Input: The present noise levels have applied at Heathrow, one of the world's busiest airports, since 1959 and at Gatwick since 1968.

Heathrow

Gatwick


Input: The number of monitors will be increased and some will be repositioned to detect noisy planes.


Input: -- London Newsroom +44 171 542 7717

London Newsroom


Input: Tennis-Philippoussis beats Woodforde in U.S. Open.

Philippoussis

Woodforde

U.S. Open


Input: NEW YORK 1996-08-27

NEW YORK


Input: Mark Philippoussis beat fellow Australian Mark Woodforde 6-7 (6-8) 6-3 6-3 6-3 in a men's singles first round match at the U.S. Open on Tuesday.

Mark Philippoussis

Mark Woodforde

Australian

U.S. Open


Input: The two Davis Cup team-mates were pitted against each other after last week's controversial redraw of the men's singles competition.

Davis Cup


Input: Philippoussis is on course for a third round meeting with world number one Pete Sampras of the United States, whom he beat at the Australian Open last January.

Philippoussis

Pete Sampras

United States

Australian Open


Input: -- Sydney Newsroom 61-2 9373-1800

Sydney Newsroom


Input: Rugby union-England given final chance to stay in Five Nations.

union-England

Five Nations


Input: LONDON 1996-08-28

LONDON


Input: England have been given a final chance to remain in the Five Nations' championship despite striking an exclusive television deal with Rupert Murdoch's Sky television.

England

Five Nations

Rupert Murdoch

Sky


Input: In a statement on Wednesday, the Four Nations TV Committee said dates had been set for a competition involving Scotland, Wales, Ireland and France next year.

Four Nations TV Committee

Scotland

Wales

Ireland

France


Input: " Between now and then, discussions will take place in one final attempt to persuade the Rugby Football Union to save the Five Nations' championship in its current form, " the statement said.

Rugby Football Union

Five Nations


Input: No further details were immediately available.


Input: England infuriated their championship colleagues when they decided to sign a 87.5 million pounds sterling ($135.8 million) deal giving Sky television exclusive rights to rugby union matches in England.

England

England

Sky


Input: The present contract with the British Broadcasting Corporation was shared between the four home nations while France have their own television deal.

British Broadcasting Corporation

France


Input: Last month Five Nations' committee chairman Tom Kiernan said England would be thrown out of the competition " unless circumstances change in the near future ".

Five Nations

Tom Kiernan

England


Input: Cricket-NZ face tough schedule at home and abroad.

NZ


Input: WELLINGTON 1996-08-28

WELLINGTON


Input: World Cup cricket champions Sri Lanka will play two tests and three one-day internationals in a tour of New Zealand next March, officials said on Wednesday.

World Cup

Sri Lanka

New Zealand


Input: New Zealand Cricket said the Sri Lankans would play tests in Hamilton and Wellington and one-dayers in Auckland, Christchurch and Dunedin, following hard on the heels of a tour by England.

New Zealand

Hamilton

Wellington

Auckland

Christchurch

Dunedin

England

Sri Lankans


Input: New Zealand will also line up against Sri Lanka and Pakistan this November in a one-day champions trophy competition in Sharjah.

New Zealand

Sri Lanka

Pakistan

Sharjah


Input: The team will go one to tour Pakistan, playing two tests and three one-day internationals.

Pakistan


Input: Soccer-Burundi disqualification from African Cup confirmed.

Burundi

African Cup


Input: CAIRO 1996-08-28

CAIRO


Input: The African Football Confederation (CAF) on Wednesday formally confirmed Burundi's disqualification from the African Nations Cup following the team's inability to travel for a qualifier against Central African Republic.

African Football Confederation

Burundi

Central African Republic

CAF

African Nations Cup


Input: The Burundi team were unable to leave their troubled country for a preliminary round first leg match in Bangui earlier this month because of an air ban imposed in a recent set of internationally-sponsored sanctions.

Burundi

Bangui


Input: The Central African Republic qualified on a walkover to play in group four with Guinea, Sierra Leone and Tunisia.

Central African Republic

Guinea

Sierra Leone

Tunisia


Input: " After examining the dossier of the Burundi-Central Africa match, we decided ...

Burundi-Central Africa


Input: to disqualify the national team of Burundi from the 21st African Cup of Nations ...

Burundi

21st African Cup of Nations


Input: as a result of the absence of this team from the match, " CAF said in a statement.

CAF


Input: Cricket-India 226-5 in 50 overs v Sri Lanka.

India

Sri Lanka


Input: COLOMBO 1996-08-28

COLOMBO


Input: India scored 226 for five wickets in their 50 overs against Sri Lanka in the second day-night limited overs match of the Singer World Series tournament on Wednesday.

India

Sri Lanka

Singer World Series


Input: Canada fast-tracks Chinese asylum-seekers-report.

Canada

Chinese


Input: VANCOUVER, British Columbia 1996-08-28

VANCOUVER

British Columbia


Input: Canada is fast-tracking immigration applications from Chinese dissidents in Hong Kong before the British colony reverts to China's control next year, the Vancouver Sun reported on Wednesday.

Canada

Hong Kong

China

Chinese

British

Vancouver Sun


Input: The applications are being " fast-tracked in the sense that we are processing them and the ones who have been referred to us have been interviewed, " the newspaper quoted Garrett Lambert, Canada's high commissioner in Hong Kong, as saying.

Garrett Lambert

Canada

Hong Kong


Input: " A small number already have preliminary indications as to what the disposition of their cases are and so I suppose in that sense, I guess we have given them some preferential treatment, " Lambert said.

Lambert


Input: He declined to say how many people were being considered for asylum.


Input: Canada's ministry of foreign affairs in Ottawa had no immediate comment on the report.

Canada

Ottawa


Input: About 80 Chinese dissidents are believed to be living in exile in Hong Kong.

Chinese

Hong Kong


Input: Their fate after the territory reverts to Chinese rule is unclear.

Chinese


Input: Britain hands Hong Kong back to China at midnight on June 30, 1997, after 150 years of colonial rule.

Britain

Hong Kong

China


Input: Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs Lloyd Axworthy said after meeting Hong Kong Gov.

Canada

Hong Kong

Lloyd Axworthy


Input: Chris Patten last month that Canada may grant asylum to dissidents who have fled to Hong Kong from China.

Chris Patten

Canada

Hong Kong

China


Input: Chinese officials have said such dissidents may not become Hong Kong permanent residents since they entered the territory illegally but have also said their status would be decided by the post-1997 local Hong Kong administration.

Chinese

Hong Kong

Hong Kong


Input: Ivorian journalist held, asked to reveal source.

Ivorian


Input: ABIDJAN 1996-08-28

ABIDJAN


Input: An Ivorian journalist spent a third day in custody on Wednesday and investigators were demanding that he reveal the source of an official document published in his newspaper, colleagues said.

Ivorian


Input: Raphael Lapke, publication director of Ivorian newspaper Le Populaire, was taken in for questioning on Monday over an article about the public prosecutor and has been detained since then.

Raphael Lapke

Ivorian

Le Populaire


Input: Colleagues said he had been charged with theft of administrative documents. "


Input: He is being asked for the source of his information and who gave him this confidential document, " one colleague told Reuters.

Reuters


Input: Three journalists from the Ivorian opposition daily La Voie are serving two-year prison terms for insulting President Henri Konan Bedie.

Ivorian

La Voie

Henri Konan Bedie


Input: A court sentenced two in December and the third in January.


Input: La Voie published an article suggesting the presence of Bedie had brought local team ASEC bad luck during their defeat by Orlando Pirates of South Africa in the final of the African Champions Cup in December.

La Voie

ASEC

Bedie

Orlando Pirates

South Africa

African Champions Cup


Input: The United States embassy in Abidjan and international press organisations denounced the sentences as excessive.

United States

Abidjan


Input: Last year, Bedie pardoned four journalists jailed for the same or similar offences.

Bedie


Input: They included one of the three La Voie journalists.

La Voie


Input: Bedie pardoned two other journalists jailed for incitement to disturb public order.

Bedie


Input: Village attack kills 38 in eastern Sierra Leone.

Sierra Leone


Input: FREETOWN 1996-08-28

FREETOWN


Input: Sierra Leonean rebels killed 31 villagers and seven soldiers in an attack on the eastern village of Foindu, Eastern Region Brigade Commander Major Fallah Sewa said on Wednesday.

Sierra Leonean

Foindu

Eastern Region Brigade

Fallah Sewa


Input: Sewa said the rebels overran Foindu despite the presence of government troops in the village on the highway between Mano Junction and the diamond town of Tongo Field.

Sewa

Foindu

Mano Junction

Tongo Field


Input: An army spokesman in Freetown said Monday night's attack was the third on a military post in the past week.

Freetown


Input: Rebels of the Revolutionary United Front agreed a ceasefire in April.

Revolutionary United Front


Input: Continuing attacks are generally ascribed to renegade soldiers or uncontrolled bands of rebels and refugees displaced by the fighting starting to return to their homes.


Input: Peace talks in Ivory Coast began in February.

Ivory Coast


Input: Diplomats say they are deadlocked over the RUF's insistence that foreign troops helping the government army should leave, and that they should have some say in the allocation of budget spending.

RUF


Input: Aid agency says Sudan missionaries released.

Sudan


Input: NAIROBI 1996-08-28

NAIROBI


Input: An aid agency said six Roman Catholic missionaries, including three Australian nuns, were freed by rebels in southern Sudan on Wednesday after being held for nearly two weeks.

Roman Catholic

Australian

Sudan


Input: But Catholic church officials said they had no confirmation of the report and would have to wait until Thursday to be sure.

Catholic


Input: Zambia's Chiluba shuffles cabinet to fill vacancy.

Zambia

Chiluba


Input: LUSAKA 1996-08-28

LUSAKA


Input: Zambian President Frederick Chiluba shuffled his cabinet on Wednesday to fill a vacancy left after the sacking of Legal Affairs Minister Remmy Mushota.

Frederick Chiluba

Remmy Mushota


Input: Mushota was fired a month ago after a government tribunal found he tried to withdraw cash from state coffers without authority.

Mushota


Input: The president's office said in a statement that Lands Minister Luminzu Shimaponda had been appointed Legal Affairs Minister, while Deputy Foreign Minister Peter Machungwa would take over from Shimaponda.

Luminzu Shimaponda

Peter Machungwa

Shimaponda


Input: Guinea launches war on fictitious civil servants.

Guinea


Input: CONAKRY 1996-08-28

CONAKRY


Input: Guinea launched a drive on Wednesday to rid the civil service payroll of fictitious workers as part of new prime minister Sidia Toure's campaign to cut government spending.

Guinea

Sidia Toure


Input: Deputy Minister for Finance Ousmane Kaba said teams of inspectors would check government offices in the capital and the provinces to root out civil servants who drew salaries but had left their jobs, were dead, or had never existed.

Ousmane Kaba


Input: Some 50 million Guinean francs ($50,000) has been pumped into the exercise to deter the inspectors from taking bribes.

Guinean


Input: Kaba told reporters the annual wage bill of 171 billion Guinean francs represented 50 percent of current state expenditure, " whereas the acceptable proportion in countries similar to ours is one third ".

Kaba

Guinean


Input: Toure, who took office last month, has said he plans to cut public service spending by 30 percent by the end of the year as part of measures to revive the economy.

Toure


Input: Guinea is rich in minerals and has a vast potential for hydroelectric power generation but it faces stiff competition from its West African neighbours for foreign investment.

Guinea

West African


Input: President Lansana Conte appointed Toure, a former senior civil servant in Ivory Coast, last month to clean up the administration and reform the economy following February's bloody army revolt.

Lansana Conte

Toure

Ivory Coast


Input: ($=1,000 Guinean francs)

Guinean


Input: New Liberia Council chief to be installed Tuesday.

