19970430.0284

MANILA, April 30 , 1997 (AFP)

Philippines lodges formal protest over Chinese vessels

The Philippine foreign ministry summoned Beijing's ambassador to Manila on Wednesday to protest at the presence of armed Chinese vessels in the disputed Spratlys, an official said.

"I formally gave him the details of the reported sightings," said Delia Rosal, executive director of the department's Asia and Pacific Affairs, after meeting China's envoy, Guan Dengming.

"I (conveyed to) him the Philippine concern about this incident," she added.

The Philippine military reported to Ramos on Tuesday that three armed "frigate-type" Chinese vessels were spotted by Air Force reconnaisance aircraft Friday off Philippine-garrisoned Kota and Panata islands in the disputed South China Sea chain.

The Philippines and China are among six countries which claim the supposedly oil-rich South China Sea chain in whole or part, the others being Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam.

April 30 , 1997

Wednesday

Tuesday

Friday


WSJ891026-0042
 = 891026
 891026-0042.
 Anheuser-Busch, Slugging It Out, Plans Beer Price Cuts
@  ----
@  By James P. Miller
@  Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal
 10/26/89
 WALL STREET JOURNAL (J)
 BUD
 BEVERAGES (BVG)
MARKETING, ADVERTISING (MKT)
EARNINGS (ERN)

   Anheuser-Busch Cos. said it plans to aggressively discount its major beer brands, setting the stage for a potentially bruising price war as the maturing industry's growth continues to slow.

   Anheuser, the world's largest brewer and U.S. market leader, has historically been reluctant to engage in price-cutting as a means of boosting sales volume.
With the passing of the heady days of swelling industry sales, however, the once-sporadic and brief forays into discounting are becoming standard competitive weapons in the beer industry.

   Over the summer, Anheuser competitors offered more and deeper discounts than industry observers have seen for a long time.
Some experts now predict Anheuser's entry into the fray means near-term earnings trouble for all the industry players.

   The St. Louis company said major rivals, Philip Morris Co.'s Miller Brewing unit and Adolph Coors Co. "have been following a policy of continuous and deep discounting for at least the past 18 months" on their premium brands, pricing their product as much as 25 cents a 12-pack below Anheuser's Budweiser label in many markets.
Anheuser said it's discounting policy basically would involve matching such moves by rivals on a market-by-market basis.

   Anheuser-Busch announced its plan at the same time it reported third-quarter net income rose a lower-than-anticipated 5.2% to $238.3 million, or 83 cents a share, from $226.5 million, or 78 cents.
Third-period sales were $2.49 billion, up from last year's $2.34 billion.

   Anheuser said its new strategy -- started in some markets last month and expected to be applied soon in selected markets nationwide -- will mean lower-than-anticipated earnings for the last half of 1989 and for 1990.
The projection sent Anheuser shares plunging $4.375 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading yesterday.
The stock closed at $38.50 on heavy volume of about 3.5 million shares.
Shares of Coors, the company's sole publicly traded major competitor, fell $1.50 apiece to $19.125 in national over-the-counter trading, apparently on investor concerns over potential fallout from the coming pricing struggle.

   Anheuser noted that "beer industry sales volume is 1989 is following the trend that has characterized the last half of the '80s, with sales volume being essentially flat" while consolidation creates fewer, bigger players.

   "We cannot permit a further slowing in our volume trend," Anheuser said, adding it will take "appropriate competitive pricing actions to support our long-term market share growth strategy" for the premium brands.
Anheuser said it continues to hold to its earlier-announced goal of a 50% U.S. market share by the mid-1990s.

   Beneath the tepid news-release jargon lies a powerful threat from the brewing giant, which last year accounted for about 41% of all U.S. beer sales and is expected to see that grow to 42.5% in the current year.
"Anheuser is the biggest guy in the bar, and he just decided to join in the barroom brawl," said Joseph J. Doyle, an analyst with Smith Barney, Harris Upham amp Co.
"It's going to get bloody."

   Jerry Steinman, publisher of Beer Marketers Insights, a trade newsletter, said Anheuser's announcement means "everybody else in the industry is going to have a difficult time reaching their profit objectives."

   Prudential-Bache Securities Inc. analyst George E. Thompson downplayed the importance of the announcement, and called any comparison between the coming beer-industry tiff and the seemingly unending "cola wars," unwarranted.
Mr. Thompson calls discounting "a loser's game for anyone without a dominant market share," and projected that Anheuser's statement of intent could simply be a means of warning competitors to ease up on price-cutting or face a costly and fruitless battle.

