egypt and lebanon will hold the fifth session of their joint higher committee on monday to discuss ways of activating a deal on establishing a free trade zone between the two countries .

egypt lebanon to discuss activating free trade zone accord


as the indonesian people 's consultative assembly -lrb- mpr -rrb- finished drafting decrees relating to president abdurrahman wahid 's accountability , some large political parties in the country would hold meeting to narrow possible differences on the agenda of the special mpr session scheduled for august # .

indonesian large parties to meet on assembly session agenda


japan 's organising committee for the #### world cup soccer finals is counting on the nation 's popular soccer lottery to help finance the extravaganza , an official said .

UNK organiser counting on soccer lottery for world cup costs


starting as a high-school teacher , yue UNK , now aged ## , used to be the head of a county affiliated to beijing .

feature : first beijing vice-mayor faces legislators review UNK #


the china association for science and technology -lrb- cast -rrb- recently came up with various kinds of ways to popularize education and science for young people , in order to help them improve their scientific awareness and innovation .

science association improves scientific awareness of youth


china is expected to become a full member of the world trade organization -lrb- wto -rrb- within this year , monday 's international business daily -lrb- ibd -rrb- quoted local trade experts as saying .

weather forecast for major chinese cities


greece 's equity prices continued its downward trend on tuesday with the general index on the athens stock exchange -lrb- ase -rrb- recording its seventh consecutive record low this year .


the australian stock market dipped into negative territory wednesday with investors opting for the sidelines ahead of a possible interest rate cut in the united states .


a series of emergency measures have been taken in northeast china 's liaoning province in a massive campaign against drought believed to be the most serious since #### .


israeli troops bombed a lebanese village along the border on friday as a retaliation for attacks by lebanese resistance guerrilla group hezbollah on israeli positions in the disputed shebaa farms , oriental radio reported .

israel attacks lebanese village for injury of two soldiers


europe 's major stock markets ended higher on friday , with tech stocks gaining on the back of a UNK rally on wall street .


northwest china 's shaanxi province approved the establishment of ### direct foreign investment -lrb- dfi -rrb- projects in #### .

northwest china 's shaanxi using more direct foreign investment


sixteen syndicates from ## countries will vie for the renowned america 's cup yachting race in new zealand in #### and #### , making the largest entry in the history .

new zealand to host biggest ever america 's cup


china hopes that all parties concerned take a restrained and flexible attitude to avoid worsening of the iraq crisis , chinese foreign ministry spokesman zhu bangzao said here today .

chinese fm spokesman comments on iraq crisis


the political uncertainty in nepal ended wednesday as king birendra finally chose to accept the submission by ## mps to convene a special session of parliament on february ## to discuss their no-confidence motion against the present government .

nepali king calls special parliament session ending


UNK

britons ready to pay more on health services


andreas widhoelzl of austria collected an aggregate score of ###.# points to win a world cup ski jumping event at sapporo , japan on thursday .

major news items in leading s. african UNK


the first batch of ##,### live chicken will be shipped to hong kong from shenzhen this evening after going through rigid quarantine procedures .

chinese inland resuming chicken supply to hong kong


turkey 's leftist parties held demonstrations here friday to protest the aggressive policy of the united states toward iraq , local tv reported .


the fall in international prices and UNK demand at home could help india save one billion u.s. dollars in its oil import bill during the ####-## fiscal year starting april # , petroleum ministry officials said sunday .


king juan carlos i and queen sofia of spain will arrive in manila on february ## for a three-day visit to highlight spain 's active participation in the celebration of the centenary of philippine independence .


qatari emir sheikh hamad bin khalifa al-thani arrived in jeddah , saudi arabia , monday on a surprise visit for talks with saudi king fahd on the latest developments in the gulf region .

xinhua world news summary at ## UNK february #


hong kong stocks dropped ###.## points , or #.## percent , to close at ##,###.## at midday tuesday .


the philippines ' commission on elections -lrb- comelec -rrb- said wednesday that it will eliminate those `` nuisance '' candidates and allow those qualified to start their campaign drive for the may ## general elections .

philippine poll body to eliminate nuisance


germany launched celebrations tuesday to mark the centenary of the birth of the country 's world-class playwright , bertolt brecht .

germany marks centenary birth of UNK brecht


the upcoming china visit by president ali abdulla saleh of the republic of yemen should further strengthen the friendly relations and cooperation between the two countries .

ambassador on UNK relations and middle east issue


sudanese first vice president UNK mohammed salih was killed thursday in a plane crash in southern sudan .

sudanese first vice president killed in plane


slovenian champions olimpija ljubljana beat kinder bologna ##-## in their euroleague basketball group g match in ljubljana , slovenia on thursday .

