Results of South Korean pro-soccer games played on Wednesday .


Standings after games played on Wednesday ( tabulate under - won , drawn , lost , goals for , goals against , points ) :

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An outbreak of cholera has killed five people in the central Senegal town of Kaolack , where health authorities have recorded 291 cases since August 11 , a medical official said on Thursday .

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Doctor Masserigne Ndiaye said medical staff were overwhelmed with work . "


People are rushing to the hospital as soon as the first symptoms appear , that 's why we have fewer deaths , " he told Reuters by telephone from the town , 160 km ( 100 miles ) southeast of the Senegalese capital Dakar .

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Nigerian general takes over Liberia ECOMOG force .


Nigerian Major General Sam Victor Malu took over on Thursday as commander of the ECOMOG peacekeeping force in Liberia , two days after the start of the latest ceasefire in the six-year civil war .

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Malu replaced another Nigerian major general , John Inienger , who told officers at the handover ceremony that peace was now at hand for Liberia after six years of fighting and more than a dozen failed accords .

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" The search for peace in Liberia has been difficult , challenging and sometimes painful .


Peacekeepers were harassed , killed and taken hostage , " he said .


" It is difficult but I want to assure you that peace is in sight . "


United Nations military observers travelling to the western town of Tubmanburg on Wednesday to monitor the ceasefire were delayed by shooting along the highway , U.N. special representative Anthony Nyakyi said .

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They finally went ahead with an escort from the ULIMO-J faction .


Faction leaders who agreed a new peace deal in the Nigerian capital Abuja on Saturday have accused each other of breaking the ceasefire .

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The latest peace deal foresees the disarmament of an estimated 60,000 combatants and sets a target date of May 30 next year for elections .


The ECOMOG force , currently 10,000 strong , was sent to Liberia by the Economic Community of West African States in 1990 at the height of the fighting .

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The West African state of Guinea declared Thursday and Friday days of national prayer .

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A government statement , broadcast repeatedly by state radio , said the two days of prayer were " for the dead , for peace and prosperity in Guinea , the victory of the new government and the health of the head of state " .

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The precise reason for the call was not immediately clear .


Guinea 's president , Lansana Conte , vice-president of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference , left for Kuwait on August 16 to prepare the next OIC summit in Pakistan in 1997 .

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Koranic reading sessions and prayers were to be held in the farming town of Badi-Tondon , near his home about 60 km ( 40 miles ) from the capital Conakry .

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Conte , an army general , survived a February army pay revolt which at the time he described as a veiled attempt to topple him .

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He has since named a prime minister for the first time since early in his rule and ordered a crackdown on corruption .

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Conte seized power in 1984 after the death of veteran Marxist leader Ahmed Sekou Toure .

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South African answers U.S. message in a bottle .


A South African boy is writing back to an American girl whose message in a bottle he found washed up on President Nelson Mandela 's old prison island .

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But Carlo Hoffmann , an 11-year-old jailer 's son who found the bottle on the beach at Robben Island off Cape Town after winter storms , will send his letter back by ordinary mail on Thursday , the post office said .

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Danielle Murray from Sandusky , Ohio , the same age as her new penfriend , asked for a reply from whoever received the message she flung on its journey months ago on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean .

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Rottweiler kills South African toddler .


A rottweiler dog belonging to an elderly South African couple savaged to death their two-year-old grandson who was visiting , police said on Thursday .

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The dog attacked Louis Booy in the front garden of his grandparents ' house in Vanderbijlpark near Johannesburg on Tuesday .

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His bloody body was lying in the garden when his parents arrived in the afternoon to pick him up .


It was unclear where the grandparents were at the time .


Dogs fierce enough to scare off burglars are becoming increasingly popular in the crime-infested Johannesburg area .


Industry output ( pct ) June - 7.8 m / m;-0.2yr / yr ( May +7.3;-3.6 )


Current account Jan-May - $ 738 million ( Jan-April - $ 748 million )


NBH trade balance Jan-May - $ 934 million ( Jan-April - $ 774 million )


MIT trade balance Jan-June - $ 1.45 bln ( Jan-May - $ 1.24 bln )


Gross foreign debt May $ 27,246.5 million ( April $ 28,716.8 million )


Net foreign debt May $ 14,390.7 million ( April $ 15,704.3 million )


Unemployment ( pct ) July 10.8 pct ( June 10.6 pct )


Budget deficit ( HUF ) Jan-July 102 bln ( Jan-June 122 bln )


The NBH is BBB-minus by Duff & Phelps , IBCA and Thomson BankWatch , BB-plus by S&P , BA1 by Moody 's Investors Service , BBB+ by the Japan Credit Rating Agency .

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The NBH trade data is based on cash flow , MIT data on customs statistics .


Fifty Russians die in clash with rebels-Interfax .


At least 50 Russian servicemen have been killed in a battle with separatist rebels which erupted in the Chechen capital Grozny on Thursday and continued after Russia and the rebels agreed a truce , Interfax news agency said .

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Interfax quoted Russian military command in Chechnya as saying that about 200 interior ministry forces , sent on reconaisance mission , clashed with rebels at Minutka Square .

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The Interfax report could not be independently confirmed .


Moscow peacemaker Alexander Lebed and rebel chief-of-staff Aslan Maskhadov signed an agreement earlier on Thursday under which the two sides would cease all hostilities at noon ( 0800 GMT ) on Friday .

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Interfax made clear that the interior ministry detachment had been sent on the mission before the truce deal had been signed at the local equivalent of 1500 GMT .

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But fierce fighting still raged at 1600 GMT , Interfax said .


It quoted a source in the Russian command in Chechnya as saying that the servicemen were outnumbered by the rebels .

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Polish schoolgirl blackmailer wanted textbooks .


A Polish schoolgirl blackmailed two women with anonymous letters threatening death and later explained that she needed money for textbooks , police said on Thursday .

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" The 13-year-old girl tried to extract 60 and 70 zlotys ( $ 22 and $ 26 ) from two residents of Sierakowice by threatening to take their lives , " a police spokesman said in the nearby northern city of Gdansk on Thursday .

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He said the women reported the blackmail letters and police caught the girl on Wednesday as she tried to pick up the cash at the Sierakowice railway station .

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" Interviewed in the presence of a psychologist , she said she wanted to use the money for school books and clothes , " spokesman Kazimierz Socha told Reuters .

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He said the case of the girl , from a poor family that had never been in trouble with the law , would go before a special court dealing with underage offenders .

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Czech CNB-120 index rises 1.2 pts to 869.3 .


The CNB-120 index , a broad daily measure of Czech equities , rose 1.2 points on Thursday to 869.3 , the Czech National Bank ( CNB ) said .

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Eight of the ten sectoral indices rose , with the banking index rising the most , up 14.4 points to 1,294.5 .

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Russians , rebels sign deal in Chechnya .


Russian President Boris Yeltsin 's security supremo Alexander Lebed and Chechen rebel chief-of-staff Aslan Maskhadov signed a deal on Thursday aimed at ending three weeks of renewed fighting in the region .

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The final contents of the document negotiated in this village south of the Chechen capital Grozny have not been officially disclosed .

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Itar-Tass news agency said it provided for the disengagement of Russian and rebel forces in Chechnya .

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Lebed aide says Russian-Chechen talks going well .


Talks between Russia 's Alexander Lebed and Chechen separatist leaders were going well on Thursday and the two sides were working out a detailed schedule on how to stop the war , a Lebed aide said .

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Press spokesman Alexander Barkhatov told reporters the negotiations , being held at this rebel-held village some 20 km ( 12 miles ) south of the Chechen capital Grozny , were progressing briskly and being conducted in a good mood .

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He said a document would be completed in an hour 's time for signature by the two sides , who were working on a " day-by-day schedule to stop the war in Chechnya . "

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Russian television showed a brief clip of Boris Yeltsin on Thursday , with the president laughing and smiling as he spoke to nominee health minister Tatyana Dmitrieva .

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It was the first time the president had been shown on television since he was inaugurated for a second term in office on August 9 .

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He returned to the Kremlin on Thursday after a two-day break in the lakelands of northwestern Russia .

