AFP_ENG_20061213.0713

TOKYO, Dec 14 , 2006, 2006

by Daniel Rook

Business confidence among Japan's major manufacturers probably hit a new two-year high in the three months to December, smoothing the way for another interest rate rise, analysts said.

The Bank of Japan's closely watched Tankan survey out Friday is expected to show that sentiment among big manufacturers rose to 25 in December from 24 in September, the third quarter of improvement, according to consensus forecasts.

But market views are still divided on whether such a modest pick-up would lead the central bank to raise interest rates from 0.25 percent as soon as next week, with some analysts predicting a move early next year instead.

"We expect manufacturers' sentiment to remain steady in the face of rising uncertainty in the external environment," underpinned by solid profits and a weaker yen, predicted Morgan Stanley economist Takehiro Sato, who expected a bigger than average rise in the headline index to 26.

"For non-manufacturers, we expect to see some sense of stagnation in light of slackening demand on poor summer weather and the like," he added.

Average market expectations are for the index for major non-manufacturers to dip to 19 in December from 20 in October.

The previous Tankan report, which surveys almost 10,000 firms, showed Japanese executives growing more upbeat, with sentiment among big manufacturers jumping to 24 in September from 21 in June.

The figure was the strongest since the 13-year high of 26 seen in September 2004. A positive reading means that confident firms outweigh pessimistic ones.

But in October, the major manufacturers remained cautious about the outlook further ahead, forecasting a drop in the index back down to 21 by December.

Some analysts believed that another upbeat Tankan might be enough to persuade the Bank of Japan to hike its key rate again at 0.5 percent next week.

But others say the central bank is more likely to hold off until early next year, to ensure the Japanese economic recovery does not grind to a halt if the US economy slows sharply.

Recent sluggish data -- including a smaller-than-expected rise in machinery orders in October and a sharp downgrade to third-quarter growth, to an annualized 0.8 percent -- have dampened expectations of a rate rise next week.

In addition inflation remains subdued, with core consumer prices up just 0.1 percent in October from a year earlier.

The BoJ, which holds its next policy meeting on December 18-19, has kept its benchmark overnight call rate target at 0.25 percent since July when it ended the era of virtually free credit with its first rate hike for almost six years.

"With the December Tankan sure to join the October industrial production index in confirming the strength of the business sector, the only things arguing against a December rate hike by the BoJ are the continued sluggishness of consumer spending and the slower pace of inflation," argued BNP Paribas chief economist Ryutaro Kono.

Japan's industrial output grew 1.6 percent in October from September.

"We still maintain the BoJ will make its move in January, before fallout from the slowing US economy gets worse," added Kono.

The Tankan survey may also show that Japanese companies have revised up their capital expenditure plans, analysts said.

In October, major manufacturers said they planned to boost capital spending by 16.9 percent on average in the fiscal year to March 2007, while all companies surveyed planned to raise spending 8.3 percent.

A finance ministry survey showed last week that corporate investment slowed from its recent breakneck pace in the three months to September.

Combined corporate capital spending by non-financial companies rose 12 percent year-on-year between July and September, slowing from a 16.6 percent year-on-year increase in the previous quarter, the report showed.

Dec 14 , 2006

the three months

December

Friday

December

next week

early next year

December

October

September

June

September 2004

October

December

next week

early next year

October

next week

October

a year earlier

December 18-19

July

six years

December

October

January

October

the fiscal year

March 2007

last week

the three months

September

July and September

the previous quarter


WSJ891102-0041
 = 891102
 891102-0041.
 Business Brief -- Primerica Corp.:
@  A.L. Williams Corp. Merges
@  Into Firm on Holders' Vote
 11/02/89
 WALL STREET JOURNAL (J)
 PA
 TENDER OFFERS, MERGERS, ACQUISITIONS (TNM)

   A.L. Williams Corp.  was merged into Primerica Corp., New York, after a special meeting of Williams shareholders cleared the transaction, the companies said.

   Primerica, which  had owned nearly 70% of Williams,  will pay about 16.7 million shares, currently valued at almost $472 million, for the rest of Williams.
The financial-services company  will pay 0.82 share for each Williams share.

   Williams shares, which were  to  be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange after the close of composite trading yesterday, closed at $23.25, off 12.5 cents.
Primerica closed at $28.25, down 50 cents.

   Williams, Duluth, Ga., is an insurance and financial-services holding company.
Its subsidiaries' services  are marketed by closely held A.L. Williams amp Associates.
Primerica, as expected, also acquired certain assets of the agency and assumed certain of its liabilities.
Terms were n't disclosed.

currently

yesterday


XIN_ENG_20061122.0213

JAKARTA, Nov. 22 , 2006 (Xinhua)

ASEAN air forces to increase cooperation in parts procurement

The air force chiefs of ASEAN ( Association of Southeast Asian Nations) member countries have agreed to increase cooperation in the procurement of spare parts for both transport and fighter planes.

The agreement was reached at the two-day third ASEAN Air Chiefs ' Conference (AACC) concluded here Wednesday.

Indonesia had so far cooperated with several other ASEAN member countries in procurement of spare parts for Hercules transport and Hawk fighter planes, Indonesian Air Force Chief of Staff Marshal Herman Prayitno said on Wednesday.

"Most ASEAN member countries have Hercules transport and Hawk fighter planes. So if we have a spare part problem we can ask for help from Malaysia or Singapore," he said on the sidelines of Indo Defense Expo and Forum 2006.

Under the spare parts cooperation, Indonesia could "borrow" parts from its ASEAN neighbors. The parts would be returned after Indonesia had obtained replacements from producing countries like the United States in the case of Hercules parts.

Indonesia had so far cooperated with Singapore in parts supply for Hawk fighters and "we will consider doing it with the Philippines and other countries," he said.

Besides discussing parts procurement, the third AACC also dwelt on terrorism and security stability in the region and the handling of natural disasters.

On anti-terrorism cooperation, the ASEAN air force chiefs agreed to conduct exchange of information and joint patrols and to increase cooperation in training and education.

Indonesia has held joint exercises with other ASEAN member countries such as Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore, he said.

The AACC was attended by the air force chiefs of staff of Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Brunei Darussalam, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.

The first AACC was held in Thailand in 2004 and the second in Malaysia in 2005.

Nov. 22 , 2006

Wednesday

Wednesday


XIN_ENG_20061118.0155

AMMAN, Nov. 18 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Jordanian FM, Russian envoy discuss Palestinian issue

Jordanian Foreign Minister Abdul Ilah al-Khatib held talks on Saturday with visiting Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Sultanov, stressing the importance of supporting efforts to settle the Palestinian issue, the official Petra news agency reported.

Al-Khatib urged the International Quartet on the Middle East, which groups the United Nations, the United States, Russia and the European Union, to make more efforts to achieve a just and lasting peace in the region.

He expressed his appreciation for the expected visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Jordan next February.

During the meeting, Sultanov talked about Putin's initiative to hold an international conference to settle the Palestinian issue.

Al-Khatib said Jordan had a positive view on the initiative and an initiative announced by France, Spain and Italy.

"Such initiatives reflect the world's interest in the situation in the region and the willingness of the international community to contribute to finding a just and comprehensive solution for the Palestinian cause," said al-Khatib.

Nov. 18 , 2006

Saturday

next February


XIN_ENG_20061110.0189

BEIJING, Nov. 10 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Anniversary of late non-communist party leader marked

A workshop was held at the Great Hall of the People, in central Beijing, on Friday, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of late non-communist party leader Sun Xiaocun.

Sun was vice chairman of the CPPCC National Committee and chairman of the Central Committee of the China National Democratic Construction Association, one of China's eight non-communist parties. He was also a renowned rural economist.

Liu Yandong, vice chairperson of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), called Sun an "outstanding patriot" and a "revolutionary intellectual who walked from the old society into New China."

In her speech, Liu, who is also director of the United Front Department of the CPC Central Committee, praised Sun's contribution to the undertakings of the United Front and multiparty cooperation under CPC's leadership.

Jia Qinglin, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and member of the Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee Political Bureau, attended the meeting.

Other speakers were Zhang Rongming, Wan Guoquan, Cheng Shi'e as well as Sun's granddaughter Sun Yangsheng, and Sun Qimeng,. Also present were He Luli, Huang Mengfu, Wang Guangying, and Sun Fuling.

Nov. 10 , 2006

Friday


AFP_ENG_19970407.0584

TOKYO, April 8 , 1997 (AFP)

US defense secretary gets assurance that US bases law will be passed

US Defense Secretary William Cohen won assurances from his Japanese counterpart that a special law extending the US military presence in Okinawa would be pass in time for a US-Japan summit in two weeks, a US spokesman said Tuesday.

Cohen, on the first stop of a five-day visit to Japan and Korea, planned to visit US troops at two nearby bases before further meetings later Tuesday with members of the Japanese parliament and Foreign Minister Yukishiko Ikeda.

In an opening round of talks late Monday with Japanese Defense Agency director Fumio Kyuma, Cohen reaffirmed Washington's determination to maintain US troops levels in the Asia-Pacific region at 100,000, Pentagon spokesman Kenneth Bacon said.

Amid protests over the US military presence, landowners in Okinawa have refused to renew leases on US facilities when they expire in May, prompting Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto to seek passage of a law to override the landowners.

"They believe that this will pass and this will be done by the time Prime Minister Hashimoto meets President Clinton," Bacon said.

Cohen and Kyuma's talks covered a wide range of issues, including the situation in North Korea and work to update 1978 defense guidelines that would spell out Japan's role in supporting US forces in a crisis in Korea or elsewhere.

"They agreed that the defense guidelines are a serious issue for both sides that we hope to complete to them in September by time of the defense and foreign ministers two-plus-two meeting in Washington in late September," Bacon said.

"The Japanese hoped to give an interim progress report sometime in May on where we stand," Bacon said.

Cohen also raised US interest in involving Japan in developing theater missile defenses, but Bacon said the issue was not a focus of Monday's talks.

The US defense secretary was traveling to the US air base at Yakota and the US navy base at Yokosuka to visit some of the 47,000 US troops in Japan.

