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


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 .


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 " .


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


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 .


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 .


" 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 . "


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 .


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 .


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 .


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 .


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 .


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 . "


" 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 .


" 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 .


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 .


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


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 .


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 .


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 .


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 .


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 . "


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 .


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 .


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 .


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 .


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 .


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 .


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 .


" 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 .


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 ) .


" 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 .


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 .


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 .


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 .


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 .


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


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


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


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 .


" 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 .


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 . "


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 .


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


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


" 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 .


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 " .


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 .


" 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 .


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


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 .


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


" 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 .


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 .


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


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 .


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


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


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 .


" 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 .


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


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


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


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


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


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 .


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 .


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 .


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 .


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


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 .


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


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 .


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 .


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 .


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 .


" 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 .


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 .


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 . "


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 .


" 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 .


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


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 .


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


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 .


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 .


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 .


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 .


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 .


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


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 .


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 .


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 .


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


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 .


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 .


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 .


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


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 .


" 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 .


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 . "


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


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 .


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 .


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 .


Higher newsprint prices hit profits hard . "


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


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 .


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 .


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 .


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 .


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 .


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 .


" 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 .


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


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 .


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


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 .


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 .


" 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 .


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


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 .


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 .


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 .


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 .


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


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 .


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 .


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 .


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 .


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


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 .


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 .


" 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 .


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


" 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 .


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


** 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 .


** 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 .


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


** 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 .


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


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


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 ) .


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 ) :


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 )


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 .


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 .


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 .


" 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 .


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


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 .


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 .


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


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 .


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 .


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


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 .


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 .


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


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


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


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 .


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 .


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 .


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 .


" 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 .


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


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


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 .


" 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 .


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


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 .


" 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 .


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 " .


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 .


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


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 " .


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 .


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 .


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


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


-- 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 .


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


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


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 .


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


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 .


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


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 .


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 .


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 .


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 ) .


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 )


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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 .


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 . "


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 . "


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


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


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


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


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 .


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


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 .


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 .


" 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 .


" 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 .


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 .


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


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 .


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 .


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 .


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 .


" 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 .


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


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 .


" 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 . "


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 . "


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 . "


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 .


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 . "


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


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 .


tennis tournament on Thursday ( prefix number denotes seeding ) :


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


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


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


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


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


Mark Philippoussis ( Australia ) beat Bohdan Ulihrach ( Czech


Alex O'Brien ( U.S. ) beat Mikael Tillstrom ( Sweden ) 6-3 2-6


Todd Woodbridge ( Australia ) beat Daniel Nestor ( Canada ) 7-6


RUGBY UNION - MULDER OUT OF SECOND TEST .


Centre Japie Mulder has been ruled out of South Africa 's team for the second test against New Zealand in Pretoria on Saturday .


Mulder missed the first test in Durban with back spasms and failed a fitness check on Thursday .


But new Springbok skipper Gary Teichmann has recovered from a bruised thigh and is ready to play , coach Andre Markgraaff said .


Mulder 's absence means that Northern Transvaal centre Andre Snyman should win his second cap alongside provincial colleague Danie van Schalkwyk .


Wing Pieter Hendriks is expected to retain his place , following speculation that Snyman would be picked out of position on the wing .


The line-up would not be announced until shortly before the start , Markgraaff said .


BADMINTON - MALAYSIAN OPEN BADMINTON RESULTS .


Open badminton tournament on Friday ( prefix numbers denote


2 - Ong Ewe Hock ( Malaysia ) beat 5/8 - Hu Zhilan ( China ) 15-2 15-10


9/16 - Luo Yigang ( China ) beat Jason Wong ( Malaysia ) 15-5 15-6


Ijaya Indra ( Indonesia ) beat P. Kantharoopan ( Malaysia ) 15-6 5-4


9/16 - Chen Gang ( China ) beat 9/16 - Hermawan Susanto ( Indonesia )


TENNIS - INJURED CHANDA RUBIN OUT OF U.S. OPEN .


Promising 10th-ranked American Chanda Rubin has pulled out of the U.S. Open Tennis Championships with a wrist injury , tournament officials announced .


The 20-year-old Rubin , who was to be seeded 11th , is still suffering from tendinitis of the right wrist that has kept her sidelined in recent months .


Rubin 's misfortune turned into a very lucky break for eighth-seeded Olympic champion Lindsay Davenport .


Davenport had drawn one of the toughest first-round assignments of any of the seeded players in 17th-ranked Karina Habsudova of Slovakia .


But as the highest-ranked non-seeded player in the tournament , Habsudova will be moved into Rubin 's slot in the draw , while Davenport will now get a qualifier in the first round , according to U.S. Tennis Association officials .


Rubin is the third notable withdrawal from the women 's competition after 12th-ranked former Australian Open champion Mary Pierce and 20th-ranked Wimbledon semifinalist Meredith McGrath pulled out earlier this week with injuries .


Men 's Australian Open champion Boris Becker will also miss the year 's final Grand Slam with a wrist injury .


BASEBALL - MAJOR LEAGUE STANDINGS AFTER THURSDAY 'S GAMES .


standings after games played on Thursday ( tabulate under won ,


lost , winning percentage and games behind ) :


BASEBALL - MAJOR LEAGUE RESULTS THURSDAY .


Baseball games played on Thursday ( home team in CAPS ) :


BASEBALL - SORRENTO HITS SLAM AS SEATTLE ROUTS ORIOLES .


Former Oriole Jamie Moyer allowed two hits over eight scoreless innings before tiring in the ninth and Paul Sorrento added his third grand slam of the season as the Seattle Mariners routed Baltimore 10-3 Thursday .


Moyer ( 10-2 ) , who was tagged for a pair of homers by Mike Devereaux and Brady Anderson and three runs in the ninth , walked none and struck out two .


Norm Charlton retired the final three batters to seal the victory .


With one out in the fifth Ken Griffey Jr and Edgar Martinez stroked back-to-back singles off Orioles starter Rocky Coppinger ( 7-5 ) and Jay Buhner walked .


Sorrento followed by hitting a 1-2 pitch just over the right-field wall for a 7-0 advantage .


Right fielder Bobby Bonilla was after the ball , which was touched by fans at the top of the scoreboard in right .


" Things fell in for us , " said Sorrento , who has six career grand slams and hit the ninth of the season for the Mariners .


In the American League wild-card race , the Mariners are three games behind the White Sox , two behind Baltimore and two ahead of the Red Sox heading into Boston for a weekend series .


Moyer retired 11 straight batters between the third and seventh innings and threw two or fewer pitches to 11 of the 29 batters he faced .


" I made some bad pitches at the end but I 'm not going to dwell on it .


Coppinger ( 7-5 ) was tagged for eight runs and 10 hits in 4 1/3 innings .