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These are the leading stories in the Sarajevo press on Thursday .


Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy .


- The Bosnian federation launches a common payment system on Friday .


Under the new system taxes and customs may be paid in the Bosnian dinar , the Croatian kuna or the Deutsche mark until a new Bosnian currency is introduced .

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- The president of the Bosnian Association for Refugees and Displaced Persons , Mirhunisa Komarica says many survivors of the 1995 massacre in the Bosnian town of Srebrenica are languishing as forced laborers in Serbian mines .

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According to Komarica , 2,400 male residents of Srebrenica work in the Trepca mine and 1,900 work in a mine in Aleksandrovac .

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- Slovenian police briefly detain two Bosnian opposition leaders in Ljubljana and cancel opposition political rallies in Ljubljana and Maribor .

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The city of Grozny , pounded by Russian planes and artillery for hours on Wednesday , calmed down overnight , although sporadic explosions and shooting could still be heard .

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Reuters correspondent Lawrence Sheets , speaking from the nearby village of Alkhan-Yurt , said he had heard little from Grozny since Wednesday evening 's arrival of Russian security chief Alexander Lebed , who said he " came with peace " .

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A couple of helicopters flew over the city early on Thursday morning , but did not appear to be firing at anything .

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Lebed said on Wednesday he had clinched a truce with Chechen separatists and he promised to halt a threatened bombing assault on Grozny , which the rebels have held since August 6 .

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Boat passengers rescued off Colombian coast .


Colombia 's Coast Guard on Thursday rescued 12 people lost for three days in an open boat off the Pacific coast , officials said .

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The boat had been missing since Monday afternoon when it left the tiny island of Gorgona off Colombia 's southwest coast with sightseers for a return trip to Narino province , near the border with Ecuador .

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The boat ran out of fuel and did not have a radio to call for help , Navy spokesman Lt. Italo Pineda said .

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He said 11 passengers and one boatman survived on coconuts and rainwater during 65 hours lost at sea .


The boat was towed to the port city of Buenaventura .


Argentine July raw steel output up 14.8 pct vs ' 95 .


Argentine raw steel output was 355,900 tonnes in July , 14.8 percent higher than in July 1995 and up 1.9 percent from June , Steel Industry Center said Thursday .

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Primary iron output was 297,700 tonnes , 14.5 percent more than last July and 0.1 percent more than in June .

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Hot laminate production was 349,000 tonnes , 3.2 percent up from July 1995 and 0.8 percent up from June .


Production of cold laminates was 120,500 tonnes , 4.2 percent higher than the same month last year and 11 percent higher than in June .

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-- Jason Webb , Buenos Aires Newsroom +541 318-0655


Peru 's guerrillas kill one , take 8 hostage in jungle .


Peruvian guerrillas killed one man and took eight people hostage after taking over a village in the country 's northeastern jungle region , anti- terrorist police sources said on Wednesday .

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For three hours on Tuesday , around 100 members of the Maoist rebel group Shining Path took control of Alomella Robles , a small village about 345 miles ( 550 km ) northeast of Lima , the sources said .

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Some guerrillas made villagers listen to propaganda speeches in the village centre , others forced passing motorists out of their cars and daubed their vehicles with slogans .

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By Wednesday , the whereabouts of the eight hostages was still not known , the sources said .


In recent months the Shining Path , severely weakened since the 1992 capture of its leader Abimael Guzman , has been stepping up both its military and propaganda activities .

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Peru 's guerrilla conflicts have cost at least 30,000 lives and $ 25 billion in damage to infrastructure since 1980 .

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Former Surinam rebel leader held after shooting .


Flamboyant former Surinamese rebel leader Ronny Brunswijk was in custody on Wednesday charged with attempted murder , police said .

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Brunswijk turned himself into police after Freddy Pinas , a Surinamese-born visitor from the Netherlands , accused Brunswijk of trying to kill him on Sunday after a bar-room brawl in the small mining town of Moengo , about 56 miles ( 90 km ) east of Paramaribo , said police spokesman Ro Gajadhar .

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Pinas , showing cuts and bruises on his face , told reporters the former head of the feared Jungle Command had tried and failed to shoot him after Pinas objected to Brunswijk 's advances toward his wife .

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Pinas said Brunswijk then ordered his bodyguards to beat him up .


Brunswijk , 35 , denied the charges and said he had merely defended himself when Pinas attacked him with a bottle .

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It was the second time Brunswijk had been charged with attempted murder in less than two years .


In 1994 he served two months in prison for shooting a thief in the buttocks .


Brunswijk led a rebel group of about 1,000 in a 1986 uprising against the regime of military strongman Desi Bouterse .

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The conflict , which killed more than 500 and caused thousands to flee to neighbouring French Guiana in the late 1980s , eventually paved the way to democratic elections in 1991 .

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Despite numerous problems with authorities , Brunswijk went on to become a successful businessman with mining and logging interests .

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He also manages and occasionally plays for one of the leading local soccer teams .


Noisy saw leads Thai police to heroin hideaway .


A Hong Kong carpenter was arrested in the Thai seaside town of Pattaya after police seized 18 kg ( 39.7 pounds ) of heroin following complaints by residents of a noisy saw , police said on Thursday .

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Cheung Siu Man , 40 , was arrested late on Wednesday after police searched a house and found heroin in bags and hidden in hollow spaces in wooden planks , police said .

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The suspect said he was hired to make a wooden box from the planks in order to hide the heroin .


Police went to the house after receiving complaints of sawing during the night over the course of several days .


When they arrived to investigate , police saw people escaping from the back door so they decided to search the house .

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The seized heroin has an estimated street value of about 300 million baht ( $ 12 million ) , police said .


Officials are now hunting for the suspect 's collaborators , police said .


Cheung was being detained pending formal charges , police said .


Australia foreign minister arrives in China .


Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer arrived in Beijing on Thursday for a four-day visit that follows rising friction between the two nations in recent weeks .

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Downer was to meet Chinese Foreign Minister Qian Qichen and sign an agreement on an Australian consulate in Hong Kong , an official of the Australian embassy in Beijing said .

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China will resume sovereignty over Hong Kong , a British colony , in mid-1997 .

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Relations between China and Australia have been strained in recent weeks because of Australia 's plan to sell uranium to China 's rival Taiwan .

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Other issues affecting ties include plans by an Australian cabinet minister to visit Taiwan , a security pact between Canberra and Washington and a possible visit to Australia next month by Tibet 's exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama .

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Downer is the first Australian minister to visit China since the new conservative government took office in Canberra in March .

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Palestinians accuse PA of banning books .


A West Bank bookseller charged on Thursday that the Palestinian Information Ministry has forced him to sign an undertaking not to distribute books written by critics of Israeli-PLO self-rule deals .

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" They made me sign an undertaking not to sell the books to anyone at the risk of legal action .

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One official told me ' you have to either destroy the books or return them to Amman ' , " Daoud Makkawi , owner of the Nablus-based al-Risala bookshop , told Reuters .

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He said ministry officials made him sign this a few weeks ago after he brought about a dozen copies from Jordan of a book by Edward Said , a prominent scholar at New York City 's Columbia University .

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Said , a U.S. citizen of Palestinian origin , has been an outspoken critic of the 1993 Israeli-PLO self-rule deal and has written at least two books on the accord .

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On Wednesday a bookseller in the West Bank town of Ramallah said police about a month ago confiscated several copies of two of Said 's books on the Israel-PLO self-rule deals .

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Palestinian Information Ministry Director-General Mutawakel Taha denied that ministry officials forced anyone to sign any undertaking and insisted that the Palestinian Authority has no plans to censor books .

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" There is no strategy to ban books or to suppress freedom of expression in any form whatsoever , " Taha told Reuters .

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But Taha said that the absence of relevent legislations may have resulted in some mistakes by some security officials .

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" This may explain some mistakes against some journalists and writers , " he said .


Daoud said books by other authors , including British Journalist Patrick Seale , were also banned .

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He said that security officials often visit his shop to make sure he was not selling the books .