Liberia Council


Input: MONROVIA 1996-08-28

MONROVIA


Input: Ruth Perry, the woman with the task of uniting Liberia's squabbling factions around the latest peace plan, will be formally installed as head of the ruling State Council next Tuesday, a Council statement said.

Ruth Perry

Liberia

State Council

Council


Input: Perry, a Liberian Senate member during the 1980s, returned to Monrovia on August 22 after West African leaders nominated her for the job under a peace deal signed in Nigeria's capital Abuja five days earlier.

Perry

Liberian

West African

Senate

Monrovia

Nigeria

Abuja


Input: The formal inauguration had been due to take place this week but was put back.


Input: There was no official explanation but politicians said faction leaders and State Council vice-chairmen Charles Taylor and Alhadji Kromah were unable to attend because they were travelling.

State Council

Charles Taylor

Alhadji Kromah


Input: Liberia's civil war, launched by Taylor in 1989, has killed well over 150,000 people.

Liberia

Taylor


Input: Faction fighting and an orgy of looting in the capital Monrovia in April and May killed hundreds of people.

Monrovia


Input: Over a dozen peace deals have collapsed.


Input: The latest sets a timetable for disarmament by the end of January and elections by May 30.


Input: West African leaders have threatened individual sanctions against faction leaders to ensure compliance.

West African


Input: Freed American slaves founded Liberia in 1847.

American

Liberia


Input: Nigeria rights group says four academics arrested.

Nigeria


Input: LAGOS 1996-08-28

LAGOS


Input: A Nigerian human rights group said on Wednesday that four members of a recently banned university union had been arrested.

Nigerian


Input: " The Constitutional Rights Project (CRP) believes that William Istafanus, Elisha Shamay, O.K. Likkason and Jerome Egurugbe were arrested because of their role in the ongoing ASUU (Academic Staff Union of Universities) strike, " the group said in a statement.

Constitutional Rights Project

CRP

ASUU

Academic Staff Union of Universities

William Istafanus

Elisha Shamay

O.K. Likkason

Jerome Egurugbe


Input: The CRP said the four were arrested on Monday night at the northeastern Tafawa Balewa University.

CRP

Tafawa Balewa University


Input: The main academic union, ASUU, along with two smaller university unions, was banned by Nigeria's military government last week, because of a four-month strike by teachers for better working conditions.

ASUU

Nigeria


Input: Nigeria is under fire from many Western countries for human rights abuses and lack of democracy.

Nigeria

Western


Input: Dozens of people opposed to the government are in detention.


Input: Commonwealth foreign ministers are to meet in London on Wednesday to discuss what action to take, after a visit to Nigeria was called off when the government imposed strict rules on whom the mission would be allowed to see.

Commonwealth

London

Nigeria


Input: Nigeria was suspended from the club of Britain and its former colonies in November after the hanging of nine minority rights activists for murder in spite of international pleas for clemency.

Nigeria

Britain


Input: Dutroux suspected in murder of Slovak woman.

Dutroux

Slovak


Input: Peter Laca

Peter Laca


Input: BRATISLAVA 1996-08-28

BRATISLAVA


Input: Marc Dutroux, the chief accused in a Belgian child murder and sex abuse scandal, is suspected of murdering a young Slovak woman, the Slovak office of Interpol said on Wednesday.

Marc Dutroux

Belgian

Slovak

Slovak

Interpol


Input: Rudolf Gajdos, head of Slovak Interpol, told a news conference Dutroux was also believed to have planned the kidnapping of at least one Slovak woman.

Rudolf Gajdos

Dutroux

Slovak

Slovak

Interpol


Input: " One of the police versions in the case of the murder of young gypsy woman in Topolcany, western Slovakia, this July, is a suspicion that Mark Dutroux could have been involved in the murder, " Gajdos said without elaborating on the age of the victim and on the other versions.

Topolcany

Slovakia

Mark Dutroux

Gajdos


Input: Slovak police, Interpol, and Belgian police have been following leads on Dutroux's activities in Slovakia and the neighbouring Czech Republic where he is known to have made frequent visits.

Slovak

Belgian

Interpol

Dutroux

Slovakia

Czech Republic


Input: Gajdos said the police sketch of the suspected murderer was " 60 percent identical with Dutroux's portrait ", and that Dutroux was known to have been in Topolcany around the time of the woman's murder.

Gajdos

Dutroux

Dutroux

Topolcany


Input: " Topolcany and the area around this town were reported to have been the most visited places by Dutroux and his accomplices in Slovakia, " Gajdos said.

Topolcany

Slovakia

Dutroux

Gajdos


Input: Dutroux, a convicted child rapist and unemployed father-of-three, led police 11 days ago to the bodies of eight-year-olds Julie Lejeune and Melissa Russo in the garden of another of the six houses he owns around the southern Belgian city of Charleroi.

Dutroux

Julie Lejeune

Melissa Russo

Belgian

Charleroi


Input: " The Belgian police also informed us that Dutroux, together with one other man, had (also) planned the kidnapping of at least one Slovak woman, " Gajdos said.

Belgian

Slovak

Dutroux

Gajdos


Input: " The plan apparently failed due to difficulties in crossing the border, " he added, but did not elaborate.


Input: The Slovak police are also investigating visits by about 10 Slovak women, aged 17 to 22, to Belgium, at the invitation of Dutroux.

Slovak

Slovak

Belgium

Dutroux


Input: The women said they went to Belgium voluntarily and police suspect they were used to act in pornographic films, Gajdos said earlier this week.

Belgium

Gajdos


Input: But he added they had difficulty remembering what happened during their visits to Belgium, perhaps because of drugs, and were unsure whether they were filmed for pornography.

Belgium


Input: Dutroux, 39, who was charged last week with the abduction and illegal imprisonment of two girls aged 14 and 12, is also suspected in the disappearance of Belgians An Marchal, 19, and Eefje Lambrecks, 17, who went missing a year ago.

Dutroux

An Marchal

Eefje Lambrecks


Input: Knifeman kills Polish beauty queen, wounds husband.

Polish


Input: WARSAW 1996-08-28

WARSAW


Input: A man knifed to death international model Agnieszka Kotlarska outside her home in Wroclaw, western Poland, Polish television said on Wednesday.

Agnieszka Kotlarska

Wroclaw

Poland

Polish


Input: The man, who said he had once been engaged to her, first knifed Kotlarska's husband in the leg, then stabbed her three times in the chest when she tried to intervene during the incident on Tuesday.

Kotlarska


Input: She died in hospital.


Input: Kotlarska, who was 24 and had a three-year-old child, was Miss Poland in 1991 and went on to a U.S.-based modelling career that included working with Italian designer Gianni Versace and Vogue magazine, the Gazeta Wyborcza newspaper said.

Kotlarska

Gianni Versace

Miss Poland

U.S.-based

Italian

Vogue

Gazeta Wyborcza


Input: She had been due to fly on a TWA airliner which exploded near New York last month, but had cancelled her booking, the newspaper said.

TWA

New York


Input: Her attacker, identified only as Jerzy L., 36, was arrested by police and will appear in court on Thursday morning, television reported.

Jerzy L.


Input: It said he had admitted the attack but had denied intending to kill Kotlarska.

Kotlarska


Input: Russian shares slip in thin volume.

Russian


Input: MOSCOW 1996-08-28

MOSCOW


Input: Leading Russian shares edged down on Wednesday in thin volume in the absence of Western orders, traders said.

Russian

Western


Input: The Russian Trading System index of 21 issues fell 1.64 percent to 180.38 on volume of $4.38 million.

Russian Trading System


Input: " The market was extremely quiet today, some profit-taking locally, no Western orders, " said Nick Mokhoff, director of sales and trade at Alliance-Menatep. "

Western

Nick Mokhoff

Alliance-Menatep


Input: We are just a bit lower with a lot of inactivity during the whole day. "


Input: Alexander Babayan, managing director at CentrInvest Securities, said the volume of orders was four to five times lower than a week ago.

Alexander Babayan

CentrInvest Securities


Input: As often, the most volume was in UES.

UES


Input: " Unified is one of the blue chips, which has more prospects than anybody else does, because they have ADRs supposedly coming up, " Mokhoff said.

ADRs

Mokhoff


Input: UES officials said last week the board had not yet approved the final version of its application to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to issue ADRs.

UES

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

ADRs


Input: UES fell to $0.0817 from $0.0822 at Tuesday's close with 8.90 million shares changing hands.

UES


Input: Gazprom was the loser of the day with prices closing at $0.300, down from $0.355 on Tuesday and $0.445 on Monday.

Gazprom


Input: Mokhoff said uncertainty about when Gazprom would issue ADRs and about whether shares from the Russian market could be converted into ADRs had hurt prices.

Mokhoff

Gazprom

ADRs

Russian

ADRs


Input: " Western investors ... will be investing in ADRs and I do not think people in Russia will be able to come up with the money for the underlying shares to drive the Russian shares to those levels, " Mokhoff said.

Western

ADRs

Russian

Russia

Mokhoff


Input: Gazprom has also tightened the rules restricting shareholers' rights to trade its shares.

Gazprom


Input: Mosenergo closed at at $0.958 after $0.966, Rostelekom fell to $2.56 from $2.58 and LUKoil was $9.82 after $9.85.

Mosenergo

Rostelekom

LUKoil


Input: -- Julie Tolkacheva, Moscow Newsroom, +7095 941 8520

Julie Tolkacheva

Moscow Newsroom


Input: Albania asks Greece to explain deportations.

Albania

Greece


Input: TIRANA 1996-08-28

TIRANA


Input: Albania asked Greece on Wednesday to explain why it was deporting more Albanian immigrants, Foreign Minister Tritan Shehu said.

Albania

Greece

Albanian

Tritan Shehu


Input: The Albanian daily Koha Jone reported earlier that Greece had deported about 5,000 Albanians in the last five days.

Albanian

Albanians

Koha Jone

Greece


Input: " The Foreign Ministry is trying to find out from the Greek embassy why Albanian refugees have been deported from Greece, " Shehu told Reuters.

Foreign Ministry

Reuters

Greek

Albanian

Greece

Shehu


Input: Athens and Tirana signed an accord in May to legalise the status of Albanian immigrant workers, estimated at 350,000, and remove a long-standing stumbling block in relations between the two Balkan neighbours.

Athens

Tirana

Balkan

Albanian


Input: Bulgarians recover 75 pct of confiscated land.

Bulgarians


Input: SOFIA 1996-08-28

SOFIA


Input: Bulgaria has restored ownership rights to pre-communist private owners of 75 percent of the arable land or around four million hectares, an Agriculture Ministry official said on Wednesday.

Bulgaria

Agriculture Ministry


Input: " So far 75 percent has been returned with the land restitution almost completed in some regions like Southeastern Bulgaria but lagging behind in other areas, predominantly in the mountains, " the official told a news conference.

Southeastern Bulgaria


Input: The ministry has said that it planned to return 96.6 percent of the arable land or 5.2 million hectares to its original owners by the end of this year.


Input: A land reform act passed four years ago abolished Soviet-style collective farms, allowing the return of 5.4 million hectares to original owners or their heirs.

Soviet-style


Input: -- Sofia Newsroom, (++359-2) 981 8569

Sofia Newsroom


Input: German chancellor to meet Yeltsin Sept 7-Interfax.

German

Yeltsin

Interfax


Input: MOSCOW 1996-08-28

MOSCOW


Input: German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, who spoke to President Boris Yeltsin by telephone on Wednesday, plans a trip to Moscow on September 7 and will visit Yeltsin at his vacation home near Moscow, Interfax news agency said.

German

Helmut Kohl

Boris Yeltsin

Yeltsin

Moscow

Moscow

Interfax


Input: Interfax, quoting Yeltsin press secretary Sergei Yastrzhembsky, said Yeltsin and Kohl had discussed bilateral relations and international issues on the telephone.