Orioles manager Davey Johnson missed the game after being admitted to a hospital with an irregular heartbeat .


Bench coach Andy Etchebarren took his place .


In Boston , Troy O'Leary homered off the right-field foul pole with one out in the bottom of the ninth and the Red Sox climbed to the .500 mark for the first time this season with their fourth straight victory , 2-1 over the Oakland Athletics .


Boston has won 15 of its last 19 games .


Boston 's Roger Clemens ( 7-11 ) was one out away from his second straight shutout when pinch-hitter Matt Stairs tripled over the head of centre fielder Lee Tinsley on an 0-2 pitch and pinch-hitter Terry Steinbach dunked a broken-bat single into right to lift Oakland into a 1-1 tie .


The run broke Clemens ' 28-inning shutout streak , longest in the majors this season .


He pitched his fourth complete game , allowing eight hits with two walks and 11 strikeouts .


Reliever Mark Acre ( 0-1 ) took the loss .


In New York , Garret Anderson and Gary DiSarcina drove in two runs apiece in a five-run first inning and Jim Edmonds highlighted a six-run sixth with a bases-loaded double as the California Angels coasted to a 12-3 victory over the Yankees in the rubber game of their three-game series .


The Angels battered Kenny Rogers ( 10-7 ) for five runs in the first .


The Yankees have allowed at least two runs in the first inning in six straight games , getting outscored 21-1 in the first inning in that span .


Chuck Finley ( 12-12 ) snapped a four-game losing streak .


In Kansas City , Travis Fryman doubled in the go-ahead run in the fifth and Melvin Nieves and Damion Easley belted two-run homers as the Detroit Tigers claimed a 10-3 win over the Royals , handing them their fifth straight loss .


The Tigers won their third straight and halted a seven-game road losing streak behind Justin Thompson ( 1-2 ) , who earned his first major-league win .


Tim Belcher ( 12-8 ) was tagged for six runs and nine hits in eight innings .


At Minnesota , Ken Hill allowed two runs en route to his sixth complete game of the season and Rusty Greer added three hits , including a homer , and two RBI as the red-hot Texas Rangers routed the Twins 11-2 .


The Rangers , who won for the 11th time in their last 13 games , have scored 45 runs in their last five contests .


He has yielded just seven runs in his last four starts , covering 33 1/3 innings .


In Chicago , Erik Hanson outdueled Alex Fernandez , and Jacob Brumfield drove in Otis Nixon with the game 's only run in the sixth inning as the Toronto Blue Jays blanked the White Sox 1-0 in a game shortened to six innings due to rain .


Toronto won its fifth straight and handed the White Sox their seventh loss in nine games .


Hanson ( 11-15 ) allowed three hits , walked three and struck out four to snap a personal three-game losing streak .


SOCCER - SPORTING START NEW SEASON WITH A WIN .


Sporting 's Luis Miguel Predrosa scored the first goal of the new league season as the Lisbon side cruised to a 3-1 away win over SC Espinho on Friday .


Predrosa drilled a right-foot shot into the back of the net after 24 minutes to set Sporting on the way to victory .


Although Espinho 's Nail Besirovic put the home side back on terms in the 35th minute , Sporting quickly restored their lead .


Jose Luis Vidigal scored in the 38th minute and Mustapha Hadji added the third in the 57th .


The game was brought forward from Sunday when reigning champions Porto and Lisbon rivals Benfica play their first games of the season .


SOCCER - PORTUGUESE FIRST DIVISION RESULT .


SOCCER - ST PAULI TAKE POINT WITH LATE FIGHTBACK .


Hamburg side St Pauli , tipped as prime candidates for relegation , produced a stunning second-half fightback to draw 4-4 in their Bundesliga clash with Schalke on Friday .


Schalke , who finished third last season , raced to a 3-1 lead at halftime .


St Pauli pulled a goal back through Andre Trulsen but Schalke striker Martin Max restored his team 's two-goal cushion shortly afterwards .


Christian Springer put St Pauli back in touch in the 64th minute and three minutes later they were level , thanks to a penalty from Thomas Sabotzik .


In the night 's only other match , Hamburg beat Hansa Rostock 1-0 , Karsten Baeron scoring the winner after some dazzling build-up from in-form midfielder Harald Spoerl .


The win put Hamburg in second place in the German first division after three games , though that may change after the other sides play on Saturday .


ATHLETICS - SALAH HISSOU BREAKS 10,000 METRES WORLD RECORD .


Morocco 's Salah Hissou broke the men 's 10,000 metres world record on Friday when he clocked 26 minutes 38.08 seconds at the Brussels grand prix on Friday .


The previous mark of 26:43.53 was set by Ethiopia 's Haile Gebreselassie in the Dutch town of Hengelo in June last year .


SOCCER - GERMAN FIRST DIVISION SUMMARIES .


Summaries of Bundesliga matches on Friday :


Hansa Rostock 0 Hamburg 1 ( Baeron 64th min ) .


St Pauli 4 ( Driller 15th , Trulsen 54th , Springer 64th , Sobotzik 67th penalty ) Schalke 4 ( Max 11th , Thon 34th , Wilmots 38th , Springer 64th ) .


Summary of a French first division match on Friday .


Result of a French first division match on Friday .


SOCCER - GERMAN FIRST DIVISION RESULTS .


ATHLETICS - MASTERKOVA BREAKS SECOND WORLD RECORD IN 10 DAYS .


Russia 's double Olympic champion Svetlana Masterkova smashed her second world record in just 10 days on Friday when she bettered the mark for the women 's 1,000 metres .


After breaking the world record for the women 's mile in Zurich last Wednesday , the Olympic 800 and 1,500 metres champion clocked two minutes 28.98 seconds over 1,000 at the Brussels grand prix meeting .


The Russian ate up the ground in a swift last lap to shave 0.36 seconds off the previous best of 2:29.34 set by Mozambique 's Maria Mutola in the same stadium in August last year .


Former world 800 champion Mutola pushed Masterkova all the way , finishing second in 2:29.66 .


But it was the Russian who picked up the bonus of $ 25,000 for the historic run in front of a capacity 40,000 crowd .


Masterkova dominated the middle-distance races at the recent Atlanta Games following her return to competition this season after a three-year maternity break .


In her first mile race at the richest meeting in Zurich last Wednesday , she slashed 3.05 seconds off the previous record .


The record of four minutes , 12.56 seconds in Zurich earned Masterkova a bonus of $ 50,000 plus one kilo of gold .


After Friday 's performance the Russian will have earned well over $ 100,000 in less than a fortnight , taking her appearance money into account .


Brussels organisers had laid a new track for the meeting comparable to the surface at the Atlanta Games but put down on a softer surface .