If we have confidence , why should we be afraid of the other opinion ? "


Thousands of books were banned from sale in the West Bank and Gaza Strip by the Israeli military authorities before the Jewish state handed over parts of the two areas to the PLO under a self-rule deal in 1994 .

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Egypt blames Istanbul control tower for accident .


The chairman of national carrier EgyptAir on Thursday blamed the control tower at Istanbul airport for the EgyptAir plane accident .

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Twenty people were injured on Wednesday when the EgyptAir Boeing 707 overshot the runway , caught fire , hit a taxi and skipped across a road onto a railway line .

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Chairman Mohamed Fahim Rayyan told a news conference at Cairo airport : " The control tower should have allocated the plane another runway , instead of the one the plane landed on . "

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" The one it landed on is 2,250 metres ( 2,460 yards ) long while the other one if more than 3,000 metres ( 3,300 yards ) long and is less steep , " he added .

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He said a Turkish civil aviation authority official had made the same point and he noted that a Turkish plane had a similar accident there in 1994 .

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The EgyptAir pilot blamed Turkish airport staff for misleading him .


The landing took place after a rainstorm .


The brake action is very poor and the tower said it 's medium .


That 's wrong , " the pilot told private Ihlas news agency in English .


Egypt wants nothing to do with Sudanese rulers .


The Egyptian government will have nothing more to do with the Sudanese government because it continues to shelter and support Egyptian militants , President Hosni Mubarak said in a speech on Thursday .

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Egypt says the Sudanese government helped the Moslem militants who tried to kill Mubarak in Addis Ababa last year .

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It sponsored last week 's U.N. Security Council resolution threatening a ban on Sudanese flights abroad if Khartoum does not hand over three men accused in the Addis Ababa incident .

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The sanctions will come into effect in November if Sudan fails to extradite the men , but Sudan says it cannot hand them over to Ethiopia for trial because they are not in Sudan .

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" We are still eager that nothing should affect the Sudanese people but we will not deal with the current regime or the Turabi front or whatever , " Mubarak told a group of academics .

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Hassan al-Turabi is the leader of the National Islamic Front , the political force behind the Sudanese government .

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" I do n't want to go into more details than that but there are more details and they are bitter .

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There are terrorists they are sheltering and they make Sudanese passorts for them and they get paid by them , " Mubarak said .

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He did not say if Egypt would go so far as to break relations , a step it has been reluctant to take , ostensibly because it would affect ordinary Sudanese .

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Turkish shares shed gains in profit-taking .


Turkish shares ended lower on Thursday , shedding gains of earlier in the week amid profit-taking sales , brokers said .

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The IMKB-100 lost 0.19 percent or 123.89 points to end at 64,178.78 .


Gains so far this week have totalled 2.92 percent .


Daily volume dropped to 7.2 trillion lira from Wednesday 's 7.8 trillion lira .


" Profit-taking sales in the afternoon showed the latest gains of the index were actually a reaction rise .


I expect the market to go as far down as 63,000 tomorrow if sales continue , " said Burcin Mavituna from Interbank .

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Brokers said profit taking sales had come especially as the index approached the 65,000 resistance level .


They said the index could also rise towards 65,000 if the cheap share prices attracted buyers .


The market had its first resistance at 67,000 if it pierced 65,000 , they added .


The session 's most active shares were those of Isbank gained 300 lira to 8,600 .


Shares of utility Cukurova lost 3,000 lira to 67,000 .


The 85-share industrial index lost 0.47 percent to 70,848.86 and the 15-share financial index rose by 0.55 percent to 55,929.89 .

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Of the 218 shares traded , gainers outdid losers by 100 to 64 and 54 shares were stable .


-- Istanbul Newsroom , +90-212-275 0875 SA


Miss Universe hides behind veil of silence .


Miss Universe , Venezuela 's Alicia Machado , left New Mexico on Thursday , refusing to answer questions about her weight or claims she was told to either go on a crash diet or give up her title .

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Machado , 19 , flew to Los Angeles after slipping away from the New Mexico desert town of Las Cruces , where she attended the 1996 Miss Teen USA pageant on Wednesday .

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While Machado was not a contestant here , she came under intense scrutiny following reports she was given an ultimatum by Los Angeles-based Miss Universe Inc. to drop 27 pounds ( 12 kg ) in two weeks or risk losing her crown .

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In Venezuela , her mother told Reuters that Machado had a swollen face when she left home two weeks ago because she had her wisdom teeth extracted .

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Marta Fajardo insisted her daughter , who weighed 112 pounds ( 51 kg ) when she won the Miss Universe title in Las Vegas in May , had perfectly normal eating habits .

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" Everybody has their own addiction to something or other but it 's not as if she eats cakes like crazy , " she said .

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Organisers flatly denied ever threatening Machado but immediately put her under wraps and blocked access to her .


Dressed in a black strapless evening gown at Wednesday 's pageant , Machado was clearly heavier than the contestants but still won rave reviews after her brief appearance on stage .

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She 's fantastic , " said Nikki Campbell , 28 , who went to the pageant . "

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Machado 's publicists said on Thursday she was scheduled to stay in Los Angeles for promotional work with sponsors before returning to Venezuela on Sept .

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Beauty queens are high-profile personalities in Venezuela and Machado 's alleged weight problem made front page news this week .

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It was an official of the Miss Venezuela Organisation who first said Machado had been told to lose weight fast .

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People close to her said she then eased up on her diet and indulged her passion for pasta and cake , but it was not clear how many pounds she gained and most people who saw her said she was still a long way from being fat .

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Martin Brooks , president of Miss Universe Inc , said he spoke with Machado to assure her that organisers were not putting pressure on her .

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She wished , as we all did , that it had n't happened but she 's spiritually and mentally terrific .


There 's no problem whatsoever , " he told Reuters .


He said the lifestyle associated with being Miss Universe could make routine exercise difficult .


" The problem is they travel so much and are so busy that the ability to have any type of regimented routine workout does n't exist .

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We have n't talked about it because it has n't been an issue , " he said .


Kevorkian attends third suicide in week .


Dr. Jack Kevorkian attended his third suicide in less than a week on Thursday , bringing the body of a 40-year-old Missouri woman suffering from multiple sclerosis to a hospital emergency room , doctors said .

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Dr Robert Aranosian , emergency room director at Pontiac Osteopathic Hospital , said Kevorkian brought in the body of Patricia Smith , of Lees Summit , Mo .

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, at midday and told doctors that she had been paralysed by the disease .


It was his second assisted-suicide in 36 hours and the 37th that he has acknowledged attending since starting his crusade for doctor assisted suicide in 1990 .


Kevorkian 's lawyer , Geoffrey Fieger , said those attending Smith 's death included her husband , David , a police officer , her father , James Poland , and Kevorkian .

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It was the first known time that a police officer has been president at the suicide of one of Kevorkian 's patients .

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He offered no details about the cause of Smith 's death or the location .


She was a nurse who had " rapidly progressing multple sclerosis . "


On Tuesday night , Kevorkian attended the death of Louise Siebens , a 76-year-old Texas woman with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis , or Lou Gehrig 's disease .

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On August 15 , Kevorkian helped Judith Curren , a 42-year-old Massachusetts nurse , who suffered from chronic fatigue syndrome , a non-terminal illness , to end her life .

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Fairview , Texas , $ 1.82 million deal Baa1 - Moody 's .

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Defiant U.S. neo-Nazi jailed by German court .


A Hamburg court sentenced U.S. neo-Nazi leader Gary Lauck on Thursday to four years in prison for pumping banned extremist propaganda into Germany from his base in the United States .

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Lauck , from Lincoln , Nebraska , yelled a tirade of abuse at the court after his conviction for inciting racial hatred .

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" The struggle will go on , " the 43-year-old shouted in German before being escorted out by security guards .

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Lauck 's lawyer vowed he would appeal against the court 's decision , arguing that his client should have been set free because he had not committed any offence under German law .

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The German government hailed the conviction as a major victory in the fight against neo-Nazism .

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Lauck 's worldwide network has been the main source of anti-Semitic propaganda material flowing into Germany since the 1970s .