   Mr. Thompson noted that the disappointing earnings, which fell five cents a share short of his own projections, contributed to the sell-off by an edgy and currently unforgiving investing public.

   But Smith Barney's Mr. Doyle, who yesterday trimmed his 1990 Anheuser earnings projection to $2.95 a share from $3.10, called the market's reaction "justified."
While the third-quarter earnings were a "moderate disappointment," he said, "the real bad news is the intensity of price competition" in the premium-beer sector.

   According to Mr. Steinman, the newsletter publisher, Anheuser's market share is nearly twice that of its nearest competitor, Miller Brewing, which had a 21.2% stake last year.
It's followed by Stroh Brewery Co., which has agreed to sell its assets to Coors.
Both Coors and Stroh have recently been ceding market share to Miller and Anheuser.

days

summer

now

at least the past 18 months

third-quarter

last month

the last half of 1989

yesterday

the last half of the '80s

the mid-1990s

the current year

yesterday

third-quarter

last year


XIN_ENG_20051112.0131

FOSHAN, Guangdong, Nov. 12 , 2005 (Xinhua)

modern ROK

China and the Republic of Korea (ROK) share great similarities in cultural background and some Chinese classic culture can be found intact in modern ROK, said Bae Jhong-shin, vice minister of culture and tourism of the ROK.

He made the remarks here on Saturday at the ongoing 7th Asia Art Festival, which opened on Friday in Foshan, south China's Guangdong Province.

The ROK culture has exerted much impact on the Chinese youth who tend to imitate the hairstyles, dressing styles and even life styles from imported ROK TV series. Some Chinese media called this phenomenon "the blowing of a strong Korean wind" in China.

Chinese traditional virtues like benevolence, loyalty in marriage and respect for the older generations are also shown in the ROK society today, said Bae.

He said in history the ROK conducted many cultural exchange activities with its close neighbor China, and both countries share similar values. The ROK has also been deeply influenced by Chinese classic culture, and some of the elements can be neatly shown in the current ROK society, he added.

The ROK people began to import books, Confucius thoughts and advanced technologies from China some two thousand years ago, and gradually the two countries have reached consensus in many aspects of culture. Bae said that the ROK people attach great importance to teenage education on filial piety, which means to respect the older generations. Teenage education on traditional values is also one of the measures they are taking to combat cultural westernization, which most Asian countries are faced with.

"Most countries are faced with heated global competition of culture and arts,"Bae said. "How to integrate into cultural globalization while preserving local arts is the problem we are trying to resolve."

Bae said the ROK TV series have also absorbed some elite western culture and properly integrated them into the local life. "That's one of the reasons why our TV series are quite popular in China and some other Asian countries," explained Bae.

A total of 22 artistic troupes from 21 Asian countries will present their performance in the seven-day Asia Art Festival, while a forum is also held here for Asian cultural ministers to discuss prospective cultural cooperation.

Nov. 12 , 2005

Saturday

Friday

today

two thousand years ago


XIN_ENG_20051108.0116

CHONGQING, Nov. 8 , 2005 (Xinhua)

environment

Urbanites suffer the phobia that the whole world has deserted them only because they forget to bring their cellphones. Trendies, though not necessarily high earners, buy a new handset every three months. Cellphones embedded with diamonds are sold at 210,000 yuan each (25,900 US dollars).

In booming China, cellphone is not just a communication device, but also a luxury and a symbol of one's status and taste, said Sun Yuanming, a sociologist with the Chongqing Municipal Academy of Social Sciences.

Ministry of Information Industry says the Chinese were throwing away 70 million cellphones a year by mid 2004, according to the latest data available.

Piles of deserted cellphones -- most of which worked perfectly though weren't stylish enough -- have overloaded the resource-thirsty Chinese economy and threatened its environment with massive electronic waste, whose proper disposal remains a problem.

On top of it, to buy a trendy cellphone every three months is not a piece of cake even for many extravagant consumers.

"I saved for six months and was even ready to cut my meals to buy that cellphone. It cost 5,000 yuan (616 US dollars) but is worth it -- it has a superb lens and make very good videos," said a junior clerk at a Beijing bank, surnamed Yu.

This is already his third cellphone in two years, though Yu makes less than 4,000 yuan (493 US dollars) a month, nearly two thirds of which has to repay his housing loan.

