Free Chinese Lesson - Abe meets Bush, renews sympathy for 'comfort women'

WORLD / America

Abe meets Bush, renews sympathy for 'comfort women'

(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-04-27 08:35

WASHINGTON - US President George W. Bush welcomed Japanese Prime Minister
Shinzo Abe for the first time at the White House Thursday for talks on
North Korea and Tokyo's expanding global role, AFP reported.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (2nd L) and his wife Akie Abe (2nd R)
enter the White House with US President George W. Bush (R) and his wife
Laura Bush to attend a social dinner in Washington D.C., April 26, 2007.
[Reuters]

Abe arrived here Thursday morning to hold his first summit in the United
States with President George W. Bush since the Japanese premier took
office in September.

Shortly after his arrival in Washington, the Japanese leader renewed his
expression of sympathy for Asian women driven into brothels by Japan's
military during World War II while he pledged to step up its alliance
with the United States, according to the report.

"As a person and as prime minister, I feel sympathy from the bottom of my
heart to former comfort women, who experienced hardships," Abe told
members of the US Congress.

"I feel deeply sorry that they were forced to be placed in such extremely
painful situations," Abe told a small group of Republicans and Democrats
on Capitol Hill, according to a Japanese government official.

Abe sparked controversy last month by saying there was no evidence the
imperial army directly coerced thousands of "comfort women" into brothels
across Asia during World War II.

The prime minister has since stressed he stands by Japan's landmark 1993
apology to the women. Bush praised Abe's "candor" on the issue in a
telephone conversation early this month, according to the White House.

During the meeting with US lawmakers, Abe said he hoped to build on a
strategic relationship that grew under Abe's predecessor, Junichiro
Koizumi, one of Bush's closest allies, a personal friend, and a staunch
backer of the Iraq war.

"The Japan-US alliance is an indispensable and unshakable one," Abe said.

"It is vitally important for both Japan and the United States to
(maintain) peace and stability of the Asian region, where unstable
elements such as the Korean peninsula still exist," he said.

"It is necessary to further strengthen the Japan-US alliance. I would
like to work together with the United States to continue dealing with
various issues such as North Korea, Iraq and Afghanistan."

The congressional group, led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, praised
Japan's contribution to the reconstruction of Iraq and called on both
Tokyo and Washington to jointly tackle issues related to the
international community, according to the Japanese official.

During planned talks at the White House and the Camp David presidential
retreat, Abe was to seek reassurances from the US president on North
Korea, particularly on the issue of Japanese citizens abducted by
Pyongyang.

"I will express my stance with an iron will of seeking a solution to the
abduction issue," said Abe, who rejected a US-backed aid-for-disarmament
deal with North Korea due to the kidnapping dispute.

On a brisk Thursday night, Abe and his wife, Akie, walked with Bush and
First Lady Laura Bush from the Blair House presidential guest residence
to the White House across the street for dinner.

The Japanese inspired menu included Chesapeake Bay Crab with Yuzu
Reduction, Pan-Seared Baby Shiitakes, Soft Duck Egg and Daikon Slaw, a
White House statement said.

At the meeting Friday at the US presidential retreat in Camp David,
Maryland, the two leaders are set to dine on an all-American lunch of
controversial US beef -- in the form of cheeseburgers.

Japanese curbs on US beef are one of the stickier trade issues the
leaders were expected to discuss.

Japan this week agreed to ease its strict inspection regime on imports of
US beef, which it had imposed over concerns about mad-cow disease.

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Learn Chinese online - Bush: Be sure to question odd acts

WORLD / America

Bush: Be sure to question odd acts

(AP)
Updated: 2007-04-20 06:31

TIPP CITY, Ohio - US President Bush said on Thursday that mass shootings
are a reminder that people must be willing to raise a red flag about
others' disturbing behavior.

US President Bush speaks at Tippecanoe High School gymnasium Thursday,
April 19, 2007 in Tipp City, Ohio. [AP]

"One of the lessons of these tragedies is to make sure that when people
see somebody or know somebody who is exhibiting abnormal behavior, you do
something about it, to suggest that somebody take a look," the president
said during an appearance at a high school here.

His war on terror speech came after a moment of silence for the victims
of the Monday shootings at Virginia Tech in which 33 people, including
the shooter, died.

In a question-and-answer session, the president was asked by a student
what he thought should be done to ensure safety in schools.

He said he didn't want to draw conclusions from the Virginia case because
"they're still digging out the facts." But he suggested that concerns
about privacy violations, while understandable, may be preventing people
from taking needed action.

Gunman Cho Seung-Hui had been accused of sending unwanted messages to two
women. He was taken to a psychiatric hospital on a magistrate's orders
and was pronounced a danger to himself, but was released for outpatient
treatment. Also, Cho's twisted, violence-filled writings and menacing,
uncommunicative demeanor had disturbed professors and students so much
that he was removed from one English class and was repeatedly urged to
get counseling. A video rant Cho mailed to NBC in the middle of his
Virginia Tech rampage only added to the disturbing psychological portrait.

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said she did not know whether Bush
had seen any of the video. But it was clear he was aware of it.

"If you are a parent and your child is, you know, doing strange things on
the Internet, pay attention to it and not be afraid to ask for help and
not be afraid to say `I am concerned about what I am seeing," Bush said.
"I think it's very important for us not to comment until it's all said
and done, but that other cases there have been warning signals - that if
an adult for example had taken the signals seriously, perhaps tragedy
could have been avoided."

Bush said the reeling community in Blacksburg should take heart from its
support in the rest of the country.

"It really speaks to the strength of this country, doesn't it, that total
strangers here in Ohio are willing to hold up people in Virginia in
prayer?" he said.

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Learn Chinese - Bush: Impact felt in every classroom

WORLD / Reactions

Bush: Impact felt in every classroom

(China Daily)
Updated: 2007-04-18 06:45

WASHINGTON: US President George W. Bush said on Monday that the mass
shooting at Virginia Tech University affects every student across the
nation.

"Schools should be places of safety, sanctuary and learning," Bush said
in reaction to the deaths of more than 30 people on the campus. "When
that sanctuary is violated, the impact is felt in every American
classroom, in every American community."

Bush spoke with Governor Timothy M. Kaine and Virginia Tech President
Charles Steger.

"I told them that Laura and I and many across our nation are praying for
the victims and all the members of university community that have been
devastated by this terrible tragedy," Bush said in the Diplomatic Room of
the White House.

"Today our nation grieves with those who have lose loved ones at Virginia
Tech," he said. "We hold the victims in our hearts. We lift them up in
our prayers and we ask a loving God to comfort those who are suffering
today."'

The Virginia governor said yesterday it was too early to draw conclusions
about how campus authorities handled the deadly shooting rampage, while
some questioned a lack of strong warnings following the first burst of
gunfire.

Kaine made his remarks yesterday morning in Tokyo before going to an
airport to return to the US. He had arrived on Monday to attend events in
Japan, but apparently cut his trip short because of the shootings.

"It is a very tragic day for us in Virginia. My reaction was just shock.
My first thought was just how tragic this was for the university," Kaine
said.

Asked if he thought there was any mismanagement on the part of the school
in informing the students after the first round of shootings, Kaine said,
"the investigation as to what happened is ongoing and I think it's
important that we not draw any premature conclusions."

Kaine said he plans to attend a convocation planned at the campus
yesterday and stay there until today to deal with the aftermath.