Interfax

Yeltsin

Sergei Yastrzhembsky

Yeltsin

Kohl


Input: Yeltsin had told Kohl about efforts to find a political solution to the conflict in Russia's breakaway Chechnya region, Interfax added.

Yeltsin

Kohl

Russia

Chechnya

Interfax


Input: Yeltsin, who left on vacation on Monday, is staying at an exclusive private hunting lodge some 100 km (60 miles) from Moscow.

Yeltsin

Moscow


Input: Germany has been one of the loudest critics of Russia's military intervention in Chechnya, a 20-month-old conflict in which tens of thousands of people have been killed.

Germany

Russia

Chechnya


Input: Exiled Bosnians protest confusing voting rules.

Bosnians


Input: Duncan Shiels

Duncan Shiels


Input: NAGYATAD, Hungary 1996-08-28

NAGYATAD

Hungary


Input: Bosnian refugees in Hungary, the first to vote last weekend in their country's first post-war election, found the rules confusing and some had no idea who they voted for, refugees and officials said on Wednesday.

Bosnian

Hungary


Input: " For the most part they really didn't understand what was going on, " the director of the Nagyatad camp Lajos Horvath told Reuters on Wednesday.

Nagyatad

Lajos Horvath

Reuters


Input: " It was confusing, they had no experience of voting, many of the refugees are only semi-literate and none of them knew anything about the candidates, " he said.


Input: " They just voted along ethnic lines where they could. "


Input: The Bosnian election is set for September 14 and voting began on Wednesday for most of the 600,000 Bosnians living abroad.

Bosnian

Bosnians


Input: The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which is running the election, allowed the ballot to be held on Sunday in four Hungarian refugee camps.

Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe

Hungarian


Input: Some Moslem refugees among the 385 registered voters Hungary's largest camp Nagyatad have written to the OSCE complaining that they were unable to vote in contests for the president or assembly of the Bosnian-Croat Federation, where most Moslems live.

Moslem

Moslems

Hungary

Nagyatad

Bosnian-Croat Federation

OSCE


Input: This was because their pre-war homes are now in the Serb-controlled territory, so they were voting for the national assembly of the Republika Srbska, most of the candidates for which are Serbs.

Serb-controlled

Serbs

Republika Srbska


Input: For the foreign powers which back last year's Dayton peace agreement, the main point of the election rules is that by voting as though they were still in their pre-war homes, Bosnians should override the effects of ethnic cleansing and reassert the concept of a single multi-ethnic state.

Dayton

Bosnians


Input: But Adem Hodzic, one of the refugees who signed the letter of complaint, told Reuters:

Adem Hodzic

Reuters


Input: " We only realised after voting that we were being denied the rights of other Bosnian Moslems to choose our president.

Bosnian Moslems


Input: This vote seals the division of my country. "


Input: Under the election rules citizens vote for a three-man presidency and House of Representatives for all Bosnia-Hercegovina and for assemblies and cantonal seats in either the Moslem-Croat Federation or the Republika Srbska.

House of Representatives

Bosnia-Hercegovina

Moslem-Croat Federation

Republika Srbska


Input: On Sunday voters in Hungary also cast ballots for municipal councils but these will be invalidated following the cancellation of local elections by the OSCE on Tuesday.

Hungary

OSCE


Input: Husein Micijevic, who also signed the letter, alleged that elderly voters were directed who to vote for by Hungarian translators who stood in the polling booth to help them.

Husein Micijevic

Hungarian


Input: " Probably 100 refugees were shown where to put their cross, " he said.


Input: Seventy eight-year-old Mandolina Zelic, a Bosnian Croat who has spent the last five years in Nagyatad, told Reuters she had cast her ballot because she'd been told to by the camp authorities but had no idea who she voted for.

Mandolina Zelic

Bosnian Croat

Nagyatad

Reuters


Input: " At first the organisers wouldn't let anyone help me but when they saw I didn't understand a young translator ringed the names I had to mark, " she said. "


Input: I don't know who I voted for. "


Input: Maria Szabo of the Hungarian office organising the elections on behalf of the OSCE told Reuters on Wednesday her office was studying the letter but said they had followed OSCE instructions very carefully.

Maria Szabo

Hungarian

OSCE

Reuters

OSCE


Input: " The envelopes, each with the five different voting slips, were sealed until voting and had written instructions on how to vote, " she said. "


Input: But of course those who could not read had to be shown. "


Input: Estonia presidential race next round on Sept 20.

Estonia


Input: TALLINN 1996-08-28

TALLINN


Input: Estonia will hold the next round of an inconclusive state presidential race on September 20, parliamentary officers of the Baltic state ruled on Wednesday.

Estonia

Baltic


Input: This comes after three votes in the 101-strong parliament on Monday and Tuesday failed to give either incumbent Lennart Meri or rival candidate Arnold Ruutel the necessary 68 votes for a clear mandate.

Lennart Meri

Arnold Ruutel


Input: The outcome was a rebuff for Meri, failing three times to win backing in his bid for a second term as head of state of the former Soviet republic.

Meri

Soviet


Input: Parliament's press officer told Reuters that Speaker Toomas Savi will convene an electoral college involving 101 MPs and and 273 local government representatives on September 20.

Reuters

Toomas Savi


Input: Both Meri, 67, and Ruutel, 68 will automatically be listed as candidates but the election will also be open to new nominations with the backing of any 21 members of the college.

Meri

Ruutel


Input: The winner has to secure a majority from the college within two rounds of voting otherwise the election will go back before the parliament.


Input: Lebed likely to fail on Chechnya-Polish minister.

Lebed

Chechnya

Polish


Input: WARSAW 1996-08-28

WARSAW


Input: Russian security chief Aleksander Lebed faces an almost impossible task in Chechnya and is likely to be sidelined, Polish Foreign Minister Dariusz Rosati was reported as saying on Wednesday.

Russian

Polish

Aleksander Lebed

Dariusz Rosati

Chechnya


Input: According to best-selling daily Gazeta Wyborcza, Rosati told the Polish parliament's foreign affairs committee on Tuesday that the fact Lebed had been charged with resolving the conflict in Chechnya showed he would be marginalised.

Gazeta Wyborcza

Rosati

Lebed

Polish

Chechnya


Input: " It is almost impossible to gain success in this, " it quoted Rosati as saying during a committee debate.

Rosati


Input: " Lebed has no diplomatic experience.

Lebed


Input: Yeltsin sent him there to compromise him.

Yeltsin


Input: This tactical manoeuvre also shows that in the ruling circle there is no unity of action, " he said.


Input: Lebed, who has arranged a military truce with separatist rebels in the southern Russia region, was in Moscow this week seeking support for a deal on Chechnya's political status.

Lebed

Russia

Moscow

Chechnya


Input: But Russian President Boris Yeltsin has seemed unwilling to meet his envoy and went on holiday on Monday.

Russian

Boris Yeltsin


Input: Gazeta Wyborcza quoted Rosati as saying Yeltsin was very ill and effectively on leave, but for now retained control in Russia although matters were passing into the hands of his close collaborators.

Gazeta Wyborcza

Rosati

Yeltsin

Russia


Input: Rosati said Russia's July polls, in which Yeltsin won re-election, showed democracy had passed an important test and the Russian people had chosed the path of further reforms.

Rosati

Yeltsin

Russia

Russian


Input: But he said a power struggle in Russia's ruling circles could not be ruled out, which could harm further reforms.

Russia


Input: He expressed concern over problems in the Russian economy, saying this could lead to social unrest, the daily reported.

Russian


Input: On Moscow's foreign policy, Rosati said it had changed its stance on NATO's eastward expansion and was preparing itself for Poland's inevitable entry into the Western alliance.

Moscow

Poland

Rosati

NATO

Western


Input: He also reportedly criticised Russian Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov, saying his style of work resembled that of the Soviet-era 1970s and 1980s.

Russian

Soviet-era

Yevgeny Primakov


Input: Romania state budget soars in June.

Romania


Input: BUCHAREST 1996-08-28

BUCHAREST


Input: Romania's state budget deficit jumped sharply in June to 1,242.9 billion lei for the January-June period from 596.5 billion lei in January-May, official data showed on Wednesday.

Romania


Input: Six-month expenditures stood at 9.50 trillion lei, up from 7.56 trillion lei at end-May, with education and health spending accounting for 31.6 percent of state expenses and economic subsidies and support taking some 26 percent.


Input: January-June revenues went up to 8.26 trillion lei from 6.96 trillion lei in the first five months this year.


Input: Romania's government is expected to revise the 1996 budget on Wednesday to bring it into line with higher inflation, new wage and pension indexations and costs of energy imports that have pushed up the state deficit.

Romania


Input: Under the revised version state spending is expected to rise by some 566 billion lei.


Input: No new deficit forecast has been issued so far.


Input: In July the government gave a 6.0-percent wage and pension indexation to cover energy, fuel and bread price increases, which quickened inflation to 7.5 percent last month.


Input: In the original state budget, approved in March, revenues were envisaged at around 16.98 trillion lei and expenditures 20.17 trillion lei for 1996.


Input: The state budget deficit was originally forecast to be 3.19 trillion lei for the whole year.


Input: On Wednesday, the leu's official rate was 3,161 to the dollar.


Input: -- Bucharest Newsroom 40-1 3120264

Bucharest Newsroom


Input: Costa Rica says Dutch pair kidnapped by Nicaraguans.

Costa Rica

Dutch

Nicaraguans


Input: SAN JOSE, Costa Rica 1996-08-28

SAN JOSE

Costa Rica


Input: The Costa Rican government said on Wednesday that a Dutch couple abducted over the weekend from a tree farm in northern Costa Rica was kidnapped by former Nicaraguan guerrillas.

Costa Rican

Dutch

Nicaraguan

Costa Rica


Input: " Even though it's an act of common delinquency, the case could take a difficult turn because former Nicaraguan guerrillas are involved, " Security Minister Bernardo Arce told reporters.

Nicaraguan

Bernardo Arce


Input: Earlier this year, a German tourist and a Swiss tour guide were kidnapped from the same general area in northern Costa Rica near the Nicaraguan border.

German

Swiss

Nicaraguan

Costa Rica


Input: They were held for 71 days before relatives paid a ransom to free them.


Input: Two Nicaraguan former guerrillas have been arrested in the case.

Nicaraguan


Input: Because of the apparent threat to foreigners in Costa Rica near the Nicaraguan border, Arce said the government has advised many to take additional security measures on their own.

Costa Rica

Nicaraguan

Arce


Input: Hurte Sierd Zylstra and his wife, Jetsi Hendrika Coers, both 50 years old, were seized late on Saturday or early on Sunday from a teak tree plantation they manage by at least two heavily armed men who took the two off in their own car, leaving behind a ransom note demanding $1.5 million.

Hurte Sierd Zylstra

Jetsi Hendrika Coers


Input: The plantation is owned by Dutch citizen Ebe Huizinga, who has since arrived in Costa Rica to deal with the matter.

Dutch

Ebe Huizinga

Costa Rica


Input: Gov't dodging extradition, Colombian official says.

Colombian


Input: BOGOTA, Colombia 1996-08-28

BOGOTA

Colombia


Input: A top judicial official and critic of President Ernesto Samper accused the government of indifference on Wednesday over efforts to lift Colombia's five-year-old ban on extradition.

Ernesto Samper

Colombia


Input: " It would seem that the subject of extradition is unworthy of an opinion from the government, " Deputy Prosecutor-General Adolfo Salamanca said.

Adolfo

Salamanca


Input: Constitutional reforms were proposed on Tuesday by two senators, one of them a member of Samper's own Liberal Party, aimed at lifting the ban on extradition introduced in 1991.

Samper

Liberal Party


Input: U.S. Ambassador Myles Frechette applauded the move, saying it could prompt the Clinton administration to remove Colombia from a list of outcast nations that have failed to cooperate in U.S. counternarcotics efforts.

U.S.

Colombia

U.S.