"Most customers are more interested in the accessory functions of cellphones: whether they play MP3, shoot videos or have the latest games," said Liu, a sales clerk at a Beijing-based store.

Three years after the first camera phone debuted in 2002, China's mobile communication market is in full bloom with novel cellphone brands and diverse functions.

"In most American and European markets, a cellphone is just a communication device and it doesn't matter much how it looks. In China and some other Asian countries, however, a phone has to be fashionable to catch the buyers' eyes," said Liu.

Nearly 60 percent of China's mobile subscribers are in the market for a new cellphone; 12.8 percent of them buy a new handset every six to 12 months and 24.4 percent buy one every 12 to 24 months, according to a recent survey by China Center of Information Industry Development (CCID).

At the end of 2004, there were 25.7 mobile phones for every 100 Chinese, which exceeded the world average, statistics released at the 2005 China Mobile Telecommunications Terminal Development Forum showed.

It also predicted that the number of mobile phone subscribers in China would top 380 million by the end of this year, and soar to 520 million by 2008 and 600 million by 2010.

Incompatibility between different brands and even between different cellphones from the same manufacturer simply produces more waste.

Suppose each subscriber buys a new cellphone every three years, and each cellphone is equipped with two batteries and one charger, an average 200 million batteries and 100 million chargers become wastes every year.

"In fact, most people absent-mindedly put their outdated cellphones away -- after all, it's not easy to throw away something that used to cost dearly," said Sun Yuanming, a Chongqing-based sociologist. "But the proper disposal of these e-wastes remains a problem in the long run."

Lithium batteries and chargers contain copper, aluminium and plastics that are not degradable and threaten the environment, says Wang Xiaoming, an expert with Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau. "Besides, deserted cellphones also contain precious metal. It'd be a huge waste if the valuable materials are not recalled for reuse."

Nov. 8 , 2005

every three months

mid 2004

three months

six months

two years

Three years

every 12 to 24 months

the end of 2004

the end of this year

every three years

every year


XIN_ENG_20061109.0274

BEIJING, Nov. 9 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Proportion of private companies in China's exports to rise

Private sector in China would keep on growing and its proportion in the national exports is expected to reach 35 percent by 2010, said sources with All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce (ACFIC).

Last year, private businesses achieved about 20 percent of China's exports and it has a strong momentum of growth, show statistics with ACFIC.

According to the statistics with the Ministry of Commerce, China's total exports were 762 billion U.S. dollars in 2005, 57.3 percent of which are made by foreign companies in China.

The proportions of private businesses in exports of electronic and machinery products as well as hi-tech products are growing fast and will reach 50 percent and 20 percent respectively by 2010, said the federation.

Meanwhile, China's total investment abroad is expected to reach 60 billion U.S. dollars in 2006-2010 period, more than half of which would come from the private sector, according to the federation.

Nov. 9 , 2006

Last year

2006-2010 period


XIN_ENG_20051123.0102

LONDON, Nov. 23 , 2005 (Xinhua)

British pubs to get longer opening hours

About one-third of the pubs, clubs and shops in England and Wales licensed to sell alcohol are to get longer opening hours, a research conducted by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) suggested on Wednesday.

Britain's new licensing laws which allow pubs to apply for 24-hour drinking in some areas come into force at midnight Wednesday.

Researchers found 60,326 outlets will now be able to sell alcohol longer. But so far only 359 pubs and clubs get 24-hour licences.

Licensing Minister James Purnell said the new laws would be coupled with the "toughest ever crackdown on alcohol fuelled violence."

A rise in the number of arrests could be a measure of the success of powers in the Licensing Act, he said, adding that premises which sell to underage youngsters including supermarkets will be putting their licence at risk.

"There should be a very clear principle here -- that if people are not causing harm to others, government should get out of their personal lives," said Purnell.

The survey results come after ministers warned that the introduction of more relaxed licensing laws on Thursday is likely to lead to an increase in alcohol related arrests.

But Mark Hastings from the British Beer and Pub Association welcomed the changes.

"We've been saying for a long time that the result of this change would be a relatively modest increase in overall licensing hours, that 24-hour opening was an urban myth, and certainly 24-hour drinking would be an urban myth," he said.

"What we're actually seeing is that at last in this country adults are going to be treated like grown-ups and given a little bit of choice about having a social life beyond 11 o'clock at night," Hastings noted.