April 8 , 1997

two weeks

Tuesday

Tuesday

Monday

May

September

late September

May

Monday


AFP_ENG_20061208.0018

MANAMA, Dec 7 , 2006, 2006

Israel provoked nuclear race in Gulf: Saudi

Israel's reputed nuclear arms arsenal has provoked an atomic weapons race in the Middle East, a senior Saudi official said Friday in apparent reference to Iran.

"The fact that Israel has nuclear arms constitutes the most dangerous strategic threat for the security of the Gulf in the short and medium terms," said the Saudi intelligence chief, Prince Muqrin bin Abdul Aziz.

"This has led certain countries in the region to take part in the contest for nuclear arms, as we are now seeing," he said in a speech to a Gulf security conference in Manama, without naming Iran.

The West suspects the Islamic republic is seeking to develop nuclear weapons, a charge denied by Tehran.

The Jewish state is widely considered to be the Middle East's sole nuclear armed power, but has never confirmed or denied the suspicions, and continues to campaign against arch-foe Iran's nuclear programme.

Dec 7 , 2006

Friday


AFP_ENG_20061227.0242

LONDON, Dec 27 , 2006, 2006

ATTENTION - ADDS case sent to central criminal court ///

An aide to the British commander of NATO troops in Afghanistan was sent Wednesday for trial at the Old Bailey, accused of passing secrets to "the enemy" -- believed to be Iran, officials said.

Corporal Daniel James, an interpreter to Lieutenant General David Richards, has been charged under the Official Secrets Act with "prejudicing the safety of the state."

The 44-year-old, who first appeared before magistrates last week, was back in court on Wednesday -- and judge Timothy Workman set a date of January 12 for a preliminary hearing at the Old Bailey, England's central criminal court.

The charge alleges that on November 2 this year, he "communicated to another person information calculated to be, or that might be, or intended to be directly or indirectly useful to the enemy."

James' boss Richards is head of NATO's more than 30,000-strong International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan.

James, who lives in the southern English resort town of Brighton, is of Iranian descent and speaks fluent Pashtun, one of the main languages in Afghanistan, according to The Daily Telegraph newspaper.

At last Wednesday's initial case the judge ordered reporters out for much of the proceedings because of possible prejudice to national security, and remanded him in custody over the Christmas break.

According to The Guardian newspaper, the court ruled that there was a substantial risk of further "communications" between James and "a foreign power", and he might be "extracted" from British jurisdiction if granted bail.

The court case comes as British-led forces struggle against fiercer than expected Taliban insurgents in the south of Afghanistan, invaded by US-led forces following the September 11, 2001 terror attacks on the United States.

The charges also come amid heightening tension between the West and Iran over the Islamic republic's nuclear plans.

Dec 27 , 2006

Wednesday

last week

Wednesday

January 12

November 2 this year

last Wednesday

September 11, 2001


XIN_ENG_20051130.0228

STOCKHOLM, Nov. 30 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Sweden to set up new government crisis center

The Swedish government has announced it is organizing a new alarm center to help it react to crises like the Asian tsunami, in which more than 500 Swedes died, Radio Sweden reported on Wednesday.

The government is under pressure from critics who say it responded too slowly for the thousands of Swedish vacationers who were in the region just under a year ago.

The crisis center is to watch for events around the world 24 hours a day, analyzing crises and advising the government on what kind of action is needed, the report said.

The government announcement came just before a commission is due to make its report on Sweden's reaction to the tsunami. It is expected to be highly critical.

Nov. 30 , 2005

Wednesday

a year ago

24 hours a day


AFP_ENG_20061223.0092

MOGADISHU, Dec 23 , 2006, 2006

ATTENTION - RECASTS, UPDATES throughout ///

Somali Islamists claimed to have captured a frontline position from Ethiopian-backed government forces Saturday as the embattled Somali prime minister warned that foreign "terrorists" had joined the ranks of the Islamic forces.

Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi said 4,000 "foreign fighters" had taken advantage of the conflict to infiltrate the country, which has been lawless since the 1991 ouster of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.

"Four thousand foreign fighters have participated in recent fighting around Dinsoor district and some of them have been killed," Gedi told a press conference in Baidoa, about 250 kilometres (155 miles) northwest of the Islamist-controlled capital Mogadishu.

"This shows how terrorists are gaining ground in Somalia, so we are calling the international community to be aware of (what is happening in) Somalia," he added.

Islamists meanwhile renewed calls for Muslims around the world to offer support for the "holy war", and claimed to have captured a key frontline position at Idale, some 60 kilometres (40 miles) south of the government headquarters in Baidoa.

"Our Islamic fighters have taken control of Idale and are heading to other parts where Tigray (Ethiopian) invaders are now based," Islamic movement information chief Abdurahim Ali Muddey told AFP.

"By the will of Allah, we will liberate our people and country from the Ethiopian invaders," he said.

Information Minister Ali Jama did not confirm the seizure, but told AFP "fighting is raging in Idale." Witnesses said the rivals were shelling each other with mortars, rockets and machine-gun fire, causing heavy casualties.

With no sign of let-up in the fighting, the Islamist leadership called on all Muslims around the world to join in the clashes that threaten to engulf the entire Horn of Africa region.

"This country is open for the Islamic fighters all over the world to join the holy war," said Islamist security chief Sheikh Yusuf Mohamed Siad Indo'adhe.

"Grave results will be witnessed if the international community maintains ignoring deteriorating situation in Somalia," said Indo'adhe, whose movement has been accused of ties with Al-Qaeda.

The fresh violence drew calls for restraint from the international community, with the United Nations and African Union regional grouping urging an immediate end to the fighting.

Ethiopia is supporting Somalia's weakened government against the Islamist forces, which control Mogadishu and much of the rest of the war-ravaged Horn of Africa nation.

Fighting erupted early Wednesday, hours after the expiry of an Islamist-imposed ultimatum for Ethiopia to withdraw the thousands of troops the Islamists say Addis Ababa has deployed in the country.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said the fighting had left "dozens" dead.

For its part the government says its Ethiopian-backed forces have killed more than 500 Islamist fighters since Wednesday, while the Islamists spoke of slaying at least 70 enemy combatants.

Muddey said Islamist forces were pushing back the Ethiopian-backed troops.

"This war is between Somalia and Tigray invaders. The forces have been pressed and they are losing in the battlefields," he added.

"The invaders have been repelled, we have a lot of their bodies here and are going to show the media, we have their ID cards, pictures with their wives, and equipment," he said.

The fighting on twin fronts has forced thousands of residents to flee.

"People are really scared because both sides are using heavy artillery shells and other weapons," Haji Hassan Dhubow, a resident of Goof Gaduud village southwest of Baidoa, told AFP.

"I have seen many people fleeing with their children," he said.

Witnesses said Ethiopian tanks faced off with Islamic fighters in Daynunay, a flashpoint garrison town about 30 kilometres to the east of Baidoa, but there was no direct confrontation.

The fighting and war of words have come despite a statement by European Commissioner Louis Michel on Wednesday that he had secured the commitment of both sides to observe a truce and resume peace talks.

Arab League-mediated talks in Khartoum collapsed in November when Islamists refused to negotiate until Ethiopia withdrew its troops. The new clashes have ruined hopes of possible resumption of talks.

Dec 23 , 2006

Saturday

early Wednesday

Wednesday

Wednesday

November


AFP_ENG_20061215.0231

JOHANNESBURG, Dec 15 , 2006, 2006

India lose openers cheaply after delayed start

India lost both their opening batsmen cheaply when the first Test against South Africa got off to a late start at the Wanderers Stadium Friday.

India were 19 for two at lunch after Wasim Jaffer and Virender Sehwag fell within the space of six balls.

Jaffer was leg before wicket to Makhaya Ntini for nine when he padded up to a ball just outside his off stump which was slanting in.

Sehwag was caught behind off Shaun Pollock in the next over when he was squared up by a lifting delivery. The normally dashing Sehwag scored only four runs off 26 balls.

Indian captain Rahul Dravid, recovered from a finger injury, took a painful blow in the ribs from Pollock. He had yet to score at lunch, while Sachin Tendulkar was on four.

The morning's play was restricted to an hour. The start was delayed by 90 minutes because of damp patches on the pitch.

The Gauteng Cricket Board said the damp patches were caused by wet hessian placed on the pitch overnight because groundsman Chris Scott was concerned that the surface was too dry and that it might break up on the fourth and fifth days.

"After removing the covers this morning, there was a lot more moisture on the wicket than anticipated," he said.

Despite the late start, the pitch looked good for batting on a hot, cloudless day and although there was grass cover it had a brown tinge.

India opted to leave off-spinner Harbhajan Singh out of their final eleven, leaving leg-spinner Anil Kumble as the only specialist slow bowler. South Africa fielded an all-seam attack.

Dale Steyn took the new ball for South Africa but although he bowled fast he did not make the batsmen play enough and he was replaced after three overs by Pollock, who immediately struck a good line and length.

Ntini bowled a fiery spell of six overs before Steyn came on again in the over before lunch.

Dec 15 , 2006

Friday

90 minutes


WSJ891026-0045
 = 891026
 891026-0045.
 Delta Air Net Rose
@  By 33% to Record
@  In Fiscal 1st Period
@  ----
@  By Bridget O'Brian
@  Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal
 10/26/89
 WALL STREET JOURNAL (J)
 DAL AWAL
 EARNINGS (ERN)
AIRLINES (AIR)

   Delta Air Lines earnings soared 33% to a record in the fiscal first quarter, bucking the industry trend toward declining profits.

   The Atlanta-based airline, the third largest in the U.S., attributed the increase to higher passenger traffic, new international routes and reduced service by rival Eastern Airlines, which is in bankruptcy proceedings in the wake of a strike that began last spring.

   For the quarter ended Sept. 30, Delta posted net income of $133.1 million, or $2.53 a share, up from $100 million, or $2.03 a share, a year earlier.

   Revenue rose 15% to $2.17 billion from $1.89 billion.
During the quarter, Delta issued 2.5 million shares of common stock to Swissair, and repurchased 1.1 million shares for use in a company employee stock ownership plan.

   "The key to Delta's record earnings continued to be excellent passenger revenue growth," said Thomas Roeck, chief financial officer.
Passenger traffic jumped 14% in the quarter, while profit per passenger grew 2%.