Myles Frechette

Clinton


Input: Samper -- who weathered a year-old crisis stemming from charges he financed his 1994 election campaign with drug money -- appeared less than enthusiastic, however.

Samper


Input: " Extradition is not on the government's legislative agenda, " he told reporters on Tuesday.


Input: He added that he did not oppose the idea of opening a public debate over the issue.


Input: But he fell far short of endorsing the idea of putting Colombian drug lords onto U.S.-bound flights to serve stiff penalities in American prisons.

Colombian

American


Input: Salamanca, who spoke at a meeting on kidnapping in Colombia, has said in the past that there was ample evidence to prove that Samper's campaign received millions of dollars in contributions from the country's top drug lords.

Salamanca

Colombia

Samper


Input: Quake shakes Costa Rica during Hashimoto visit.

Costa Rica

Hashimoto


Input: SAN JOSE, Costa Rica 1996-08-28

SAN JOSE

Costa Rica


Input: A moderate earthquake measuring 5.0 on the Richter scale shook Costa Rica on Wednesday during a visit by Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, but there were no reports of casualties or damage, officials said.

Richter

Ryutaro Hashimoto

Costa Rica

Japanese


Input: The quake struck at 11.16 a.m. (1716 GMT) and was centred 10 miles (16 km) south of the port of Quepos, which is 90 miles (140 km) south of the capital San Jose, the Costa Rican Volcanic and Seismologicial Observatory said.

GMT

Quepos

San Jose

Costa Rican Volcanic and Seismologicial Observatory


Input: The quake was felt for about seven seconds in most of the country but preliminary reports said no one was hurt, it added.


Input: The quake took place a few minutes before the end of a welcoming ceremony at Juan Santamaria airport for Hashimoto, who was starting a three-hour visit as part of a Latin American tour.

Juan Santamaria

Hashimoto

Latin American


Input: Hashimoto, who arrived at 11 a.m. (1700 GMT), showed no sign of having felt the quake, witnesses said.

Hashimoto

GMT


Input: Barrier removed to Brazil CVRD sell-off.

Brazil

CVRD


Input: BRASILIA 1996-08-28

BRASILIA


Input: The Brazilian Senate Wednesday agreed to shelve a bill linking the privatization of mining conglomerate Vale do Rio Doce to congressional approval, officials said.

Brazilian

Senate

Vale do Rio Doce


Input: Officials said the Senate vote removed all existing legislative hurdles in the way of CVRD's sell-off.

Senate

CVRD


Input: The motion was put forward by Sen.

Sen


Input: Jose Eduardo Dutra, who had drawn up the bill.

Jose Eduardo Dutra


Input: The Senate vote also annulled a substitute version of Dutra's bill which had sought to dedicate revenue from Vale's privatization to regional infrastructure projects.

Senate

Vale

Dutra


Input: -- William Schomberg, Brasilia newsroom 55-61-2230358

William Schomberg

Brasilia


Input: RTRS-Arthur Yates year net A$ 6.1 mln.

RTRS

Arthur Yates

A$


Input: SYDNEY 1996-08-29

SYDNEY


Input: Year to June 30


Input: (million A$ unless stated)

A$


Input: Operating profit 9.75 vs 5.79


Input: Net profit 6.08 vs 3.98


Input: Final dividend (cents) 4.0 vs 4.0


Input: Total dividend (cents) 6.0 vs 6.0


Input: NOTE: Arthur Yates and Co ltd is a garden products group.

Arthur Yates and Co


Input: Sales 148.29 vs 133.82


Input: Other income 1.90 vs 2.07


Input: Shr (cents) 8.63 vs 7.23


Input: Dividend is 100 percent franked


Input: Pay date Nov 25


Input: Reg date Nov 11


Input: Tax 3.67 vs 1.82


Input: Interest 2.78 vs 2.69


Input: Depreciation 3.25 vs 2.79


Input: -- Sydney newsroom 61-2 9373-1800

Sydney


Input: Briton held in Thailand over 4.4 kg heroin find.

Briton

Thailand


Input: BANGKOK 1996-08-28

BANGKOK


Input: Thai airport police arrested a British bartender for allegedly attempting to board a flight for Amsterdam with nearly 4.4 kg (9.68 lb) of heroin in his luggage, police said on Wednesday.

Thai

British

Amsterdam


Input: Police said James Lee Williams, 28, was stopped at a Bangkok airport departure lounge on Monday after officials found the drug in a bag that Williams planned to carry onto the plane.

James Lee Williams

Williams

Bangkok


Input: Williams' hometown was not immediately available.

Williams


Input: The maximum sentence for heroin trafficking is the death penalty, although it is normally commuted to life imprisonment.


Input: PLO Council calls for halt to contacts with Israel.

PLO Council

Israel


Input: RAMALLAH, West Bank 1996-08-28

RAMALLAH

West Bank


Input: The Palestinian Legislative Council on Wednesday called for a halt to contacts with Israel, just hours after President Yasser Arafat said the Jewish state had effectively declared war on the Palestinians by pursuing its hardline policies.

Palestinian Legislative Council

Israel

Yasser Arafat

Jewish

Palestinians


Input: A resolution released by the council called for " halting contacts with the Israeli side and leaving the mechanism to carry out this to Palestinian President Yasser Arafat ".

Israeli

Palestinian

Yasser Arafat


Input: The council was meeting in Ramallah to discuss Israel's new policy of Jewish settlement expansion and its uncompromising line on Jerusalem since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took office in June.

Ramallah

Israel

Jerusalem

Jewish

Benjamin Netanyahu


Input: Council resolutions are not necessarily binding.


Input: Arafat had earlier blasted Israel saying its policies amounted to a declaration of war against the Palestinian people.

Arafat

Israel

Palestinian


Input: He also called for the first general strike in two years in the West Bank and Gaza on Thursday.

West Bank

Gaza


Input: " What happened concerning continuous violations and crimes from this new Israeli leadership means they are declaring a state of war against the Palestinian people, " Arafat told the council.

Israeli

Palestinian

Arafat


Input: Council speaker Ahmed Korei said the decision was part of a comprehensive plan to confront Israeli settlement policy, land confiscation and what he termed other violations of the Israeli-PLO peace deals.

Ahmed Korei

Israeli

Israeli-PLO


Input: Iraqi Kurd group says agrees new ceasefire.

Iraqi Kurd


Input: ANKARA 1996-08-28

ANKARA


Input: An Iraqi Kurdish group on Wednesday said it had agreed a new U.S.-brokered ceasefire with a rival faction after a previous accord was shattered by sporadic fighting between the groups in recent days.

Iraqi Kurdish

U.S.-brokered


Input: " The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) leadership declares its endorsement for a ceasefire arrangement with the KDP (Kurdistan Democratic Party) to take effect as of 8:00 a.m. on August 28, " the PUK said in a statement.

Patriotic Union of Kurdistan

PUK

KDP

Kurdistan Democratic Party

PUK


Input: The PUK said the ceasefire was agreed after talks between U.S. Assistant Secretary for Near East Affairs Robert Pelletreau and PUK leader Jalal Talabani.

PUK

PUK

U.S.

Near East

Robert Pelletreau

Jalal Talabani


Input: The KDP, led by Massoud Barzani, had said a previous ceasefire negotiated by Pelletreau last Friday was broken by the PUK.

KDP

PUK

Massoud Barzani

Pelletreau


Input: Talabani has agreed to take part in talks in London on reaching a comprehensive settlement for the PUK-KDP conflict, the PUK statement said.

Talabani

London

PUK-KDP

PUK


Input: It said the KDP was responsible for breaking the previous ceasefire by refusing to endorse it publicly.

KDP


Input: Kurd group says Iraqi troops massing near north.

Kurd

Iraqi


Input: ANKARA 1996-08-28

ANKARA


Input: An Iraqi Kurdish group on Wednesday said Iraq was massing troops near Kurdish regions in the north, where a U.S.-led allied air force protects the local population against attacks from Baghdad.

Iraqi Kurdish

Kurdish

U.S.-led

Iraq

Baghdad


Input: " The Iraqi regime has started threatening the Kurdish population by massing troops in preparation to attack Kurdish towns and population centres, " the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) said in a statement.

Iraqi

Kurdish

Kurdish

Patriotic Union of Kurdistan

PUK


Input: The PUK said it had received confirmed reports that Iraqi troops, supported by tanks, artillery and armoured vehicles, have already penetrated some Kurdish areas.

PUK

Iraqi

Kurdish


Input: It said the military presence reflects cooperation between President Saddam Hussein and the PUK's rival, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).

Saddam Hussein

PUK

Kurdistan Democratic Party

KDP


Input: The PUK statement follows KDP assertions that the PUK is receiving military support from Iran.

PUK

KDP

PUK

Iran


Input: Hostilities between the two warring Iraqi Kurdish factions have continued in the last few days despite a U.S.-brokered ceasefire last Friday.

Iraqi Kurdish

U.S.-brokered


Input: The PUK called on the United Nations and allied forces to halt the Iraqi aggression.

PUK

United Nations

Iraqi


Input: U.S., French and British aircraft have safeguarded the Iraqi Kurdish population against aggression from Baghdad since shortly after the Gulf War in 1991.

U.S.

Baghdad

French

British

Iraqi Kurdish

Gulf War


Input: The allied force, known as Operation Provide Comfort, is based in southern Turkey.

Operation Provide Comfort

Turkey


Input: Iraq says hijackers were not diplomats.

Iraq


Input: BAGHDAD 1996-08-28

BAGHDAD


Input: Iraq on Wednesday said the hijackers of a Sudanese airliner were not Iraqi diplomats and added that " noble Iraqis " would never contemplate such an action.

Iraq

Sudanese

Iraqi

Iraqis


Input: The official Iraqi News Agency (INA) quoted Iraq's ambassador in Khartoum as saying that Iraq's embassy in the Sudanese capital had nothing to do with the Monday night hijacking.

Iraqi News Agency

INA

Iraq

Khartoum

Iraq

Sudanese


Input: Iraq's ambassador in Khartoum denounced the hijacking and described it as a terrorist act which had nothing to do " with the morals and values of noble Iraqis, " INA said.

Iraq

Khartoum

Iraqis

INA


Input: Ambassador Abdulsamad Hameed Ali told INA there was only one diplomat among the 199 passengers and crew on the Sudan Airways Airbus.

Abdulsamad Hameed Ali

INA

Sudan Airways

Airbus


Input: " He was not involved ...


Input: on the contrary he was harassed by the elements which carried out the hijacking, " he said.


Input: INA did not say the hijackers were Iraqis.

INA

Iraqis


Input: The hijack started when the flight left Khartoum for Amman on Monday night.

Khartoum

Amman


Input: The hijackers told the crew they had grenades and other explosives and threatened to blow up the plane if they were not taken to London.

London


Input: The airliner refuelled at Larnaca, Cyprus and landed at London's Stansted airport in the early hours of Tuesday.

Larnaca

Cyprus

London

Stansted


Input: Seven Iraqi suspected hijackers surrendered and British police said they had apparently asked for political asylum.

Iraqi

British


Input: Several had brought their families along, including children.


Input: Dole blasts Clinton for ignoring teen drug use.

Dole

Clinton


Input: Judith Crosson

Judith Crosson


Input: VENTURA, Calif. 1996-08-28

VENTURA

Calif.


Input: Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole Wednesday accused the Clinton administration of ignoring drug use among teenagers and said if elected he would use the National Guard to stop drugs from entering the United States.

Republican

Bob Dole

Clinton

National Guard

United States


Input: " He'll probably mention his war on drugs, which he's going to start like everything else -- next year.


Input: It's too late, Mr. President, " Dole told an outdoor crowd of several hundred at a private religious school.

Dole


Input: He also commented briefly on published reports that the administration was planning to announce a plan to lower capital gains taxes for home sales. "


Input: Welcome to the club.


Input: We've had it out there for weeks and weeks and weeks, " Dole said.