Mutola looked threatening in the final 200 metres but the Russian found an extra gear to power home several strides ahead , pointing at the time on the clock with delight as she crossed the line .


ATHLETICS - WOMEN 'S 1,000 METRES WORLD RECORD EVOLUTION .


metres world record ( tabulated under time , name / nationality ,


2:30.67 Christine Wachtel ( Germany ) Berlin 17.8.90


2:29.34 Maria Mutola ( Mozambique ) Brussels 25.8.95


2:28.98 Svetlana Masterkova ( Russia ) Brussels 23.8.96


ATHLETICS - MASTERKOVA BREAKS WOMEN 'S WORLD 1,000 RECORD .


Russian Svetlana Masterkova broke the women 's world 1,000 metres record on Friday when she clocked an unofficial two minutes 28.99 seconds at the Brussels grand prix .


The previous mark of 2:29.34 was set by Mozambique 's Maria Mutola here on August 25 last year .


The time was officially adjusted to 2:28.98 .


GOLF - GERMAN OPEN SECOND ROUND SCORES .


scores in the German Open golf championship on Friday ( Britain


132 Miguel Angel Martin ( Spain ) 66 66 , Raymond Russell 63 69 ,


Thomas Gogele ( Germany ) 67 65 , Paul Broadhurst 62 70 ,


133 Ricky Willison 69 64 , Stephen Ames ( Trinidad and Tobago )


( Denmark ) 66 68 , Pedro Linhart ( Spain ) 67 67 , Michael


Jonzon ( Sweden ) 67 67 , Roger Chapman 72 62 , Jonathan Lomas


135 Terry Price ( Australia ) 67 68 , Paul Eales 67 68 , Wayne


Riley ( Australia ) 64 71 , Carl Mason 69 66 , Barry Lane


Mats Lanner ( Sweden ) 64 71 , Jeff Hawksworth 67 68 , Des


Smyth ( Ireland ) 66 69 , David Carter 66 69 , Steve Webster


69 66 , Jose Maria Canizares ( Spain ) 67 68 , Paul Lawrie


ATHLETICS - MITCHELL UPSTAGES TRIO OF OLYMPIC SPRINT CHAMPIONS .


American Dennis Mitchell upstaged a trio of past and present Olympic 100 metres champions on Friday with a storming victory at the Brussels grand prix .


Sporting his customary bright green outfit , the U.S. champion clocked 10.03 seconds despite damp conditions to take the scalp of Canada 's reigning Olympic champion Donovan Bailey , 1992 champion Linford Christie of Britain and American 1984 and 1988 champion Carl Lewis .


Mitchell also beat world and Olympic champion Bailey at the most lucrative meeting in the sport in Zurich last week .


The American , who finished fourth at the Atlanta Games , was fast out of his blocks and held off Bailey 's late burst in the final 20 metres before heading off for a lap of celebration .


The Canadian was second in 10.09 with Lewis third in 10.10 , ahead of Atlanta bronze medallist Ato Boldon who clocked 10.12 in fourth .


Christie , competing in what is expected to be his last major international meeting , finished fifth in 10.14 .


Lewis , making a rare appearance in Europe in a sprint race , left the track with a slight limp .


American Olympic high hurdles champion Allen Johnson defied the wet conditions to produce a brilliant 12.92 seconds in the 110 metres race , just 0.01 outside the world record held by Britain 's Colin Jackson .


Johnson ran the same time at the U.S. Olympic trials in Atlanta in June to become the second equal fastest hurdler of all time with American Roger Kingdom .


He seemed to relish the new track at the Brussels meeting , dominating the race from start to finish with a slight wind at his back .


Jackson , the only man to have run faster , could not live with his speed , taking second in 13.24 seconds .


The rain was pelting down when the women 's high hurdlers stepped up for their 100 metres race .


But Sweden 's Olympic high hurdles champion Ludmila Engquist , who crashed out of last week 's meeting in Zurich after hitting a hurdle , also kept her footing perfectly to win in a fast 12.60 seconds .


Olympic silver medallist Brigita Bukovec of Slovenia could finish only fifth in the race in 12.95 .


Jamaican Commonwealth champion Michelle Freeman took second in 12.77 ahead of Cuban Aliuska Lopez .


The Zurich fall cost Engquist a shot at a jackpot of 20 one-kg gold bars which can be won by athletes who clinch their events at all of the Golden Four series in Oslo , Zurich , Brussels and Berlin .


Seven athletes went into Friday 's penultimate meeting of the series with a chance of winning the prize and American men 's 400 metres hurdles champion Derrick Adkins kept his hopes alive in the competition by winning his event in 47.93 .


American Olympic champion Gail Devers clocked a swift 10.84 seconds on her way to victory in the women 's 100 metres , the second fastest time of the season and 0.10 seconds faster than her winning time in Atlanta .


Jamaican veteran Merlene Ottey , who beat Devers in Zurich after just missing out on the gold medal in Atlanta after a photo finish , had to settle for third place in 11.04 .


American world champion Gwen Torrence , the bronze medallist in Atlanta , was second in 11.00 .


It was a costly defeat for Ottey since it threw her out of the race for the Golden Four jackpot .


ATHLETICS - BRUSSELS GRAND PRIX RESULTS .


Grand Prix athletics meeting on Friday :


1. Ilke Wyludda ( Germany ) 66.60 metres


1. Ludmila Engquist ( Sweden ) 12.60 seconds


8. Patricia Girard-Leno ( France ) 13.36


1. Roberta Brunet ( Italy ) 14 minutes 48.96 seconds


2. Fernanda Ribeiro ( Portugal ) 14:49.81


6. Catherine McKiernan ( Ireland ) 15:07.57


3. Carla Sacramento ( Portugal ) 4:02.67


4. Yekaterina Podkopayeva ( Russia ) 4:04.78


5. Margret Crowley ( Australia ) 4:05.00


1. Joseph Keter ( Kenya ) 8 minutes 10.02 seconds


6. Larbi El Khattabi ( Morocco ) 8:17.29


1. Frankie Fredericks ( Namibia ) 19.92 seconds


1. Svetlana Masterkova ( Russia ) 2 minutes 28.98 seconds


5. Veerle De Jaeghere ( Belgium ) 2:43.18


1. Mary Onyali ( Nigeria ) 22.42 seconds


1. Cathy Freeman ( Australia ) 49.48 seconds


7. Hana Benesova ( Czech Republic ) 51.71


1. Daniel Komen ( Kenya ) 7 minutes 25.87 seconds


4. El Hassane Lahssini ( Morocco ) 7:32.44


6. Noureddine Morceli ( Algeria ) 7:36.81


3. Vladimir Dubrovshchik ( Belarus ) 64.02


1. Jonathan Edwards ( Britain ) 17.50 metres


1. Hicham El Guerrouj ( Morocco ) three minutes 29.05 seconds


5. Marcus O'Sullivan ( Ireland ) 3:33.77


8. Christophe Impens ( Belgium ) 3:34.13


1. Stefka Kostadinova ( Bulgaria ) 2.03 metres


5. Svetlana Zalevskaya ( Kazakhstan ) 1.91


1. Salah Hissou ( Morocco ) 26 minutes 38.08 seconds ( world


6. Mathias Ntawulikura ( Rwanda ) 27:25.48


8. Kamiel Maase ( Netherlands ) 28.29.42


SOCCER - JORGE CALLS UP SIX PORTO PLAYERS FOR WORLD CUP QUALIFIER .