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" Lauck possessed a well-oiled propaganda machine , honed during more than 20 years , " presiding judge Guenter Bertram told the court .

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" He set up a propaganda cannon and fired it at Germany . "


said Bertram , who also read out extracts from Lauck 's material praising Hitler as " the greatest of all leaders " and describing the Nazi slaughter of millions of Jews as a myth .

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Eager to put Lauck behind bars quickly and avoid a long and complex trial , prosecutor Bernd Mauruschat limited his charges to offences since 1994 .

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He had demanded a five-year jail term but said he was satisfied with the court 's sentence .


Publishing and distributing neo-Nazi material is illegal in Germany but Lauck 's defence team had argued that U.S freedom of speech laws meant he was free to produce his swastika-covered books , magazines , videos and flags in his homeland .

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Interior Minister Manfred Kanther said in a statement he " welcomed the prosecution and conviction of one of the ringleaders of international neo-Nazism and biggest distributers of vicious racist publications " .

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" It is high time he was behind bars , " the opposition Social Democrats said in a statement .

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Lauck , dressed in a sober blue suit and sporting his trademark Hitleresque black moustache , showed no sign of emotion as Bertram spent more than an hour reading out the verdict and explaining the court 's decision .

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But as Lauck was about to be led away , he turned to reporters and blurted out a virtually incomprehensible quick-fire diatribe against the court .

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" Neither the National Socialists ( Nazis ) nor the communists dared to kidnap an American citizen , " he shouted , in an oblique reference to his extradition to Germany from Denmark . "

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His attorney , Hans-Otto Sieg , told reporters outside the courtroom that the judges had not explained how a German court could judge someone for actions carried out in the United States .

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Bertram said Lauck was obsessed by Nazism and devoted his life to leading his National Socialist German Workers ' Party Foreign Organisation ( NSDAP-AO ) , which derives its name from the full German title of Hitler 's Nazi party .

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During the three-month trial , the court dealt mainly with issues of the NSDAP-AO 's " NS Kampfruf " ( " National Socialist Battle Cry " ) magazine , filled with references to Aryan supremacy and defamatory statements about Jews .

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The court rejected Sieg 's argument that Lauck 's extradition from Denmark , where he was arrested in March last year at the request of German authorities , was illegal .

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Lauck was also convicted of disseminating the symbols of anti-constitutional organisations .


He will probably be free in around two and a half years .


The court ruled that the 15 months he has spent in custody since his arrest should be subtracted from his prison term .

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UN official says Iraqi deal will occur " soon " .


A senior U.N. official said on Thursday he expected arrangements to implement the Iraqi oil-for-food deal could be completed " quite soon . "

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" I am reluctant to speculate but we are doing the preparations and the secretary-general is anxious to start the program , " said Undersecretary-General Yasushi Akashi .

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" It might be sooner than you think , " he told reporters after briefing the Security Council on arrangements for monitors needed to carry out the agreement .

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Akashi is head of the Department of Humanitarian affairs .


His deputy earlier speculated at least 10 days .


Suspected killers of bishop dead -- Algeria TV .


Algerian security forces have shot dead three Moslem guerrillas suspected of killing a leading French bishop in western Algeria , the Algerian state-run television said on Thursday .

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Security forces also arrested four other men sought for giving support to the slain Moslem rebels , the television said .

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The television , which did not say when the security forces killed the rebels , said the four arrested men confessed details of the assassination of the French Roman Catholic Bishop Pierre Claverie .

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The 58-year-old Claverie was killed in August 1 in a bomb blast at his residence in the western Algerian city of Oran , hours after he met visiting French Foreign Minister Herve de Charette in Algiers .

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An estimated 50,000 Algerians and more than 110 foreigners have been killed in Algeria 's violence pitting Moslem rebels against the Algerian government forces since early 1992 , when the authorities cancelled a general election in which radical Islamists took a commanding lead .

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German flown cargo January-July rise 3.8 percent .


The following table shows total flown air cargo volumes in tonnes handled at international German airports January-July 1996 .

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The figures exclude trucked airfreight according to the German airports association ADV .


Paribas repeats buy on Aegon after results .


COMMENT : " Not only did Aegon surprise with earnings of 711 million guilders , which were above the top of the expected range , it also forecast a similar performance in the second half . "

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Reiterates previous " buy " recommendation after results .


Clinton 's Ballybunion fans invited to Chicago .


U.S. President Bill Clinton had to drop the resort of Ballybunion from a whirlwind Irish tour last year .

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So Ballybunion is going to America instead .


Two residents of the Atlantic resort , where Clinton was to have played golf with the Irish Foreign Minister Dick Spring , have been invited to the Democratic party convention in Chicago on August 26-29 .

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They have been asked to bring with them the placards they waved when Clinton addressed Ireland at a packed ceremony in Dublin city centre on December 1 , last year .

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They read : " Ballybunion backs Clinton . "


" The Democratic party have requested we bring our placards with us .


We will be guests of the Kennedys , " said Frank Quilter , one of the two who have been invited to Chicago .

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Clinton made a triumphant Irish tour to back a Northern Ireland peace process but was forced to drop Ballybunion from a packed schedule at the last minute .

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Bonn says Moscow has promised to observe ceasefire .


Germany said on Thursday it had received assurances from the Russian government that its forces would observe the latest ceasefire in Chechnya .

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Foreign Ministry spokesman Martin Erdmann said top Bonn diplomat Wolfgang Ischinger had been assured by senior Russian officials that the ultimatum to storm and take the Chechen capital of Grozny was not valid .

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" The Russian side confirmed that the ceasefire is in place and they will keep to it , " Erdmann told Reuters after speaking by telephone to Ischinger , who had met the officials on a two-day visit to Moscow .

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Ischinger is the political director of Bonn 's foreign ministry .


Ischinger said he met three Russian deputy foreign ministers and a vice defence minister , who confirmed Russian Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov 's pledge that Moscow would seek a political solution under the aegis of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe ( OSCE ) .

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" The ultimatum ( to storm Grozny ) is no longer an issue , " he said quoting Ischinger , who had been sent to Moscow by German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel as his personal envoy to urge an end to Moscow 's military campaign in the breakaway region .

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Ischinger said the threat of a major assault to take Grozny had been the unauthorised initiative of the commanding general and not Moscow 's intention .

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The officials had been positive about Kinkel 's request on Wednesday that President Boris Yeltsin 's security chief Alexander Lebed should , on his return to Moscow , meet Tim Goldiman , the OSCE representative responsible for Chechnya , he said .

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India says sees no arms race with China , Pakistan .


India said on Thursday that its opposition to a global nuclear test ban treaty did not mean New Delhi intended to enter into an arms race with neighbouring Pakistan and China .

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Foreign Minister I.K. Gujral was asked at a news conference if India 's decision to block adoption of the accord in Geneva would lead to an arms race with Pakistan and China .

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" I do n't see that possibility because India is not entering into any arms race , " he said . "

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Our not signing a new treaty does not mean we are going in for any new kind of weapons , particularly nuclear . "

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China , along with Britain , France , Russia and the United States , is a declared nuclear power .

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India carried out a nuclear test in 1974 but says it has not built the bomb .


Experts believe both India and Pakistan could quickly assemble nuclear weapons .


Gujral said he did not expect India 's veto of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty ( CTBT ) to damage bilateral ties with other nations .

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" I do not visualise its straining our bilateral relations with any country .


The text has already been blocked , " he said .


Gujral said India would re-examine its position if the treaty , particularly a clause providing for its entry into force , was modified .

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Asked what India would do if the pact were forwarded to the United Nations General Assembly , Gujral said : " That bridge I will cross when I come to it . "

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In a written statement released at the news conference , Gujral reiterated India 's objections to the treaty , under negotiation at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva .

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" It is a sad fact that the nuclear weapon states show no interest in giving up their nuclear hegemony , " the statement said .

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Gujral said India had national security concerns that made it impossible for New Delhi to sign the CTBT .

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" Our security concerns oblige us to maintain our nuclear option , " he said , adding that India had exercised restraint in not carrying out any nuclear tests since the country 's lone test blast in 1974 .