Dole


Input: Dole said former first lady Nancy Reagan was laughed at with her " just say no " anti-drug message. "

Dole

Nancy Reagan


Input: But it worked, " Dole said.

Dole


Input: Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, Dole's running mate, Jack Kemp, campaigned aggressively for the black vote in an area that was the flashpoint of the 1992 Los Angeles riots.

Los Angeles

Los Angeles

Dole

Jack Kemp


Input: Kemp told a crowd of about 300 African Americans in south central Los Angeles, " Keep your eyes open, keep your ears open, keep your heart open.

Kemp

African Americans

Los Angeles


Input: I want to tell you with all my heart that we want to win your vote. "


Input: In Dole's address to a group that was largely white, the presidential nominee likened the stream of illegal drugs into the United States to missiles aimed at American children and promised to appoint federal judges who would be tough on illegal drug use.

Dole

United States

American


Input: " They're aiming millions and millions of missiles right at these young people, whether it's a needle, whether it's a cigarette, whatever the delivery system is -- it's poison and it's got to stop in America. "

America


Input: he said.


Input: Dole said 70 percent of the cocaine that entered the United States and 40 percent of the marijuana came from Mexico. "

Dole

United States

Mexico


Input: We've got an international problem and I'm prepared to use our military might.


Input: We want to stop drugs at the border, " he said.


Input: Dole's remarks prompted questions about whether he was seeking a ban on cigarettes. "

Dole


Input: I didn't say anything about cigarettes.


Input: I was talking about drugs.


Input: I said you shouldn't smoke either.


Input: That's all I said, " he replied as he was shaking hands with well-wishers.


Input: When asked specifically if he was suggesting a ban on cigarettes, Dole replied: " Oh no.

Dole


Input: Come on, you know better than that. "


Input: Dole campaign aides said the candidate was telling young people not to smoke.

Dole


Input: Dole also said he opposed California Proposition 215 which, if approved by voters, would allow the cultivation of marijuana plants for medicinal uses.

Dole

California Proposition 215


Input: Dole said the initiative would allow marijuana to be used for anything from a headache to an ingrown toenail.

Dole


Input: In an effort to paint the drug issue in non-political terms, Dole said three times during his 20-minute address that illegal drug use was neither a Democratic nor a Republican issue but one that involves all people.

Dole

Democratic

Republican


Input: The anti-drug message is a theme Dole feels has strong voter appeal.

Dole


Input: On Sunday near Chicago he accused President Bill Clinton of " raising the white flag " in the war on drugs.

Chicago

Bill Clinton


Input: A recent survey showed that illegal drug use among 12-17 year-olds had doubled in the past four years.


Input: Dole was flanked by several California Republican politicians including Gov.

Dole

California

Republican


Input: Pete Wilson, who said local and state governments cannot fight illegal drugs alone.

Pete Wilson


Input: " We need all the help we can get.


Input: We need to get the kind of help we used to get when Ronald Reagan and George Bush were in the White House, " Wilson said.

Ronald Reagan

George Bush

Wilson

White House


Input: BALANCE-Water Dist 1 Johnson Cty, Kan.

BALANCE-Water Dist 1

Johnson Cty

Kan


Input: , at $11 mln.


Input: WATER DISTRICT 1 OF JOHNSON CO.

WATER DISTRICT 1

JOHNSON CO


Input: , KS

KS


Input: RE: $45,020,000


Input: WATER REVENUE BONDS


Input: $22,040,000 SER.


Input: $22,980,000 RFDG, SER.


Input: MOODY'S: Aa S&P: AA+

MOODY'S

S&P


Input: Delivery Date: 09/05/1996 (FIRM)


Input: 06/01 12/01


Input: MATURITY SER A SER B SER A SER B


Input: 1998 665M 840M 570M


Input: 2002-895M 600M


Input: 2003 705M-795M


Input: 2004 655M 90M 965M


Input: 2009 65M--


Input: 2010 60M-100M


Input: 2011 30M-90M


Input: 2012 20M-35M


Input: TOTAL: 11,450


Input: A.G. Edwards & Sons, Inc.

A.G. Edwards & Sons, Inc


Input: -- U.S. Municipal Desk, 212-859-1650

U.S. Municipal Desk


Input: CME lumber futures close lower on profit taking.

CME


Input: CHICAGO 1996-08-28

CHICAGO


Input: Profit taking continued to weigh on CME lumber futures but prices ended only slightly lower as strong cash markets underpinned futures, traders said.

CME


Input: The same pattern of the past few days persisted with futures declining early on the profit taking before firming late.


Input: There was cash-related buying late from people who want to take delivery of the September contract, they said.


Input: Cash sources noted that although the cash market is generally quiet, prices remain firm on demand for prompt delivery wood, they added.


Input: Random Lengths quoted cash spruce at $419 per tbf, up $5 from last Friday and $7 over the last midweek quote.


Input: Reduced concern over Hurricane Edouard prompted some of the early profit taking.

Edouard


Input: Expectations the storm would turn more to the north partly eased concerns, they said.


Input: Lumber closed $2.20 to $0.20 per tbf lower with September off $0.70 at $413.20 and November off most at $369.00 per tbf.


Input: -- Jerry Bieszk 312-408-8725

Jerry Bieszk


Input: WHEAT--Rains boost U.S. HRW planting prospects.

U.S.


Input: Greg Frost

Greg Frost


Input: KANSAS CITY, Mo.

KANSAS CITY

Mo


Input: Above-normal summer rainfall in the U.S. High Plains has produced near-ideal conditions for planting the 1997 hard red winter wheat crop, analysts said Wednesday.

U.S.

High Plains


Input: From central Texas north to Kansas, rains throughout July and August have relieved most of the drought conditions that plagued the region earlier this year.

Texas

Kansas


Input: " Our moisture situation is excellent, especially for fall planting of winter wheat, " said Kim Anderson, extension wheat marketing economist at Oklahoma State University.

Kim Anderson

Oklahoma State University


Input: The irony of the above-average summer rainfall was not lost on High Plains wheat producers, who only three months ago were caught in a drought so severe that old-timers likened conditions to the " Dust Bowl " days of the 1930s.

High Plains

Dust Bowl


Input: " It's definitely a turnabout from this past year, but you know last year we had pretty good moisture about this time of year, and then about October 1 it quit, " said Mark Hodges, executive director of the Oklahoma Wheat Commission. "

Mark Hodges

Oklahoma Wheat Commission


Input: Hopefully that's not going to happen this year. "


Input: According to figures released by the Oklahoma Climatological Survey, an average of 20.19 inches fell across the state between March 1 and August 26, 1996.

Oklahoma Climatological Survey


Input: That's about 1/2 inch above the average for the same time period, according to Howard Johnson, associate state climatologist at the University of Oklahoma.

Howard Johnson

University of Oklahoma


Input: He noted that the majority of that 20.19 inches had fallen since July.


Input: As an example of just how dry it was, data showed that between October 1, 1995 and March 1, 1996, the state received an average of only 4.6 inches of rainfall.


Input: In northern Texas, the current rainfall situation was similar to most of Oklahoma, said Rodney Mosier, executive assistant for the Texas Wheat Producers.

Texas

Oklahoma

Rodney Mosier

Texas Wheat Producers


Input: " Up here in the Texas Panhandle, we've had some extremely beneficial rains that came through within the last several days and are really setting us up for ideal conditions for planting wheat, " Mosier said.

Texas Panhandle

Mosier


Input: But he warned that the situation was not as ideal in central and southern Texas, where mositure levels were still short despite the rains brought by Hurricane Dolly last week.

Texas

Dolly


Input: In Kansas, typically the number one U.S. hard red winter wheat producer, topsoil moisture levels were rated mostly adequate during the week ended Sunday, according to the state's agricultural statistics service.

Kansas

U.S.


Input: In its weekly report released Monday, the service said Kansas topsoil moisture was rated eight percent surplus, 77 percent adequate and 15 percent short to very short.

Kansas


Input: Oklahoma's Agricultural Statistics Service showed similar conditions, rating topsoil moisture levels as seven percent surplus, 81 percent adequate and 12 percent short to very short.

Oklahoma

Agricultural Statistics Service


Input: Data on topsoil moisture ratings were not released by the Texas Agricultural Statistics Service.

Texas Agricultural Statistics Service


Input: -- Greg Frost, 816 561-8671

Greg Frost


Input: First Union National Bank of Fla. settles suit.

First Union National Bank of Fla.


Input: JACKSONVILLE, Fla. 1996-08-28

JACKSONVILLE

Fla.


Input: First Union National Bank of Florida said on Wednesday it agreed to settle a class action law suit involving its collateral protection insurance (CPI) program.

First Union National Bank of Florida

CPI


Input: To provide for the settlements, First Union has established a common fund of $4.7 million for cash refunds and $19.4 million in credit refunds for outstanding CPI balances.

First Union

CPI


Input: The bank is a division of First Union Corp.

First Union Corp


Input: The bank said most of the charges resulted from loan portfolios from banks and thrifts that were acquired in the 1980s.


Input: First Union said it has discontinued CPI as an element of its motor vehicle or boat installment loan contracts.

First Union

CPI


Input: As part of the settlement agreement, customers who had CPI placed on loans from January 1, 1986 to September 31, 1996, will receive cash or credit refunds, the bank said.

CPI


Input: Cash refunds will go to those who paid their loans to First Union while credit refunds will go to those who have existing loan balances, the bank said.

First Union


Input: Amoco says in talks over Yemen oil acreage.

Amoco

Yemen


Input: NEW YORK 1996-08-28

NEW YORK


Input: Amoco Corp officials said the company is in talks over crude oil production sharing in Yemen, but declined to comment on a published report Amoco had reached preliminary agreement on a block in the Shabwa area.

Amoco Corp

Amoco

Yemen

Shabwa


Input: " We've been asked (by Yemen) not to comment (on the talks), " said Amoco spokesman Dan Dietsch. "

Yemen

Amoco

Dan Dietsch


Input: We can neither confirm nor deny that report, " he said.


Input: According to Middle East Economic Survey (MEES), Yemen and Amoco signed a " memorandum of understanding " for a production-sharing agreement in Shabwa Block No.

Middle East Economic Survey

MEES

Shabwa Block No.

Yemen

Amoco


Input: S-1 in the former South Yemen, which united with North Yemen in 1990.

South Yemen

North Yemen


Input: According to another Amoco official, the company is not exploring now for oil anywhere in Yemen.

Amoco

Yemen


Input: The officials said Amoco was deferring to the Yemeni Ministry of Petroleum and Minerals for any specific comments on the Amoco-Yemen talks.

Amoco

Ministry of Petroleum and Minerals

Yemeni

Amoco-Yemen


Input: The former Soviet Union was displaced as contractor of the potentially rich Shabwa oilfields once it collapsed in December 1991, according to the International Petroleum Encyclopedia.

Soviet Union

Shabwa

International Petroleum Encyclopedia


Input: -- Oliver Ludwig, New York Energy Desk +1 212 859 1633

Oliver Ludwig

New York Energy Desk


Input: Burundi defends military regime to hostile UN.

Burundi

UN


Input: Evelyn Leopold

Evelyn Leopold


Input: UNITED NATIONS 1996-08-28

UNITED NATIONS


Input: Burundi's ambassador on Wednesday lashed out at economic sanctions imposed by African states and said any thought of an arms embargo would be a windfall for guerrillas fighting his army-run government.

Burundi

African


Input: In a lengthy debate on Burundi before the U.N. Security Council, Ambassador Nsanze Terence said the new military government took over to stabilise the country and wanted negotiations under former Tanzanian President Julius Nyrere.

Burundi

U.N. Security Council

Nsanze Terence

Julius Nyrere

Tanzanian


Input: Nearly every African member who spoke, as well as most Security Council members, however, were unsympathetic towards the government of President Pierre Buyoya, an army major put in power in a July coup by the Tutsi-run military, which is locked in a guerrilla war with the majority Hutus.