Portugal 's new coach Artur Jorge called up six players from league champions Porto on Friday in an 18-man squad for the opening World Cup qualifier against Armenia on August 31 .


Midfielder Paulo Sousa , recently transferred to Borussia Dortmund from Italy 's Juventus , is the only leading member of the Portuguese side from this year 's European championships who will not make the trip .


It will be Jorge 's first game in charge of the national squad since taking over from Antonio Oliveira , who now coaches Porto , at the end of Euro 96 .


Goalkeepers - Vitor Baia , Rui Correia .


Defenders - Jorge Costa , Paulinho Santos , Helder Cristovao , Carlos Secretario , Dimas Teixeira , Fernando Couto .


Midfielders - Jose Barroso , Luis Figo , Rui Barros , Rui Costa , Oceano Cruz , Ricardo Sa Pinto .


Forwards - Domingos Oliveira , Joao Vieira Pinto , Jorge Cadete , Antonio Folha .


SOCCER - VOGTS KEEPS FAITH WITH EURO ' 96 CHAMPIONS .


Trainer Berti Vogts kept faith with his entire European championship winning squad for Germany 's first match since their title victory , a friendly in Poland .


Vogts picked no new players for the squad for the September 4 game in Zabrze .


Instead on Friday he nominated all 23 Euro ' 96 veterans including Bremen 's Jens Todt , called up before the final by special UEFA dispensation .


He will , however , have to do without the Dortmund trio of libero Matthias Sammer , midfielder Steffen Freund and defender Rene Schneider , who were all formally nominated despite being injured .


" This squad is currently the basis of my planning for the 1998 World Cup , " Vogts said . "


We 'll have to see which other players produce good league performances to play themselves into the squad . "


Goalkeepers - Oliver Kahn , Andreas Koepke , Oliver Reck


Defenders - Markus Babbel , Thomas Helmer , Juergen Kohler , Stefan Reuter , Matthias Sammer , Rene Schneider


Midfielders - Mario Basler , Marco Bode , Dieter Eilts , Steffen Freund , Thomas Haessler , Andreas Moeller , Mehmet Scholl , Thomas Strunz , Jens Todt , Christian Ziege


Forwards - Oliver Bierhoff , Fredi Bobic , Juergen Klinsmann , Stefan Kuntz .


SOCCER - EUROPEAN CUP DRAWS FOR AEK , OLYMPIAKOS , PAO .


draws for the UEFA cup and the cup 's winners cup involving Greek


x-AEK Athens ( Greece ) v Chemlon Humenne ( Slovakia )


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


SOCCER - EURO CLUB COMPETITION FIRST ROUND DRAWS .


Draws for the first round of the European club soccer competitions made on Friday ( x denotes seeded team ) :


UEFA Cup Lyngby ( Denmark ) v x-Club Brugge ( Belgium ) Casino Graz ( Austria ) v Ekeren ( Belgium ) Besiktas ( Turkey ) v Molenbeek ( Belgium ) Alania Vladikavkaz ( Russia ) v x-Anderlecht ( Belgium )


Cup Winners ' Cup x-Cercle Brugge ( Belgium ) v Brann Bergen ( Norway )


CRICKET - SRI LANKA AND AUSTRALIA SAY RELATIONS HAVE HEALED .


Sri Lanka and Australia agreed on Friday that relations between the two teams had healed since the Sri Lankans ' acrimonious tour last year .


The Sri Lankans were first found guilty then cleared of ball tampering and off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan was called for throwing during a controversial three-test series in Australia .


" Our concern is to get out there and play proper cricket , " Sri Lanka captain Arjuna Ranatunga told a news conference on the eve of a warmup match between the World Cup champions and a World XI team scheduled for Saturday .


Australian team manager Cam Battersby said he agreed with Ranatunga .


" I believe relations between the two teams will be excellent , " Batterby said .


The Australians are making their first visit to the Indian Ocean island since boycotting a World Cup fixture in February after a terrorist bomb in Colombo .


Australia have been promised the presence of commandos , sniffer dogs and plainclothes policemen to ensure a limited overs tournament is trouble-free .


The tournament , starting on August 26 , also includes India and Zimbabwe .


Battersby said he was satisfied with the security arrangements .


Sri Lankan officials said they expected heavy rain which washed out a warmup match on Friday should cease by Saturday .


Australia , led by wicketkeeper Ian Healy , opened their short tour of Sri Lanka with a five-run win over the country 's youth team on Thursday .


These are the leading stories in the Angolan press on Friday .


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


- The Angolan Chief of State addressed a letter to UN Security Council proposing dates for the conclusion of the peace process in Angola .


He proposed definite dates , August 25 for return of Unita generals to the joint army , September 5 for the beginning of the formation of the Government of National Unity and Reconciliation .


Until this date the free circulation of peoples and goods should be guaranteed , the government administration installed in all areas and the Unita deputies should occupy their places in the National Assembly .


The president justified his proposal by the delays verified in the peace process , including the fact that areas under Unita control or occupation have not been effectively demilitarised , where the Unita military forces have been substituted by their so-called police .


- President Dos Santos proposes the establishment by UN Security Council of definitive and final timetable for the tasks and obligations under the Lusaka Agreement and the sending of a mission of SC , as soon as possible , to supervise the execution of the agreement .


FORECAST - S.AFRICAN COMPANY RESULTS CONSENSUS .


South African company results expected next week include the


following ( all figures cents per share ) :


Ulster Petroleums Ltd Q2 net profit falls .


( All data above 000s except per share numbers )


Nigerian terms jeopardize Commonwealth trip-Canada .


Commonwealth ministers concerned about human rights in Nigeria may cancel a planned trip there because of government restrictions on their mission , Canadian Foreign Minister Lloyd Axworthy said on Friday .


" The reaction of the regime there is such that many of us feel that the mission under the present circumstances should n't go ahead , " Axworthy said .


Commonwealth foreign ministers will meet in London on Wednesday to discuss what to do , he added .