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He said : " We cannot accept constraints on our option as long as nuclear weapon states continue to rely on their nuclear arsenals for their security " .

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Britain says death of its citizen will sour ties .


A British minister expressed his government 's official disquiet on Thursday at the recent death of a British citizen of Bangladeshi origin at Dhaka airport .

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" I have told Bangladesh leaders that British goverment has attached serious importance to the resolution of the tragic death of Siraj Mia , " Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Liam Fox Fox , told reporters .

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Siraj Mia died at Dhaka airport on May 9 during interogation by customs officials after arriving from London .

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His body bore multiple injuries , and his relatives complained that he was murdered .


A post-mortem report suggested he might have been tortured .


But customs authorities said the passenger was drunk and died of loss of blood from a deep cut in his wrist after he hit a glass sheet .

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Fox , who arrived in Bangladesh on Tuesday on four-day visit , said Britain wanted Dhaka to act seriously on the case .

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" This is one of the reasons of my visit here ...


this is an important issue in our relationship " , said Fox , who is due to leave for Nepal on Friday .

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Fox said the incident had strained relations between the two governments .


He said the Mia 's issue had been raised in the House of Commons .

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Fox said he had brought up the issue at every meeting he had had with government leaders in Dhaka .

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He said the Bangladesh government had assured him it was taking the matter seriously .


" The British government wants a thorough investigation and a just outcome , " he said .


Fox said the British government wanted an end to the alleged harassment of its nationals at Dhaka airport by customs officials .

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Bangladesh 's Criminal Investigation Department has charged two immigration officials in connection with Mia 's killing .

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Mia , a father of five children , had a restaurant business in a London suburb .

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India fears attempts to disrupt Kashmir polls .


India 's Home ( interior ) Minister accused Pakistan on on Thursday of planning to disrupt state elections in troubled Jammu and Kashmir state .

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" It seems that from across the border there is going to be a planned attempt to disrupt the elections , " Inderjit Gupta told reporters in the state capital Srinagar .

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The local polls next month will be the first since 1987 in the state , clamped under direct rule from New Delhi since 1990 .

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India has often accused Pakistan of abetting militancy in the valley , a charge Islamabad has always denied .

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Gupta said there might be an increase in the number of people infiltrating the Kashmir valley to create disturbance in the region .

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" We noticed among the people who come from across the border , there is a growing number of foreign mercenaries , " Gupta said .

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India and Pakistan have fought two of their three wars over the troubled region of Kashmir since independence from Britain in 1947 .

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Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda 's centre-left government hopes the elections will help restore normality and democratic rule in Jammu and Kashmir , where more than 20,000 people have died in insurgency-related violence since 1990 .

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Over a dozen militant groups are fighting New Delhi 's rule in the state .


Dhaka stocks end up on gains by engineering , banks .


Dhaka stocks edged up on sharply higher volume as engineering and cash shares gained amid buying by both small and institutional investors , brokers said .

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The Dhaka Stock Exchange ( DSE ) all-share price index rose 8.05 points or 0.7 percent to 1,156.79 on a turnover of 146.2 million taka .

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Of the total 119 issues traded 71 closed higher , 44 ended lower and four remained unchanged .


National Bank rose 12.71 taka to 228.7 , Eastern Cables gained 20.37 to 677.98 and Apex Tannery lost 22.72 to 597 .

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Brokers said the stocks recovered early losses to edge up at close because of institutional support and short-covering ahead of Friday weekend .

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India RBI chief sees cut in cash reserve ratio .


The Reserve bank of India governor C. Rangarajan said on Thursday that he expected the cash reserve ratio ( CRR ) maintained by banks to be reduced over the medium term .

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" Over the medium term , yes , " he told Reuters after addressing industrialists in the capital .

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He denied having said in a recent newspaper interview that the CRR could be raised if necessary .


He said he was only trying ( in that newspaper report ) to explain the theoretical position on the use of the CRR by central banks to manage money supply .

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Rangarajan explained that the cash reserve ratio was an instrument that central banks could use to regulate money supply by reducing or increasing the ratio .

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But in the current context , the government stood by an earlier commitment to reduce it over a period of time , he said in response to a question .

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Two pct India current account deficit viable - RBI .


The Reserve Bank of India Governor Chakravarty Rangarajan said on Thursday that a current account deficit of two percent of gross domestic product ( GDP ) was sustainable given the currrent rate of growth .

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" The current account deficit of around two percent of GDP is a sustainable level of deficit given the expected real growth rate and the trends in imports and exports , " Rangarajan said in an address to business leaders in New Delhi .

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Rangarajan said a current account deficit of two percent brought about by a 16-17 percent annual growth in exports and a 14-15 percent rise in imports along with an increase in non-debt flows could lead to a reduction in the debt-service ratio to below 20 percent over the next five years .

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Mother Teresa devoted to world 's poor .


Mother Teresa , known as the Saint of the Gutters , won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 for bringing hope and dignity to millions of poor , unwanted people with her simple message : " The poor must know that we love them . "

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While the world heaps honours on her and even regards her as a living saint , the nun of Albanian descent maintains she is merely doing God 's work .

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" It gives me great joy and fulfilment to love and care for the poor and neglected , " she said . "


The poor do not need our sympathy and pity .


The diminutive Roman Catholic missionary was on respiratory support in intensive care in an Indian nursing home on Thursday after suffering heart failure .

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But an attending doctor said Mother Teresa , who turns 86 next Tuesday , was conscious and in stable condition .

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The task Mother Teresa began alone in 1949 in the slums of densely-populated Calcutta , and grew to touch the hearts of people around the world .

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When in 1979 she was told she had won the Nobel Peace Prize , she said characteristically : " I am unworthy . "

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The world disagreed , showering more than 80 national and international honours on her including the Bharat Ratna , or Jewel of India , the country 's highest civilian award .

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Her health began to deteriorate in 1989 when she was fitted with a heart pacemaker .


A year later , the Vatican announced she was stepping down as Superior of her Missionaries of Charity order .

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More than 100 delegates flew in from around the world to elect a successor .


They could not agree , so asked her to stay on .


In 1991 , Mother Teresa was treated at a California hospital for heart disease and bacterial pneumonia .

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In 1993 , she fell in Rome and broke three ribs .


In August the same year , while in New Delhi to receive yet another award , she developed malaria , complicated by her heart and lung problems .

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Last April she fractured her left collar bone .


But her increasing frailty , arthritis and failing eyesight has not stopped her travels around the world to mingle with the poor and desperate .

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Mother Teresa was born Agnes Goinxha Bejaxhiu to Albanian parents in Skopje , in what was then Serbia , on August 27 , 1910 .

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She attended a government school and was already deeply religious by the time she was 12 .


At the age of 18 she became a Loretto nun , hoping to work at the Order 's Calcutta mission .

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She was sent to Loretto Abbey in Dublin and from there to India to begin her novitiate and teach geography at a convent school in Calcutta .

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She said her divine call to work among the poor came in September , 1946 . "


The message was quite clear , " she told one interviewer . "


I was to leave the convent and help the poor while living among them .


The Vatican and the mother superior in Dublin approved and after intensive training as a nurse with American missionaries she opened her first Calcutta slum school in December 1949 .

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She took the name of Teresa , after France 's Saint Therese of the Child Jesus .

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Mother Teresa set up her first home for the dying in a Hindu rest house in Calcutta after she saw a penniless woman turned away by a city hospital .

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Named " Nirmal Hriday " ( Tender Heart ) , it was the first of a chain of 150 homes for dying , destitute people , admitting nearly 18,000 a year .

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Her Missionaries of Charity , a Roman Catholic religious order she founded in 1949 , now runs about 300 homes for unwanted children and the destitute in India and abroad .

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In 1994 a British television documentary called the myth around Mother Teresa a mixture of " hyperbole and credulity " .

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Catholics around the world rose to her defence .


RTRS - FOCUS-News forecasts alien-led profit boost .


Media baron Rupert Murdoch 's News Corp Ltd reported lower than expected 1995/96 profits on Thursday , but forecast that the hit film " Independence Day " would help increase profits by at least 20 percent in 1996/97 .