Agencies

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Learn mandarin - Iran expands uranium enrichment effort

WORLD / Middle East

Iran expands uranium enrichment effort

(AP)
Updated: 2007-04-10 07:26

NATANZ, Iran - Iran announced a dramatic expansion of uranium enrichment
Monday, saying it has begun operating 3,000 centrifuges �� nearly 10
times the previously known number �� in defiance of U.N. demands it halt
its nuclear program or face increased sanctions.

U.S. experts say 3,000 centrifuges are in theory enough to produce a
nuclear weapon, perhaps within a year. But they doubted Iran really had
so many up and running, a difficult technical feat given the country's
spotty success with a much smaller number.

Instead, the announcement may aim to increase support at home amid
growing criticism of hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and to boost
Iran's hand with the West by presenting its program as established, said
Michael Levi, a nonproliferation expert at the Washington-based Council
on Foreign Relations.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, speaks at a ceremony in Iran's
nuclear enrichment facility in Natanz, 300 kms 186 (miles) south of
capital Tehran, Iran, Monday April, 9, 2007. [AP]

"From a political perspective, it's more important to have (3,000
centrifuges) in place than to have them run properly," Levi told The
Associated Press. "We have an unfortunate habit to take Iran at its word
when they make scary announcements."

The White House and Europe criticized the latest announcement.

"Iran continues to defy the international community and further isolate
itself by expanding its nuclear program, rather than suspending uranium
enrichment," said Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the National Security
Council.

Iran is known to have had 328 centrifuges operating at its Natanz
enrichment facility in central Iran. For months, it has been saying it
plans to launch an expanded program of 3,000, likely to be set up in a
large underground area at Natanz to protect them from air strikes.

"I declare that as of today, our dear country has joined the nuclear club
of nations and can produce nuclear fuel on an industrial scale,"
Ahmadinejad said in a speech during a ceremony at Natanz marking the
one-year anniversary of the first successful enrichment of uranium there.

His comments suggested Iran was able to produce enough enriched uranium
to fuel a nuclear reactor consistently, but he did not announce the start
of the 3,000 centrifuges.

Asked by reporters at the ceremony if Iran has begun injecting uranium
gas into 3,000 centrifuges for enrichment, Iran's top nuclear negotiator,
Ali Larijani replied, "Yes." He did not say specifically whether all were
working.

In the enrichment process, uranium gas is pumped into centrifuges, which
spin and purify the gas. Enriched to a low degree, the result is fuel for
a reactor, but to a high degree it creates the material for a nuclear
warhead.

The United States and its allies accuse Iran of seeking to develop
weapons, a charge Tehran denies.

The announcement was a strong show of defiance of the United Nations,
which imposed limited sanctions in December and strengthened them
slightly last month because of Iran's refusal to suspend enrichment. The
U.N. Security Council has set a deadline of late May for Iran to halt the
program, warning it will gradually ratchet up the punishment.

Larijani warned that if the U.N. imposes further sanctions, Iran may
reconsider how much it cooperates with the U.N. nuclear watchdog group
under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. The International Atomic
Energy Agency has been conducting inspections at Natanz and other nuclear
sites.

"The European side has made the NPT ineffective by its behavior, but we
are not interested in a such a thing. But when we face their harsh
attitude, there is a possibility of making another decision under the
pressure of the parliament," Larijani was quoted as saying on the state
broadcasting company's Web site.

The Iranian parliament last year gave the government permission to reduce
cooperation with the IAEA in case of sanctions.

The Vienna-based IAEA had no immediate comment on Monday's announcement.

The move showed Iran was "definitively going in the wrong direction,"
said the Foreign Ministry in Germany, which currently holds the European
Union presidency.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he hoped Iran would "engage in
dialogue. ... It is very important for any member country to fully comply
with the Security Council resolution."

Larijani repeated Iran's stance that it is open to negotiations with the
West and is willing to offer assurances that its program is peaceful. But
he said the West must accept its nuclear program as a fact, rejecting a
halt in enrichment as a precondition to talks.

So far, sanctions have been limited to a freeze of assets of some Iranian
companies linked to nuclear and missile programs and a call for nations
to ban travel by 15 Iranian security and government officials.

But Gen. Mohammad Baqer Zolqadr, an Iranian Revolutionary Guard general
who is on the U.N. list for travel restrictions, returned on Monday from
a six-day visit to Russia and boasted his trip showed "the
ineffectiveness of the resolution." Moscow confirmed the visit and said
it was not obliged by the sanctions resolution to ban him from travel.

The ceremonies at Natanz appeared aimed at drumming up support at home
for Iran's position in the nuclear confrontation with the West. Across
Iran, school bells rang on Monday to mark the "national day of nuclear
energy."

Iran is also facing bitterness from Britain and the United States over
its 13-day detention of 15 British sailors and marines. The 15 seized by
Revolutionary Guards off the Iraqi coast were released on Wednesday.
After returning home, they said they were put under psychological
pressure by their captors to force them to "confess" to being in Iranian
waters when captured, angering many in Britain.

The British government expressed concern over Iran's announcement Monday
and called on it to suspend enrichment immediately.

"The international community stands together in ensuring that Iran does
not develop the means to acquire nuclear weapons," the British Foreign
Office said.

David Albright, a former U.N. nuclear inspector, said 3,000 centrifuges
would be enough to build a nuclear warhead within a year.

But "it would be very hard to believe" that Iran has been able to enlarge
its centrifuge cascade so dramatically, he said. "It all hinges on
whether Iran will be able to get the machines working together" at a
constant rate.

Levi said Iran has only been able to run its two small cascades of 164
centrifuges "perhaps 20 percent of the time."

Both Levi and Albright said 3,000 centrifuges could not produce enough
fuel to keep a single reactor going.

"Iran would need approximately 25,000 of its centrifuges operating at one
time to produce enough fuel for a single light water reactor," Levi said.

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Chinese Mandarin - Britain studying Iran standoff options

WORLD / Middle East

Britain studying Iran standoff options

(AP)
Updated: 2007-04-01 20:07

LONDON - Britain examined options Sunday for new dialogue with Tehran
over the seized crew of 15 sailors and marines, as a poll suggested most
Britons back the government's goal of resolving the standoff through
diplomacy.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during a meeting in Tehran on 6
March. The United States has said it would expedite Ahmadinejad's request
for a visa to address the UN Security Council when it votes on a new
sanctions resolution against his country next week. [AFP]

Government and defense officials refused to discuss a report that claimed
a Royal Navy captain or commodore would be sent to Tehran as a special
envoy to negotiate the return of the personnel.

The official would deliver an assurance that British naval crews would
never deliberately enter Iranian waters without permission, the Sunday
Telegraph newspaper reported.

Britain's Foreign Office and Ministry of Defense said they would not
comment on negotiations, or on options being considered. "We will
continue to conduct our diplomatic discussions in private," a Foreign
Office spokesman said on the government's customary condition of
anonymity.

But Transport Minister Douglas Alexander said Britain was engaged in
"exploring the potential for dialogue with the Iranians."

"The responsible way forward is to continue the often unglamorous, but
important and quiet diplomatic work to get our personnel home," Alexander
told the British Broadcasting Corp.'s Sunday AM program.

A Defense Ministry spokeswoman declined to comment on claims officials
had lost optimism of a quick end to the standoff, saying speculation
about diplomatic efforts threatened to hinder progress.

British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett appeared to soften rhetoric
against Iran Saturday �� though she stopped far short of the apology
sought by many in Iran.

"I think everyone regrets that this position has arisen," Beckett said in
Bremen, Germany, before returning to England. "What we want is a way out
of it."

The Foreign Office and Blair's Downing Street office said it welcomed
U.S. President Bush's intervention �� calling Saturday for the release of
the sailors and marines and labeling their capture by Tehran "inexcusable
behavior."