Investors gave into gold fever Friday morning , with heavy trading in a handful of Toronto-based gold companies .


TVX Gold Inc was up C$ 0.30 to C$ 11.55 in trading of 780,000 shares , while Kinross Gold Corp gained C$ 0.25 to C$ 11 in volume of 720,000 shares .


And Scorpion Minerals Inc , a junior gold exploration company with five Indonesian mining properties , was up C$ 0.50 to C$ 6 , with about 120,000 shares changing hands .


TVX and Kinross rose after recent buy recommendations from U.S. brokers , analysts said .


But Scorpion was raising a lot of eyebrows after it issued a release Friday morning saying it was not aware of any developments that could have affected the stock .


The company was formed this year and a couple of analysts have been on their properties , said one analyst .


- Barrington Research Associates Inc said Friday it upgraded Unitog Co to a near-term outperform from a long-term outperform rating .


- Analyst Alexander Paris said he expected consistent 20 percent earnings growth after an estimated gain of 18 percent for 1996 .


- The stock closed unchanged at 27 , down from a recent high of 30 .


Omaha billionaire Warren Buffett said Friday he raised his stake in Property Capital Trust to 8.0 percent from 6.7 percent .


In a filing with the Securities and Exchnage Commission , Buffett said he bought 62,900 additional common shares of the Boston-based real estate investment trust at prices ranging from $ 7.65 to $ 8.02 a share .


The purchases increased his holding in the company to 725,900 shares , which was purchased for a total of $ 6.2 million , he said .


Buffett , who is well-known as a long-term investor , is chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc , a holding company through which he holds investments in several large U.S. companies .


Colombia , U.S. reach aviation agreement .


The U.S. and Colombian governments reached an agreement that will allow AMR Corp 's American Airlines to operate three round-trip flights between New York and Bogota , the Department of Transportation said Friday .


Under the agreement , which followed talks in Miami this week , AMR also will be allowed to shift up to four of the weekly flights it now operates between Miami and Colombia to its New York gateway .


The United States also will be able to designate one new all-cargo carrier for service between the two nations after two years .


Colombia was permitted to add a single additional round-trip flight to its current New York service , although it will not be able to do so while under Category Two ( Conditional ) status under the Federal Aviation Administration 's International Aviation Safety program .


Colombia would be allowed to add new service when its safety assessment has been improved , the department said .


With the exception of the new services just agreed to , the governments of the two nations have agreed to maintain their current level of routes and airlines for the next 2-1/2 years , the agreement said .


The agreement resolved a dispute that arose in June when Colombia turned down American 's request to operate flights between New York and Bogota , a denial that prompted the United States to charge that the Colombians were breaking a bilateral aviation agreement and to propose sanctions against one of two Colombian airlines , Avianca and ACES .


Clean tanker fixtures and enquiries - 1754 GMT .


Konpolis 75 1/9 Mideast / Indonesia W112.5 KPC .


Petrobulk Rainbow 28 24/8 Okinawa / Inchon $ 190,000 Honam .


TBN 30 15/9 Constanza / Inia $ 700,000 IOC .


Port Christine 36,5 3/9 Pembroke / US W145 Stentex .


Kpaitan Stankov 69 31/8 St Croix / USAC W125 Hess .


AP Moller 30 31/8 Caribs / Japan $ 875,000 BP .


Tiber 29 2/9 Caribs / options W265 Stinnes .


Tenacity 70 24/08 Mideast / South Korea W145 Samsung .


SKS Tana 70 03/09 Mideast / Japan W145 CNR .


Northsea Chaser 55 12/09 Mideast / Japan W167.5 Jomo .


Sibonina 55 13/09 Red Sea / Japan W160 Marubeni .


Neptune Crux 30 02/09 Singapore / options $ 185,000 Sietco .


World Bridge 30 03/09 South Korea / Japan rnr CNR .


Fulmar 30 28/08 Ulsan / Yosu $ 105,000 LG Caltex .


Hemina 33 05/09 Eleusis / UKCM W155 CNR .


CRICKET - PAKISTAN 229-1 V ENGLAND - close .


To bat - Inzamam-ul-Haq , Salim Malik , Asif Mujtaba , Wasim Akram , Moin Khan , Mushtaq Ahmed , Waqar Younis , Mohammad Akam


RTRS - Golf : Norman sacks his coach after disappointing season .


World number one golfer Greg Norman has sacked his coach Butch Harmon after a disappointing season .


" Butch and I are finished , " Norman told reporters on Thursday before the start of the World Series of Golf in Akron , Ohio .


Norman , a two-time British Open champion , parted ways with his long-time mentor after drawing a blank in this year 's four majors , winning two tournaments worldwide .


The blonde Australian opened with a level par round of 70 in Akron , leaving him four shots adrift of the leaders , Americans Billy Mayfair and Paul Goydos and Japan 's Hidemichi Tanaki .


On Wednesday Norman described this year as his worst on the professional circuit since 1991 , when he failed to win a tournament .


" My application this year has been strange , " Norman said . "


Maybe I have n't been as keyed up as I should have been . "


" Sometimes you do n't have it in your head to play .


Maybe this was one of those years where I was there , but I was n't 100 percent there , and you have to be 100 percent to perform , " he said .


Soccer - Arab team breaks new ground in Israel .


For the first time in Israeli history , an Arab team will take the field when the National League soccer season starts on Saturday .


Hapoel Taibe fields four Jewish players and two foreign imports -- a Pole and a Romanian .


The rest of the side is made up mainly of Moslem Arabs .


The club , founded in 1961 , has a loyal following in Taibe , an Arab town of 28,000 in the heart of Israel .


But away from their home ground , they face unfriendly crowds who taunt the players with racist abuse .


" The very first thing we thought about after we knew we would be promoted was the game against Betar Jerusalem , " said Taibe supporter Karem Haj Yihye .


Two weeks ago Taibe , coached by Pole Wojtek Lazarek , met Betar , a club closely associated with the right-wing Likud party , for the first time in a Cup match in Jerusalem .


Chants from the crowd of " Death to the Arabs " , and bottle-throwing during the game marred the match which ended in a goalless draw .


One Taibe supporter required hospital treatment for cuts and bruises after a stone struck his head as he was driving from the stadium .


" We 're used to hearing the taunts of " Death to the Arabs ' , " said Sameh Haj Yihye , a Taibe resident who studies at Jerusalem 's Hebrew University . "


But we know that these are only words , nobody has died from hearing them and it only makes us support our team more vehemently . "


The dusty town of Taibe lacks the amenities of Jewish communities and many Israeli Arabs have long complained of state discrimination .


" There are no parks or empty areas of land around here , so when we want to play a friendly game of soccer we all load up in the car and travel to Tel Aviv , " 60 km ( 36 miles ) away , Sameh Haj Yihye said .