UNK olimpija edges kinder bologna in euroleague


a chinese UNK pharmaceutical factory in wuhan city of central china 's hubei province has begun the cultivation of UNK or UNK , a very precious medicinal material for traditional chinese medicine .

china produces cow gallstones in factory


bulgarian president peter stoyanov said saturday that progress has been made in relations with the united states during his visit to washington .


marianne timmer of the netherlands won her country 's third nagano olympic speed skating gold with a surprise world record as she claimed the women 's #,### m race at the `` UNK '' on monday .

news items from asia-pacific desk of xinhua


the australian dollar was little changed tuesday as those hoping a much-awaited australian central bank report would signal an easing in monetary policy were disappointed .

qualifying results of thomas\/uber cup in europe


sixty-two percent of french people think that nuclear energy will play a far more important role than other energies ## years from now , according to a poll published tuesday .

most french people support use of nuclear energy


fidel castro , cuba 's president of the council of state , met with a chinese delegation here tuesday .


following is the medal standing at the ##th olympic winter games -lrb- tabulated under team , gold , silver and bronze -rrb- : UNK

medal standing at ##th olympic winter games


former world champion finnish driver ari vatanen will replaced injured belgian bruno thiry on the ford team for the safari rally at the end of this month , the team announced wednesday .


`` i 'm convinced that the confidence of outside investors will not be gone for long , '' he observed .

ec vice-president praises post-handover hk UNK #


pakistan and iran are working closely towards a durable peaceful settlement of the long-running afghan conflict , the associated press of pakistan -lrb- app -rrb- said friday .

pakistan iran working closely for durable afghan


tehran , february ## -lrb- xinhua -rrb- - iran saturday announced its welcome to more cultural exchanges between its people and those of the united states , in the wake of an american wrestling team 's visit to tehran .


the following are major business briefs from countries of the middle east : UNK


the sri lankan government will release a fund of ## million rupees -lrb- almost one million u.s. dollars -rrb- within this week to activate and strengthen the newly elected local government bodies in the north .

sri lanka allocates fund for local government bodies


nearly #,### iraqi children below # and about #,### elderly died last month due to diseases partly caused by harsh international economic sanctions , the iraqi news agency reported tuesday .


UNK and the china meteorological administration tuesday signed an agreement here on long - and short-term cooperation in projects involving meteorological satellites and satellite meteorology .


laos tuesday undertook the country 's first major leadership change in five years , according to news reaching here wednesday .


the ##nd hong kong international film festival -lrb- UNK -rrb- will open in april , featuring ### newest and archival films to be the largest ever in the history of the major festival in the region .

hk 's largest ever international film festival to open in UNK


african foreign ministers thursday deliberated in camera with whole day financial , political and socio-economic issues faced by the organization of african unity -lrb- oau -rrb- in the capital of ethiopia .

african fms discuss financial political and


a plan has been drawn up for building a ###-million-u.s.-dollar pipeline to pump russian natural gas into albania .

major news items in leading philippine UNK


major stock markets in europe all sustained their recent rally and ended the week higher , with london and paris all hitting another new closing highs .

european shares up london paris hit new records


china 's ### million farmers are welcoming a long awaited bumper crop as the autumn grain harvest , which accounts for ## percent of china 's total annual grain output , is coming to a end .

china 's grain production ends a five-year slide


hong kong shares ended higher tuesday as oil prices eased further , with the us presidential election also in focus .


defending champion tim henman of britain beat thailand 's paradorn srichaphan #-# , #-# to reach third round of the paris masters here on tuesday .


chinese vice premier huang ju said here wednesday that worldwide engineers should cooperate with each other to contribute more to sustained development of the human society .

engineers urged to contribute more to sustained development chinese vice premier


vietnam forecasts to gain export revenues of #.# billion us dollars in the two remaining months of this year , a year-on-year increase of ##.# percent .

vietnam to post higher export earnings in next # months


us president george w. bush said thursday that there would be some changes to the cabinet for his second term .


the marine police and the customs and excise department of hong kong announced friday that # million hong kong dollars -lrb- ###,### us dollars -rrb- worth of suspected contraband goods were seized off black point in tuen mun in a joint operation mounted thursday .

hk police seize # million hk dollars worth of smuggled goods


pakistani prime minister shaukat aziz saturday felicitated afghan president hamid karzai on his victory in the presidential election and termed it a good omen for the future of democracy in afghanistan .


the french defense ministry announced sunday france will send another ### supplemental troops , ## policemen and three airbus planes to cote d'ivoire , besides the ###-strong reinforcement from gabon .