   Delta has benefited more than other carriers from the weakness of Eastern Airlines, which shares the Atlanta hub.
Although Eastern is back to about 80% of its pre-strike schedule now, the Texas Air Corp. subsidiary was only beginning to get back on its feet during the quarter.

   Separately, America West Airlines, Phoenix, Ariz., reported third-quarter profit jumped 45% to $5.8 million, or 28 cents a share, from $4 million, or 24 cents a share, a year earlier.
The latest results include a $2.6 million one-time payment from a "foreign entity."
America West would n't identify the entity, but said the payment was for the foreign company's use of certain tax benefits in connection with America West plane purchases.
Year-earlier results included an extraordinary gain of $1.6 million from a buy-back of convertible subordinated debentures.

   Revenue rose 21% to $243.4 million from $201.2 million.
For the nine months, America West posted earnings of $18.9 million, or 97 cents a share, compared with a loss of $9.7 million, or 74 cents a share, a year earlier.
Revenue rose 27% to $715.1 million from $563.8 million.

the fiscal first quarter

last spring

the quarter

Sept. 30

a year earlier

the quarter

now

the quarter

third-quarter

a year earlier

Year-earlier

the nine months

a year earlier


XIN_ENG_20051129.0230

BEIJING, Nov. 29 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Domestic news item from Xinhua -- Nov. 29

The following are domestic news items released by Xinhua on Tuesday:

Market exchange rates -- Nov. 29

Highlights of major Beijing-based newspapers -- Nov. 29

Xinhua domestic news advisory -- Nov. 29

Victims' families compensated following north China colliery flood

Hong Kong stocks open lower -- Nov. 29

Death toll rises to 138 in northeast China coal mine blast

Schools in Harbin to resume classes

Bus overturn leaves three dead, 15 injured in SW China

Stocks in Hong Kong end lower at midday

China confirms two more bird flu outbreaks in Xinjiang, Hunan

Senior legislator meets ROK guests

Air quality of major Chinese cities -- Nov. 29

Harry Potter's "Goblet" conjures up 66.56 million yuan in China

China, US to hold second strategic dialogue in Washington

UN chief to visit China in December

Shanghai stock index down -- Nov. 29

Shenzhen stock index down -- Nov. 29

Hushen index down -- Nov. 29

Most rescued miners in NE. coal mine blast suffer from mixed gas poisoning

HK stocks finish lower -- Nov. 29

Boat collision leaves three dead, one missing in E. China

Ten Chinese cities lose title after failing environmental check

HK foreign exchange rates -- Nov. 29

Share prices end down in Taiwan -- Nov. 29

Death toll rises to 146 in NE China coal mine blast

Trading on HK stock exchange -- Nov. 29

China becomes Sri Lanka's second largest tourists-source-market in NE Asia

UN torture rapporteur's China tour "smooth": Chinese FM spokesman

Weather forecast for major Chinese cities -- Nov. 29

Weather forecast for world cities -- Nov. 29

Shanghai to install 1,200 more condom machines to prevent AIDS

Zero-tariff Thai fruits entering China through new channel

China to merge three major communication networks in five years

China gives Russia equipment for monitoring possible river pollution

China asks Malaysia to probe assault cases against Chinese citizens

Death toll of NE China coal mine blast rises to 148

China sends inspection panels to study effects in handling bird flu epidemics

Two Chinese taikonauts meet HK youths

Share prices end lower in Hong Kong -- Nov. 29

China vows to protect migrant workers against HIV/AIDS

Chinese top legislator meets Mongolian president

More needy college students benefit from KFC foundation

USAID official: China becomes major contributor to int'l aid for education

Chinese top political advisor meets Mongolian president

Ancient limestone cave suffers damage in Inner Mongolia

China Gas may announce new potential strategic investor

Indian official: India to learn from China for educational development

Weather information for major Asia-Pacific cities -- Nov. 29

Hong Kong gold price ends higher -- Nov. 29

China, Mongolia issue joint statement, pledging closer ties

China to reduce slick impact on downstream Russia: FM spokesman

NW China's Xinjiang boasts thousands of scenic spots

WTO MC6 appoints BMW official limousine provider

Shenzhen to host HK constitutional development forum

Hang Seng China Enterprises Index closes lower -- Nov. 29

Pollution slick on NE China river to arrive at downstream city Saturday

China's increasing energy demand poses no threat to world market: official

USAID official: China becomes surging power in international aid

China Focus: Neighboring China, Mongolia keen on enhancing relations

Simplified customs formalities better for Sino-Greek cooperation: Greek offcial

China focus: China to moderate its high-speed economic growth

Residents advised against eating fish from China's polluted Songhua river in two months

China, Britain seek closer science, technology cooperation in rural areas

Grass-roots CPC members to go through self-improvement education

China Exclusive: Chinese army guard of honor first wins over infringement case

Poultry culling ends in Inner Mongolia bird flu-hit city

Judge brought to trial over misconduct involving millions in E.China

WHO experts investigate second human death case of bird flu in E. China province

China spreads AIDS knowledge to train passengers

China calls for int'l aid to post-quake Pakistan against freezing winter

Roundup: death toll of NE China coal mine blast rises to 146, rescue efforts continue for the last five missing

Survey: Chinese mainland sees increasing workers from Hong Kong

Mainland welcomes HK scientists to participate in its space undertakings: official

Feature: HK youngsters' space dream lightened by Shenzhou-6

WHO experts investigate China's first human bird flu case

Roundup: Songhua River pollution belt moves downstream toward Tonghe County

Mongolian President visits Tianjin

Nov. 29 , 2005

Tuesday

Nov. 29

Nov. 29

Nov. 29

Nov. 29

Nov. 29

December

Nov. 29

Nov. 29

Nov. 29

Nov. 29

Nov. 29

Nov. 29

Nov. 29

Nov. 29

Nov. 29

five years

Nov. 29

Nov. 29

Nov. 29

Nov. 29

two months

winter


AFP_ENG_20051217.0112

LONDON, Dec 17 , 2005

ATTENTION - ADDS press, quotes, background ///

British Prime Minister Tony Blair defended his EU budget deal Saturday that will slash billions of euros from Britain's rebate, saying failure would have caused "immense damage" to its national interest.

Facing a press savaging for renouncing some of the annual cashback in order to strike a deal, he insisted there was no other choice.

"It's in the British interests to stay firmly anchored within the EU, and we've done so successfully during this presidency," he told BBC radio just a few hours after sealing an accord hammered out overnight.

The compromise deal over the 2007-2013 budget followed two days of intense summit diplomacy under Britain's EU presidency, ending a bitter deadlock over the bloc's spending plans.

Britain will effectively give up 10.5 billion euros (12.6 billion dollars) of its long-cherished budget rebate over that period, after an earlier lower proposal was angrily dismissed as inadequate by its EU partners.

Failure to reach a deal "would have done immense damages to the country's national interest," Blair said. "We would have wrecked our entire relationship with these new Europe countries and with the new German government."

The rebate, famously negotiated by Margaret Thatcher in 1984 when Britain was struggling economically, is tied to EU spending and rises every year. In 2004 it came to more than five billion euros.

Even after foregoing 10.5 billion euros, the deal would still see Britain's net rebate -- the money it gets back from the bloc -- rise overall during the financial period.

"The rebate rises, it doesn't diminish," Blair said, adding: "Most of the large countries are losing far more than Britain. We have for the first time parity with France."

Blair said the agreement opened the way to a review in 2008 or 2009 of the way the European Union spends its money, claiming "it will then allow us to do changes and to prepare for further reforms."

"I am a reformer," he added. "There's actually a need now for a different type of Europe" and to get rid of "a CAP (common agricultural policy) which is completely out of date."

"We face the possibility of a fundamental reform the next few years," Blair argued.

That was not how the traditionally eurosceptic British press saw it.

"Blair's surrender," lashed the right-wing Daily Mail.

"He gives Europe YOUR cash and is getting NOTHING back," raged the tabloid Sun, Britain's biggest-selling daily, claiming the deal would cost "an extra 100 pounds for every UK man, woman and child."

The conservative Daily Telegraph said Blair "caved in because the EU could not afford another failure" after the acrimonious collapse of an earlier June summit and the rejection by French and Dutch voters of an EU constitution.

"After all the tough talk, surrender was the only option left," it wrote.

Still, The Times, also conservative, detected a silver lining in declaring that Blair had achieved a deal many had thought beyond him and had managed to bring new German Chancellor Angela Merkel closer to his view.

Blair also drew warm praise from a host of other EU leaders for hammering out the deal, some praising his political courage and readiness to compromise at the last minute.

The prime minister insisted Britain's six-month presidency, which ends on December 31, had achieved some solid results.

"We've begun negotiations with Turkey and Croatia, a huge step forward," he told BBC radio, "we've produced a budget, we've got a whole series of changes agreed, often in challenging circumstances."

Dec 17 , 2005

Saturday

this presidency

two days

that period

every year

the financial period

the next few years

June

the last minute

December 31


AFP_ENG_19970411.0037

SEOUL, April 11 , 1997 (AFP)

Senior South Korean politicians summoned over Hanbo scandal

South Korean prosecutors Friday summoned two senior opposition politicians for questioning over a massive graft scandal enveloping the Hanbo business group, prompting charges of a political conspiracy.

The Prosecutor General's Office called in Kim Sang-Hyon of the main opposition National Congress for New Politics and Kim Yong-Hwan of the second opposition United Liberal Democratic Party.

Prosecutors also summoned a ruling New Korea Party presidential hopeful, Kim Deok-Ryong, who said he would respond to the summons around this weekend.

The three were the first to be questioned among 33 politicians, including 20 incumbent lawmakers, who allegedly received money from Chung Tae-Soo, founder of the failed Hanbo conglomerate.

Hanbo, the country's 14th largest conglomerate, collapsed in January under debts of 5.8 billion dollars, prompting charges of high-level corruption. Eleven people, including four lawmakers, have been arrested and jailed.

The summoning of politicians came after prosecutors pledged a new probe into politicians whose names have surfaced in the course investigations into the massive loans-for-kickbacks scandal engulfing Hanbo.

The prosecution had said that aside from the arrested four, they had no plans to investigate other politicians who allegedly took customary "rice cake expenditures."