Nov. 23 , 2005

Wednesday

Wednesday

Thursday


XIN_ENG_20051115.0153

BEIJING, Nov. 15 , 2005 (Xinhua)

China to take measures to protect foreign citizens: FM spokesman

The Chinese government is taking effective measures to ensure the safety of foreigners and foreign organizations in China, Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao told a regular press conference here Tuesday.

Liu was commenting on a warning on the US embassy website that it had received credible information that a terrorist threat may exist against official US government facilities in Guangzhou, the capital of south China's Guangdong province.

"China's public security departments organized a meeting as soon as it received the message from the US embassy." Liu said, adding that China is taking the report seriously and will respond responsibly.

The US embassy published the warning on its website on November 13. The website also indicated that the threat may also exist for places where Americans are known to congregate or visit, including clubs, restaurants, places of worship, schools or outdoor recreation events.

Liu emphasized that the Chinese government always attaches great importance to the safety of foreign nationals and organizations in China.

"The Chinese government has taken effective measures and will continue such efforts to guarantee personal safety of foreign citizens here." Liu said, "I believe that with these measures and increased awareness of self protection, foreign citizens will continue to enjoy living, working, traveling and studying in China."

Nov. 15 , 2005

Tuesday

November 13


AFP_ENG_20061214.0224

ABUJA, Dec 14 , 2006, 2006

ATTENTION - ADDS quotes from Kuwait, Venezuela, background ///

OPEC oil ministers agree on the need to restrict their oil production but have not decided on the timing of an output cut, Algeria's energy minister said Thursday.

"I think there is a consensus for a reduction but we don't know if it is going to be applied straight away or later," Chakib Khelil told reporters.

OPEC ministers were meeting in the Nigerian capital Abuja to discuss their production policy. A formal decision was expected later Thursday.

The Libyan representative to the 11-member group, Shukri Ghanem, said that OPEC would decide to keep its production target of 26.3 million barrels per day (bpd) unchanged.

"My impression is that there will be no cut today," he said. "If there is a need (to cut), we will do it, but not today."

The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, whose members produce about one third of global oil supplies, decided in October at a meeting in Doha, Qatar to cut their output by 1.2 million bpd.

"We are satisfied with what's going on. The decision of Doha was great, I think. The market is stable now," said Kuwaiti Energy Minister Sheikh Ali Jarrah al-Sabah.

OPEC decided to cut production by 1.2 million bpd in October to stem falling oil prices, which had dropped from about a high of 78 dollars per barrel in July to about 58 dollars at the time of the meeting.

Indonesian Energy Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro suggested that the group would meet again early next year, possibly to take a decision to cut production.

"The market is stable. I may propose to have some kind of meeting before the entering of the Spring session, before March," he said. "Because you know in Spring, demand is slowing."

World oil futures climbed on Thursday ahead of the meeting.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in January, rose 30 cents to 61.67 dollars per barrel in electronic deals before the official opening of the US market.

In London, Brent North Sea crude for January delivery gained 23 cents to 61.56 dollars in electronic trading.

In assessing their production policy, OPEC members are mindful that the coming winter months in the northern hemisphere are the peak oil period of the year.

Analysts have warned that a cut could send prices back to uncomfortably high levels, which OPEC would want to avoid.

Nevertheless, Venezuelan Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez repeated his call for a further cut of 500,000 bpd, adding that compliance to the reduction in October should be observed.

"We want to get out of the market 500,000 bpd from the existing level," he said.

Actual production has been cut less than announced in October, analysts say, with the real reduction estimated at between 500,000-800,000 barrels per day because of over-production by some members.

Dec 14 , 2006

Thursday

Thursday

today

October

now

October

July

early next year

March

Spring

Thursday

January

January

coming winter months

the year

October

October


XIN_ENG_20061109.0106

SINGAPORE, Nov. 9 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Singapore shares end higher

The shares prices in Singapore closed higher on Thursday with the benchmark Straits Times Index ( STI) rising 10.3 points to end at 2,745.6 points.

The overall volume stood at 1.541 billion shares worth 1.1802 billion Singapore dollars (about 755.4 million U.S. dollars).

Gainers led losers by 319 to 276 with another 715 unchanged.

On Wednesday, the STI fell 13.9 points to end at 2735.3 points.