UNK : france to send new reinforcement to cote d'ivoire


those who are behind the destabilization moves against the philippine government have no force to carry out their plan although the military establishment continues to receive intelligence reports about supposed destabilization plots , the military said monday .

results\/standings of women 's field hockey champions trophy UNK UNK


arsenal manager arsene wenger was charged by the football association -lrb- fa -rrb- on monday with improper conduct over a reported comment about manchester united striker ruud van nistelrooy .


the four top palestinian officials who are here to visit the ailing yasser arafat left his hospital tuesday without making a statement .

men 's singles results at china open badminton


the sri lankan navy has taken into custody two indian fishing trawlers which were poaching sri lanka ' s northwestern coast and arrested ## indian fishermen on board , a local newspaper reported on wednesday .

sri lankan navy arrests ## indian fishermen


scientists at an international symposium on climate change said a new report shows the kyoto protocol agreement on limiting fossil fuel emissions is not enough to slow the potentially disastrous warming of the planet , an official icelandic website reported on wednesday .

scientists say kyoto protocol not enough to stop warming


the tanzanian parliament on wednesday ratified a protocol on the establishment of the east african community -lrb- eac -rrb- customs union to step up the regional economic integration .

tanzanian lawmakers okay eac customs union


a french military transport plane carrying the body of late palestinian leader yasser arafat left here thursday after a brief solemn ceremony at a french military airport outside paris for the departure of arafat 's body to cairo , egypt for a state UNK .

UNK : arafat 's body taken to cairo for state UNK


delegations from rwanda and neighboring uganda held talks here friday on security issues along the common borders , aimed at building stronger bilateral relations , rwandan state minister of foreign affairs UNK mitali said .

rwanda uganda hold talks on common borders


visiting chinese president hu jintao pledged here friday to push forward the sino-brazilian strategic partnership .

xinhua world economic news summary at #### UNK nov. ##


inspired by science and technology , tibetans , who have long adored the sun as a god , are now putting their deity to work .


cambodia and the world bank signed a ##-million us dollars credit on monday for rural electrification and power transmission project in cambodia .

flash : iran agrees to UNK uranium conversion activities from nov. ##


remittances from overseas filipino workers -lrb- ofws -rrb- rose #.# percent to #.# billion us dollars in the first nine months of the year due to more deployment , the central bank said tuesday .

remittances from overseas filipino workers rise in first # months


by zhang UNK , chen UNK UNK

news analysis : iran 's concession on nuclear issue crucial but not conclusive


chinese flights has logged more than five million continuous hours of safety , the longest such streak in the nation 's history .

china 's aviation industry sets safety flight record official


vietnam has recently detected a small number of chickens being infected with bird flu virus strain of h# , and remained highly alert for potential new outbreaks in winter when weather conditions favor the development of viruses .


a leader of islamic resistance movement hamas was critically wounded in an israeli assassination attempt in the southern gaza strip town of rafah on thursday , palestinian witnesses and medics said .

hamas leader survives israeli assassination


un secretary general kofi annan has called on african countries to stop shifting alliances against each other , suggesting that they solve cross-border issues by stronger regional cooperation .

un chief says only regional cooperation can solve cross-border issues


fierce clashes broke out saturday between gunmen and iraqi national guards backed by us troops in the western UNK neighborhood , particularly along the main UNK UNK street , witnesses said .


prime minister of antigua and barbuda baldwin spencer left here monday for hong kong , winding up his four-day visit to shanghai .

antigua and barbuda pm leaves shanghai for hong kong


the mainstream fatah movement on monday officially chose mahmoud abbas , chairman of the palestine liberation organization -lrb- plo -rrb- , as its candidate to run for the presidential election due on jan. # , #### , the official wafa news agency reported .

#st lead : fatah chooses abbas as presidential candidate


three days before the international atomic energy agency -lrb- iaea -rrb- discusses iran 's nuclear issue , tehran suspended its controversial nuclear fuel work , a move likely to thwart us efforts to report the islamic republic to the un security council for possible sanctions .

news analysis : iran suspends uranium enrichment to avert un sanctions


three malaysian and indonesian seamen kidnapped by philippine abu sayyaf kidnap-for-ransom group allegedly had been executed and the skeletons discovered in the southern philippines are believed to be their remains , a local television reported wednesday .

abu sayyaf hostages allegedly executed : report


libya has no reserve on decisions made by the united nations -lrb- un -rrb- and african union -lrb- au -rrb- on france 's mandate in cote d'ivoire , french government spokesman said wednesday .

french government says libya not opposed to decisions on cote d'ivoire


china will start testing the country 's prison population this month to identify hiv-positive prisoners , the ministry of health said thursday .