Rice cake expenditures are cash gifts of anywhere between tens of dollars and tens of thousand dollars, which are offered with no clear strings attatched.

The prosecution's reversal in policy triggered charges of political conspiracy from both the ruling and opposition camps.

Second opposition party leader Kim Jong-Pil accused the investigation of being "a ploy to protect (South Korean President Kim Young-Sam's second son) Kim Hyun-Chul."

Kim Hyun-Chul, 39, is to face parliamentary questioning on April 25 on allegations that he was at the centre of the Hanbo scandal and other charges of corruption and influence peddling.

The Christian-run Kookmin Daily said the government might be sending a warning signal to politicians in the run up to the parliamentary questioning of the president's son.

Kim Deok-Ryong, the ruling party presidential hopeful summoned by the prosecution, said he had fallen victim to a conspiracy by rival factions within the ruling camp ahead of the presidential election in December.

April 11 , 1997

Friday

this weekend

January

April 25

December


AFP_ENG_19970423.0219

LIMA, April 23 , 1997 (AFP)

Peru's Fujimori basks in glory of hostage rescue; Japanese PM to visit by Oscar Zamalloa

Governments around the world praised President Alberto Fujimori for ending an 18-week hostage standoff with a spectacular attack that left 17 people dead but freed 71 prominent captives.

Peruvian troops stormed the Japanese ambassador's residence Tuesday in a surprise operation that killed one hostage, two members of the security forces and all 14 hostage-takers.

Fujimori celebrated his spectacular victory over the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) rebels by dining late Tuesday with top officials at a restaurant in the posh neighborhood of San Isidro, the same neighborhood where the hostage crisis evolved.

"Peru will never cave in to blackmail by subversive elements," Fujimori told a crowd in central Lima after the crisis ended.

In Tokyo, Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto said Wednesday during talks with Peru's ambassador to Japan that he hoped to visit Fujimori soon.

"Once things are settled and when President Fujimori has the time, I want to visit Lima and give my thanks to him directly," he was quoted as saying.

Japanese Foreign Minister Yukihiko Ikeda was scheduled to leave for Lima late Wednesday, officials said.

South Korean President Kim Young-Sam and Philippine President Fidel Ramos and both congratulated Fujimori on a job well done.

The Peruvian Congress late Tuesday praised the military intervention, calling it a "glorious page" in Peruvian history, and naming Supreme Court justice Carlos Giusti, who died of a heart attack after he was shot during the rescue operation, a "civil hero."

Bolivian Ambassador Jorge Gumucio, one of the freed hostages, said that troops assaulted the building when the captors were playing a football match in the residence reception hall.

"An explosion underneath the reception hall, where a tunnel had been dug, killed most of the terrorists (and) I saw five or six of them collapse," Gumucio said.

Officials said 140 crack troops entered the residence compound through an underground tunnel whose construction was cited by the rebels as the reason for an abrupt suspension of negotiations on March 6.

The sunny afternoon calm in the posh neighborhood was shattered by the sound of automatic gunfire and a series of explosions that left a thick, black pall over the compound.

Roughly 40 minutes after the operation began, jubiliant soldiers appeared on the rooftop of the residence, flashing the 'V' victory sign.

Then Fujimori -- who ordered the operation even though his brother Pedro was among the hostages -- arrived to tour the residence and embraced the freed hostages.

Twenty-four Japanese nationals, including Ambassador Morihisa Aoki, were set free.

Some two dozen people, mostly hostages, were slightly hurt in the operation. Two others were seriously injured but expected to recover.

The hostage crisis began last December 17 when the guerrillas entered the compound during a gala reception attended by numerous dignitaries.

They initially seized some 700 hostages, but soon released all but 72 men.

The rebels demanded the release of some 400 imprisoned comrades.

Fujimori and top government ministers met the negotiators who have been trying to broker an agreement between the government and the rebels late Tuesday to inform them of the reasons behind his approval of the attack.

The mediators -- Ayacucho Archbishop Juan Luis Cipriani, Canadian Ambassador Anthony Vincent, and International Red Cross representative Michel Mining -- withdrew without talking to reporters.

At midnight, while the bodies of the MRTA guerrillas remained in the residence, residents from the working-class Lima neighborhood of San Juan de Miraflores reported seeing a red flag in support of the guerrillas on a nearby hill.

Callers who claimed to speak for the MRTA telephoned several news organizations to warn of retaliation.

Soon after the rescue, Hashimoto thanked Fujimori, but noted: "I regret to say that the Peruvian government did not notify us before they stormed the residence."

In the Philippines, Ramos told reporters he has sent a letter to Fujimori expressing Manila's support for his decision to use force in freeing the hostages.

"The Philippines stands very firm against the scourge of terrorism in all its forms," Ramos said.

Kim sent a congratulatory message to Fujimori for wrapping up the incident "at a minimal cost of human life."

"I pay my deep respect for patience and courage shown in the course of addressing the four-month-long hostage case," Kim said in a written statement.

One South Korean national and one ethnic Korean were among the original group of hostages, and were soon released.

Not all foreigners were happy, however. In Guatemala, some 60 pro-MRTA students threw rocks at the Peruvian embassy and spray-painted anti- Fujimori slogans on nearby walls.

April 23 , 1997

Tuesday

late Tuesday

Wednesday

late Wednesday

Tuesday

March 6

Roughly 40 minutes

last December 17

Tuesday


WSJ891102-0018
 = 891102
 891102-0018.
 Business Brief -- First of America Bank Corp.:
@  Midwest Financial Group
@  Acquired for $250 Million
 11/02/89
 WALL STREET JOURNAL (J)
 FABK
 TENDER OFFERS, MERGERS, ACQUISITIONS (TNM)
BANKS (BNK)

   First of America Bank Corp. said it completed its acquisition of Midwest Financial Group Inc. for about $250 million.
First of America, which now has 45 banks and $12.5 billion in assets, announced an agreement to acquire the Peoria, Ill., bank holding company in January.

   Midwest Financial has $2.3 billion in assets and eight banks.
The Midwest Financial subsidiary banks will continue to operate under their current names until early 1990, when each will adopt the First of America name.

   Kalamazoo, Mich.-based First of America said it will eliminate the 13 management positions of the former Midwest Financial parent company.
First of America said some of the managers will take other jobs with First of America.
But it said that severance payments to those executives not staying with the company will reduce First of America's operating results for 1989 by $3 million to $4 million, or 15 cents to 20 cents a share.

now

January

early 1990


AFP_ENG_19970404.0211

GENEVA, April 4 , 1997, (AFP)

1996 set grim record for executions: Amnesty

Last year set a new record for capital punishment with more than 7,000 death sentences being passed and more than 4,000 carried out, 3,500 of them in China, Amnesty International said Friday.

The human rights organisation welcomed a move by the UN Human Rights Commission which called Thursday on countries which still have the death penalty to limit executions.

The resolution condemning capital punishment was adopted despite opposition from a number of countries, including China, Japan and the United States.

Passed by 27 votes to 11, it also called on countries still practising state-sponsored execution to spare adolescents under 18 and pregnant women.

Amnesty underlined that in countries where the death penalty is most frequently applied, executions often followed unfair trials with convictions often based on confessions obtained by force from prisoners denied legal access.

At least 4,272 prisoners were executed in 39 countries last year, while a further 7,017 people were sentenced to death in 76 countries, Amnesty said.

The figures -- which only represent part of the true number of death sentences and executions -- mark an increase of 30 percent on 1995, when 3,276 prisoners were executed and 4,165 sentenced to death.

This great leap forward is largely attributed to an anti-crime campaign launched in China last April. Amnesty recorded 3,500 executions in China, most victims being hastily dispatched at the conclusion of dubious trials.

In Ukraine 169 prisoners were executed, at least 140 in Russia, and more than 110 in Iran.

The above four countries between them account for 92 percent of all executions in the world last year.

Unconfirmed statistics attribute 123 executions to Turkmenistan, and Iraq is also believed to have implemented numerous death sentences.

In the United States, at least 3,150 prisoners were on death row in September 1996, with 45 death sentences being passed in the course of the year.

However, despite the increase in executions, Amnesty noted a growing tendency for countries to abolish capital punishment.

Belgium was the latest country to do so, bringing to 58 the number of countries that have totally renounced the punishment.

A futher 15 countries have abolished the death penalty except for extraordinary crimes, and 27 countries with the penalty still in their legislation have suspended all executions for 10 years.

More than half the world's nations have now either abolished or no longer practice the death penalty, Amnesty said.

April 4 , 1997

Last year

Friday

Thursday

last year

last April

last year

September 1996

the year

10 years


XIN_ENG_20051129.0295

STOCKHOLM, Nov. 29 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Denmark to increase troops in Afghanistan

The Danish government plans to meet a NATO request to increase its number of troops in Afghanistan, Ritzau news bureau reported on Tuesday.

The additional soldiers have been requested to help patrol the southern Hemland Province, an area that has been described as " unsafe and complex", and would more than double the Danish contribution to NATO's Afghanistan contingent, sources closed to the government revealed to Ritzau.

Defense Minister Soeren Gade confirmed the possibility that troops would be sent, but kept further details under wraps.

"The government has received a request from NATO, which we are willing to meet. Now we are discussing the matter with the other parties in parliament," Gade said. "Any troops we send would be under British command, but how many we send is still not decided."

The government, according to Ritzau's source, proposes sending as many as 190 additional soldiers, increasing the total number of Danish forces in Afghanistan to 360.

Both the government's supporters and the opposition said they supported sending more troops.

"We would even support sending more troops than the government proposes," said Per Kaalund, defense issues spokesman for the opposition Social Democrats.

Denmark's 173 soldiers currently stationed in Afghanistan are primarily responsible for coordinating cargo flights, and for air traffic control at Kabul's main airport.

Nov. 29 , 2005

Tuesday

Now

currently


AFP_ENG_20061218.0137

KHOST, Afghanistan, Dec 18 , 2006, 2006

///

Nine Taliban rebels and an Afghan soldier were killed and 14 insurgents were captured in fresh fighting across insurgency-hit Afghanistan, officials said Monday.

A major firefight broke out early Monday after nearly 200 militants crossed the border from Pakistan and attacked a border checkpost in the eastern Afghan province of Khost, police said.