The town 's ramshackle 2,500-seat ground is accessible only by two dirt tracks .


" We plan to build a 10,000-seat stadium , but it may well be situated elsewhere , " said club chairman Abdul Rahman Haj Yihye . "


We will discuss this with the mayor and hopefully a new or refurbished ground will be completed by the start of the new year . "


In the meantime , Taibe will play all their heavily policed home matches at the Jewish coastal town of Netanya .


" We are Israelis , there is no question about that , " said Karem Haj Yihye , a hotel waiter .


" We do n't have any connection with the Palestinians , they live over there , " he said , pointing to the West Bank seven km ( four miles ) to the east .


" We do n't feel our club represents Palestinian Arabs , " said club chairman Abdul Rahman . "


We are trying to do all we can to run a professional outfit , we are pleased at any support we get , but do not go out looking to represent the whole Arab world . "


Soccer - Kennedy and Phelan both out of Irish squad .


Two players have withdrawn from the Republic of Ireland squad for the 1998 World Cup qualifying match against Liechenstein on August 31 , the Football Association of Ireland said in a statement on Friday .


The F.A.I. statement said that Liverpool striker Mark Kennedy and Chelsea defender Terry Phelan were both receiving treatment for injuries and would not be travelling to Liechenstein for the game .


Soccer - Manchester United face Juventus in Europe .


European champions Juventus will face English league and cup double winners Manchester United in this season 's European Champions ' League .


The draw made on Friday pitted Juventus , who beat Dutch champions Ajax Amsterdam 4-2 on penalties in last year 's final , against Alex Ferguson 's European hopefuls in group C .


The other two teams in the group are last season 's Cup Winners ' Cup runners-up Rapid Vienna and Fenerbahce of Turkey .


Juventus meet United in Turin on September 11 , with the return match at Old Trafford on November 20 .


United have dominated the premier league in the 1990s , winning three English championships in four years , but have consistently failed in Europe , crashing out of the European Cup to Galatasaray of Turkey and Spain 's Barcelona at their last two attempts .


They have not lifted a European Trophy since 1991 when they beat Barcelona in the Cup Winners ' Cup final , and their one and only European Cup triumph was way back in 1968 , when they beat Benfica of Portugal 4-1 at Wembley .


Juventus have won the European Cup twice .


Before conquering Ajax last year they beat United 's big English rivals Liverpool in the ill-fated 1985 final in the Heysel stadium in Brussels .


Nigeria police kill six robbery suspects .


Nigerian police shot dead six robbery suspects as they tried to escape from custody in the northern city of Sokoto , the national news agency reported on Friday .


The News Agency of Nigeria ( NAN ) quoted police spokesman Umar Shelling as saying the six were killed on Wednesday .


They had been arrested last week for stealing 800,000 naira ( $ 10,000 ) from a sheep merchant .


Rwandan group says expulsion could be imminent .


Repatriation of 1.1 million Rwandan Hutu refugees announced by Zaire and Rwanda on Thursday could start within the next few days , an exiled Rwandan Hutu lobby group said on Friday .


Innocent Butare , executive secretary of the Rally for the Return of Refugees and Democracy in Rwanda ( RDR ) which says it has the support of Rwanda 's exiled Hutus , appealed to the international community to deter the two countries from going ahead with what it termed a " forced and inhuman action " .


Orthodox church blown up in southern Croatia .


Saboteurs blew up a Serb orthodox church in southern Croatia on Friday with a blast which also damaged four nearby homes , the state news agency Hina reported .


HINA said the church in the small village of Karin Gornji , 30 km ( 19 miles ) north of Zadar , was destroyed by the morning attack .


Zadar police said in a statement they had launched an investigation and were doing their best to find the perpetrators .


HINA said it was the first time an orthodox church had been blown up in the Zadar hinterland , where a large number of Serbs lived before the 1991 war over Croatia 's independence from the Yugoslav federation .


The area was part of the self-styled state of Krajina proclaimed by minority Serbs in 1991 and recaptured by the Croatian army last year .


Up to 200,000 Serbs fled to Bosnia and Yugoslavia , leaving Krajina vacant and depopulated .


Hungary 's gross foreign debt rises in June .


Hungary 's gross foreign debt rose to $ 27.53 billion in June from $ 27.25 billion in May , the


National Bank of Hungary ( NBH ) said on Friday .


Germany , Poland tighten cooperation against crime .


Germany and Poland agreed on Friday to tighten cooperation between their intelligence services in fighting international organised crime , PAP news agency reported .


Interior Minister Zbigniew Siemiatkowski and Bernd Schmidbauer , German intelligence co-ordinator in Helmut Kohl 's chancellery , sealed the closer links during talks in Warsaw .


Ministry spokesman Ryszard Hincza told the Polish agency the services would work together against mafia-style groups , drug smuggling and illegal trade in arms and radioactive materials .


Russians , Chechens say observing Grozny ceasefire .


Rebel fighters and Russian soldiers said a ceasefire effective at noon ( 0800 GMT ) on Friday was being generally observed , although scattered gunfire echoed through the Chechen capital Grozny .


The Russian army said earlier it was preparing to withdraw from the rebel-dominated southern mountains of the region as part of the peace deal reached with separatists on Thursday .


" There has been some shooting from their side but it has been relatively quiet , " said fighter Aslan Shabazov , a bearded man wearing a white t-shirt and camoflage trousers .


Soon after he spoke another burst of gunfire rocked the courtyard where the rebels had set up their base and a captured Russian T-72 tank roared out to investigate .


The separatists , who swept into Grozny on August 6 , still control large areas of the centre of town , and Russian soldiers are based at checkpoints on the approach roads .


" The ceasefire is being observed , " said woman soldier Svetlana Goncharova , 35 , short dark hair poking out from under a peaked camouflage cap .


A few helicopters flew overhead , firing off flares , but there was no shooting from the air .


The truce , the latest of several , was agreed in talks on Thursday between Russian peacemaker Alexander Lebed and rebel chief-of-staff Aslan Maskhadov .


The two also agreed to set up joint patrols in Grozny , but Goncharova said she was sceptical about whether this could work .


" We have to try it , but I doubt if this is possible with the separatists , " she said .


WEATHER - Conditions at CIS airports - August 23 .


No closures of airports in the Commonwealth of Independent States are expected on August 24 and August 25 , the Russian Weather Service said on Friday .


Granic arrives to sign Croatia-Yugoslavia treaty .


Yugoslavia and Croatia were poised on Friday to sign a landmark normalisation treaty ending five years of tensions and paving way for stabilisation in the Balkans .


Croatian Foreign Minister Mate Granic landed at Belgrade airport aboard a Croatian government jet on Friday morning for talks with his Yugoslav counterparts and a signing ceremony expected around noon ( 1000 GMT ) .