"Iran must give back the hostages," Bush said. "They're innocent, they
did nothing wrong, and they were summarily plucked out of waters."

Eight British sailors and seven marines were detained by Iranian naval
units March 23 while patrolling for smugglers near the mouth of the Shatt
al-Arab, a waterway that has long been a disputed dividing line between
Iraq and Iran.

Tehran says the crew was in Iranian waters, but Britain insists its
troops were on the Iraqi side of the maritime border.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called world powers "arrogant" for
failing to apologize.

"Instead of apologizing over trespassing by British forces, the world
arrogant powers issue statements and deliver speeches," Iran's official
IRNA news agency quoted Ahmadinejad as saying during a speech in the
southeastern city of Andinmeshk.

A poll published in the Sunday Telegraph newspaper found that 66 percent
of respondents trusted Blair and Beckett to resolve the crisis, while 28
percent did not. Only 7 percent thought the government should be
preparing to use military force.

Pollster ICM interviewed 762 adults by telephone March 30 and 31. The
margin of error is plus or minus four percentage points.

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Learn Mandarin online - Blair warns Iran standoff could escalate

WORLD / Middle East

Blair warns Iran standoff could escalate

(AP)
Updated: 2007-03-28 10:30

LONDON - Prime Minister Tony Blair warned Tuesday that his government
could make public evidence that a British navy crew was in Iraqi waters
when it was captured by Iran, saying he was prepared to take the standoff
to a "different phase" if diplomacy fails to win their release.

A supporter of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, stands with a
placard outside the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London, during a
demonstration calling on Britain to stand firm against Tehran, and to
accept the ruling of the European Court of Justice to remove People's
Mujahdeen Organisation of Iran from the European Union terror list,
Tuesday, March 27, 2007. [AP]

Iran said the 15 British sailors and marines were being treated well, but
refused to say where they were being held, or rule out the possibility
that they could be brought to trial for allegedly entering Iranian waters.

"I hope we manage to get them to realize they have to release them,"
Blair said in an interview with GMTV. "If not, then this will move into a
different phase."

Blair's spokesman said the prime minister was not hinting either at the
possible expulsion of Iranian diplomats or military action, but that
Britain may have to make public evidence proving the Britons were seized
in Iraqi - not Iranian - waters, if there is no swift release of the
sailors.

Releasing such evidence could have "an upside and a downside" because it
could show the Iranian ships strayed into Iraqi territory and provoke a
diplomatic row between the neighbors, the spokesman said on condition of
anonymity in line with policy.

Britain and the United States have said the sailors and marines were
intercepted Friday after they completed a search of a civilian vessel in
the Iraqi part of the Shatt al-Arab waterway, where the border between
Iran and Iraq has been disputed for centuries.

There were fears in Britain that the fate of the 15 could get caught up
in the political tensions between Iran and the West, including the
dispute over Iran's nuclear program and accusations of Iranian help to
Shiite militants in Iraq.

On Tuesday, the US Navy began its largest demonstration of force in the
Persian Gulf since the 2003 invasion of Iraq, with warplanes from two
aircraft carriers flying simulated attack maneuvers off the coast of Iran.

Related readings:
Blair hopes diplomacy gets sailors back
Iran: Brit sailors may face charges
Blair calls capture of sailors 'serious'
Iran denounces British sailors for entering its waters
Iran: British sailors admitted aggression
Iran seizes 15 British sailors

US commanders insisted the exercises were not a direct response to the
seizure of the British sailors and marines, but they also made clear that
the flexing of the Navy's military might was intended as a warning to
Iran.

Meanwhile, the US military denied reports Tuesday that Iran fired a
missile at a US ship in the Persian Gulf. The rumors of an attack had
sent oil prices soaring more than 8 percent in after-hours trading. Lt.
Cmdr. Charlie Brown of the US Navy 5th Fleet said all ships in the Gulf
had been checked and the rumors were untrue.

The British government on Tuesday also denied it was involved in any
action in the region.

"There have certainly been no developments on our side in the last few
hours," a Foreign Office spokeswoman in London said, on condition of
anonymity in line with government policy.

Also Tuesday, the Foreign Affairs Committee in the US House of
Representatives approved a resolution demanding the release of the
British soldiers.

In London, Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett called Iran's foreign
minister for the second time and demanded the Britons' swift release in
"very robust terms", the Foreign Office said.

Blair's spokesman did not specify if Britain had set a deadline for the
naval crew's release but said negotiations would not be "indefinite."

He also refused to say if satellite images or GPS coordinates had been
shown to Iranian authorities and declined to reveal which territorial
boundaries in the waterway Britain recognizes.

Iran has said it is questioning the British sailors and marines to
determine if their alleged entry into Iranian waters was "intentional or
unintentional" before deciding what to do with them - a sign Tehran could
be seeking a way out of the standoff.

The dispute helped drive up international oil prices Monday, but they
fell Tuesday, reflecting hopes of a peaceful resolution.

1 2 

Top World News 

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Today's Top News 

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� Yang a popular choice as FM

� Hu, Lien stress cross-Straits peace

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� Yang Jiechi named new FM, replacing Li Zhaoxing

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Learn Mandarin online - Iran: British sailors admitted aggression

WORLD / Top News

Iran: British sailors admitted aggression

(AP)
Updated: 2007-03-25 08:51

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran claimed Saturday that 15 British sailors and marines
had confessed to entering its waters in an act of "blatant aggression".

The British Foreign Office summoned Iran's ambassador for the second time
in two days, saying an under-secretary had spent more than an hour in
"frank and civil" talks demanding the safe return of the sailors and
Royal Marines, and seeking assurances about their welfare and access to
British consular officials.

Commodore Nick Lambert, commander of the Royal Navy frigate HMS Cornwall,
speaks aboard his ship Friday March 23, 2007 in this image made from
television. [AP]

Iran's top military official, Gen. Ali Reza Afshar, said the sailors and
marines were moved to Tehran and under interrogation "confessed to
illegal entry" and an "aggression into the Islamic Republic of Iran's
waters." Afshar did not say what would happen to the sailors.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini accused the
British of "violating the sovereign boundaries" of Iran, calling the
entry a "blatant aggression."

He accused Britain of trying to cover up the incursion, saying it should
"refrain from putting the blame on others."

The UN Security Council, meanwhile, unanimously voted to impose new
sanctions against Iran for its refusal to stop enriching uranium -- a
move intended to show Tehran that defiance over its nuclear program will
leave it increasingly isolated.

British opposition lawmakers called on the government not to allow Iran
to use the capture of the military personnel as a tool in the nuclear
dispute.

"The United Kingdom will not be blackmailed. Iran has a choice: to act
responsibly; or face greater isolation," said Menzies Campbell, leader of
the opposition Liberal Democrats.

But the British government appeared to be avoiding harsh language in its
public statements as it continued to gather information about exactly
what had happened and why.

The British sailors had searched a merchant ship Friday morning when they
and their two inflatable boats were intercepted by Iranian vessels near
the disputed Shatt al-Arab waterway, US and British officials said. The
Iranians surrounded them and escorted them away at gunpoint.

Britain immediately demanded the return of the eight Royal Navy sailors
and seven Royal Marines -- at least one of who was a woman -- and denied
they had strayed into Iranian waters while searching for smugglers off
Iraq's coast.

Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett and the Ministry of Defense said the
troops were in Iraqi waters when they were seized.

Iraq's military commander of the country's territorial waters, Brig. Gen.
Hakim Jassim, told AP Television News that Iraqi fishermen had reported
that the British boats were "in an area that is out of Iraqi control."