African

Tutsi-run

Hutus

Security Council

Pierre Buyoya


Input: " These (African) brothers should have been the first to bind the wounds of Burundi, " Terence said of the economic embargo. "

African

Burundi

Terence


Input: Quite the contrary, Burundi has seen economic war declared against it by fellow African people ... a gratuitous immolation of the people of Burundi. "

Burundi

Burundi

African


Input: He said his government had just asked U.N. human rights monitors to increase their numbers in Burundi in an effort " to put an end to this vicious circle of violence. "

U.N.

Burundi


Input: More than 150,000 people have been killed in violence between the minority Tutsis and the majority Hutus since 1993.

Tutsis

Hutus


Input: Botswana's envoy, Mothusi Nkgowe, said coups should be relegated " to the dump heap of history " as there could be no justification for the overthrow of a legitimate government.

Botswana

Mothusi Nkgowe


Input: Chile has proposed a resolution, still under discussion, that would impose an immediate arms embargo on Burundi and call for negotiations.

Chile

Burundi


Input: The draft suggests further sanctions against those who impede a political solution.


Input: Among the council's five permanent members, Russia and the United States appeared to support most elements of the Chilean proposal, while Britain, France and China were cautious.

Russia

United States

Britain

France

China

Chilean


Input: Terence, a Tutsi, said any arms embargo would leave the army unable to defend itself against Hutu guerrillas and leave the population exposed to " armed terroritsts. "

Terence

Tutsi

Hutu


Input: But Chilean Ambassador Juan Somavia said: " Every weapon that reached Burundi is a weapon aimed mainly at killing an unarmed civilian.

Chilean

Juan Somavia

Burundi


Input: We must not send a signal different from the African leaders themselves.

African


Input: Inaction is becoming the worst possible course of action. "


Input: Burundi's parliament has been suspended and political parties are banned but Terence told reporters Buyoya would reconvene a new type of national assembly in October.

Burundi

Terence

Buyoya


Input: The United States said the coup leaders had taken no steps to restore democracy and indiscriminate killings continued.

United States


Input: Ambassador Karl Inderfurth said the new government should have " unconditional " negotiations with all parties inside and outside of the country.

Karl Inderfurth


Input: He said Washington strongly supported the economic sanctions imposed already and if these did not work the council would consider " an arms embargo or targeted sanctions against faction leaders. "

Washington


Input: But he said the international community had to be prepared for the worst and avoid a replay of the horrors in neighbouring Rwanda, where widespread genocide broke out against the Tutsis two years ago.

Rwanda

Tutsis


Input: He again said the United Nations should draw up contingency plans for a rapid humanitarian intervention.

United Nations


Input: Swiss arrest Rwandan on genocide suspicion.

Swiss

Rwandan


Input: BERNE 1996-08-28

BERNE


Input: Swiss authorities said on Wednesday they had arrested a former Rwandan mayor, now living in Switzerland, on suspicion of violating human rights during the genocide in his country in 1994.

Swiss

Rwandan

Switzerland


Input: The Defence Ministry said in a statement that investigations were still in the preliminary stage but it was cooperating closely with police in the cantons of Geneva and Freiburg.

Defence Ministry

Geneva

Freiburg


Input: It did not identify the man.


Input: OPTIONS -- EOE options volumes-close.

EOE


Input: AMSTERDAM 1996-08-28

AMSTERDAM


Input: 1605 GMT

GMT


Input: CALLS PUTS PCT OF TOTAL


Input: TOTAL VOLUME -- 83,008 60,131 22,877 --


Input: FEATURES-AEX INDEX 7,391 5,658 15.72

AEX


Input: -AHOLD 7,190 1,123 10.01

AHOLD


Input: -BOLSWESSANEN 4,420 705 6.17

BOLSWESSANEN


Input: -ABN AMRO 3,003 1,940 5.95

ABN AMRO


Input: -ING 3,853 673 5.45

ING


Input: -VNU 3,060 843 4.70

VNU


Input: -- Amsterdam newsdesk +31 20 504 5000 (Fax 020-504-5040)

Amsterdam


Input: French tax office sucks in money.

French


Input: PARIS 1996-08-28

PARIS


Input: Workers fixing the ceiling of a tax office in Paris found a dozen seven-year-old cheques for a total of six million francs ($1.2 million) in a ventilation pipe, the weekly Le Canard Enchaine said on Wednesday.

Paris

Le Canard Enchaine


Input: A Finance Ministry official explained that the cheques for corporate tax payments had been sucked into the ventilation system, the weekly reported.

Finance Ministry


Input: The companies had been contacted at the time and had not been fined for failing to pay, the official said.


Input: Swiss bond market closing report.

Swiss


Input: ZURICH 1996-08-28

ZURICH


Input: Swiss bonds ended mostly higher in generally quiet activity, with the September confederate bond futures contract holding just above 113.00.

Swiss


Input: " Today was very quiet after a lot of activity on Tuesday, " said one Swiss bond futures trader.

Swiss


Input: He said the market began strong, gave up some gains at midday and then was able to recover back at the close, but all on light volume.


Input: In the primary market, Eksportfinans and Suedwest LB launched issues for 100 million and 300 million Swiss francs, respectively.

Eksportfinans

Suedwest LB

Swiss


Input: Eksportfinans' seven-year issue was quoted at a yield of 3.98 percent, and Suedwest LB's five-year issue was quoted at 3.60 percent.

Eksportfinans

Suedwest LB


Input: Swiss money market rates remained lower at around 1.75 percent offered.

Swiss


Input: As to fundamentals, economists at Credit Suisse said they expect the country's gross domestic product to be flat to negative in 1996, and to grow only 0.6 percent in 1997.

Credit Suisse


Input: The Swiss government also said Wednesday it had made progress in cutting Switzerland's projected spending for 1997.

Swiss

Switzerland


Input: Switzerland reports July consumer prices later this week.

Switzerland


Input: Closing prices as follows:


Input: Sept conf bond up 12 at 113.02.


Input: Sept comi medium-term bond up three at 109.45.


Input: Sept Euro Swiss francs up three at 97.82.

Euro Swiss


Input: -- Cash:


Input: 4-1/2 Apr 2006 bond 101.80/90 yield 4.252 pct


Input: -- Zurich Editorial, +41 1 631 7340

Zurich Editorial


Input: Anti-Bhutto rally draws about 8,000 in Karachi.

Anti-Bhutto

Karachi


Input: KARACHI, Pakistan 1996-08-28

KARACHI

Pakistan


Input: About 8,000 protesters marched through Karachi on Wednesday demanding the removal of Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, witnesses said.

Karachi

Pakistani

Benazir Bhutto


Input: " From here we will march to Islamabad and by God we will not let Benazir and (Bhutto's husband Asif Ali) Zardari escape justice, " Nawaz Sharif, leader of the main opposition Pakistan Muslim League told a rally organised by a 16-party alliance.

Islamabad

God

Benazir

Bhutto

Asif Ali

Zardari

Nawaz Sharif

Pakistan Muslim League


Input: Sharif accused Bhutto of corruption and nepotism, charges she has denied in the past.

Sharif

Bhutto


Input: Witnesses said protesters carrying colourful party flags walked for several miles, chanting anti-government slogans.


Input: The event was part of an opposition campaign launched on August 14, Pakistan's independence day.

Pakistan


Input: Sharif said similar rallies would be held in the Balochistan provincial capital Quetta and the Punjab provincial capital Lahore before an opposition march on the capital Islamabad.

Sharif

Balochistan

Quetta

Punjab

Lahore

Islamabad


Input: " I promise the people of Karachi that those responsible for the extra-judicial killing of innocent youths would not be spared, " Sharif said.

Karachi

Sharif


Input: Karachi's ethnic Mohajir National Movement (MQM) accuses the government of killing many of its militants in cold blood.

Karachi

Mohajir National Movement

MQM


Input: The government has denied the charge and blames the MQM for much of the violence that killed 2,000 people in the city last year.

MQM


Input: Political observers said the turn-out was disappointing for a city of about 12 million people, possibly indicating that the MQM, although a member of the opposition alliance, had not mobilised its supporters for the event.

MQM


Input: The turbulent southern port has been calmer this year, but police say more than 300 people have died in political unrest.


Input: The MQM speaks for Urdu-speaking Moslems who migrated from India at Partition in 1947 and their descendants.

MQM

Urdu-speaking Moslems

India

Partition


Input: Sharif, a former prime minister, is the main political rival of Bhutto, who defeated him in the October 1993 election.

Sharif

Bhutto


Input: He said only the removal of the government and an early election could save Pakistan from disaster. "

Pakistan


Input: We will dislodge the Bhutto government.

Bhutto


Input: It is a holy war for us, " he said.


Input: Bhutto has vowed to complete her five-year term.

Bhutto


Input: India ACC Apr-Jul' 96 sales, output up.

India

ACC


Input: BOMBAY 1996-08-28

BOMBAY


Input: India's leading cement firm Associated Cement Companies (ACC) said on Wednesday its cement sales rose to 3.1 million tonnes in April-July 1996 from 2.93 million a year ago.

India

Associated Cement Companies

ACC


Input: ACC Chairman Nani Palkhivala told shareholders at the firm's annual meeting cement output rose to 3.14 million tonnes in the first quarter of 1996/97 (April-March), from 3.01 million a year ago.

ACC

Nani Palkhivala


Input: Palkhivala said ACC had secured government approval to take over a sick cement firm with a grinding capacity of 275,000 tonnes per year. "

Palkhivala

ACC


Input: We will take it over early next month, " he said.


Input: Talking about the cement industry in general, Palkhivala said Indian production rose by about 10 percent in 1995/96.

Palkhivala

Indian


Input: " The industry saw capacity expansion of about 13 percent over 1994/95 from 77.79 million tonnes to 87.45 million tonnes, " Palkhivala told shareholders.

Palkhivala


Input: He said Indian cement exports dropped about eight percent from the previous year because of stiff international competition and inadequate infrastructural facilities.

Indian


Input: ACC's own export performance was marginally better than in 1994/95 on account of a 36 percent rise in exports to Nepal and the opening of a new market-Sri Lanka, he said.

ACC

Nepal

Sri Lanka


Input: Despite power shortages, ACC achieved a satisfactory growth in production during the year with the help of its power plants.

ACC


Input: ACC sold 9.4 million tonnes in 1995/96, retaining its top position in the Indian cement industry, Palkhivala said.

ACC

Indian

Palkhivala


Input: -- Bombay newsroom +91-22-265 9000

Bombay


Input: Belgium bank sanctions $6.5 mln loan to India WSRL.

Belgium

India

WSRL


Input: BOMBAY 1996-08-28

BOMBAY


Input: Belgium's Kredietbank has approved a $6.5 million loan to India's Welspun Stahl Rohren Ltd (WSRL) to part-finance its submerged arc welded pipes plant, the Indian company said in a statement on Wednesday.

Belgium

India

Kredietbank

Welspun Stahl Rohren Ltd

WSRL

Indian


Input: The loan is at LIBOR plus one percent, it said.

LIBOR


Input: The loan, maturing in six years, is guaranteed by Indusind Bank for $3.5 million and by UTI Bank for $3 million, it said.

Indusind Bank

UTI Bank


Input: The WSRL plant, located in the western Indian state of Gujarat, will have a capacity to manufacture 175,000 tonnes per annum of longitudinal pipes and 25,000 tonnes per annum of spiral welded pipes, the statement said.

WSRL

Indian

Gujarat


Input: The longitudinal pipes plant is expected to be complete by the second quarter of September 1997 and the saw arc welded pipes plant by September 1996, it said.


Input: WSRL is part of the Welspun group which has a presence in the cotton yarn, terry towels and polyester yarn industry, the statement said.

WSRL

Welspun


Input: -- Bombay newsroom +91-22-265 9000

Bombay


Input: India fishermen say forced to carry Tamil refugees.