Five Taliban fighters and an Afghan militia soldier died in the hour-long exchange of fire, provincial police official Gul Dad said, adding that four Afghan nationals were arrested.

Pakistani militants "were also with them fighting our troops," Dad told AFP, citing documents found on the bodies of the dead rebels. "It was a heavy battle."

Self-confessed Taliban spokesman Mohammad Hanif claimed responsibility for the attack on behalf of the ousted Islamists but said only one rebel was killed.

The fighting took place days after Afghan President Hamid Karzai publicly accused the Pakistani government for the first time of supporting Taliban rebels. Islamabad denies the claims.

Meanwhile, four Taliban insurgents were killed in a separate clash late Sunday in the southern province of Kandahar which also left three US-led coalition soldiers injured, the US military said in a statement.

The raid supported by warplanes "seized an enemy weapons cache containing mines and explosives" near Kandahar city, the birthplace of the Taliban and a continuing focus for the insurgency.

Also on Monday, coalition troops backed by Afghan army soldiers detained 10 "suspected terrorists" including an Al-Qaeda-linked militant in the eastern province of Kunar, another troubled region on the Pakistani border.

"The operation resulted in the capture of a known transporter of weapons and explosives who is linked to foreign fighter movements in the region," the coalition said in a statement.

The man, whose name and nationality were not disclosed, was also responsible for facilitating suicide bombings which have increased in Afghanistan in recent months, the statement said.

"Credible information led the combined force to believe the transporter and his associates were at the compound," which the rebels shared with women and children, it said, adding that there were no civilian casualties in the raid.

Some 4,000 people, many of them militants but also troops and civilians, have died in Taliban-led violence this year alone, making it Afghanistan's bloodiest year since the movement was toppled by US-led forces in 2001.

Dec 18 , 2006

Monday

Monday

late Sunday

Monday

recent months

this year


AFP_ENG_20061202.0162

MOGADISHU, Dec 2 , 2006, 2006

planes ///

A powerful Islamic movement on Saturday seized control of a key Somali township, pushing the Horn of Africa nation closer to an all-out war, officials said.

As the international community scrambled to avoid fresh clashes, Islamic forces said they had taken control of Dinsoor, about 270 kilometres (170 miles) west of the capital Mogadishu, after pro-government militia pulled out.

"We are telling you that Dinsoor is under the control of the Islamic courts," said Sheikh Abdurahim Ali Muddey, the spokesman for the Supreme Islamic Council of Somalia (SICS).

"We will take military steps if any force violates the area," he added, referring to transitional government based in Baidoa, about 110 kilometres (69) miles north.

Local Islamic officials said plans were underway to impose Islamic law in the township.

"Mogadishu has sent delegates here. They are telling people that Islamic courts are preparing to take control of the whole region and implement Islamic Sharia law," Osmail Adan Kerrow, a local Islamic commander told AFP from the region's trading post.

Somali government officials protested the advance, saying the Islamists were seeking to provoke new unrest in the country that has been wracked by unrest since dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was toppled in 1991 and is currently reeling from devastating floods.

"This is provocation, we are still in the stage of calling them to stop" lawmaker Madobe Nunow said.

The seizure, which violates a previous truce and mutual recognition pact between the SICS and the government, comes days after Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi secured parliamentary approval for his plans to fight the Islamists.

Addis Ababa denies deploying thousands of troops across the border but acknowledges sending military advisers and trainers to assist the internationally backed but largely powerless Somali government.

Mainly Christian Ethiopia has watched with growing concern the rise on its southeastern border of the Islamists, who seized Mogadishu in June and now control most of southern and central Somalia.

With a large ethnic Somali population, Ethiopia fears radicalization of its sizable Muslim minority by the Islamists, some of whom are accused of links to Al-Qaeda, who have imposed strict Sharia law in areas they control.

Somali watchers have warned that an all-out war in Somalia would suck in Addis Ababa's chief rival, Eritrea, also accused of supporting the Islamists, thereby pushing war in a regional conflict.

The new development comes as the UN Security Council mulled a United States proposal to lift the 1992 arms embargo to enable African nations send in peacekeepers to protect the government.

And as the UN and aid groups delivered relief to nearly a million people hit by floods, the Islamists warned the world body from neither deploying any Ethiopian planes or sending any Ethiopians to work in Somalia.

"We cannot endure our enemies using humanitarian assistant to spy, if the UN agencies try to use Ethiopian planes, including helicopters to drop food in the flood-hit areas, we will bring them down," said Sheikh Mukhta Robow, the deputy defence chief for the Islamists.

"We know that every Ethiopian national is a spy. So, we will not tolerate Ethiopian planes flying over our territories," he added.

Asked why the Islamists were restricting the UN operations, he said: "They drop food today, and tomorrow they drop bombs after they have carried out surveillance over all areas where we are based."

The floods have killed at least 120 people and displaced around 300,000 since unusually heavy rains started to pound the country in October.

Dec 2 , 2006

Saturday

June

now

today

tomorrow

October


AFP_ENG_19970421.0259

LONDON, April 21 , 1997 (AFP)

Britain-warning-scene sched London's bustling streets emptied after IRA bomb alerts

The normally bustling streets of Monday morning London ground to a virtual standstill as a series of IRA pre-election bomb alerts turned downtown briefly into a ghost town.

An eerie silence fell over the city centre.

Usually packed Trafalgar Square was empty but for its thousands of pigeons.

Stranded office workers waited patiently behind security barriers after bomb scares stopped them from cutting across the central tourist magnet to get to work.

"It's one of the hazards of living in London really, isn't it?" said 29-year-old bank manager Justin Hare. "I'm quite immune to it."

The scene was repeated across London after police sealed off streets around six of the core area's key rail and underground stations.

Michael Foot, 83-year-old former Labour leader, was among the thousands delayed at Paddington station, and made his frustration clear.

"The Irish republicans have a good cause, but this sort of thing brings it into disrepute," he said.

Postal worker John Kehoe was furious.

"I was born in London but both my parents were born in Ireland," he said. "They are both dead now but they detested what the IRA are doing. It gives hard-working Irish people in Britain a bad name."

Anne Sparrow, a public relations officer stuck outside King's Cross station, said: "I guess it will get worse before the (May 1) election. I don't think the people behind this are going to get public opinion on their side -- they certainly won't get mine."

Meanwhile at Gatwick Airport south of the city -- one of the four London airports hit -- staff were scampering to find a vacant hangar to shelter some 8,000 disembarking passengers suddenly without means to get back to London.

Gatwick duty manager Mike Cook said many passengers were trapped on the tarmac, unable to leave the dozens of planes which had landed since the terminals were closed for bomb searches at around 06h30 GMT.

Some flights were still landing, others were being diverted but no flights were taking off, said Cook.

Police were warning against unnecessary travel and advising walking or cycling where possible.

"Basically, west London and central London are closed," said Royal Automobile Club spokesman Peter Brill.

"This is some of the worst traffic chaos that we have seen in London for many years, if ever."

April 21 , 1997

Monday morning

now

May 1

many years


XIN_ENG_20051129.0177

BARCELONA, SPAIN, Nov. 29 , 2005 (Xinhua)

News Analysis: Euromed summit reflects difficulties to bridge gap

Marked by the absence of most Arabic leaders, the Euromed summit, which concluded on Monday with a watered-down "code of conduct" on terrorism and a vague action plan on immigration and reform, reflected the profound difficulties in bridging the gap between the two rims of the Mediterranean, said an Arabic observer.

All but two leaders of the Mediterranean-rim partners -- Turkey and the Palestinian Authority -- joined the summit, which aimed to re-launch the so-called Barcelona Process set up to strengthen cooperation on peace, security, economic development and social cohesion between both shores of the Mediterranean sea.

On defining terrorism, Arab nations insisted on noting the differences between terrorism and the right to resist occupation, while Israel and several EU countries wanted an explicit statement that terrorism could never be justified by any cause.

The summit ended without going beyond pledges to implement in full all United Nations Security Council resolutions addressing the issue of terrorism, while ensuring respect for the Charter of the United Nations and international law.

For British Prime Minister Tony Blair, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, the statement was "as strong as you could possibly have on a unified determination to fight terrorism in all its forms."

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero also qualified the code of conduct as "energetic and unprecedented."

But another comment from Zapatero, inadvertently picked up by closed-door session microphones, and widely cited by the press, said the contrary -- "A text must be agreed, come what may."

On the issue of migration, a five-year program was agreed to reduce illegal immigration and crack down on human traffickers while "promoting legal immigration opportunities."

The European Commission hoped the summit defined a "shared vision" to give "fresh impetus" to the issue. However, the North-African countries complained that they did not have sufficient tools to enhance border control and demanded more financial compensation for cooperation on combating illegal immigration.

Critics also pointed out that the disputes on terrorism and immigration overshadowed other pressing issues, such as economic cooperation and development, which was of greater importance for the Arabic states.

"There is a deep-seated divergence of views: the Southern states are asking for more aid whereas the north wants to link that to further advances in democracy and good-government," said the Barcelona-based Spanish daily Vanguardia in an editorial.

The Muslim leaders were not keen to hear European lectures on democratic reform and the need for elections, an Arabic diplomat told Xinhua reporter.

The summit's lack of concessions for Arabic leaders suggested that Europe, long seen as a greater ally to the Muslim world than the pro-Israel United States, might be losing some of its influence, warned the diplomat.

For European analysts, the Europeans were lacking the instrument of economic diplomacy.

Without agreement on the EU financial perspective for 2007-2013, French President Jacques Chirac could only confirm that the funds destined for the region "would not decrease" under the next financial framework.

A new 1.5-billion-euro (about 1.8 billion US dollars) financing facility from the European Investment Bank, intended for the private sector in the South Mediterranean, was the only "new" money put on the table in Barcelona.

Nov. 29 , 2005

Monday


XIN_ENG_20051103.0270

LONDON, Nov. 3 , 2005 (Xinhua)

British soldiers acquitted of killing Iraqi teenager

Seven British soldiers accused of beating an Iraqi teenager to death with rifle butts were acquitted on Thursday.

According to the Sky news, a court martial judge ruled there was insufficient evidence to convict the soldiers.