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" From an earnings perspective , the current fiscal year has begun with great promise due to the hit motion picture ' Independence Day , ' " News Corp said in a statement announcing its results for the year to June 30 , 1996 .

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It said moderating paper prices and solid orders for advertising at its Fox Broadcasting television network in the United States would also help boost profits in the 1996/97 year . "

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A budgeted profit increase of at least 20 percent for the full year currently appears very attainable , " News Corp said .

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The bullish comments for the coming year soothed analysts and most shareholders , who were disappointed by the lower than expected profit for 1995/96 .


News announced pre-abnormals net profit for the year fell six percent to A$ 1.26 billion ( US$ 995 million ) and earnings per share dropped to 40 cents from 46 cents .

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Analysts had on average expected a pre-abnormals profit of A$ 1.343 billion .


" The year just gone was disappointing , but the outlook for the current year looks good , " First Pacific media analyst Lachlan Drummond said .

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News Corp said strong performances in U.S. television and British newspapers were offset by lower profits from News Corp 's magazine and publishing divisions and further hefty losses from its Asian Star TV operations .

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Higher newsprint prices hit profits hard . "


Throughout the group , higher paper prices increased costs by over US$ 300 million , " it said .

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News Corp said British newspaper operating profits rose 10 percent for the year , as higher cover prices at The Sun and The Times and higher advertising volumes offset increased newsprint costs .

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Advertising revenues at The Times grew 20 percent .


Analysts said sharply lower earnings from News Corp 's book publishing division and its U.S. magazines had been the major surprises in the results for 1995/96 .

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News Corp said revenue gains at its magazines and inserts division were offset by higher paper prices and lower sales at the U.S. TV Guide .

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News said dramatically lower earnings from the British arm of its Harper-Collins publishing division more than offset healthy results from its U.S. operation .

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It said the demise of the Net Book Agreement had hurt the British operations , and weak performances from the San Francisco unit of Harper-Collins had not helped .

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The minimum price setting expired last September when three publishers pulled out .


But it was the bullish profit forecast for 1996/97 that took the spotlight in the market , with some analysts saying 20 percent may even be an understatement .

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" If they 're saying at least 20 percent , then their internal forecasts are probably saying 25 or 30 percent , " said one Sydney media analyst who declined to be named .

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News Corp 's shares were down eight cents at A$ 6.39 at 2.00 p.m. ( 0400 GMT ) in a soft market .

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RTRS - Budget cuts to boost Australia savings - RBA .


The Australian government 's plans to slash its budget deficit should make a useful contribution to national savings , the Reserve Bank of Australia ( RBA ) said in its annual report .

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" The government 's announced plans to balance the budget , if realised , would make a useful contribution to raising national savings , " the RBA said .

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The bank said there were concerns fiscal consolidation would unduly restrict growth , but evidence was ambiguous .


In its 1996/97 budget announced on Tuesday , the Australian Coalition government announced an underlying budget deficit of A$ 5.65 billion , and pledged to return the underlying budget balance to surplus by 1998/99 .

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The budget deficit was A$ 10.3 billion in 1995/96 .


" Determined and credible efforts to rein in unsustainable fiscal positions ( are ) often rewarded by rising confidence , giving favourable effects on economic activity even in the short term , " it said .

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" More generally , the long-term effects of fiscal consolidation are clearly positive , with higher saving tending to promote economic growth by raising investment and lowering long-term real interest rates , " the RBA said .

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Bank of New Zealand said on Thursday it was cutting its fixed home lending rates .

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BNZ said it was responding to lower wholesale rates .


Fixed business and farm lending rates rates were left unchanged although they were under review .


Power NZ ODV up 8 pct at NZ$ 524 million .


Power New Zealand said on Thursday that the Optimised Deprival Value ( ODV ) of its network at March 31 , 1996 has been set at $ 524.2 million , an increase of eight percent on its $ 486.5 million valuation a year earlier .

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The company said the increase reflected the value of extensions to the network to meet economic growth in its supply area and an increase in the estimated lifespan of the network .

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It said the increase was consistent with the approach followed by other power companies and reflected the company 's new levels of preventative maintenance and equipment upgrading .

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The revaluation was undertaken to meet the disclosure


requirements of the Ministry of Commerce .


Thais hunt for Australian jail breaker .


Thailand has launched a manhunt for an Australian who escaped from a high security prison in Bangkok while awaiting trial on drug possession charges , officials said on Thursday .

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Daniel Westlake , 46 , from Victoria , made the first sucessful escape from Klongprem prison in the northern outskirts of the capital on Sunday night .

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He was believed by prison officials to still be in Thailand .


" We have ordered a massive hunt for him and I am quite confident we will get him soon , " Vivit Chatuparisut , deputy director general of the Correction Department , told Reuters .

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Westlake , arrested in December 1993 and charged with heroin trafficking , sawed the iron grill off his cell window and climbed down the prison 's five-metre ( 15-foot ) wall on a rope made from bed sheets , Vivit said .

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The corrections department was probing the escape and had ordered all foreign inmates chained to prevent more breakouts .


There are 266 Westerners , including six Australians , in the prison , most awaiting trial on drugs charges .

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There also are about 5,000 Thai inmates in Klongprem , a prison official said .


NOTE - Tokyo Soir Co Ltd is a specialised manufacturer of women " s formal wear .

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Ka Wah Bank 's HK$ 43 million floating rate certificate of deposit issue has been privately placed , sole arranger HSBC Markets said .

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The facility has a tenor of six months .


It pays a coupon of 15 basis points over the six-month Hong Kong Interbank Offered Rate .

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The deposit date is September 5 , 1996 .


Clearing is through the Hong Kong Central Moneymarkets Unit .


Malaysia bans nitrofuran usage in chicken feed .


Malaysia has banned the use of nitrofuran , an antibiotic , in chicken feed and veterinary applications because it believes the drug could cause cancer , the health ministry said on Thursday .

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" It is hoped that livestock breeders and feedmillers will abide by the laws and respect the cabinet decision in the interest of consumer safety , " Health Minister Chua Jui Meng was quoted as saying by the national Bernama news agency .

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Chua said offenders could face a two-year prison sentence and a maximum fine of 5,000 ringgit ( $ 2000 ) .

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" The ban takes effect immediately , " he added .


INDONESIAN STOCKS - factors to watch - August 22 .


Following are some of the main factors likely to affect Indonesian stocks on Thursday :


** Security was tight in Jakarta ahead of a trial involving ousted Indonesian Democratic Party leader Megawati Sukarnoputri .

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Around 200 police and troops were stationed outside the court in central Jakarta but there was no sign of demonstrators .

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** The Dow Jones industrial average closed down 31.44 points at 5,689.82 on Wednesday , ending a three-session winning streak as investors took profits and tobacco stocks took a beating .

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** The Jakarta composite index rose 2.60 points , or 0.48 percent , to 542.20 points on Wednesday on the back of bargain-hunting in selected big-capitalised stocks and secondliners .

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** On Thursday , the Indonesian rupiah was at 2,343.00 / 43.50 in early trading against an opening of 2,342.75 / 43.50 .

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** Packaging manufacturer Super Indah Makmur on announcement of a tender offer by PT VDH Teguh Sakti , a wholly-owned subsidiary of Singapore-listed Van Der Horst .

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** Privately-owned Bank Duta on market talk that it is obtaining fresh syndicated loans , a management reshuffle and fresh equity injection .

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** Ciputra Development on reports of a plan to build property projects worth $ 2 billion in Jakarta and Surabaya .

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Key stock and currency market movements at 1600 GMT .


The following table shows the latest close of key indices* on major world stock exchanges , the day 's change in points and the indices ' 1996 closing highs and lows ( with dates ) .