Nov. 9 , 2006

Thursday

Times

Wednesday


XIN_ENG_20061101.0391

PHNOM PENH, Nov. 2 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Roundup: Phnom Penh well-prepared for influx of 1.5 million visitors on Water Festival

Dragon boat races, fireworks and other celebrations are expected to attract around 1.5 million visitors into the Cambodian capital around the Water Festival from Nov. 4 to 6, and the municipal government has been fully mobilized to embrace the annual heat, local media said on Thursday.

Pa Socheatvong, Phnom Penh's Deputy Governor, estimated that the population of the city will double during the festival, but said the government has got well-prepared for the rush.

"I think we have arranged enough toilets for the crowds of people and boat races this year," he was quoted by the Cambodian Daily as saying.

Some 50 provisional toilets, along with the already-installed 30 permanent public toilets, will be more than enough to handle private problems of the incoming visitors.

Meanwhile, some 2,300 policemen, 660 armed forces and 800 official security guards will be deployed to ensure the order during the celebrations, according to reports of Jian Hua Daily.

The police have made a detailed plan to keep the city bustling but safe, it added.

In addition, the municipal government has established seven technical groups respectively in charge of security, health, information, fireworks supervision, boat management, decoration and secretariat, so as to improve its overall control of the activities, according to reports of the Commercial Daily.

Major roads will be blocked against motor vehicles during the festival in order to avoid traffic jam, it said.

Dragon boat races are the most hilarious celebration of the festival, for which more than 20,000 participants have arrived to play over 400 boats on the Mekong River.

The Water Festival is one of the most important festivals in Cambodia, for which people celebrate ebb tide and ensuing re- surface of land. Additionally, water is also a symbol of life and birth in the eyes of the Cambodians.

Nov. 2 , 2006

Nov. 4

Thursday

the festival

this year

the festival


AFP_ENG_19970428.0215

SANAA, April 28 , 1997 (AFP)

Yemeni ruling parties in lead in violence-hit elections by Acil Tabbara

Yemen's two ruling parties looked set Monday to win the country's first legislative elections since its 1994 civil war, as police announced that 16 people were killed in polling-day violence.

International observers described Sunday's polls as generally fair despite the clashes, the worst of which was a shooting in southern Yemen in which eight people died.

The interior ministry also hailed the smooth running of the elections, saying it had expected far worse violence in a country where practically all men carry firearms.

"From a technical point of view, everything went smoothly, with only minor problems," one of the 116 international observers in Yemen said.

"It can be compared to the best elections in the Arab world, for instance those in the Palestinian territories and then Lebanon or Jordan," the Western observer added, asking not to be named.

Yemen is the only country on the Arab peninsula to have a parliament elected by universal suffrage.

The General People's Congress (GPC) of President Ali Abdallah Saleh said early results showed it would scoop most of the 301 parliamentary seats, with its erstwhile coalition partner Al-Islah winning 70 seats.

The fundamentalist Al-Islah announced Monday that its chief, tribal leader Sheikh Abdallah al-Ahmar, had been elected, while unofficial sources said Saleh's eldest son Ahmad had won his first seat for the GPC in the capital Sanaa.

Competition between the GPC and Al-Islah, who fought a bitter election campaign, was especially tight in the main southern city of Aden where the two parties will win seats for the first time.

Southern Yemen was formerly ruled by the Yemeni Socialist Party (YSP) which boycotted the elections, complaining of a lack of national reconciliation.

Final results are not expected to be announced before Monday or Tuesday.

Yemeni voters were not deterred by the violence and turned out in force, the government said, putting the turnout at 80 percent.

The Western observer, however, estimated the national average turnout at about 65 percent, dropping to 50 percent in some areas of southern Yemen.

The worst violence came in Abyan province in south Yemen, where a soldier sprayed a polling station with gunfire, killing six other soldiers and two party officials.

In Maarib in eastern Yemen, independent candidate Saad al-Qardahi died during a clash, police said without giving further details.

Five people were killed in Aamran and Al-Jawf north of Sanaa in fights between GPC and Al-Islah supporters, while two civilians died in an ambush by tribal rivals in Dammar, around 100 kilometres (62 miles) south of the capital.

Even before Sunday three people had been killed in the run-up to elections in impoverished Yemen, where 60 million firearms circulate among the 16 million strong population.

Interior Minister Hussein Arab said voting day had gone better than expected.

"The authorities were expecting many more incidents, as the elections in Yemen did not please everyone," the minister said late Sunday.

It was Yemen's first legislative polls since the civil war when government troops crushed an attempt spearheaded by the YSP to re- establish the former Marxist republic of South Yemen, which merged with the north in 1990.