all the ## victims including # killed and # injured have been identified as senior high school students of the second senior high school of UNK city , central china 's henan province , local police said friday .

all ## victims of campus murder in central china are senior high school students


following are the podium finishers in the ####-#### women 's alpine skiing world cup : UNK


barcelona midfielder gerard will be out of action for up to two months after surgery for a groin injury , the spanish primera liga club said on saturday .

barcelona midfielder gerard out for two months


newly-appointed russian ambassador to indonesia mikhail mikhailovich UNK has admitted that the existing economic relations between indonesia and russia are not enough to form a strategic partnership and pledged to boost trade during his tenure .

russia seeks to boost trade with indonesia


china and asean started their process for building a free trade area with the signing of the '' agreement on trading in goods of the framework agreement on comprehensive economic cooperation between asean and china .

roundup : china asean start process of building free trade area


the death toll due to the landslides and floods caused by a tropical storm in the northern philippines has risen to ## , the philippine government said tuesday .

philippine authorities confirm ## killed in storm


british rowing great matthew pinsent , who won gold medals at each of the last four olympic games , announced here on tuesday his retirement from the sport .


israel 's security cabinet on tuesday approved an agreement with cairo to re-open the rafah crossing between the gaza strip and egypt under the supervision of european inspectors , israel radio reported .

israel security cabinet nods to rafah crossing deal


israeli foreign minister silvan shalom said on wednesday that israel will halt its targeted killing of palestinian militants when palestinian leader mahmoud abbas begins to curb terror , israel radio reported .


the united states has filed a trade case with the world trade organization -lrb- wto -rrb- accusing turkey of imposing unfair restrictions on us rice exports , us trade representative rob portman announced wednesday .

us files wto case against turkey over rice sales restrictions


a mortar fired from the gaza strip landed in southern israel on thursday , lightly injuring a soldier , military sources said .

palestinian mortar injures soldier in southern israel


pakistani leaders have appealed to the nation to celebrate this year 's eid festival with simplicity and sobriety in view of earthquake devastation and colossal human tragedy in the north west frontier province and pakistan-controlled kashmir .

pakistani leaders call on nation to celebrate eid with simplicity


the european commission , the executive arm of the european union -lrb- eu -rrb- , said on friday that it had launched an anti-dumping investigation against chinese shoes .

eu launches anti-dumping investigation against chinese shoes


strong earthquake aftershocks were felt in major pakistani cities of islamabad , mansehra , muzaffarabad and UNK at about #:## a.m. on sunday .

china 's economic efficiency indicators : food manufacturing


UNK , one of the towns in suburban paris hit by rioting , was preparing monday to enact a nightime curfew , the mayor 's office said .

UNK : paris suburban town plans curfew amid raging riots : report


share prices on the taiwan stock exchange closed lower tuesday , with the weighted index , the market 's key barometer , moving down ##.## points to close at #,### .


the un security council on tuesday unanimously adopted a resolution extending the mandate of the multinational force in iraq until the end of next year , and allowing for a review of that mandate at any time , no later than mid-june #### , or for its termination , at the request of the iraqi government .

un security council extends multinational force mandate


palestinian sources said on thursday that four palestinian officials were among the dead in wednesday night 's triple suicide bombings in the jordanian capital of amman .

four palestinian officials among dead in amman suicide bombings


qiu le of china won the men 's ##kg category by hefting a total of ###kg to claim the gold medal in the world weightlifting championships here on thursday .

qiu le levels junior world record at weightlifting worlds UNK UNK


a warlord in southern nigeria 's oil - rich niger delta region was on friday denied bail on the ground that he would constitute a security risk to africa 's most populous nation .

nigerian court denies bail for oil delta warlord


chinese vice-premier zeng peiyan urged china 's major coal-producing province of shanxi to turn its economy to a sustainable development track .

chinese vice-premier urges UNK shanxi to boost sustainable economy


world number sixth guillermo coria lost his first match at shanghai in an incredible lackluster style , beaten in straight sets by masters cup UNK ivan ljubicic of croatia here on sunday .

ljubicic crashes coria in straight at masters cup


new york , nov. ## -lrb- xinhua -rrb- -- it is essential for china and the united states to have `` two-way street '' so that they can communicate closely , understand each other and learn from each other , said hunter rawlings , president of cornell university , in a recent interview with xinhua before his visit to china on monday .

interview : two-way street essential for us-china ties by wang bo


all-time great andre agassi unexpectedly decided to quit after losing his first match in the shanghai masters cup here on monday .