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Also shown are the London closing values of the German mark , the Japanese yen , the British pound and gold bullion ( previous day 's closes in brackets ) :

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FOREIGN EXCHANGE / GOLD BULLION CLOSE IN LONDON


*INDICES USED AND THEIR ALL-TIME CLOSING HIGHS


New York Dow Jones industrial average -- 5,778.00 ( May 22/96 )

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Tokyo Nikkei average -- 38,915.87 ( Dec 29/89 )


Paris CAC-40 General index -- 2,355.93 ( Feb 2/94 )


Sydney Australian All-Ordinaries index -- 2,340.6 ( Feb 3/94 )


Hong Kong Hang Seng index -- 12,201.09 ( Jan 4/94 )


Ukraine hails peace as marks five-year independence .


Ukraine celebrates five years of independence from Kremlin rule on Saturday , hailing civil and inter-ethnic peace as its main post-Soviet achievement .

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Ukraine 's declaration of independence in 1991 , backed nine-to-one by a referendum in December of that year , effectively dealt a death blow to the Soviet empire and ended more than three centuries of rule from Moscow .

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Ukraine , with a Russian community of 11 million people -- the world 's largest outside Russia -- has avoided conflicts like those in Russia 's Chechnya , neighbouring Moldova , and the former Soviet republics of Georgia , Azerbaijan and Tajikistan .

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" Ukraine 's biggest achievements for five years are the preservation of civil peace and inter-ethnic harmony , " President Leonid Kuchma said in televised statement this week .

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" Unlike many other post-Soviet countries we were able to deal with conflict situations in a peaceful and civilised way . "

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But independence was initially accompanied by hyper-inflation and economic collapse , although there are signs of a turnaround .


Inflation -- a hyper-inflationary 10,300 percent a year in 1993 -- was a respectable 0.1 percent a month in June and July and the economy has just begun to grow .

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Kuchma told a solemn ceremony at the Ukraina Palace on Friday that " there was a turning point " in reforms and that he expected a rise in the standard of living in the near future .

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" There is no doubt that economic growth has already started , " said Adelbert Knobl , head of the International Monetary Fund 's mission in Ukraine . "

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The national bank and the government have every reason to be proud of their efforts . "


Central bank officials said on Thursday that a much-postponed hryvna currency would " definitely " be introduced before the end of this year .

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It will replace the interim karbovanets currency , which was introduced at par to the Russian rouble in 1992 but now trades at almost 33 karbovanets per rouble .

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Ukraine has repeatedly promised to introduce the hryvna but had to postpone the plans because of economic problems .

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Proud of its record in promptly joining both the Council of Europe and NATO 's Partnership for Peace , Ukraine caused a foreign policy wrangle this week , offending China by allowing a Taiwanese minister to appear on a public , if unofficial visit .

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China cancelled a visit by a top-level delegation in protest .


Kiev 's Foreign Minister Hennady Udovenko said Beijing was overreacting .


But Ukraine , seeing itself as a bridge between Russia and the rapidly Westernising countries of eastern Europe , is looking West as well as East .

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" The strategic aim of European integration should not in any way damage Ukraine 's interests in post-Soviet areas .

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Relations with Russia , which is our main partner , have great importance , " Kuchma said .

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" But Ukraine cannot be economically oriented on Russia , even though those in some circles push us to do that . "

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Kuchma has said Kiev wants membership of the European Union , associate membership of the Western European Union defence grouping and to move closer to NATO .

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A message from the West this week from U.S. President Bill Clinton congratulated Ukraine on the anniversary , promising to support market reforms and praising Ukraine as a " stabilising factor " in a united Europe .

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Oldest Albania book disappears from Vatican - paper .


A 16th-century document , the earliest complete example of written Albanian , has disappeared from the Vatican archives , an Albanian newspaper said on Friday .

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Gazeta Shqiptare said the " Book of Mass ' , by Gjon Buzuku , dating from 1555 and discovered in 1740 in a religious seminary in Rome , was the first major document published in the Albanian language .

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" We Albanians , sons of Buzuku , believed our language had a written document but now we do not have it any more , " lamented scholar Musa Hamiti , told of the loss by the Vatican library .

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Tirana 's national library has three copies of the " Book of Mass ' . "

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There is nothing left for us but to be grateful to civilisation for inventing photocopies , " Gazeta Shqiptare said .

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Russian officials , keen to cut capital flight , will adopt tight measures to cut barter deals in foreign trade to a minimum , a customs official said on Friday .

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" We have always been concerned about barter deals with other countries , viewing them as a disguised kind of capital flight from Russia , " Marina Volkova , deputy head of the currency department at the State Customs Committee , told Reuters .

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Volkova said last year goods had been exported under many Russian barter deals , with nothing imported in return .

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She said the cost of such unimported goods was $ 1.10 billion in 1995 .


Barter deals were worth $ 4.9 billion last year , or about eight percent of all Russian exports estimated at $ 61.5 billion , she said .

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" The cost of exported goods is too often understated , so the actual share of barter deals in Russian exports and the amount of unimported goods may be even higher , " Volkova said .

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A few days ago Russian President Boris Yeltsin issued a decree on state regulation of foreign barter deals , and Volkova said this " could substantially improve the situation " .

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In line with the decree , which will come into force on November 1 , all Russian barter traders will be obliged to import goods worth the cost of their exports within 180 days .

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" If traders are late , they will have to pay fines worth the cost of their exported goods , " Volkova said .

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Understating the cost of exported goods could still be a loophole for barter dealers , but Volkova said the authorities are currently " tackling the technicalities of the issue " .

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Barter has always been a feature of the Soviet Union 's foreign trade , but Yeltsin 's decrees liberalising foreign trade in 1991-1992 has given barter a new impetus .

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A few years ago , barter deals accounted for up to 25-30 percent of Russian exports because " thousands ( of ) trade companies which popped up preferred barter in the absence of reliable Russian banks and money transfer systems " , Volkova said .

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" Now many Russian banks are strong and can make various sorts of money tranfers , while incompetent traders are being ousted by more experienced ones .

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But the current share of barter deals in Russian exports is still high , " she said .

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-- Dmitry Solovyov , Moscow Newsroom , +7095 941 8520


Viacom plans " Mission " sequel - report .


Paramount Pictures is going ahead with a sequel to the Tom Cruise blockbuster , " Mission : Impossible " and hopes to release it in the summer of 1998 , Daily Variety reported in its Friday edition .

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The big-screen version of the spy TV series has grossed $ 175 million domestically since opening May 22 , and $ 338 million overseas so far .

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It 's the biggest success for Viacom Inc-owned Paramount since 1994 's " Forrest Gump " .

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However , many critics complained its plot was incomprehensible .


Cruise will reprise his roles as star and co-producer , and will soon meet Academy Award-winning screenwriter William Goldman , who will write the script , the report said .

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It said " Mission : Impossible " director Brian De Palma would have first crack at the sequel , though no deals have been made yet .

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Goldman , whose Oscars were for " Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid " and " All the President 's Men " , earlier this summer criticised some of the season 's blockbusters .

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However , he singled out " Mission : Impossible " as an especially entertaining movie , Daily Variety said .

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CRICKET - CRAWLEY FORCED TO SIT AND WAIT .


England batsman John Crawley was forced to endure a frustrating delay of over three hours before resuming his quest for a maiden test century in the third test against Pakistan on Friday .

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Heavy overnight rain and morning drizzle ruled out any play before lunch on the second day but an improvement in the weather prompted the umpires to announce a 1415 local time ( 1315 GMT ) start in the event of no further rain .

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Crawley , unbeaten on 94 overnight in an England total of 278 for six , was spotted strumming a guitar in the dressing-room as the Oval ground staff took centre stage .

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There were several damp patches on the square and the outfield and it was still raining when the players took an early lunch at 1230 local time ( 1130 GMT ) .

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When brighter weather finally arrived , the umpires announced a revised figure of 67 overs to be bowled with play extended to at least 1900 local time ( 1800 GMT ) .