In June 2004, six British marines and two sailors were captured, then
paraded blindfolded on Iranian television. They admitted they had entered
Iranian waters illegally but were released unharmed after three days.

Iranian hard-liners have already called for the 15 Britons to be held
until Iran wins concessions from the West.

Several conservative student groups urged the Iranian government not to
release the sailors until five Iranians detained by US forces in Iraq
earlier this year are freed and UN's new sanctions against Iran are
canceled. Some 500 Iranian students gathered on the shore near where the
soldiers were captured, shouting "Death to Britain" and "Death to
America," the semiofficial Fars news agency reported.

With tensions already running high, the United States has bolstered its
naval forces in the Persian Gulf in a show of strength directed at Iran.
There is concern that with so much military hardware in the Gulf, a small
incident could escalate dangerously.

Afshar, the Iranian officer, warned the United States would not be able
to control the consequences if it attacks Iran.

"The United States and its allies know that if they make any mistake in
their calculations ... they will not be able to control the dimensions
and limit the duration of a war," Afshar said.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme leader, warned this week that
Western countries "must know that the Iranian nation and authorities will
use all their capacities to strike enemies that attack."

The Britons were seized in an area where the boundaries of Iraqi and
Iranian waters have long been disputed. A 1975 treaty set the center of
the Shatt al-Arab -- the 125-mile-long channel known in Iran as the
Arvand River -- as the border.

But Saddam Hussein canceled that treaty five years later and invaded
Iran, triggering an eight-year war. Virtually all of Iraq's oil is
exported through an oil terminal near the mouth of the channel.

Iran and the new Iraqi government have not signed a new treaty on their
sovereignty over the waterway.

The seized sailors, from the British frigate HMS Cornwall, are part of a
task force that maintains security in Iraqi waters under authority of the
UN Security Council. Cornwall's commander, Commodore Nick Lambert, said
he hoped the detention was a "simple mistake" stemming from the unclear
border.

Top World News 

� Democrats challenge Bush with Iraq timetable

� Iran seizes 15 British sailors

� 49 Taliban killed by Afghan forces

� N. Korea talks expected to regroup

� Dems labor for sure majority on pullout

Today's Top News 

� UN approves tougher sanctions on Iran

� Defiant couple stave off wrecking ball

� Iran: British sailors admitted aggression

� US general plays down China threat

� President Hu stresses importance of property law

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Chinese Online Class - US, DPRK 'reach deal on frozen funds'

WORLD / Asia-Pacific

US, DPRK 'reach deal on frozen funds'

By Qin Jize (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-03-19 06:48

The United States and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)
have resolved a dispute over the latter's funds frozen in a Macao bank,
Xinhua News Agency reported yesterday.

State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan told a group of visiting Japanese lawmakers
about the US-DPRK deal, Xinhua said, without providing details.

The news came on the eve of the new round of Six-Party Talks, which
starts today.

Some $25 million in DPRK deposits have been frozen in Banco Delta Asia
(BDA) since Washington blacklisted the tiny, privately-run Macao-based
bank in 2005 on suspicion the funds were connected to money-laundering or
counterfeiting.

Washington promised to resolve the issue by mid-March as part of an
agreement last month on DPRK nuclear disarmament.

In a related development, US Deputy Assistant Treasury Secretary Daniel
Glaser said after his arrival in Beijing yesterday afternoon: "We had a
good meeting in Macao with the Macao monitoring authorities."

The chief negotiator of the Republic of Korea Chun Yung-woo also said
yesterday that the issue of the frozen funds was expected to be resolved
soon.

Chun made the remarks in Beijing after an hour-long meeting of the
denuclearization working group, which started its first meeting on
Saturday at Diaoyutai State Guesthouse.

The issue of frozen funds has the potential to derail the agreement
reached last month by the six parties to make the Korean Peninsula
nuclear free.

On Saturday, DPRK nuclear envoy Kim Kye-gwan said Pyongyang would not
shut down its main nuclear reactor until the funds were released.

He said the DPRK had already fulfilled its obligations including inviting
the UN nuclear watchdog to visit Pyongyang and holding separate working
group meetings with the United States and Japan.

Analyst say the mistrust between the US and the DPRK is still the core of
the problem.

"As long as this mistrust remains, it is going to be a very slow process
but it is encouraging that the US is now engaged in active diplomacy,"
said Derek Mitchell, senior fellow with Center for Strategic &
International Studies.

Shi Yinhong, professor at Renmin University of China, noted that
fulfilling its commitments is in Pyongyang's interest and there is so far
no signal that the DPRK would break its promises in the initial action
period.

Xinhua and agencies contributed to the story

(China Daily 03/19/2007 page1)

Top World News 

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� Australian PM's plane makes emergency landing in Iraq

� Talks continue on N.Korea disablement

� New Palestinian government starts work

� Chemical blasts sicken hundreds in Iraq

Today's Top News 

� Vice premier: Pattern of growth 'has to change'

� US, DPRK 'reach deal on frozen funds'

� Two cargo ships collide, 8 dead

� School kids in need of more sleep

� Thousands protesters against Iraq war

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Learn mandarin - Gates, Buffett top global rich list

WORLD / Newsmaker

Gates, Buffett top global rich list

(AP)
Updated: 2007-03-09 21:55

NEW YORK - What could a Chinese dumpling maker and Mexican telecom mogul
possibly have in common? They're among a record number of wealthy people
who held the title of billionaire over the past year. The tally of
billionaires around the globe reached a high of 946, their combined
wealth growing 35 percent to $3.5 trillion, according to Forbes
magazine's 2007 rankings of the world's richest people.

Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates speaks in this Feb. 26, 2007 file
photo in Seattle. Forbes magazine releases its annual rankings of the
world's billionaires, Thursday, March 8, 2007. [AP]

The rich cashed in on strong equity markets, real estate and commodity
prices worldwide, according to Forbes billionaires co-editor Luisa Kroll.

"It's just been kind of an extraordinary year for markets worldwide," she
said.

Leading the list are two men who manage to keep getting richer as they
give more and more money away. Microsoft founder Bill Gates ranked No. 1
for the 13th straight year, beating out friend and fellow philanthropist
Warren Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

Gates's fortune rose $6 billion to $56 billion last year, while Buffett
garnered in an additional $10 billion to boost his net worth to $52
billion.

Only five Americans ranked in the top 20, though they account for 44
percent of the overall list.

Breathing down Buffett's neck was Mexican telecom giant Carlos Slim Helu,
who added $19 billion to his existing fortune, the largest one-year gain
over the past decade. With $49 billion to his name, Helu was just $3
billion shy of the No. 2 spot.

Starbucks Corp. chairman Howard Schultz and former Disney CEO Michael
Eisner joined the ranks of the world's richest for the first time, behind
new faces Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie, Canadian co-chiefs of
Blackberry maker Research In Motion Ltd.

Self-made mogul Li Wei, founder of Synear Food Holding, made the list for
the first time along with a dozen other Chinese newcomers. Her company,
one of the country's largest producers of frozen food, including sweet
and meat dumplings, is an official supplier to the 2008 Beijing Summer
Olympics.

All bets were off for online gambling moguls Ruth Parasol, Russell DeLeon
and Calvin Ayre, who dropped from the list after recent crackdowns
limiting offshore gambling Web sites.

Bumped from the top 20 were the Wal-Mart Stores Inc. heirs, who saw their
company's stock languish, and Michael Dell, founder of computer maker
Dell Inc. Losing billionaire status entirely was Yoshiaki Tsutsumi, the
once-powerful Japanese industrialist who first topped the tally in 1987.