April 28 , 1997

Monday

Sunday

Monday

Monday or Tuesday

Sunday three

late Sunday


XIN_ENG_20051104.0201

BEIJING, Nov. 4 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Experts: Sino-Russian space cooperation "beneficial, win-win"

China and Russia pledged to deepen long-term cooperative relations in the space sector, with focus on joint development of large projects, which will bring about mutual benefits and win-win results, said the space experts.

According to the joint communique issued at the 10th regular meeting between Chinese and Russian prime ministers, the two sides agreed to "explore the possibility of cooperation in the moon and deep space exploration" as well as joint development of large space projects.

The progress and achievements China has made in the space sector is indispensable to the signing of the long-term space cooperation program between China and Russia, said Wu Guoting, researcher with the China Space Technology Institute, in a interview with Xinhua.

Russia proposed to cooperate with China on lunar and deep space probe projects, which demonstrates its confidence on the Sino-Russian space cooperation, he said.

China is still at the initial stage in the lunar and outer space probe and the Sino-Russian cooperation in the sector will speed up China's pace in space exploration and avoid many detours, said Pan Houren, a researcher with the Space Science and Application Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Wang Yongzhi, chief designer of China's manned-space project, urged to expand space cooperation scale, particularly in the joint development of the large space projects, adding it will benefit space development on both sides.

Nov. 4 , 2005


AFP_ENG_20051205.0473

BRUSSELS, Dec 5 , 2005

ATTENTION - ADDS quotes, background ///

European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso slammed new EU budget proposals by the bloc's British presidency as "unacceptable" and unfair to its poorer new member states.

Speaking shortly after the new plans were unveiled in London, he slammed them as a "minimalist" proposal which could only fund a "mini Europe" rather than the EU including 10 new mostly ex-communist states which joined last year.

"As it is the UK presidency proposal is unacceptable. It is simply not realistic. This proposal amounts to a budget for a 'mini Europe', not the strong Europe that we need," he said.

"It has not yet struck the right balance between the member states. In particular the propsals needs to become fairer for new member states," he added.

The British proposals are aimed at breaking a budget deadlock in time for an EU summit in Brussels next week.

The main stumbling blocks have been Britain's refusal to surrender its long-cherished rebate, and French resistance to calls for reform of generous farm subsidies.

In the new proposals, Prime Minister Tony Blair's government pledged to forgo eight billion euros of its EU rebate in 2007-13 to help cover the cost of enlargement. In addition funds for the new EU member states would be cut.

Barroso said there was a contradiction between wanting the EU to play a bigger global role while cutting its funding.

"Some people say ... 'we need a Europe with ambition in terms of trade, in terms of dimension, in terms of competitiveness'. But afterwards when it comes to the financial means there is no ambition at all.

"There is a contradiction there," he said.

Dec 5 , 2005

last year

next week


AFP_ENG_19970416.0254

PARIS, April 16 , 1997 (AFP)

Lebanese jet-setter buys Tapie yacht: report

A Lebanese multi-millionairess has anonymously purchased a yacht formerly owned by disgraced politician Bernard Tapie, a French newspaper reported Wednesday.

Mouna al Ayoub, ex-wife of a close friend of Saudi Arabia's King Fahd, has bought the four-master "Phocea" for 36.5 million francs (6.3 million francs), according to the daily Le Figaro.

The administrators selling off the bankrupt former soccer boss's assets announced a few days ago that the 74-metre (250 foot) yacht was being sold to Tranquil Ltd, a company based in the British Virgin Islands.

Le Figaro said the company was a front for the Lebanese jet-setter, who it said had homes in Paris and Majorca, and lived for 18 years with her husband in a Riyadh palace.

Despite its price tag, the "Phocea" is in one sense a consolation prize compared to a 105-metre vessel, the "Lady Mouna," which she used to sail in, but which belongs to her ex-husband.

Tapie is currently serving an eight-month jail term over a football match-rigging scandal.

Ironically, on Tuesday he was allowed out of jail under day-release terms to work for a shipbuilding firm run by a former colleague -- which previously did maintenance work on his own former yacht.

April 16 , 1997

Wednesday

few days ago

18 years

Tuesday


XIN_ENG_20061110.0157

ISLAMABAD, Nov. 10 , 2006 (Xinhua)

U.S. Congress elections not affect Pakistan-U.S. relations: FM

Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri has said that the outcome of recent elections in the United States would not affect Pakistan-U.S. relations.