MOTOR RACING - BELGIAN GRAND PRIX PRACTICE TIMES .


after Friday 's opening practice sessions for Sunday 's


1. Gerhard Berger ( Austria ) Benetton 1 minute 53.706 seconds


2. David Coulthard ( Britain ) McLaren 1:54.342


3. Jacques Villeneuve ( Canada ) Williams 1:54.443


4. Mika Hakkinen ( Finland ) McLaren 1:54.754


5. Heinz-Harald Frentzen ( Germany ) 1:54.984


6. Jean Alesi ( France ) Benetton 1:55.101


7. Damon Hill ( Britain ) Williams 1:55.281


8. Michael Schumacher ( Germany ) 1:55.333


9. Martin Brundle ( Britain ) Jordan 1:55.385


10. Rubens Barrichello ( Brazil ) Jordan 1:55.645


11. Johnny Herbert ( Britain ) Sauber 1:56.318


12. Olivier Panis ( France ) Ligier 1:56.417


$ 450,000 Toshiba Classic tennis tournament on Thursday ( prefix


2 - Conchita Martinez ( Spain ) beat Nathalie Tauziat ( France )

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5 - Gabriela Sabatini ( Argentina ) beat Asa Carlsson ( Sweden )


Katarina Studenikova ( Slovakia ) beat 6 - Karina Habsudova


( Corrects that Habsudova is sixth seed ) .


SOCCER - ENGLISH FIRST DIVISION RESULTS .


SOCCER - SCOTTISH THIRD DIVISION RESULT .


CRICKET - ENGLISH COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP SCORES .


English County Championship cricket matches on Friday :


At Weston-super-Mare : Durham 326 ( D. Cox 95 not out ,


At Colchester : Gloucestershire 280 ( J. Russell 63 , A. Symonds

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Essex 194-0 ( G. Gooch 105 not out , D. Robinson

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At Cardiff : Kent 255-3 ( D. Fulton 64 , M. Walker 59 , C. Hooper

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At Leicester : Leicestershire 343-8 ( P. Simmons 108 , P. Nixon


At Northampton : Sussex 389 ( N. Lenham 145 , V. Drakes 59 ,

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At Trent Bridge : Nottinghamshire 392-6 ( G. Archer 143 not

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At Worcester : Warwickshire 310 ( A. Giles 83 , T. Munton 54 not


out , W. Khan 52 ; R. Illingworth 4-54 , S. Lampitt 4-90 ) .

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At Headingley : Yorkshire 529-8 declared ( C. White 181 ,


R. Blakey 109 not out , M. Moxon 66 , M. Vaughan 57 ) .

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CRICKET - POLLOCK HOPES FOR RETURN TO WARWICKSHIRE .


South African all-rounder Shaun Pollock , forced to cut short his first season with Warwickshire to have ankle surgery , has told the English county he would like to return later in his career .

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Pollock , who returns home a month early next week , said : " I would like to come back and play county cricket in the future and I do n't think I would like to swap counties . "

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Explaining his premature departure was unavoidable , Pollock said : " I have been carrying the injury for a while and I hope that by having the surgery now I will be able to last out the new season back home . "

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CRICKET - ENGLAND V PAKISTAN FINAL TEST SCOREBOARD .


the third and final test between England and Pakistan at The


N. Hussain c Saeed Anwar b Waqar Younis 12

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I. Salisbury c Inzamam-ul-Haq b Wasim Akram 5


Bowling : Wasim Akram 29.2-9-83-3 , Waqar Younis 25-6-95-4 ,


Mohammad Akram 12-1-41-1 , Mushtaq Ahmed 27-5-78-2 , Aamir Sohail

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To bat : Inzamam-ul-Haq , Salim Malik , Asif Mujtaba , Wasim

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Akram , Moin Khan , Mushtaq Ahmed , Waqar Younis , Mohammad Akam

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Bowling ( to date ) : Lewis 9-1-49-0 , Mullally 9-3-28-0 , Croft


CRICKET - ENGLAND 326 ALL OUT V PAKISTAN IN THIRD TEST .


England were all out for 326 in their first innings on the second day of the third and final test against Pakistan at The Oval on Friday .

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Score : England 326 ( J. Crawley 106 , G. Thorpe 54 .

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SOCCER - SPONSORS CASH IN ON RAVANELLI 'S SHIRT DANCE .


Middlesbrough 's Italian striker Fabrizio Ravanelli is to wear his team sponsor 's name on the inside of his shirt so it can be seen when he scores .

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Every time he finds the net , the grey-haired forward pulls his shirtfront over his head as he runs to salute the fans , and Middlesbrough 's sponsors want to cash in on the spectacle .

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" Having seen Ravanelli celebrate his goals ...


we thought it would be fun to have ( the name ) on the inside of his shirt , " a spokesman for the sponsors said .

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" It will give the fans something else to look at besides his chest . "


Ravanelli aggravated a foot injury in the 1-0 defeat at Chelsea on Wednesday and was given only an even chance of playing at Nottingham Forest on Saturday by his manager Bryan Robson .

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TENNIS - AUSTRALIANS ADVANCE AT CANADIAN OPEN .


It was Australia Day at the $ 2 million Canadian Open on Thursday as three Aussies reached the quarter-finals with straight-set victories .

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Unseeded Patrick Rafter recorded the most noteworthy result as he upset sixth-seeded American MaliVai Washington 6-2 6-1 in just 50 minutes .

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Todd Woodbridge , who defeated Canadian Daniel Nestor 7-6 ( 7-2 ) 7-6 ( 7-4 ) , and Mark Philippoussis , a 6-3 6-4 winner over Bohdan Ulihrach of the Czech Republic , also advanced and will meet in Friday 's quarter-finals .

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Third-seeded Wayne Ferreira of South Africa defeated Tim Henman of Britain 6-4 6-4 after a three-hour evening rain delay and fifth-seeded Thomas Enqvist of Sweden won his third-round match , eliminating Petr Korda of the Czech Republic 6-3 6-4 .

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Ferreira and Enqvist play in a Friday night quarter-final .


Two Americans , seventh seed Todd Martin and unseeded Alex O'Brien , will meet on Friday after winning matches on Thursday .

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Martin overcame Cedric Pioline of France 2-6 6-2 6-4 and O'Brien beat Mikael Tillstrom of Sweden 6-3 2-6 6-3 .

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" If you really look at the match , " said the 12th-ranked Washington after losing to the 70th-ranked Rafter , " I never really got a chance to play because he was serving big and getting in close to the net .

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" He was also able to handle my serve pretty easily because my ( first ) service percentage was only in the 40s .

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Put those two things together and you get a loss . "


Rafter missed 10 weeks after wrist surgery earlier this year and the time away from tennis has given him a new perspective .

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" Before when I was on tour , I always felt I had to be in bed by 9:30 or 10 o'clock and I had to be up at a certain time , " Rafter said . "

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Now I can go to bed at at midnight or wake up at seven in the morning .


I just do n't have as many set routines and it 's made me a happier person . "


Martin was pleased with his victory over Pioline , his first in five meetings with the 11th-ranked Frenchman . "

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It 's always difficult to win a match when you lose the first set , especially against someone you have never beaten , " he said .


" I got more aggressive in the second and third sets and the wind picked up and that also affected things because Cedric definitely went off a little bit . "

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The 26-year-old O'Brien , who won the ATP Tour stop in New Haven last week , has now won 18 of his last 20 matches , dating back to qualifying rounds in Los Angeles in late July .

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He ranks 76th after being 285th four weeks ago .


" I feel I 'm hitting the ball well even though I 'm having more mental letdowns than I did last week , " O'Brien said . "

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" I got a lot of first serves in , " said Enqvist about his victory over Korda . "

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I did n't miss that many shots and he was making the mistakes . "


Still marvelling at an exciting 64-stroke rally he won in the last game of his second-round match against Javier Sanchez of Spain on Tuesday , Enqvist joked , " Today against Petr there were about 64 strokes in the whole match .

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tennis tournament on Thursday ( prefix number denotes seeding ) :


3 - Wayne Ferreira ( South Africa ) beat Tim Henman ( Britain ) 6-4

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4 - Marcelo Rios ( Chile ) beat Daniel Vacek ( Czech Republic ) 6-4

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5 - Thomas Enqvist ( Sweden ) beat Petr Korda ( Czech Republic )

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Patrick Rafter ( Australia ) beat 6 - MaliVai Washington ( U.S. )

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7 - Todd Martin ( U.S. ) beat 9 - Cedric Pioline ( France ) 2-6 6-2

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