On Thursday the Yugoslav government endorsed the text of the agreement on normalising relations between the two countries , the Yugoslav news agency Tanjug said .


" The government assessed the agreement as a crucial step to resolving the Yugoslav crisis , ensuring the restoration of peace in former Yugoslavia , " it said .


Last-minute talks this week on the legal fine print finally cleared the way for a treaty based on mutual recognition within internationally recognised borders and the establishment of diplomatic relations , diplomats said .


The pact ends five years of hostility after Croatia 's secession from federal Yugoslavia .


Western powers regard diplomatic normalisation between Croatia and Serbia , twin pillars of the old multinational federal Yugoslavia , as a crucial step towards a lasting peace in the Balkans .


Ecuador president to lunch with ethnic Indians .


Ecuador 's President Abdala Bucaram has announced he will hold regular lunches in his presidential palace for members of the country 's different ethnic groups as of next week .


" It was about time for the Indians , the blacks and the mixed-bloods to begin eating in the palace with their president because this is not a palace exclusively for the potentates and ambassadors and protocol , " Bucaram said late on Thursday .


" In these weekly lunches we are going to get to know the problems of the Indian , mixed-race , black and peasant sectors , " he said .


He has invited 35 Indian leaders to lunch next Tuesday .


Bucaram , who was elected on a populist platform last month , also plans to create a ministry for ethnic cultures .


The Andean nation 's population of 11.4 million is 47 percent indigenous .


Brazil to use hovercrafts for Amazon travel .


Hovercrafts will soon be plying the waters of the Amazon in a bid to reduce the difficulties of transportation on the vast Brazilian waterway , the government said on Thursday .


Two Russian-built hovercrafts , capable of carrying up to 50 tons each , will begin ferrying passengers and cargo up and down the huge river from its mouth at Belem by the end of the year , Brazil 's Amazon Affairs Department said in a statement .


The use of riverways in the region has been made a priority under a government plan for the Amazon and the high-speed hovercraft will help reduce the time involved in travelling often massive distances , it said .


HK 's Tsang to visit Indonesia , New Zealand .


Hong Kong Financial Secretary Donald Tsang will visit Indonesia and New Zealand from August 25 to 31 , the government said on Friday .


In Jakarta , Tsang will meet President Suharto , Minister of Finance Mar'ie Muhammad , Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas and Minister of Trade and Industry Tungky Ariwibowo .


On his New Zealand leg from August 29 , Tsang will meet Prime Minister Jim Bolger , Deputy Prime Minister Don McKinnon and Minister of Finance Bill Birch .


Jordan expels Iraqi diplomat after bread riots .


Jordan , which has blamed Iraq for bread riots last week , has asked an Iraqi diplomat to leave , official and diplomatic sources said on Friday .


The main Friday prayers in southern Jordan that were the starting point for the riots a week ago passed peacefully under tight security imposed by the army with only brief demonstrations reported .


Adel Ibrahim , the Iraqi embassy 's press attache , was asked to leave " because he was carrying out duties incompatible with diplomatic norms " , one source told Reuters , implying he was accused of spying .


Ibrahim told Reuters by telephone from his embassy office in Amman that he " had not been notified " of any explusion order .


The government declined official comment .


Ibrahim 's assistant , Hussein Khalaf , was expelled earlier this year for similar reasons amid rising tension in bilateral ties after King Hussein began calling for change in Baghdad following top Iraqi defections in August 1995 .


Iraq retaliated then by expelling a junior administrator working in the Jordanian embassy in Baghdad but has continued its policy of trying to avoid public conflicts with Jordan -- its only secure route to the rest of the world .


Jordan has accused Iraq and a local pro-Baghdad party for the country 's worst unrest in seven years which erupted after it almost doubled the prices of bread last week under radical economic reforms agreed with the International Monetary Fund .


In Karak , where two days of riots flared last Friday , a few hundred young men lingered outside Omari mosque on leaving , shouting slogans for about 15 minutes .


" Disperse , abstain from forming groups and help maintain order , " army officers , who has enforced a loose curfew since the riots , told the crowd through loudspeakers .


The men shouted " Allahu Akbar " ( God is Greatest ) as a former Islamist deputy , Ahmed Kafawin , told soldiers the crowd would not cause trouble .


He had earlier mounted the mosque 's pulpit to demand release of detainees , an end to raids on houses and the cancelling of the bread price rises .


Armoured cars had patrolled streets in Karak , traditional bastion of communist ideology and Baath socialism that swept the region in the 1950s , and guarded entrances to the hill-top city famed for its Crusader castle before the prayers .


There was also heavy security in the crowded centre of Amman , where smaller clashes had erupted last Saturday , but Friday prayers at the main mosque ended quietly as police in full riot gear looked on .


The Jordanian Arab Socialist Baath Party , which has one deputy in the 80-seat lower house of parliament , has denied involvement in unrest which it blamed on government policies and rising economic hardship .


Government attempts to link the rioting to foreign influence has been treated with derision by those in the streets who blame the protests on severe economic hardships .


Turkey says killed 17 Kurd rebels in clashes .


Turkish troops have killed 17 Kurdish rebels in recent clashes in the southeast of the country , the state-run Anatolian news agency said on Friday .


Two security officials and two state-paid village guards were killed in the fighting with Kurdistan Workers Party ( PKK ) guerrillas , the agency quoted the emergency rule governor 's office as saying .


Eight of the rebels were killed in Van province , five in Sirnak and four in Hakkari .


The agency did not say when the clashes took place .


More than 20,000 people have died in the PKK 's 12-year-old fight for independence or autonomy in southeastern Turkey .


Three people , including two village guards , died when a mine planted by PKK rebels exploded on a road in the southeast , Anatolian reported earlier .


It said a taxi carrying the guards , members of a mostly Kurdish militia which fights the PKK , hit the mine in the province of Diyarbakir .


Leaders of Iraq 's two main Kurdish factions agreed on Friday to end six days of fighting and to attend U.S.-mediated peace talks next month , the State Department said .


Spokesman Glyn Davies said in a statement that the agreement followed direct U.S. contacts with Massoud Barzani , leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party ( KDP ) , and Jalal Talabani , leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan ( PUK ) .


Davies said the two leaders " have agreed to cease the fighting ( and ) return their forces to the positions held before the current fighting began " on August 17 .


He did not give a specific time for the ceasefire but said the United States looked forward to " immediate implementation " .


The two party leaders had also agreed to meet U.S. Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs Robert Pelletreau in September " to solidify the cease-fire and to pursue reconciliation " , Davies said .


His statement gave no venue or precise date for the meeting .


The United States has already called on the Kurdish factions to hold peace talks in London .