In an interview with state-run Pakistan Television (PTV) on Friday, the foreign minister said Pakistan enjoyed special relations with the United States whose policy toward Pakistan had bipartisan support in the U.S. Congress.

He said that the policy of both the parties, the Republicans and Democrats, was based on the 9/11 Commission Report, which stressed the centrality and importance of Pakistan for regional and international peace and security.

He added the new Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, and other leaders of Democratic Party during their election campaign had stressed the necessity of faithful implementing the 9/11 Commission's recommendations.

"This ensured continuing support to Pakistan," said Kasuri.

Kasuri said due to its strategic location and the vital role it played in regional peace and security, Pakistan remained an important country not just for the United States but also for the European Union, China, Russia, Japan, the Islamic World as well as other countries of the world.

He added that Pakistan was following a policy of constant engagement with important countries. It was, therefore, immaterial who controlled the U.S. Congress, he said.

Kasuri said the numerous Congressional delegations that visited Pakistan and with whom he interacted, contained top leaders from both the parties.

He said former U.S. President Clinton, the best known leader of the Democratic Party, had recently invited President Musharraf to attend Clinton Global Initiative in New York where he was the only leader from Asia.

This was indicative of importance of Pakistan and of President Musharraf in the eyes of leaders of both Republican and Democratic parties, he said.

On the recent visit of the U.S. Assistance Secretary of State Richard Boucher, Kasuri categorically denied the reports that he carried a secret message to Pakistan.

He rubbished the reports that any country could dictate to Pakistan. The foreign minister stressed that Pakistan did what it found to be in its best national interest.

Nov. 10 , 2006

Friday


XIN_ENG_20061120.0215

NEW YORK, Nov. 20 , 2006 (Xinhua)

U.S. stocks trade higher

U.S. stocks traded higher on Monday, after U.S. leading indicators of economic activity increased 0.2 percent in October.

In the midday trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 3.70, to 12,346.26. The Standard  Poor's 500 index gained 2.19 to 1,403.39, and the Nasdaq composite index climbed 7.44 to 2,453.30.

The Conference Board said Monday that leading indicators of the U.S. economic activity increased 0.2 percent in October, suggesting slow growth will continue through the winter and into the spring.

"The impact of a slower housing market on consumers and slower profit growth on business isn't completely offset by lower gas prices and a rising stock market," said Ken Goldstein, labor economist at the Conference Board.

Nov. 20 , 2006

Monday

October

Monday

October

the winter and into the spring


XIN_ENG_20051116.0324

BERLIN, Nov. 16 , 2005 (Xinhua)

German stocks end lower

German stocks ended lower Wednesday in the Frankfurt Stock Exchange for the first day in six.

The 30-share benchmark DAX Index fell 0.57 percent to 5,081.46 points with 19 stocks falling.

The fall was led by Europe's third-largest utility RWE AG after reporting poor earnings. RWE fell 2.2 percent to 56.55 euros.

The index of medium-sized firms, MDAX, slipped 0.31 percent to 6,976.49 points.

The index of high-tech stocks, TecDAX, was down 0.86 percent to 574.82 points.

Nov. 16 , 2005

Wednesday


AFP_ENG_20061220.0721

BEIJING, Dec 21 , 2006, 2006

China tightens oversight of state pension funds

China's national social security fund will oversee nine provincial governments' pension programs in a move aimed at centralising control of retirement plans and stopping corruption, state press reported Thursday.

The China Daily said the new arrangement follows supplements worth 10 billion yuan (1.3 billion dollars) doled out from central government coffers to supplement the provinces' own pension holdings.

The National Council for the Social Securities Fund, which will oversee the program, has promised a minimum of 3.5 percent annual investment return and said it would also shoulder any losses in the five-year arrangement.

The management overhaul is a response to the far-reaching graft scandal that involved city officials in the misuse of Shanghai's 1.25 billion dollar pension fund, with money there being spent on speculative property and highway projects.

The financial scandal, which first emerged in July, ensnared scores of senior Shanghai officials and felled the city's top politician, Chen Liangyu.

It is believed the new system will help ensure transparency in the management and supervision of social security funds.

"The move is aimed at ensuring the pension fund (is) invested and managed more efficiently and safely," the report quoted Xiang Huaicheng, chairman of the council and a former finance minister as saying.