Japan surrendered its title as Asia's leading billionaire locale to
India, which boasts 36 megarich on the list. Russia contributed 53
billionaires and now challenges Germany as home to the most billionaires
outside the United States.

Among three Indians in the wealthiest top 20 are Mukesh and Anil Ambani,
feuding brothers who got even richer after dividing their fortunes in
2005. Mukesh Ambani ranked 14th with a $20.1 billion fortune, while
brother Anil came in four places lower at No. 18 with his $18.2 billion.

The methodology of the rankings remains similar to previous years, Kroll
said. The magazine confirmed the worth of an individual's holdings in
public companies by using the Feb. 9 closing stock price, and estimated
the value of private companies by evaluating comparable public firms in
the industry and by consulting with experts in the field.

Top World News 

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� New York fire kills 8 children, 1 adult

� House Democrats to unveil Iraq war plan

� US: Iraqi insurgent attacks intensifying

Today's Top News 

� Tax law not to dampen investment enthusiasm

� Give up pursuit of 'Tibet independence'

� Gates, Buffett top global rich list

� Japan to probe WWII military brothels

� China to rid dire poverty by 2010

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Chinese Online Class - Athlete and actress give New Year blessing

Sports / Celebrity

Athlete and actress give New Year blessing

(sina)
Updated: 2007-02-14 11:16

Shuttler Bao Chunlai (R) and actress Liu Tao pose for a group of photos
for Power Sports, a Chinese language sports newspaper before the Chinese
Lunar New Year comes to give readers New Year blessing. [sina]

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 

Top Sports News 

� QPR suspend assistant manager after China brawl

� Beckham to play at Old Trafford for charity game

� Chelsea heading to China in 2008

� Diamonds forever like Clijsters's decision

� Robinho joins list of discontented at Real

Today's Top News 

� Six-Party nuclear talks yield breakthrough

� US trade deficit hits new record high

� 100,000 officials punished in 2006

� Parents pick lucky year for "piglets"

� Graft prevention body to be set up

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Chinese Mandarin - N.Korea nuclear talks resume amid optimism

WORLD / Asia-Pacific

N.Korea nuclear talks resume amid optimism

(AP)
Updated: 2007-02-08 12:42

North Korea's negotiator for the six-party talks Kim Kye-gwan speaks to
the media after arriving in Beijing's airport February 8, 2007. Six-party
talks aimed at dismantling North Korea's nuclear programme resume in
Beijing on Thursday with the top US envoy denying a Japanese media report
that North Korea had signed a deal with Washington. [Reuters]

International talks on North Korea's nuclear program convene Thursday
amid a new sense of optimism about the possibility of the first tangible
progress on North Korea's disarmament since negotiations began more than
three years ago.

Special coverage:
North Korea nuclear talks resume in Beijing  
Related readings:
Six-Party Talks to resume on February 8
Swift return to Six-Party Talks called for
China pushes resumption of six-party talks
DPRK hints at flexibility in Six-Party Talks
Hill to visit China for six-party talks
Rice urges DPRK to return to six-party talks
Six-party format should be kept: Japan

The main US envoy said he senses "there is a real desire to have
progress" on the part of the North Koreans in talks aimed at dismantling
Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program.

"We are prepared to discuss first-stage measures," the North's nuclear
envoy Kim Kye Gwan said on arriving in Beijing for the six-nation
negotiations set to start later Thursday.

Media reports have suggested the North may agree to freeze its main
nuclear reactor and allow international inspectors in exchange for energy
aid as a starting step to disarm.

But Kim said any moves by North Korea would be determined by the United
States' attitude.

"We are going to make a judgment based on whether the United States will
give up its hostile policy and come out toward peaceful coexistence," he
said, adding that Washington was "well-aware" of what it had to do.

"I'm not either optimistic or pessimistic because there are still many
points of confrontation to resolve," Kim said.

Ahead of the six-nation talks, North Korea had signaled it was satisfied
with changes in the United States' attitude, and there appeared to be a
greater willingness on all sides to compromise on issues that had
deadlocked previous talks.

But US Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill denied a report in a
Japanese newspaper Thursday that the United States and North Korea had
signed a memorandum during bilateral talks last month agreeing that
Pyongyang's first steps toward denuclearization and US energy support
would begin simultaneously.

"We did not sign anything," Hill told reporters, but added he was hopeful
the Beijing talks would lead to tangible progress.

"If we're successful we could get to the point where we are discussing
technical matters at working groups," he said.

Japanese envoy Kenichiro Sasae said the main goal of the current round of
talks was to make concrete progress toward disarmament.

"We are prepared to do our utmost toward this goal, and we strongly hope
and are certain that North Korea has come prepared to do that," Sasae
said in Beijing.

The lack of progress at the arms negotiations has raised the issue of the
credibility of the talks. Since 2003, they have produced only a single
agreement in September 2005 on principles for North Korea to abandon its
nuclear program in exchange for aid and pledges that Washington won't
invade North Korea.

Negotiators said it was key to take the first steps to implement that
September 2005 agreement at this week's talks, which bring together
China, Japan, Russia, the United States and the two Koreas.

"When we do get a set of actions, or if we do, it will widely be seen as
a very solid positive step for the implementation of the September
agreement, with the understanding that there is no success till we
implement the full agreement," Hill said Thursday.

"So we have got a lot of work to do today and in the coming days and
probably in following meetings of the six parties," he said.

The latest nuclear standoff with North Korea was sparked in late 2002
after Washington accused Pyongyang of a secret uranium enrichment program
in violation of a 1994 deal between the two countries. North Korea kicked
out nuclear inspectors and restarted its main reactor, moves that
culminated in the country's first-ever test atomic detonation in October.

Although the US, China and Russia backed UN sanctions in the wake of the
nuclear test, Washington has since engaged in a series of diplomatic
overtures that have drawn praise from Pyongyang.

That includes Hill's trip to Germany last month to meet North Korean
nuclear envoy Kim Kye Gwan. The North said after that the sides had
reached an unspecified agreement, but the specifics of what they
discussed have not been made public.

Washington has also held separate talks on financial restrictions it has
placed on a Macau-based bank where North Korea held accounts, accusing it
of complicity in the regime's alleged counterfeiting and money
laundering. Blacklisting that bank has scared off other financial
institutions from dealings with North Korea for fears of losing access to
the US market.

North Korea had earlier demanded the financial restrictions be lifted for
it to disarm, and refused to talk about anything besides that issue at
the last nuclear talks in December.

No end date has been set for this round of talks, but Hill has said the
Chinese hosts expected the talks to last a few days and the sides would
start reviewing a draft agreement Friday.

Top World News 

� N.Korea nuclear talks resume amid optimism

� Shooting erupts on Israel-Lebanon border

� US military says copter down in Iraq

� Iraq PM urges start to Baghdad crackdown

� Suspects questioned over Pakistan airport attack

Today's Top News 

� N.Korea nuclear talks resume amid optimism

� President Hu: We are forces for peace

� Astronaut suffered 'mental anguish'

� Security crackdown in Baghdad

� Nuke talks reopen amid upbeat signs

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Chinese Mandarin - Iran vows to push nuke program

WORLD / Middle East

Iran vows to push nuke program

(AP)
Updated: 2007-02-02 08:34

An Iranian man holds a picture of the late revolutionary foundar
Ayatollah Khomeini at his mausoleum, just outside Tehran, Iran, Thursday,
Feb. 1, 2007, in a ceremony commemorating the 28th anniversary of his
return from exile. On Feb. 1, 1979, after 14 years in exile, Ayatollah
Ruhollah Khomeini returned from Paris and became the de facto leader of
Iran. [AP]

TEHRAN, Iran - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad launched anniversary
celebrations Thursday for Iran's Islamic Revolution with a defiant
promise to push ahead with the country's controversial nuclear program.