oldie agassi quits after straight-set lose to young master davydenko


at least three people were feared killed and several others injured on tuesday morning in a blast in the southern pakistani city of karachi , according to the geo tv .

major news items in leading pakistani UNK


an over-loaded minibus overturned in a county in southwestern guizhou province tuesday afternoon , killing ## passengers and injuring three others .

traffic accident kills ## injures # in sw china


the us energy department -lrb- doe -rrb- announced tuesday that an experimental project in canada to inject carbon dioxide into oil fields for its permanent storage in geologic formations proved to be successful .

carbon dioxide permanent storage in oil field a success : us energy department


ryder cup stars thomas bjorn and paul casey both have set their sights on the ubs hong kong open trophy after confirming they will take part in the us$ #.# million tournament next month .

bjorn casey set to compete in hong kong open


the anti-government guerrillas have kidnapped ### students and teachers in eastern nepal , local police office said thursday .


japanese prime minister junichiro koizumi wednesday portrayed the japan-us alliance as the foundation for better relations with china and south korea .

commentary : koizumi 's lopsided foreign policy helpless


chinese president hu jintao met here friday with donald tsang yam-kuen , chief executive of the hong kong special administrative region -lrb- hksar -rrb- , on the sidelines of the asia-pacific economic cooperation -lrb- apec -rrb- economic leaders ' meeting .

chinese president meets hong kong sar chief executive


german chancellor designate angela merkel 's christian democrats and outgoing chancellor gerhard schroeder 's social democrats formally inked the coalition accord on friday reached between them a week ago .

german parties sign coalition pact difference over health reform remains


us president george w. bush arrived here saturday evening for a three-day visit to china at the invitation of chinese president hu jintao .

#st ld : us president arrives in beijing


chinese president hu jintao said here sunday that both china and the united states have agreed to expand bilateral trade and economic cooperation , believing it serves the common interests of the two countries and peoples .

chinese president : china us to seek win-win economic cooperation


one of the six us marines accused of raping a ##-year-old filipina might be released since the victim and a key witness had failed to identify him in their sworn statements , philippine justice secretary raul gonzalez said on tuesday .

one of six us marines accused of UNK may go : philippine authority


the johannesburg securities exchange -lrb- jse -rrb- finished tuesday in negative territory , dragged down by profit taking and a relatively strong rand .


the hong kong special administrative region -lrb- hksar -rrb- government would implement additional precautionary measures to prepare for a possible influenza pandemic caused by avian influenza , a spokesman for the health , welfare and food bureau said on wednesday .

hk to take additional measures to deal with avian influenza


kenyan president mwai kibaki on wednesday dissolved his cabinet following overwhelming rejection of the draft constitution which he fully backed .

xinhua world news summary at #### UNK nov. ##


a sample survey , launched by a taipei-based human resources bank , showed that ## percent of taiwanese office workers were willing to working on the chinese mainland , up #.# percent from #### .

increasing number of taiwanese willing to work on mainland : survey


the international atomic energy agency -lrb- iaea -rrb- decided to postpone the referral of iran 's nuclear issue to the un security council on thursday , thus offering more time for a breakthrough of the iranian nuclear issue .


the un general assembly approved on friday more funding for missions in cote d'ivoire and haiti over the year ending next june , in line with a security council decision to strengthen the un peacekeeping missions there .

un increases funding for missions in haiti cote d'ivoire


a bronze statue of martial arts legend bruce lee was unveiled in the ethnically divided city of mostar in bosnia-herzegovina on saturday , a day before a second statue of him is unveiled in hong kong to mark his ##th birthday .

bruce lee bronze unveiled in bosnian city


british aid worker norman kember has been kidnapped in iraq with three other westerners , the british foreign office said on sunday .


migrants should be regarded as a high-risk group of hiv\/aids infection and get more attention from the government , said a senior health official here monday .

migrant people need more aids control efforts : chinese official


the growth rate of indonesia 's manufacturing industry had been slowing down during the first three quarters of the year , although it continued to expand quite rapidly , local report revealed on tuesday .

major news items in leading vietnamese UNK


a mozambican man suspect of murdering jorge UNK , director of maputo central prison , has escaped from the city 's police headquarters , local media reported on tuesday .

mozambican suspected of killing UNK prison director UNK


the us dollar fell to the lower ### yen level wednesday in tokyo after failing to breach the psychologically important ### yen barrier where many options - related yen-buying orders have been placed .

dollar falls to lower ### yen level in tokyo


un under-secretary-general for political affairs ibrahim gambari said on wednesday that although the future of the peace process in the middle east is hopeful , it still faces immense challenges .

un senior official says peace process in middle east hopeful with immense challenges