The KDP said Thursday night it had repelled an attack by thousands of PUK fighters , killing , wounding or capturing about 400 opposing guerrillas .


The fighting has threatened a U.S.-led peace plan to unite the mountainous Kurdish region in northern Iraq against President Saddam Hussein .


One teen left dead by attack on U.S. slumber party .


A knife-wielding neighbour apparently intent on sexual assault invaded a teenage slumber party on Friday , killing one girl and wounding three others , police said .


At about 4 a.m. EDT ( 0800 GMT ) , a group of teenaged girls were having the overnight party in the Camelot subdivision of this eastern Virginia city , when a man entered the house , wielding a knife , threatening to sexually assault the girls .


Detective Richard Black of the Chesapeake Police Department , said a neighbour , Curtis Lee White II , 19 , was arrested in the attack , but had not been charged by late morning on Friday .


There were apparently no adults at the party as the father of the family who lived in the house was out of town and the mother died more than a year ago , Black said .


The detective said details were sketchy , but two of the teenagers were reportedly downstairs watching television when White allegedly entered the house and told the girls to take off their clothes .


He said a male teenager sleeping upstairs reportedly heard the commotion and came downstairs and confronted White , who allegedly stabbed him more than once .


The other teenagers also confronted the assailant and three girls , all under 18 , were stabbed , one fatally .


" At least two of them were sexually molested , " Black said .


He said all of the wounded teenagers were taken to a hospital but none of the injuries were considered life-threatening .


Police said the girl who died was identified as Michelle Harper .


Glickman says USDA monitoring aflatoxin in Texas .


Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman said the department was monitoring reports of aflatoxin found in corn in parts of Texas .


" We 're always concerned about aflatoxin but we 're on top of it , " Glickman told reporters after addressing a USDA-sponsored farmers ' market .


It may be a little more problematic because of cold , wet conditions but we 're on top of it , " the secretary said .


Asked about reports Egypt has set new levels for a vomitoxin in its purchase of U.S. wheat , the secretary said " I do n't know anything about it " but added that USDA officials were " looking at it . "


governor has trouble winning home support .


The 12-year-old daughter of Republican Gov .


William Weld is working to stop his bid to win a U.S. Senate seat because she does n't want to leave Massachusetts .


Weld conceded his 12-year-old daughter , Franny , is " a foot soldier " for Democratic incumbent Sen .


John Kerry , even though she is n't old enough to vote .


Weld , speaking on WBUR-FM radio on Thursday , said he was facing a revolt from his daughter in part because she does not want to leave Cambridge , Massachusetts , and move to Washington .


He also said Franny Weld 's best friend , Tracy Roosevelt , might have something to do with her politics .


Tracy is the great-granddaughter of Democratic former President Franklin Roosevelt , and support for Democrats runs in the family .


The Roosevelts are good friends of Weld and his wife , Susan Roosevelt Weld , a descendant of former President Theodore Roosevelt , who won the presidency as a Republican .


Lufthansa cargo Q2 load factor up 1.7 pct .


The following table shows Lufthansa Cargo AG second quarter 1996 results , based on figures published by Deutsche Lufthansa AG in-house newspaper


Available freight-tonne kilometres ( million ) 2,389 up 4 pct


Revenue freight-tonne kilometres ( million ) 1,600 up 7 pct


Revenue from transport ( Dm million ) 820 up 2 pct


Revenue from other services ( Dm million ) 14 down 26 pct


Flight-related fees ( Dm million ) 125 up 17 pct


SUMMARY- Showers 0.25-1.30 inch ( 6-33 mm ) and locally heavier through much of India , 75 percent coverage .


Isolated showers 0.20-0.70 inch ( 5-18 mm ) in the north .


CROP IMPACT- Conditions remain favorable for the development of rice in the region .


Showers and rain 0.25-1.00 inch ( 6-25 mm ) and locally heavier through most of central and south central India , up to 0.75 inch ( 19 mm ) in 75 percent of north central India , and only isolated up to 0.50 inch ( 13 mm ) elsewhere over India .


Variable clouds in southern India with showers .


Partly cloudy in northern India with a few light showers .


Little change from today 's weather expected .


Numerous to scattered showers and thunderstorms in southern and central India , and isolated showers to the north Sunday through Tuesday .


Washington to curb Tamil support in U.S. - Sri Lanka .


Sri Lanka said on Friday the United States had promised to stamp out any illegal activities on U.S. soil directed against the island 's government .


The Sri Lankan foreign ministry said in a statement : " The United States government sympathised with the current predicament Sri Lanka was facing . "


The statement said the U.S. government " would do all within its prevailing legal framework to prevent the use of American soil to perpetrate violence against the democratic government of Sri Lanka " .


It said the U.S. State Department 's coordinator for counter terrorism , Philip Wilcox , had expressed Washington 's support for the government when he visited Colombo this week .


Colombo has said it believes Tamil rebels , fighting a 13-year war for independence against the government , finance their military activity through funds extorted from expatriate Sri Lankans in western countries such as the United States .


U.S. embassy officials in Colombo were not immediately available to comment on the report .


Colombo estimates more than 50,000 people have been killed in the war between government forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam rebels in the island 's north and east .


Nepal 's king leaves on week-long visit to China .


King Birendra left Nepal on Friday for a week-long visit to China , his eighth since ascending the throne in 1972 , officials said .


The constitutional monarch , who last visited China in 1993 , was scheduled to meet Chinese President Jiang Zemin and Premier Li Peng during his visit , they said .


Foreign ministry officials gave no details of the issues the king , who was accompanied by Foreign Minister Prakash Chandra Lohani , would discuss with Chinese leaders .


The Himalayan kingdom , sandwiched between China and India , has traditionally sought to maintain close cooperation with its giant neighbours , and an equal distance from the two .


The 50-year old monarch was accompanied by Queen Aishwarya on a flight to the Tibetan capital of Lhasa .


The king will visit Chongqing before arriving in the Chinese capital , Beijing , early next week , officials said .


Nepal man held for keeping child servant in chains .


Nepali police said on Friday they arrested a man who allegedly kept a child servant bound in chains so that he would not run away when his employer was out to work .


Madhusudan Munakarmi was arrested on Thursday after his neighbours informed police about the plight of 12-year old Dhiraj K.C. , who told police his employer used to tie him up with iron chains and locks concealed under his clothes .


The neighbours in Kathmandu called the police when they saw Dheeraj , employed by the man for the past nine months , limping because of the chains .


" I feared he would flee from work or steal my belongings , " the Kathmandu Post newspaper quoted Munakarmi as saying after his arrest .


If convicted , he faces a maximum of three years in jail under Nepal 's child protection laws .


OPTIONS - Euro debt vols seen regrouping after fall .