Ahmadinejad suggested Tehran would announce next week that it is
beginning to install a new assembly of 3,000 centrifuges in an
underground portion of its uranium enrichment facility at Natanz that the
U.S. has warned could bring further sanctions against the country.

The Iranian leader said his government is determined to continue with its
nuclear program, despite U.N. Security Council sanctions imposed over its
refusal to halt uranium enrichment, a process that can produce fuel to
generate electricity or for the fissile core of an atomic bomb.

Kicking off 10 days of celebrations to mark the 28th anniversary of the
1979 Islamic revolution that brought hard-line clerics to power,
Ahmadinejad said Iran will celebrate next week "the stabilization and the
establishment of its full right" to enrich uranium at the facility.

The chief of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, said
last week that he expected Iran to announce "they are going to build up
their 3,000 centrifuge facility" in February. There had been speculation
the announcement could come during the revolution anniversary.

U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns said Iran would face
"universal international opposition" over the step. "If they think they
can get away with 3,000 centrifuges without another Security Council
resolution and additional international pressure, then they are very
badly mistaken," Burns said last week

The installation would be a major jump in Iran's uranium enrichment
program, though it could take months to set up the 3,000 centrifuges and
get them working. In the process, uranium gas is spun at supersonic
speeds in a connected array of centrifuges to purify it. Uranium enriched
to around 5 percent is used for fuel for a nuclear reactor; enriched to
95 percent, it can be used to build a warhead.

Iran now has two cascades of 164 centrifuges each. Tens of thousands are
needed for a continuous program. The status of the new centrifuges has
been unclear as Iranian officials gave contradictory statements over the
past month. Tehran originally said last year that the installation would
begin by the end of 2006, but January came and there was no word the work
had started.

On Sunday, an Iranian lawmaker said installation had begun, but he was
quickly contradicted by officials from the country's Atomic Energy
Organization. Mohammad Saeedi, the agency's deputy head, said, "If we
begin to install centrifuges, we will publicly announce it."

1 2 

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Today's Top News 

� PLA 'not involved in arms race', poses no threat

� New firm to tap forex reserves

� Iran vows to push nuke program

� Wealth gap continues to rise: Report

� Chinese President starts visit to Liberia

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Learn mandarin - Ding Junhui lost to O' Sullivan at British Masters

Sports / China

Ding Junhui lost to O' Sullivan at British Masters

(Xinhua/sina.com)
Updated: 2007-01-22 09:00

China's Ding Junhui feels depress after losing to former world champion
Ronnie O'Sullivan at the Snooker British Masters finals Jan.21,2007.
Ronnie crushed Chinese snooker prodigy Ding 10-3 to win his third British
Masters final.[sina.com]

1 2 3 4 5 6 

Top Sports News 

� Bao misses Malaysian Open title

� Henry strikes late as Arsenal beat United

� Inter beat Fiorentina to go 11 points clear

� Barcelona reclaim top spot as title race hots up

� Li Na keeps Asian flag flying

Today's Top News 

� Financial policies set at major meet

� Real estate tycoon arrested again

� Hill to work on date for N.Korea talks

� E'gao: Popular art criticism or evil?

� Sudan meningitis outbreak kills 1,000

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Free Chinese Lesson - James Brown's 5-year-old son left out of will

WORLD / Newsmaker

James Brown's 5-year-old son left out of will

(AP)
Updated: 2007-01-12 14:59

COLUMBIA, S.C. - The 5-year-old child of James Brown and his partner,
Tomi Rae Hynie, is not included in the will read Thursday to six of the
entertainer's children, attorneys for the late singer say.

While the will provides for six children, Hynie's son, James Jr., is not
one of those listed in the document, attorney Strom Thurmond Jr. told The
Associated Press.

The will was read Thursday in Aiken but has not been filed in probate
court, said Buddy Dallas, another Brown attorney.

Brown died Christmas morning at age 73.

The gates to his home were locked soon after his death, Dallas said,
until attorneys could get the estate's legal affairs in order.

The house is owned by the trust and "has been that way since August of
2000," Dallas said. "Technically, the trustees own it for the benefit of
the trust. It was not in the name of James Brown and hasn't been that way
for years."

Hynie's attorney, Thornton Morris, said he doesn't know anything about
the will.

"She was locked out of the house so she doesn't know where the will
that's being probated was found," Morris said of his client. "She has no
knowledge to when this particular will was executed."

Top World News 

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� Indian killer suspect admits sex with dead bodies

� 150 rebels killed in Afghanistan

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Today's Top News 

� China now second largest vehicle market

� 30m men face bleak future as singles

� Rocket fired into US embassy in Athens

� Neighborly security effort for the Games

� Bush takes blame in Iraq, adds troops

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Learn mandarin - French PM questioned for over 17 hours

WORLD / Europe

French PM questioned for over 17 hours

(AP)
Updated: 2006-12-22 13:26

PARIS - French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin underwent more than
17 hours of questioning by judges investigating a suspected smear
campaign against a political rival, a marathon grilling that spilled into
early Friday.

The scandal centered on damaging - but false - allegations that Nicolas
Sarkozy, France's interior minister who is widely considered a leading
presidential contender, had secret bank accounts.

The affair helped poison relations between Sarkozy and Villepin,
unsettling the center-right government in which they form an uneasy
pairing, and has played into the race for the French presidency in 2007.

Key questions are what Villepin knew, and when, and whether he kept an
investigation into the allegations going long after it became clear that
Sarkozy had been unjustly accused. Judges were questioning Villepin only
as a witness.

The questioning began at 9 a.m. Thursday and lasted until nearly 3 a.m.

"For my part, I was very pleased to be able to testify on this matter, of
which I have for many months been a victim of slander and lies," Villepin
told reporters after emerging from what he called his "marathon
testimony."

Suspicions that Villepin was involved in the accusations - combined with
his shelving of proposed labor reforms, which provoked violent protests
last spring - appear to have dashed his hopes of running for president.

Sarkozy, on the other hand, widely seen as a victim of the affair, has
emerged from it strengthened, leaving him the overwhelming favorite to
win the presidential nomination for the center-right UMP party, which he
heads.

His supporters have called for punishment if the investigation
establishes that the apparent smear campaign was aimed at unsettling the
Serkozy's presidential run.

"When low blows are used to sideline a political adversary, there must be
sanctions," Francois Fillon, Sarkozy's political adviser, said in a radio
interview. He said he believed that "people manipulated this affair" but
added "I have no proof."

Other prominent center-right UMP party politicians have been questioned
as witnesses, including Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie and former
Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin.

Jean-Louis Gergorin, a former vice president of European defense giant
EADS, and ex-EADS executive, Imad Lahoud, have been charged together with
Denis Robert, author of a book that implicates Villepin in the smear
campaign.

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� US commanders wary of Iraq troop plan

� Turkmen president dies of heart attack

Today's Top News 

� Economy expected to grow by 9.8% in 2007

� No sign of breakthrough at nuke talks

� HK tightens rules for mainland mums

� PhD students say 'No' to Christmas

� 'Intensive' bilateral talks held

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Learn mandarin - Training of cops in NYC shooting faulted

WORLD / America

Training of cops in NYC shooting faulted

(AP)
Updated: 2006-12-15 09:13

NEW YORK - Four of the five officers who together fired 50 gunshots at
the car of an unarmed man on his wedding day hadn't completed mandatory
firearms training, a group of black officers alleged Thursday.