The men had faced murder and violent disorder charges following the death of 18-year-old Nadhem Abdullah, in May 2003. But all the soldiers, members of The 3rd Battalion The Parachute Regiment, denied the allegations.

Abdullah died in an attack on a group of Iraqi civilians in al- Ferkah, 60 miles north of Basra. The attack was said to have taken place three weeks after formal hostilities in Iraq had ceased.

Judge Advocate General Jeff Blackett called some of the evidence "too inherently weak" and directed a military panel in Colchester, Essex, to clear the defendants.

"The judge made clear that, on the basis of the evidence presented, very serious allegations had been made and that it was perfectly proper to take the matter to trial," British Ministry of Defense said in a statement.

"Our soldiers are not above the law. It is right that allegations of this nature must be followed up and the evidence tested in full. This process is now complete and those soldiers still in the Army will now return to Regimental duty," said the statement.

The cleared soldiers are Corporal Scott Evans, 32, Private Billy Nerney, 24, Samuel May, 25, Morne Vosloo, 26, Daniel Harding, 25, Roberto Di-Gregorio and Scott Jackson, 26.

Nov. 3 , 2005

Thursday

May 2003

three weeks

now


XIN_ENG_20061130.0231

ADDIS ABABA, Nov. 30 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Writethru: Ethiopian parliament authorizes "all necessary" steps against Somalia's UIC

Ethiopia's parliament on Thursday adopted a resolution authorizing Prime Minister Meles Zenawi-led government to take "all necessary" steps against the Union of Islamic Courts (UIC) in neighboring Somalia.

"Parliament hereby authorizes the government to take all necessary and legal steps to stave off a declaration of holy war and invasion by the Union of Islamic Courts against the country," said the resolution.

"The parliament believes there is a clear and present danger to our country," it said. However, it stressed parliament would prefer dialogue and peace.

The resolution also accused the UIC of "training, sheltering and arming Ethiopian groups that are trying to overthrow the government."

The resolution was adopted by a 311 to 99 vote with 16 abstentions.

Meles told foreign journalists on Saturday that his country would not wait for foreign approval to attack the UIC in Somalia.

"We respect their views but because it is our country which is being attacked, naturally we do not seek any light -- green, red, amber -- from anyone to protect ourselves," he said.

The UIC has seized Somalia's capital of Mogadishu controlled most of southern and central Somalia.

Somalia has been without a functioning central authority since the 1991 ousting of strongman Mohamed Siad Barre and the two-year- old transitional government has been unable to assert control.

Nov. 30 , 2006

Thursday

Saturday


AFP_ENG_19970415.0220

NEW DELHI, April 15 , 1997 (AFP)

New Indian coalition likely to review block on foreign airlines: experts

India's new coalition government is likely to review a block on foreign airlines investing in domestic carriers, experts predicted Tuesday.

They also called for largescale investment in the industry, saying the policies carried out under the last government were out of date and anti-competition.

India's United Front coalition government was voted out of power Friday after the Congress (I) party withdrew parliamentary support.

The two former partners, however, are trying to form a new administration following the resignation of outgoing prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda as Front leader.

Prabir Das, an aviation expert for the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), blamed Aviation Minister C.M. Ibrahim for the block on overseas expertise and investment.

"Ibrahim's decisions were not a policy ... They were just event-based statements which would have to have a re-look.

"They never went through legislation in parliament and hence they are not law."

He added there should be a review "if India is serious in upgrading its aviation industry through resource mobilisation and foreign participation."

Ibrahim banned foreign airlines from holding equity in local carriers on April 4, five days after the coalition government lost its parliamentary majority.

He gave foreign airlines six months to withdraw investments from local carriers but allowed overseas investors outside the aviation sector to hold up to 40 percent in domestic airlines.

The guidelines, approved by Deve Gowda's cabinet, killed off a 708 -million-dollar plan by Singapore Airlines and India's Tata group to set up a new airline after more than two years of wrangling.

India's former civil aviation secretary, S.S. Sidhu, said: "The new government, in whichever form it comes, will take a look at the decisions."

An executive from the Foundation for Aviation and Sustainable Tourism said: "Instead of fishing in troubled waters, a new government should think of pragmatic policies to turn the industry into a vibrant sector."

Ibrahim has argued that investment by foreign airlines would lead to the destruction of the state-run India Airlines domestic carrier and Air India, the country's flagship airline. He allowed, however, 100 percent foreign equity in domestic airports.

April 15 , 1997

Tuesday

Friday

April 4

five days

six months

more than two years


XIN_ENG_20061102.0227

TOKYO, Nov. 2 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Japanese NGO vehicle in Afghanistan fired by shots

A vehicle of a Japanese nongovernmental organization was fired by shots in northern Afghanistan on Wednesday, Kyodo News reported Thursday.

According to the Japanese Embassy, the vehicle, belonging to Peace Winds Japan, was shot by three bullets from at least four men riding on two motorbikes when it was driving in Sar-i-Pul Province, but two local staffs in the vehicle were fortunately unhurt.

Embassy officials said Taliban remnants or al-Qaida fighters were behind the incident and called for caution.

Nov. 2 , 2006

Wednesday

Thursday


XIN_ENG_20051110.0090

BAGHDAD, Nov. 10 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Iraq condemns Jordan's suicide bombings

Iraq condemned on Thursday the three suicide bombing attacks on three hotels in the Jordanian capital of Amman last night which killed at least 57 people and injured hundreds.

"The Iraqi Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly condemns the terrorist blasts that took place in three hotels in Jordan," the ministry said in a statement.

The ministry called on the international community "to make every possible effort to uproot terrorism and save humanity from the most evil plague."

The statement stressed Iraq's readiness to actively cooperate with the Jordanian government to relieve the two countries from terrorism.

Iraqi president Jalal Talabani also condemned the bombings.

"Those explosions are another proof that terrorism has become an international plague that should be strongly confronted and defeated by Arab countries and the international community," said Talabani in a statement released by his office.

Nov. 10 , 2005

Thursday

last night


XIN_ENG_20061109.0155

BEIJING, Nov. 9 , 2006 (Xinhua)

1st LD: Chinese courts ordered to restrict use of death penalty

In China's latest move to control the use of the death penalty, the chief justice urged courts to exercise extreme caution when sentencing people to death, saying that every judgement must stand the test of time.

"In cases where the judge has legal leeway to decide whether to order death, he should always choose not to do so," said Xiao Yang, President of China's Supreme People's Court.

Xiao said a bullet to the back of head should be reserved for only an "extremely small number" of serious offenders.

If a convict surrenders to the police or helps them solve crimes the judge should generally not pass a sentence of death, the chief justice said.

On Thursday, Jiang Xingchang, vice president of the Supreme People's Court, again, stressed that all appeals against death sentences should be processed in open trials and local courts must video-tape the appeals for record keeping.

He also called for increased security during trails that may end with death sentences to ensure the safety of judges, lawyers, and other people involved.

Late last month, China's top legislature passed an amendment to the organic law on courts, stipulating that all death penalties handed out by provincial courts must be reviewed and ratified by the Supreme People's Court (SPC).

The Supreme People's Court has expanded criminal tribunals and a death penalty review team to deal with the change of statutes.

A series of cases involving people wrongly convicted and executed for crimes they did not commit were recently exposed in the media.

"Judges should be very cautious, as if walking on thin ice, when it comes to the death penalty. They should ensure the facts and the evidence are all clear and the verdict is issued in accordance with law," said Xiao.

The chief justice also ruled out the possibility of abolishing the death penalty as a number of legal experts and human rights groups have urged.

"The conditions are not yet ripe for China to ban the death penalty. It is still a necessary means to ensure the safety of the state and protect the people," he said.

Nov. 9 , 2006

Thursday

Late last month


AFP_ENG_20061202.0552

BANGKOK, Dec 3 , 2006, 2006

=(PICTURE)=

Bangkok's Motor Expo, often overlooked as the smaller of Thailand's two auto shows, has won unusual attention this year as carmakers pin to it their hopes of a last-minute jolt to a year of lagging sales.

This year is set to be the first year of falling auto sales since the 1997 financial crisis blew apart the market.

As of October, sales were down four percent over the same period last year and the industry doesn't expect them to leave negative territory by the year-end.

But that hasn't stopped them from hoping that the Motor Expo will be the catalyst that helps them shake off pressure from a year of high oil prices, rising interest rates, widespread flooding and intense political turmoil.

"The Motor Expo will give a significant boost to car sales for the rest of the year. This is high season and people are in the mood for spending," said Wit Sittivaekin, marketing director of BMW group in Thailand.

"A lot of uncertainties have influenced the market, especially oil prices and political uncertainties. The situation has improved gradually," he told AFP.

"Even so, consumers still have purchasing power and are ready to spend money for the right product and financial offers," he added.

Carmakers are offering aggressive promotions and unveiling new models for 2007 to draw customers to the Expo, which opened on November 30 and runs through December 11.

Last year, 15,000 cars were sold at the auto show, which attracted 1.6 million visitors, according to organiser Inter-Media Consultant Co.

But the show was not expected to do well enough to turnaround a disappointing 2006 after a series of record-setting years.

In October, the month after the coup that ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinwatra, sales plummeted by 10.5 percent from one year earlier, according to figures complied by Toyota Motor Thailand.

The Automotive Industry Club said sales overall were expected to sink for the year.

"It would be the first negative growth year-on-year in car sales since the sector recovered from the crisis with double-digit increases every year," said the club's spokesman Suraphong Phaisithpattanaphong.

Domestic sales this year are expected to fall short of the record 703,000 units sold in 2005 with commercial vehicles suffering the most, Suraphong said.

Manufacturers have also revised down their production target by 450,000 units for 2006 to 1.2 million units, he added.

Last year total production stood at 1.1 million units.

"Despite the auto show, volume for 2006 still cannot catch up with those of last year, after sales were sluggish for many months," Suraphong told AFP.

Analysts said slow domestic consumption has put Thailand's economic growth among the slowest in east Asia since 2005, pushing car sales down.

"Even though consumer confidence improved after the coup, other negative factors have remained, mainly the oil prices," said Sakkarin Nigamsilpa, an auto analyst at Kasikorn Research Center.

"With improving confidence and an expected decrease in interest rates, we expect domestic car sales will begin growing again early next year," he told AFP.