China's National Audit Office said in a report in November that by the end of 2005 a total of 7.1 billion yuan of pension funds had gone missing.

The National Council for Social Securities Fund currently manages roughly 220 billion yuan of China's pensions.

The country also has about 100 billion yuan in local pension funds, mostly corporate annuities, that have been contributed to by companies as employee retirement benefits apart from basic social security.

Provincial and municipal governments currently decide how those pensions are invested and usually do not employ professional asset managers or custodians.

As a result, a substantial portion of the money is held in investments such as real estate projects and long-term loans without public accountability and subject to low liquidity and high risk.

Dec 21 , 2006

Thursday

July

November

the end of 2005

currently


XIN_ENG_20051120.0037

DHAKA, Nov. 20 , 2005 (Xinhua)

by Pan Xiaozhu

Entire capital city Dhaka and its surrounding areas have been brought under "terror alert" following an intelligence report about possible militant bomb attacks ahead of opposition's planned grand rally in the city on Tuesday.

According to the intelligence report, the banned Islamist outfit the Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) blamed for country- wide bomb blasts on Aug. 17 which left three people killed and over 150 others injured, has again planned for a series of bomb attacks in the capital city.

Different groups of the said militant outfit are trying to dispatch a huge quantity of high explosive to Dhaka through land or riverine routes.

The JMB is also trying to gather its some highly trained cadres along with the members of "suicide squad" to accomplish their mission.

The JMB might go for blasting high-powered explosives in Dhaka to eliminate opposition and ruling party leaders, high officials including judges and also general people.

In this regard, being directed by the high-ups of the government, a security blanket has been rolled down the capital city since Saturday evening where surveillance was also increased at all the entrance and exit points by setting up additional check posts.

At the same time, the security forces including the para- military the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) and Rapid Action Battalion ( RAB) have been put on high alert across the country to prevent any possible terrorist activity by the suicide bombers of JMB.

Meanwhile, 14 opposition political parties headed by Awami League has planned a huge anti-government showdown at a grand rally on Nov. 22 in the capital where opposition leader Sheikh Hasina will announce a comprehensive road map to realize their demands for bringing reforms to caretaker administration and the Election Commission to hold influence-free and neutral polls under a non-partism caretaker government.

Political sources said the Awami League-led 14 parties are likely to issue a one-month ultimatum for the government from the grand rally to concede to their demands.

The opposition planed to gather 2.5 million people on the day in the capital. Leaders of the opposition threatened that agitation would spread out across the country from Nov. 22 if the government obstructed people from joining the grand gathering.

The government has decided to take all the necessary security arrangements with the deployment of 15,000 security personnel including RAB, BDR, police and armed police to ensure smooth holding of the planned grand rally of the opposition.

Against the backdrop of last year's August-21 grenade attack on Awami League's rally in the capital in which 22 leaders and activists of the party were killed and hundreds others injured, the law enforcers will make a fool-proof security over the city to avoid any untoward incident.

In face of the escalating of terrorist bomb attacks, the government is going to start a joint operation to be called "Clean Militant Operation" across the country with the members of the army, BDR, RAB, police and Ansar (militia) to wage a campaign against the members of different banned Islamist militant organizations, especially JMB, with a view to wiping them out, according to The Independent Sunday.

The Special Branch of police and Criminal Investigation Department of police will take special measures to ensure security for VIPs like the ministers, state ministers, deputy ministers and secretaries of different ministries and departments.

The operation will start from this week as part of a short-term plan of the government and will continue for one month.

The government will decide on how to implement the mid-term and long-term plans to net the members of the militant groups, who are scattered across the country.

Around 400 JMB cadres have been arrested from different parts of the country since August-17 country-wide bomb blasts. The law enforcers, however, have failed to arrest the masterminds of the bombing.

Praful C Patel, vice president of World Bank, the main development partner of Bangladesh, recently advised the government of Bangladesh to nab the bomb attackers at any cost. If the government fails to arrest them, the WB reportedly will not come up with necessary assistance for the development projects.

Nov. 20 , 2005

Tuesday

Aug. 17

Saturday evening

Nov. 22

Nov. 22

last year

this week

one month


XIN_ENG_20061127.0447

HONG KONG, Nov. 28 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Hong Kong stocks open higher -- Nov. 28

Hong Kong stocks went up 207.17 points, or 1.08 percent, to open at 18,996.84 on Tuesday.

Nov. 28 , 2006

Tuesday