Larenzo Kindred, left, and Jean Nelson, right, who both say they
witnessed last month's police shooting of Sean Bell, take turns giving
brief statements during a news conference at City Hall Tuesday, Dec. 12,
2006, in New York. [AP]

New York Police Department brass "failed to ensure these officers were
properly trained," said Marquez Claxton, a founder of 100 Blacks in Law
Enforcement Who Care.

At a news conference outside police headquarters, Claxton alleged that
four plainclothes officers involved in the Nov. 25 killing of 23-year-old
Sean Bell and the wounding of two companions attended only one of two
annual "training cycles" at the police shooting range. The fifth shooter,
an unidentified undercover detective, had done both practice sessions, he
added.

"When you fail to attend these training cycles, tragedies occur," Claxton
said.

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said the officers' track record on
training was unremarkable.

"Ideally, everyone goes to two cycles, but it's not unusual for officers
not to complete both cycles in one year," he said.

The fraternal organization - made up of current and retired law
enforcement officers from the NYPD and other agencies - claimed that a
preliminary police department report about the shooting contains proof
the officers were undertrained.

The victims in the shooting were black; the officers were white, black
and Hispanic.

The report lists the last time each officer was at the shooting range:
One who fired 31 of the 50 rounds was there April 5; another on March 3;
another on Jan. 12; and another on March 21. The undercover detective
last took practice on Oct. 4, it says.

The report also notes that none of the officers had ever fired their
weapons in the field before the confrontation outside a Queens topless
bar where Bell's bachelor party intersected with a police undercover
operation targeting suspected prostitution.

Police have said undercover officers believed the victims were going to
retrieve a gun, but no weapons were found. The undercover officer, who
initiated the gunfire, has said through his lawyer that he saw a fourth,
possibly armed man flee the car.

Civilian witnesses supported that claim and identified the fourth person
as Jean Nelson, police said. Nelson and the two survivors from the car,
Trent Benefeld and Joseph Guzman, have denied he was in or near the car
when the gunfire erupted.

The officers are on paid administrative leave while Queens prosecutor
Richard Brown determines whether they will face criminal charges.

Top World News 

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Chinese language - France says Iran will face sanctions

WORLD / Middle East

France says Iran will face sanctions

(AP)
Updated: 2006-12-06 16:36

PARIS - The French foreign minister said Wednesday that Iran will face UN
sanctions for refusing to halt its nuclear program but that major world
powers remain divided over their extent.

Iran's Supreme National Security Council Secretary and cheif neuclear
negotiator Ali Larijani speaks during the second day of the Arab Strategy
Forum in the Gulf emirate of Dubai. Six world powers meeting in Paris
said they had failed to agree what sanctions to impose over Iran's
refusal to halt sensitive nuclear work, as diplomats said that Russia was
blocking a deal. [AFP]

"The question is about the scope of sanctions but there will be
sanctions," Philippe Douste-Blazy said on RTL radio. His ministry said
Tuesday that closed-door talks in Paris had made "substantive progress"
but failed to reach an accord on a resolution to punish Iran for defying
demands that it cease enriching uranium.

Iran's hard-line president threatened to downgrade relations with the
25-nation European Union if tough sanctions emerged from the talks among
diplomats from the permanent Security Council members - the United
States, Britain, China, France and Russia - as well as Germany and the EU.

After months of diplomatic wrangling, the United States and France had
hoped Tuesday's talks would produce a resolution imposing sanctions on
Iran for defying an Aug. 31 UN deadline to halt enrichment. Western
powers accuse Iran of seeking nuclear bombs, while Tehran insists it only
wants civilian nuclear energy.

Still, a top European diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity
because of the sensitivity of the talks, said Russia, which has sided
with Iran on many points, made some concessions at Tuesday's talks. The
Russians agreed to a measure prohibiting financial transfers to
"problematic" Iranians linked to nuclear or ballistic missile programs,
the diplomat said.

Russia still opposes the broader asset freeze that Britain, France and
Germany proposed in a draft UN resolution presented in October, the
diplomat said.

The discussions now move to the United Nations in New York. The Americans
and Europeans are pushing for a resolution by the end of the year.

"We are coming up to the time (when) the credibility of the UN is at
stake," US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said in Washington
before the Paris talks.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad vowed Tuesday to stick by the
nuclear program and issued a new threat to downgrade relations with the
EU if European negotiators opted for tough sanctions. He gave no details
on how ties might be downgraded. The EU is Iran's biggest trading partner.

The Russians also remained resistant to a measure expanding the powers of
the International Atomic Energy Agency to monitor Iran's nuclear program,
considering that a "provocation" to Iran, the European diplomat said.

The draft resolution would exempt a nuclear power plant being built by
the Russians in Iran, but not the nuclear fuel needed for the reactor.
Russia wants to remove any mention of the Bushehr reactor.

Washington's patience had appeared to be wearing thin.

When asked Tuesday when he expected Russia and China to begin supporting
the resolution, the American participant in the discussions,
Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns, replied: "This afternoon would be
a good time."

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Chinese language - N.Korean envoy Kim Kye-gwan arrives in Beijing

WORLD / Photo

N.Korean envoy Kim Kye-gwan arrives in Beijing

(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-11-28 11:15

North Korean envoy Kim Kye-gwan boards his car upon arrival at Beijing
airport November 28, 2006. North Korea is ready to return to talks on
ending its nuclear weapons programme but still had difficult issues to
iron out with the United States, Kim said on Tuesday. [Reuters]

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Chinese language - N.Korean envoy Kim Kye-gwan arrives in Beijing

WORLD / Photo

N.Korean envoy Kim Kye-gwan arrives in Beijing

(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-11-28 11:15

North Korean envoy Kim Kye-gwan boards his car upon arrival at Beijing
airport November 28, 2006. North Korea is ready to return to talks on
ending its nuclear weapons programme but still had difficult issues to
iron out with the United States, Kim said on Tuesday. [Reuters]

1 2 3 4 

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� Envoys gather in Beijing for N.Korea talks

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� Iraqis call for end to sectarian killing

� Bush to go overseas again for key talks

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� Food safety tops the menu

� Mine bosses, officials come under fire

� Experts: Renminbi rise no surprise

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Free Chinese Lesson - US wary of Iran, Syria role in Iraq

WORLD / Middle East

US wary of Iran, Syria role in Iraq

(AP)
Updated: 2006-11-21 08:40

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration cast a wary eye Monday on signs that
Iran and Syria were taking a more active diplomatic role in Iraq, even as
debate in the US centered on how many troops to keep in the war.

A Marine from 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment on patrol in Husaybah,
Iraq, November 3, 2006. [Reuters]

Just days after reports that US officials were discussing a broader role
for Iran and Syria, Iraqi lawmakers said Iranian leaders had invited the
Iraqi and Syrian presidents for a weekend summit. A State Department
official said that while strong relations between the three countries
were encouraged, actions would speak louder than words.

In the past, said deputy spokesman Tom Casey, "while there have been
positive statements from the Iranian government about wishing to play a
positive role in Iraq, those statements haven't been backed up by
actions."

He offered a similar assessment of Syria, saying the problem "is not what
they say; the problem is what they do. ... What we would like to see the
Syrians do is take actions to, among other things, prevent foreign
fighters from coming across the border into Iraq."