Despite the weak domestic demand, Thailand's auto exports have continued to surge. Automakers expect to finish the year with exports up 30 percent from 2005, topping 500,000 units for the first time.

Suraphong said manufacturers are still confident that the sector could achieve another milestone in 2010 with production volume of 1.8 million units.

But Kasikorn's Sakkarin said Thailand has to find other niches to reach the target as its core pick-up truck segment, which accounts for two thirds of local production, is getting saturated.

Thailand is now the world's largest producer of pickups, surpassing the United States.

The Board of Investment earlier this month announced standards for producing fuel-efficient cars that would receive yet-undefined incentives from the government for local production.

Thailand wants to convince automakers to begin producing cars that would meet stringent Euro 4 emission standards and consume less than five liters of petrol per 100 kilometers (62 miles).

Shortly after the announcement, Japan's Mazda Corp and Ford Motor announced plans to spend more than 50 billion yen (424 million dollars) combined to build a small car factory in Thailand, set to open in 2009.

Dec 3 , 2006

this year

This year

first year

October

the same period last year

a year

the rest of the year

November 30

December 11

Last year

October

one year earlier

the year

every year

this year

Last year

last year

many months

early next year

the year

earlier this month


XIN_ENG_20061119.0042

HANOI, Nov. 19 , 2006 (Xinhua)

2nd Ld Writethru: Russia, US sign agreement on WTO deal in Vietnam

Russia and the United States Sunday signed a bilateral agreement on Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) on the sidelines of the ongoing Asia- Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting in Hanoi.

The agreement was signed by U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab and Russian Minister of Trade and Economic Development German Gref.

Describing the agreement as an important milestone in Russia's bid to join the WTO, Schwab said the document signed will be presented to Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President George W. Bush, who were here attending the APEC leaders' meeting.

"I'm pleased that we have concluded this important agreement with Russia's WTO accession negotiations. This is a strong and far- reaching agreement that meets the high standards of President Bush 's market-opening trade agenda and moves Russia closer to full integration into the global, rules-based trading system," Schwab said.

Nov. 19 , 2006

Sunday


XIN_ENG_20051128.0277

NAIROBI, Nov. 28 , 2005 (Xinhua)

UN envoy to attend regional ministerial meeting in Somalia

A top UN envoy for Somalia is traveling to Somalia on Tuesday for a regional ministerial meeting this week in Jowhar, the provisional capital of Somalia, officials said here Monday.

A statement from the UN Political Office of Somalia (UNPOS) said the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative for Somalia (SRSG) Francois Lonseny Fall will attend the first Ministerial Meeting of the Inter-governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Council of Ministers which begins on Tuesday.

"No part of the international community has greater responsibility towards Somalia than IGAD. The Somali national reconciliation process and the transitional federal institutions are very much IGAD's babies," said Fall.

This week's initiative is in line with the UN Security Council' s request urging IGAD, the African Union, the League of Arab States, European Union and concerned member states, to leverage their influence to ensure that Somalia's transitional federal institutions reconcile their differences peacefully.

The Somali transitional federal institutions moved to Somalia in 2004 from Kenya, where they were created after a reconciliation conference, but the administration has been divided over where the seat of government should be situated.

President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed and his supporters pitched camp in Jowhar, 90 km north of the capital, Mogadishu.

Other lawmaker, led by parliamentary speaker Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan, went to Mogadishu -- a city largely destroyed during nearly 15 years of civil strife.

Two weeks ago, Somali parliamentarians based in Mogadishu resolved to hold talks with the rest of the government in a bid to bridge differences that have paralyzed the new administration.

Nov. 28 , 2005

Tuesday

this week

Monday

Tuesday

This week

nearly 15 years

Two weeks ago


AFP_ENG_19970409.0289

TIRANA, April 9 , 1997 (AFP)

Force vanguard arrives in Albania

A 24-strong advance party of the multinational force for Albania has arrived in the capital Tirana to scout installations where the force could be billetted, officials said Wednesday.

The mission includes 13 Italians, despite political uncertainty in Rome over whether Italy's leadership of the force will get the required backing of parliament in a vote which was to be held later Wednesday.

The advance team arrived in Tirana late Tuesday.

The experts Wednesday began assessing the suitability of barracks and other centres which are to be used to house the 6,000-strong multinational force.

The Albanian authorities are proposing that the force headquarters be in a military school in Tirana, one of the military experts said.

Intensive renovation work has been carried out in recent weeks in government-controlled towns to restore military installations ransacked during riots sparked by the collapse of phoney investment schemes.

The force will have to cope with widespread lawlessness, with large areas of the country, particularly in the south, controlled by armed gangs.

Apart from the Italians, the advance contingent is made up of three French, three Greeks, two Danes, two Spaniards and a Romanian.

Eight European countries have pledged troops for the force, the first contingents of which are due to land in the port of Durres within days.

One hundred and twenty men of the French contingent left Toulon on the Mediterranean coast overnight on the troop transport vessel Champlain, the French military press service SIRPA said Wednesday.

Another 350 men will embark Thursday and 600 others on Tuesday.

The troops are expected to arrive in Durres two or three days later.

The French contingent has been tasked with making Durres port and the Durres-Tirana road safe.

In a related development, Albanian Defense Minister Shaqir Vukaj said the multinational force would not face a civil-war situation in Albania.

"The only existing threat comes from criminal armed gangs which under the prevailing conditions unfortunately organize rapidly, while the Albanian people, from north to south, will welcome the multinational force," said Vukaj after talks with his Greek counterpart Akis Tsohatzopoulos in Athens.

Vukaj said that Greek would help in rebuilding the Albanian armed forces.

April 9 , 1997

Wednesday

later Wednesday

late Tuesday

Wednesday

recent weeks

Wednesday

Thursday

Tuesday

two or three days


AFP_ENG_19970408.0548

MANILA, April 8 , 1997 (AFP)

Jose Luis Yulo elected as Philippine Stock Exchange president (new series)

Jose Luis Yulo, who runs a state trading firm, has been elected the new president of the Philippine Stock Exchange, the bourse announced Tuesday.

The choice of Yulo, a non-broker and president of the Philippine International Trading Corp. (PITC), would ensure that the bourse "continues to maintain and improve its high standards of efficiency and integrity," a bourse statement said.

The PITC is the government's trading arm with the socialist bloc which includes Iraq, Libya, North Korea and several other countries.

Yulo replaces Vitaliano Nanagas, who resigned after a few months on the job when some owner-brokers resisted his effort at reforms.

Yulo, who turned the PITC from near bankruptcy in 1990 to profitability in 1996, was a former president of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry. He was educated at the University of the Philippines, Stanford Advance Management College and the Colegio de San Juan de Letran.

April 8 , 1997

Tuesday

few months


XIN_ENG_20051104.0238

BRUSSELS, Nov. 4 , 2005 (Xinhua)

Afghanistan is Netherlands' most disastrous overseas mission: newspaper

The mission in Afghanistan is becoming the most accident-prone and expensive deployment ever for the Dutch defense ministry, the De Volkskrant daily reported Friday.

Although Dutch troops in Afghanistan never exchanged fire with al-Qaeda or Taliban fighters, the Dutch air force lost some 80 million euro worth of equipment in the past year, a record for Dutch missions abroad, the paper said.

The Dutch air force confirmed that a second Chinook helicopter was written off after making an emergency landing in mountains north of Kabul on Monday, according to the paper, one of the biggest dailies in the Netherlands.

The 25-million-euro aircraft, en route to Dutch commandos in Kandahar, was forced to land for reasons not yet clear. Three of the 17 soldiers on board were wounded.

In July, a Chinook crashed near Kandahar. The Dutch defense ministry has ruled out the possibility that the aircraft was shot down by Taliban or al-Qaeda fighters.

The air force suffered its heaviest loss in August last year when a mis-communication resulted in the crash of a 30-million- euro Apache combat helicopter north of Kabul.

"It is never nice to lose so much equipment that is so crucial and scarce," an air force spokesperson was quoted as saying, adding that "luckily there have not been any wounded or dead so far."

As the Dutch mission in Afghanistan continues its dangerous operations, the air force risks losing more of its remaining 11 Chinooks, the paper said.

Nov. 4 , 2005

Friday

the past year

Monday

July

August last year


AFP_ENG_19970401.0394

WASHINGTON, April 1 , 1997 (AFP)

Heaven's Gate lives on in cyberspace by Francis Curta

Heaven's Gate Internet sites will exist in cyberspace for months because, shortly before committing mass suicide, cult members paid access providers to maintain them.

The sites, updated just one week before Heaven's Gate's 39 members killed themselves in a mansion outside San Diego, California, outlines the group's belief that aliens aboard a spaceship would give them new life.

Ed Deppe, head of access provider Spacestar Communications, said his company received several telephone calls from the group shortly before the suicides seeking to make sure that Spacestar had gotten the maintenance payments.

To make absolutely sure, Heaven's Gate had made two payments to Spacestar dated March 21. When Spacestar asked how it should reimburse the group for its overpayment, a member of the cult reportedly said that it was impossible.

"You can't contact us anymore in California. We're going to be moving," Deppe recalled a cult member telling him.

The site was briefly shut down on Thursday -- the day after police discovered the bodies -- after some 900,000 callers jammed the Internet, Deppe said.

The Heaven's Gate site is now open again and will remain accessible for four months, Deppe said. The cost of maintaining a site ranges from 50 to 100 dollars per month.

The cult created an identical site with another access provider in an apparent bid to guarantee that it would leave behind a cyberspace presence.

Meanwhile, the Federal Bureau of Investigation was analyzing the contents of computers at the cult's compound in Rancho Santa Fe. That analysis could take up to six weeks.

Among the other items the cult left behind is a 223-page script about itself that could become a movie soon.

"It's a script that needs a lot of massaging because it's very raw material. But it's a Hollywood natural at this point if there ever was one," Alex Papas, a producer with rights to the script, told The New York Times.

Several members of the cult who rented an Arizona house from Papas in 1995 wrote the script in hopes that Papas could help them tell their story and expand their membership.

Titled "Beyond Human," the script "threw in a lot about UFOs and space aliens and earthlings evolving from their 'containers' to a 'higher level,'" Papas said.