India

Tamil


Input: P.V. Krishnamoorthy

P.V. Krishnamoorthy


Input: RAMESWARAM, India 1996-08-28

RAMESWARAM

India


Input: Indian fishermen said on Wednesday they had been forced at gunpoint to ferry refugees fleeing the ethnic war in Sri Lanka to India, as a protest strike by more than 30,000 fishermen entered its ninth day.

Indian

Sri Lanka

India


Input: " There is little we can do when at mid-sea.


Input: The LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) accosts us and, at the point of a gun, forces us to take refugees, " said senior fishermen leader P. Arulanandam.

LTTE

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam

P. Arulanandam


Input: Some 850 refugees have landed in recent weeks at the port of Rameswaram in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, home to 50 million Tamil-speaking people, port officials say.

Rameswaram

Tamil Nadu

Indian

Tamil-speaking


Input: Rameswaram is 15 km (10 miles) off the coast of Sri Lanka.

Rameswaram

Sri Lanka


Input: State chief minister M. Karunanidhi has publicly welcomed the refugees, who are fleeing the 13-year war between Tamil separatists and government troops that Colombo says has cost 50,000 lives.

M. Karunanidhi

Tamil

Colombo


Input: But the influx has triggered fears of a repeat of the 1980s when some 200,000 refugees landed in Tamil Nadu.

Tamil Nadu


Input: Intelligence officals said more than 5,000 Tamils were waiting on the western coast of Sri Lanka to cross into India.

Tamils

Sri Lanka

India


Input: The Indian government has warned its fishermen that their boats would be impounded if they were caught ferrying refugees.

Indian


Input: The fishermen went on strike last week to protest the government's cancellation of three trawlers' fishing licenses after the boats were caught carrying Tamil refugees.

Tamil


Input: All Fishermen's Association secretary N.J. Bose said the strike would continue indefinitely and the fishermen would block road and rail traffic if their demands were not met.

All Fishermen's Association

N.J. Bose


Input: " Until the government releases our boats from naval custody and Sri Lankan naval custody, and gives us assurance (it will not revoke licences of boats ferrying refugees), we will not call off our strike, " Bose said.

Sri Lankan

Bose


Input: LTTE spokesmen could not immediately be reached for comment, but Sri Lankan fishermen denied that Indians were being coerced into carrying refugees across the Palk Strait.

LTTE

Sri Lankan

Indians

Palk Strait


Input: " Indian fishermen come right up to Pesalai to fish, and when refugees request them to ferry them across, they readily oblige.

Indian

Pesalai


Input: Only some take money, " Sri Lankan boatman Chinnathambi said.

Sri Lankan

Chinnathambi


Input: Arulanandam denied the fishermen charged the refugees for passage to India and said it was unfair to penalise them for the refugees' arrival.

Arulanandam

India


Input: " We have not gone to sea since August 19, but refugees are arriving daily nevertheless.


Input: How could we alone be held responsible for the influx? "


Input: he said.


Input: An Indian Fisheries Department official said the government planned to urge fishermen not to cross the international boundary between India and Sri Lanka, but admitted this would be hard to enforce because of Sri Lanka's pomfret-rich waters.

Indian Fisheries Department

India

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka


Input: Indian cotton trade shut for local festival.

Indian


Input: BOMBAY 1996-08-28

BOMBAY


Input: India's cotton trade was shut on Wednesday for a local religious festival, dealers said.

India


Input: Trading will resume on Thursday.


Input: On Tuesday, cotton prices fell on profit-taking prompted by increased offerings from state agencies.


Input: " Export deals remained thin and hardly a few thousand bales were traded at the rate of 57.50/60 cents per pound, " one broker said.


Input: -- Bombay Commodities +91-22-265 9000

Bombay Commodities


Input: VW sees group net profit doubling in Q3.

VW


Input: DRESDEN, Germany 1996-08-28

DRESDEN

Germany


Input: German carmaker Volkswagen AG said on Wednesday that it expected group net profit to double in the third quarter.

German

Volkswagen AG


Input: " We have been seeking to double our profits (during the period) and we are confident of doing so, " VW chief financial officer Bruno Adelt told a briefing as part of the formal introduction of the new VW Passat sedan.

VW

Bruno Adelt

VW Passat


Input: Adelt did not give a concrete forecast.

Adelt


Input: VW had a 1995 third quarter group net profit of 72 million marks.

VW


Input: The group reported a 1996 first-half group net profit of 282 million marks.


Input: -- John Gilardi, Frankfurt Newsroom, +49 69 756525

John Gilardi

Frankfurt Newsroom


Input: MILTIADIS EVERT HEADS TO ALEXANDROUPOLIS THIS WEEKEND.

MILTIADIS EVERT

ALEXANDROUPOLIS


Input: ATHENS 1996-08-28

ATHENS


Input: Conservative New Democracy (ND) party leader Miltiadis Evert will be hitting the campaign trail and head to Alexandroupolis this weekend to speak to the city's businessmen on Sunday morning, ND said.

Conservative New Democracy

ND

ND

Miltiadis Evert

Alexandroupolis


Input: Evert will depart for Alexandroupolis on Saturday afternoon.

Evert

Alexandroupolis


Input: Prime Minister Costas Simitis criticized Evert today for unleashing a seven-point economic package that offers tax relief to merchants and other professionals, higher pensions to farmers and support for small business.

Costas Simitis

Evert


Input: The finance ministry estimated the cost of ND's economic measures to over 600 billion drachmas but ND officials put the figure much lower to about 300 billion drachmas.

ND

ND


Input: Simitis blamed ND for the low absorption rate of EU funds and said the socialists will increase farmers' pensions, combat tax evasion and accelerate GDP growth rates to 4.0 percent in a few years.

Simitis

ND

EU


Input: Faster economic growth is a major component of ND's economic programme and Evert has repeatedly blamed the socialists for the slow economic growth.

ND

Evert


Input: -- Dimitris Kontogiannis, Athens Newsroom +301 3311812-4

Dimitris Kontogiannis

Athens Newsroom


Input: Dow pushes London stocks to new record.

Dow

London


Input: Peter Griffiths

Peter Griffiths


Input: LONDON 1996-08-28

LONDON


Input: A firm start on Wall Street helped push leading London shares to a new record high on Wednesday and German stocks closed floor trading up but the Paris bourse slipped sharply, hit by a weakening franc and fears of industrial unrest.

Wall Street

London

Paris

German


Input: On the foreign exchange markets, a survey indicating weaker than expected Japanese business sentiment boosted the dollar in early trading but it failed to build on its gains against the yen and slipped lower against the mark in quiet afternoon trade.

Japanese


Input: London shares, boosted by Wall Street, added to early gains with the blue chip FTSE 100 index hitting a new peak of 3921.8 before dropping back slightly.

London

Wall Street

FTSE 100


Input: One focus was British Airways, which rebounded after fears faded that the cancellation of " open skies " talks between the U.S. Transportation Department and the British government may jeopardise its tie-up with American Airlines.

British Airways

U.S. Transportation Department

American Airlines

British


Input: The conclusion of an open skies agreement had been made a prerequisite of the proposed link-up by the U.S.

U.S


Input: Better-than-expected British trade figures had little impact on equities.

British


Input: The non-EU July trade deficit totalled 506 million sterling ($788 million) while June's world deficit was 1.12 billion pounds.

non-EU


Input: Forecasts were for deficits of 900 million sterling and 1.4 billion sterling.


Input: German shares shed some gains on profit-taking but nonetheless ended the floor session higher buoyed by demand for chemical stocks and a stable dollar.

German


Input: The 30-share DAX index closed at 2,563.16 points, up 4.32.

DAX


Input: However, French stocks extended opening losses to more than one percent in morning trading, falling through the 2000 point resistance level on the main CAC-40 index.

French


Input: Dealers blamed a weakening franc and worries about the 1997 budget and possible autumn strikes


Input: Louis Viannet, leader of France's Communist-led CGT union, criticised government plans for spending cuts in the 1997 budget on Wednesday and warned of labour unrest as France gets back to work after the holidays.

Louis Viannet

France

France

Communist-led

CGT


Input: Later in the day, helped by the firmer Wall Street opening, Paris climbed back to the 2000 level but still remained well into negative territory.

Wall Street

Paris


Input: In foreign exchange the dollar was trading at around 108.40 yen in the European afternoon, up from its European close on Tuesday of 107.55 but off the day's highs.

European

European


Input: It had been boosted overnight by the Bank of Japan's quarterly corporate survey, or " tankan ", of major manufacturers -- an important gauge of business sentiment.

Bank of Japan


Input: The unexpectedly weak figures convinced markets that Japanese interest rates would stay at rock-bottom levels -- weakening the yen.

Japanese


Input: The Japanese discount rate is currently at a record low of 0.5 percent.

Japanese


Input: The BOJ sought to put the best face on the data which defied economists' predictions of improving sentiment and was the first decline in business sentiment in a year.

BOJ


Input: A BOJ spokesman said " the doors to the recovery have not been shut ...

BOJ


Input: the recovery is still continuing. "


Input: These remarks gave the yen some backbone and the dollar failed to progress further.


Input: " The dollar's gains were less than spectacular, suggesting that while it's likely to benefit from revised Japanese rate expectations, a breakout from the established trading range doesn't appear likely, " said currency economist Klaus Baader.

Japanese

Klaus Baader


Input: Dealers said shares were also affected by a slippage in bond prices due to lower than expected June industrial production, showing the economy was still faltering.


Input: CURRENCIES AT 1500 GMT

GMT


Input: The dollar was at 108.40 yen and 1.4765 marks compared with Tuesday's European close of 107.78 yen and 1.4779 marks

European


Input: STOCK MARKETS AT 1500 GMT

GMT


Input: The Financial Times-Stock Exchange index of 100 leading British shares had risen 15 points to 3,920.7.

Financial Times-Stock Exchange

British


Input: In Paris, the CAC-40 share index dropped 15.09 to 2,002.9.

Paris


Input: The 30-share DAX index in Frankfurt closed up 4.32 at 2,563.16.

DAX

Frankfurt


Input: PRECIOUS METALS


Input: Gold fixed at $388.50 versus Tuesday's London close of $388.55.

London


Input: Silver was at 521.15 cents.


Input: ($1=.6421 Sterling)


Input: AEI's Spanish operation wins ISO 9002.

AEI

Spanish

ISO 9002


Input: LONDON 1996-08-28

LONDON


Input: Air Express International said in a statement that Spain has become the twenty-second country in its network to achieve ISO 9002 quality accreditation.

Air Express International

Spain

ISO 9002


Input: It added Bureau Veritas has accredited AEI Iberfreight's offices at Alicante, Barcelona, Bilbao, Madrid, Seville and Valencia as meeting the necessary standards.

Bureau Veritas

AEI Iberfreight

Alicante

Barcelona

Bilbao

Madrid

Seville

Valencia


Input: -- Air Cargo Newsroom Tel+44 171 542 7706 Fax+44 171 542 5017

Air Cargo Newsroom


Input: Arafat says Israel declares war on Palestinians.

Arafat

Israel

Palestinians


Input: Wafa Amr

Wafa Amr


Input: RAMALLAH, West Bank 1996-08-28

RAMALLAH

West Bank


Input: Palestinian President Yasser Arafat said on Wednesday that Israel had declared war on the Palestinians and called for the first general strike in the West Bank and Gaza in two years.

Palestinian

Palestinians

Yasser Arafat

Israel

West Bank

Gaza


Input: " What happened concerning continuous violations and crimes from this new Israeli leadership means they are declaring a state of war against the Palestinian people, " Arafat told the Palestinian legislature.

Israeli

Palestinian

Palestinian

Arafat


Input: Accusing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of stupidity, Arafat launched his strongest attack on the right-wing government since its election in May.