At the same time, there have been indications that a special US advisory
commission is considering recommendations that could include a broader
role in the region by Syria and Iran. The Iraq Study Group, led by Bush
family friend and former Secretary of State James Baker and former Rep.
Lee Hamilton, is expected to issue its report soon.

One military official close to the group's discussions said that one
option could combine encouraging talks with Iran and Syria with shifting
the US military focus away from combat and toward training the Iraqi
forces.

1 2 

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Learn Chinese - Typhoon slams into northeastern Philippines

WORLD / Top News

Typhoon slams into northeastern Philippines

(AP)
Updated: 2006-11-12 09:13

MANILA - A powerful typhoon intensified Saturday as it slammed the
northeastern Philippines, ripping roofs off buildings and downing power
lines, officials said.

Authorities urged residents to brace for possible floods and landslides
as the second typhoon in as many weeks roared through rice-growing
provinces of northern Luzon island.

Pedestrians cover their heads as they brave the rain in Bagu, north of
Manila, Philippines from Typhoon Chebi on Saturday.[Reuters]

Forecasters said Typhoon Chebi gained power overnight and had sustained
winds of 120 mph.

Chebi made landfall in northeastern Aurora province early Saturday
morning. It was forecast to move out into the South China Sea later in
the day.

Nearly 30 northeastern provinces were placed under a storm alert because
of rains, winds and rough sea waters.

��The winds are powerful and the flood waters are high. People have been
awake since 3 a.m.,�� Department of Environment officer James Martinez
said in an interview on Radio DZRH from Dilasag town in Aurora province.

He said local authorities were advising residents in low-lying areas to
evacuate to higher ground.

Radio reports said power lines were knocked down in the provinces and
there was damage to houses, but there were no casualties.

Many of the areas had suffered damage last week when Typhoon Cimaron
slammed the same region, leaving 15 people dead in flash flood and
landslides. It came on the heels of Typhoon Xangsane, which left 230
people dead and missing in and around Manila in late September.

About 20 typhoons and tropical storms lash the country each year. Chebi,
which means swallow in Korean, is the 17th this season.

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Chinese language - Saddam urges Iraqis to reconcile

WORLD / Middle East

Saddam urges Iraqis to reconcile

(AP)
Updated: 2006-11-08 07:12

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A somber and subdued Saddam Hussein called on Iraqis to
"forgive, reconcile and shake hands" as he returned to court Tuesday for
his Kurdish genocide trial two days after being sentenced to death in a
separate case.

Iran urged Iraq to disregard calls for clemency and hang the ousted
president, saying Saddam's "very existence is anti-human."

In this photo, former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein is seen as he is
questioned by Chief Investigative Judge Raid Juhi, not seen, Aug. 23,
2005 at an unknown location. Saddam was sentenced to hang on Sunday. [AP]

The startling call from Saddam came after he rose during the afternoon
session to question the testimony of the witnesses, who told of a mass
killing of Iraqi Kurds in the 1987-88 Operation Anfal crackdown on
Kurdish guerrillas.

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Saddam then calmly spoke about how the Prophet Muhammad and Jesus Christ
asked for forgiveness for those who had opposed them.

"I call on all Iraqis, Arabs and Kurds, to forgive, reconcile and shake
hands," Saddam said before resuming his seat.

The former president's demeanor was far different from his combative
performance Sunday, when another court convicted him in the deaths of
about 150 Shiite Muslims following an assassination attempt against him
in the town of Dujail in 1982.

Saddam and two others were sentenced to death by hanging. Four
co-defendants received lesser sentences and one was acquitted. Saddam
thundered "Long live the people and death to their enemies" when the
sentence was imposed.

On Tuesday, however, Saddam, dressed in a dark suit and white shirt, sat
quietly along with the six other defendants in the Anfal case, calmly
taking notes as four Kurdish witnesses gave their testimony.

Saddam's goal in making the statement was unclear.

However, the remarks followed at least two other public declarations by
Saddam in recent weeks in which he urged national unity - perhaps to
secure a more favorable place in history or to encourage contacts between
the Americans and his supporters.

One statement, released last month by his lawyers, urged Iraqis to
remember that their goal should be to free the country "from the forces
of occupation and their followers" and not "settling scores."

In a statement Sunday, Saddam urged Iraqis not to "take revenge on the
invading nations and their people" and to unite "in the face of sectarian
strife."

A nine-judge appeals panel is expected to rule on Saddam's guilty verdict
and death sentence in the Dujail case by the middle of January, the chief
prosecutor said. That could set in motion a possible execution by
mid-February.

The death sentence has drawn criticism from European and human rights
officials who oppose capital punishment - regardless of the crime.

"Even a person like Saddam Hussein should not be sentenced to death,"
Manfred Nowak, the U.N. special investigator on torture, said during a
human rights forum in Vienna.

In Tehran, however, the Iranian government called for the death sentence
to be carried out, saying that Saddam was a criminal who deserved to die.

"We hope the fair, correct and legal verdict against this criminal ... is
enforced," government spokesman Gholam Hossein Elham said. "Saddam has
both Shiite and Sunni blood on his hands. His very existence is
anti-human."

Iran and Iraq waged a bitter eight-year war after Saddam invaded the
country in 1980.

On Tuesday, the court heard testimony from survivors of an Aug. 28, 1988
massacre of more than 30 Kurdish men, who had surrendered after hearing
that Saddam offered amnesty to Kurdish rebels.

Instead, the witnesses said they were herded together at the base of a
hill, where Iraqi soldiers opened fire on them. Only a handful survived.

"When they fired in our direction, we all fell to the ground," Qahar
Khalil Mohammed testified. "When I went back, I saw my father and two
brothers had been killed, as well as 18 of my relatives."

Mohammed said an Iraqi medical officer used a broken bottle to clean his
wound.

Witness Abdul-Karim Nayif said the men had been hiding in caves after an
attack on their village near the Turkish border and some had considered
suicide.

But they decided instead to surrender after Iraqi officers "swore on the
Quran" that Saddam's offer of amnesty was genuine, Nayif said.

Another survivor, Abdul-Karim Nayif, submitted a video of a mass grave
found near the site of the massacre after Kurds gained self-rule in 1991.
The video showed numerous human remains.

Saddam and his cousin "Chemical Ali" al-Majid are charged with genocide
in the Anfal case. The other defendants are accused of crimes against
humanity and war crimes. All could be sentenced to death by hanging if
convicted.

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Chinese language - DPRK accuses US, S.Korea of provocative action

WORLD / Asia-Pacific

DPRK accuses US, S.Korea of provocative action

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2006-10-28 14:18

PYONGYANG -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Friday
accused the United States and South Korea of preparing for a nuclear war
against it.

The United States and South Korea "are totally revising and supplementing
their scenarios for a war against the DPRK," the official Korean Central
News Agency said on Friday, quoting a statement released by the Korean
National Peace Committee.

The DPRK conducted its first nuclear test on Oct. 9, sparking a harsh
reaction from the international community and sanctions from the UN
Security Council.

The United States reaffirmed its commitment to provide a nuclear umbrella
for South Korea after the test, and has been trying to press South Korea
to support the sanctions.

"Such madcap nuclear war moves against the DPRK are an extremely reckless
provocation," the statement said, warning that the two countries were
driving the situation to the worst phase.

The DPRK said such action proved that the United States "has no intention
to solve the nuclear issue on the peninsula."

South Korea on Thursday joined the U.S.-led sanctions against its
neighbor by preventing the entry of any DPRK personnel suspected of
having links to the country's nuclear and other weapons programs.

The DPRK warned Seoul on Wednesday not to follow the United States in
imposing sanctions against it.

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