Suicide is not mentioned in the script, he added.

April 1 , 1997

one week

March 21

Thursday

now

four months

six weeks


AFP_ENG_20051210.0027

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 10 , 2005

China tries to calm fears over power in Asia

China's foreign minister on Saturday tried to soothe international worries over its rising dominance in the East Asian region, assuring that Beijing will stay on a path of peaceful development.

"China, a developing country, will keep to its peaceful influence. China is insisting on a path of peaceful development," Li Zhaoxing told reporters.

"We will not be threatening or replacing anyone," he said. "We'll help as much as possible to establish a harmonious world. In that way, everyone is happy."

His remarks came on the sidelines of an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting next week, which will be followed by the inaugural East Asia summit.

The summit in the Malaysian capital brings together the 10 members of ASEAN as well as China, Japan, South Korea, and India, Australia, New Zealand.

The inclusion of Australia, New Zealand and India was the result of concern raised by Singapore, Japan and Indonesia over possible Chinese dominance in the absence of the United States.

Li dismissed fears that China was harbouring ambitions to be dominant in the region, replacing the traditionally more powerful influence of the United States and Japan.

"We have lots of issues at home. We are focusing... on improving the living of the 1.3 billion Chinese people," Li said.

He reiterated Beijing's stance that the country needed a peaceful international environment for its development.

"We want to see peace across the world so we can focus our energy on developing our economy," he said. "Second, we want to make friends. Only through making friends, our reforms may be able to progress smoothly."

Washington, though unsure about the value of the forum that does not have set objectives, is concerned over its direction in the region as China's influence grows, US diplomats in Asia and officials in Washington have said.

The United States has also been concerned over China's rising military might and economic clout in Asia, where Washington is linked by defense alliances with Japan, South Korea, Australia, the Philippines and Thailand.

But analysts say some unpopular policies of the United States and Japan are also a reason why their influence in the region has diminished.

Dec 10 , 2005

Saturday

next week


AFP_ENG_19970402.0613

SYDNEY, April 3 , 1997 (AFP)

Drama at sea on US aircraft carrier Independence

A crew member of the US aircraft carrier Independence had to be airlifted to a Sydney hospital after he was hit by a fighter plane attempting a night landing on the ship.

The incident late Wednesday left the man with fractured legs and arms, an ambulance spokesman here said.

"He sustained fractured legs and arms and was airlifted to Sydney airport by an Independence helicopter," the spokesman said.

The spokesman said few details were available but he understood an FA-18 Hornet aircraft approaching the Independence's landing deck overshot the runway and hit the man.

The aircraft carrier left Sydney Harbour Tuesday after a six-day rest and recreation visit.

It was in Australia to participate in Operation Tandem Thrust, a joint Australian/US military exercise involving 28,000 troops in far north Queensland state which ended last week.

After hitting the man the damaged aircraft was forced to fly 120 nautical miles on one engine, escorted by another FA-18 and a Viking tanker plane, to make an emergency landing at the Williamtown RAAF Base near Newcastle, about 150 kilometres (93 miles) north of Sydney, an official there said.

Wing Commander Lou Lapuma said the Hornet's undercarriage collapsed as it made an emergency landing but the pilot was unhurt.

"He was off the coast relatively near an F-18 base when he lost his engine and undercarriege; we were also preparing for night manoeuvres, so all the emergency crews were here (in Williamtown) anyway.

"We're in contact with the Independence and trying to figure out what they want to do with their plane and their pilot," Lapuma said.

The Independence, commissioned in 1959, is the US Navy's oldest active ship.

It served in the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, the liberation of Grenada in 1983, the Gulf War in 1990 and last year's tensions between Taiwan and China.

More than 5,000 sailors and marines live aboard.

April 3 , 1997

Wednesday

Tuesday

last week

last year


XIN_ENG_20061108.0125

GAZA, Nov. 8 , 2006 (Xinhua)

Hamas threats to attack U.S. targets in the Middle East

The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas)

on Tuesday urged, for the first time, to attack American targets and interests in the Middle East.

The threat came in a statement released by al-Qassam Brigades, a military wing of Hamas, following the death of 19 Palestinians in Israeli artillery shelling in northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun in the day.

"America provides political and logistical cover for the crimes

committed by the Zionist occupation and it must be blamed on Beit Hanoun massacres prior to the occupation," said the statement.

It called on Arab and Muslims to "teach the American enemy unmerciful lessons they will not forget."

In the past, Hamas, which now leads the government, has said that their battle was only with Israel and their borders are inside Israel and the Palestinian territories.

In the meantime, al-Qassam brigades also vowed to respond to the killings in Beit Hanoun.

Wednesday's strikes came after 24 hours of the Israeli withdrawal from the town. Over the past week, more than 63 Palestinians have been killed so far in Israeli incursion in Beit Hanoun.

Nov. 8 , 2006

Tuesday

now

Wednesday

24 hours

the past week


AFP_ENG_19970424.0526

WASHINGTON, April 24 , 1997 (AFP)

Albright, Dalai Lama favor good Sino-US relations

US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and the Dalai Lama agree on the importance of strong US-China relations, the State Department said Thursday after the two held talks here.

During the meeting, Albright also "reiterated the administration's support for the preservation of Tibetan religion and culture," State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns said.

She also reaffirmed that Washington wished a "dialogue between the Chinese government and the Dalai Lama or his representatives to resolve differences," he said.

During a State Department visit that lasted slightly more than an hour, the Dalai Lama also met with John Shattuck, assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor, and with the Advisory Committee on Religious Freedom Abroad.

Committee members "expressed their deep commitment to ending religious persecution in Tibet, including incidents of torture and the arbitrary arrest of Tibetan nuns and monks, as well as the destruction of religious sites and restrictions on religious expression, education and worship," Burns said.

Earlier Thursday, Beijing voiced "great indignation" at a meeting between US President Bill Clinton and the Dalai Lama.

The Dalai Lama met officially Wednesday with US Vice President Al Gore, and the president joined the talks "in progress," a strategy aimed to minimize offense to China.

During the meeting, Clinton assured the spiritual leader he was concerned about protecting Tibet and called for direct talks between the exiled Himalayan god-king and Beijing, a White House spokesman said.

China on Thursday said such talks were not out of the question.

"The door to dialogue has long been open, but there is one condition ... the Dalai Lama must cease his separatist activities," Foreign Ministry spokesman Cui Tiankai told reporters in Beijing.

China seized control of Tibet in 1951, and the Dalai Lama fled into exile eight years later following an abortive uprising against Chinese rule.

The government-in-exile he has since headed in India is not recognized by any country, but the spiritual leader's campaign for Tibetan self- determination has won him international acclaim. The Dalai Lama was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1989.

April 24 , 1997

Thursday

Earlier Thursday

Wednesday

Thursday

eight years


XIN_ENG_20061106.0155

ATHENS, Nov. 6 , 2006 (Xinhua)

NATO military drill begins in Greece

A military exercise started in northern Greece on Monday, which was part of a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Deployable Corps-Greece headquarters training program.

The drill, code-named Gordian Knot '06, under NATO auspices, includes the partial deployment of the Headquarters in northern Greece and will run through Nov. 15, the ANA news agency reported.

The program includes the movement of Greek and Allied forces on land, sea and air with the use of appropriate means and vehicles.

Heavy artillery shooting will take place on Nov. 15, according to military sources.

Nov. 6 , 2006

Monday

Nov. 15

Nov. 15


AFP_ENG_20061213.0531

FRANKFURT, Dec 13 , 2006, 2006

Bundesbank sees German economy growing by 2.75 pct in 2006

The Bundesbank expects the German economy to grow by around 2.75 percent this year, thereby providing "substantial impulses" for the 12-country eurozone as a whole, the German central bank's president Axel Weber said on Wednesday.

The German economy, the biggest in the single currency region, "has developed very positively this year," Weber said in a speech prepared for delivery at an economic forum in Hamburg.

A copy of the speech was made available by the Bundesbank in Frankfurt.

After expanding by 0.8 percent and 1.1 percent respectively in the first two quarters of this year, area-wide gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 0.8 percent in the third quarter.

"The economic uptrend continued at a rapid pace in the third quarter," Weber said.

The annual growth rate for the whole of 2006 "should therefore stand at around two-and-three-quarter percent, well above potential. That means Germany is providing substantial impulses for the euro area," the German central bank chief said.

Exports and domestic demand were contributing to growth.

"Nevertheless, there is still no sign of a deep recovery in consumption, even if there have been improvements on this front recently. In the traditional retail sector, developments are still weak," Weber said.

Looking ahead to next year, Weber said he was projecting the current upturn to weaken "but not break down altogether."

"The fundamental trend will remain intact, even if the rise in value-added tax (VAT) on January 1 will have a substantial braking effect on the economy," he said.

The German government has decided to raise VAT or sales tax by three full percentage points to 19 percent from next month, the biggest-ever single VAT rise.

Turning to the state of Germany's public finances, Weber said that given the country's strong economic performance, the public deficit was to set to fall back within EU limits for the first time since 2002 this year.

Under the European Stability and Growth Pact, eurozone countries are not allowed to run up public deficits in excess of 3.0 percent of GDP.

However, Germany, the pact's main architect, has been in breach of the 3.0-percent rule every year since 2002.

Weber said the Bundebank was pencilling in a deficit ratio of "around two percent this year."

And given the tax measures due to come into effect from 2007, the deficit ratio would likely fall further next year, Weber continued.

However, Germany should not rest on its laurels, "there is still room for further substantial consolidation," Weber said.

"A deficit ratio of less than 3.0 percent is just an interim goal. And much of what has been achieved is cyclical," he said. "The medium term goal is to achieve a balanced budget. Additional consolidation must follow in economically good times."

Weber warned against excessive euphoria.

"The current favourable economic developments and the related increase in tax revenues must not be interpreted as an indication of improved growth perspectives in the long term," he said.

More structural reforms would have to be implemented to improve the low potential growth rate of the German economy and reduce unemployment on a lasting basis, Weber argued.

Dec 13 , 2006

this year

Wednesday

positively this year

the first two quarters of this year

the third quarter

the third quarter

recently

next year

January 1

next month

2002 this year

every year

this year

next year