Israeli

Benjamin Netanyahu

Arafat


Input: The tirade was sparked by Israel's announcement on Tuesday of plans to expand the Jewish settlement of Kiryat Sefer and its demolishing of a community centre in Arab East Jerusalem.

Israel

Kiryat Sefer

Arab East Jerusalem

Jewish


Input: " Israel has started the war on Jerusalem.

Israel

Jerusalem


Input: They are idiots to have started the Jerusalem battle, " Arafat said in Arabic. "

Jerusalem

Arafat

Arabic


Input: There will be no Palestinian state without Jerusalem.

Palestinian

Jerusalem


Input: Netanyahu should know he is stupid to have started this battle. "

Netanyahu


Input: Arafat called for a general strike " for Jerusalem " on Thursday in all of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Arafat

Jerusalem

West Bank

Gaza Strip


Input: There has not been a joint shutdown there since May 1994 when Israeli troops began withdrawing under an interim self-rule agreement signed in 1993.

Israeli


Input: The strike will have little effect on the Israeli economy while hurting Palestinian merchants in East Jerusalem and Bethlehem who cater to the tourist trade.

Israeli

Palestinian

East Jerusalem

Bethlehem


Input: Some 25,000 Palestinian labourers are likely to stay away from their jobs, mainly in construction, in Israel.

Palestinian

Israel


Input: But Palestinians, once the backbone of the building industry, have been largely replaced by labourers from Romania and China.

Palestinians

Romania

China


Input: " On Friday, all Moslems, including Palestinians in Israel ...

Moslems

Palestinians

Israel


Input: will go to (Jerusalem's) Al-Aqsa mosque and pray.

Jerusalem

Al-Aqsa


Input: Jews and Christians who do not pray should accompany them and stand behind them, " Arafat said.

Jews

Christians

Arafat


Input: Officials in Netanyahu's office were not immediately available for comment on Arafat's remarks.

Netanyahu

Arafat


Input: Israeli travel restrictions, imposed after bombings by Moslem militants in February and March, ban most of the two million Arabs in the West Bank and Gaza from entering Jerusalem.

Israeli

Moslem

Arabs

West Bank

Gaza

Jerusalem


Input: Netanyahu, who opposes trading occupied land for peace, made Jerusalem a central issue in his election campaign, accusing Labour Prime Minister Shimon Peres of planning to hand control of the Arab eastern part of the city to the Palestinians.

Netanyahu

Shimon Peres

Jerusalem

Labour

Arab

Palestinians


Input: Israel captured East Jerusalem in the 1967 Middle East war and claims both halves of the city as its capital.

Israel

East Jerusalem

Middle East


Input: The PLO wants East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state.

PLO

East Jerusalem

Palestinian


Input: In his speech to the crowded legislature, Arafat signalled he was not abandoning diplomacy although " alarm bells are ringing ".

Arafat


Input: He unexpectedly broke off his address to take a telephone call from U.S. Middle East envoy Dennis Ross, who held talks in Paris on Tuesday with Israeli and Egyptian officials.

U.S. Middle East

Paris

Dennis Ross

Israeli

Egyptian


Input: When Arafat returned to the podium, he said senior PLO negotiator Mahmoud Abbas, better known as Abu Mazen, and Netanyahu aide Dore Gold could meet on Thursday.

Arafat

Mahmoud Abbas

Abu Mazen

Netanyahu

Dore Gold

PLO


Input: He quoted Ross as telling him: " The important thing is the Israelis are prepared to move. "

Ross

Israelis


Input: Arafat said he replied: " is this like their previous promises? "

Arafat


Input: " No, they have good intentions, " Arafat quoted Ross as saying.

Arafat

Ross


Input: Palestinians have been pressing Israel to carry out a long-delayed partial troop pullout from the flashpoint West Bank city of Hebron agreed by the previous Labour government.

Palestinians

Israel

West Bank

Hebron

Labour


Input: The Israeli government is studying redeployment plans submitted by Defence Minister Yitzhak Mordechai which are likely to demand a wider than agreed army presence in Hebron.

Israeli

Yitzhak Mordechai

Hebron


Input: Turkey's Ciller to hold talks in Jordan.

Turkey

Jordan

Ciller


Input: ANKARA 1996-08-28

ANKARA


Input: Turkish Foreign Minister Tansu Ciller will visit Jordan on September 3 on her first trip abroad since she took office in June, Foreign Ministry spokesman Omer Akbel said on Wednesday.

Turkish

Tansu Ciller

Omer Akbel

Jordan

Foreign Ministry


Input: " The two-day visit will take place at the invitation of Jordanian Prime Minister Abdul-Karim al-Kabariti, " he told reporters.

Jordanian

Abdul-Karim al-Kabariti


Input: He said Turkey considered Jordan a suitable country with which to cooperate on Middle East matters.

Turkey

Jordan

Middle East


Input: Bilateral relations and the Middle East peace process would be on the table during the visit, Akbel said.

Middle East

Akbel


Input: Turkish Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan visited mainly Moslem countries, including Iran, during a 10-day tour earlier in August.

Turkish

Moslem

Necmettin Erbakan

Iran


Input: Italian prime minister to visit Turkey.

Italian

Turkey


Input: ANKARA 1996-08-28

ANKARA


Input: Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi will pay a one-day working visit to Turkey on September 3, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.

Italian

Turkish

Romano Prodi

Turkey

Foreign Ministry


Input: " Both countries' governments were formed recently.


Input: This visit will create a direct contact opportunity for the two parties to express their views, " spokesman Omer Akbel told a news briefing.

Omer Akbel


Input: The Italian prime minister, in office since May 18, will be the first Western leader to meet Islamist Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan since he came to power on June 28.

Italian

Western

Islamist

Necmettin Erbakan


Input: Prodi will also meet President Suleyman Demirel and Foreign Minister Tansu Ciller, Akbel said.

Prodi

Suleyman Demirel

Tansu Ciller

Akbel


Input: Turkey says 25 Kurd rebels killed in clashes.

Turkey

Kurd


Input: DIYARBAKIR, Turkey 1996-08-28

DIYARBAKIR

Turkey


Input: Turkish troops killed 25 Kurdish rebels in recent clashes in the east of the country, security officials said on Wednesday.

Turkish

Kurdish


Input: The emergency rule governor's office said in a statement that 10 rebels from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) were killed in fighting in Tunceli province.

Kurdistan Workers Party

PKK

Tunceli


Input: Soldiers killed nine more PKK guerrillas in Sirnak province and six in Hakkari.

PKK

Sirnak

Hakkari


Input: The statement did not report any military casualties and did not say exactly when the clashes took place.


Input: Over 20,000 people have been killed in the PKK's fight for independence or autonomy in southeastern Turkey.

PKK

Turkey


Input: Israel's Levy to meet Mubarak in Egypt.

Israel

Egypt

Levy

Mubarak


Input: JERUSALEM 1996-08-28

JERUSALEM


Input: Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy will visit Egypt this Sunday for talks with President Hosni Mubarak, the Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.

Israeli

David Levy

Hosni Mubarak

Egypt

Foreign Ministry


Input: The trip will be Levy's first to an Arab state as a minister in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government.

Levy

Benjamin Netanyahu

Arab


Input: FSA qualifies five muni bond issues for insurance.

FSA


Input: NEW YORK 1996-08-28

NEW YORK


Input: Financial Security Assurance said Wednesday it qualified for bond insurance the following five municipal issues scheduled for competitive sale today:

Financial Security Assurance


Input: -- Paris School District No 7, Ark.

Paris

Ark


Input: , $2.44 million refunding bonds.


Input: -- St Ansgar Community School District, Iowa, $3.334 million general obligation school bonds.

St Ansgar

Iowa


Input: -- Avalon Borough, N.J., $11.4 million GOs.

Avalon Borough

N.J.


Input: -- Seaford Union Free School District, N.Y., $5 million school bonds.

Seaford Union

N.Y.


Input: -- Akron, Ohio, $6.31 million improvement bonds.

Akron

Ohio


Input: -- U.S. Municipal Desk, 212-859-1650

U.S. Municipal Desk


Input: Colo.

Colo.


Input: taxable health deal rated Aa2/VMIG-1-Moody's.

Moody's


Input: NEW YORK 1996-08-28

NEW YORK


Input: Moody's Investors Service-

Moody's Investors Service


Input: Rating Announcement As of 08/26/96.


Input: Issuer: Colorado Health Fac.

Colorado Health Fac.


Input: Auth.

Auth.


Input: National

National


Input: Benevolent Assoc.

Benevolent Assoc.


Input: -Colorado Christian Home

Colorado Christian Home


Input: Proj.


Input: Series 1996 B Taxable


Input: State: CO

CO


Input: Rating: Aa2/VMIG 1


Input: Sale Amount: 4,300,000


Input: Expected Sale Date: 08/26/96


Input: Lamm will not endorse Perot for Reform ticket-CNN.

Lamm

Perot

Reform ticket-CNN


Input: WASHINGTON 1996-08-27

WASHINGTON


Input: Former Colorado Democratic Gov.

Colorado

Democratic


Input: Richard Lamm has decided not to endorse Ross Perot as the presidential candidate of the Reform Party, CNN reported late Tuesday.

Richard Lamm

Ross Perot

Reform Party

CNN


Input: CNN quoted aides and family members as saying Lamm, who competed with Perot to head the ticket for Perot's party, had told them he would definitely not endorse Perot, but they did not know whether he would endorse another candidate.

CNN

Lamm

Perot

Perot

Perot


Input: An announcement was planned in Chicago Wednesday.

Chicago


Input: Lamm, 60, is a three-term Colorado governor who left office in 1987 and vied for the Reform Party nomination after becoming disillusioned with both the Democratic and Republican parties.

Lamm

Colorado

Reform Party

Democratic

Republican


Input: Lamm is a friend of President Clinton and supported him in the 1992 election.

Lamm

Clinton


Input: Perot won his party's official nomination as its presidential candidate in a secret ballot earlier this month.

Perot


Input: RESEARCH ALERT-Career Horizons said cut.

Career Horizons


Input: -- Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette cut its rating on Career Horizons Inc to market perform from outperform, according to market sources.

Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette

Career Horizons Inc


Input: -- Further details were not immediately available.


Input: -- The stock was up 3/4 at 35-7/8.


Input: Northern States Power Co sets payout.

Northern States Power Co


Input: MINNEAPOLIS 1996-08-28

MINNEAPOLIS


Input: Quarterly


Input: Latest Prior


Input: Amount $0.69 $0.69


Input: Pay Oct 20


Input: Record Oct 1


Input: -- Chicago newsdesk 312 408-8787

Chicago


Input: US investors mull appeal of Lloyd's decision.

US

Lloyd's


Input: Patricia Vowinkel

Patricia Vowinkel


Input: NEW YORK 1996-08-27

NEW YORK


Input: U.S. investors in troubled Lloyd's of London were considering late on Tuesday whether to appeal a U.S. court decision in favour of Lloyd's and pledged to continue pursuing other legal actions.

U.S.

U.S.

Lloyd's of London

Lloyd's


Input: A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday gave Lloyd's a reprieve, throwing out an injunction that the insurance giant said could have led to its collapse.

U.S.

Lloyd's


Input: A lower court issued the injunction on Friday and ordered Lloyd's to give investors, known as Names, more information before requiring them to decide whether to accept a settlement offer as part of a reorganisation plan.

Lloyd's

Names


Input: " My prediction is that the Names will appeal, " said Kenneth Chiate, a U.S. Name and a chief negotiator for the American Names Association.

Names

Name

Kenneth Chiate

U.S.

American Names Association


Input: " At this point, it is a sufficiently important decision that I'm confident that they will appeal, " he said. "


Input: But to say that they definitely will would be premature until we determine what the exact basis for the court's ruling is. "


Input: Under the reorganisation plan, Lloyd's plans to reinsure its massive liabilities into a new company called Equitas.

Lloyd's

Equitas