The Boston Globe

Global warming protests begin Saturday
By Verena Dobnik
Associated Press Writer
April 14, 2007

NEW YORK --Americans worried about changes in the climate gathered Saturday on ski slopes and in cities for a nationwide day of demonstrations aimed at drawing attention to global warming.
More than 1,300 events were organized in every state under the banner Step It Up 2007 to push Congress to require an 80 percent cut in carbon dioxide emissions by 2050.
"When it comes to global warming, I don't exactly think President Bush is doing such a hot job," said 12-year-old New Yorker Tiffany Cordero.
Tiffany had prepared a speech for a rally in lower Manhattan's Battery Park, overlooking New York Harbor, where people dressed in blue -- some equipped with scuba gear and beach balls -- gathered to form a Sea of People human line to symbolically mark New York's future coastline.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2007/04/14/skiers_open_global_warming_protests/



Activists plan Statehouse blitz on impeachment
April 14, 2007
BRATTLEBORO, Vt. --They just won't take no for an answer.
Supporters of a move to impeach President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, informed by legislative leaders this past week that impeachment resolutions won't be debated in the House or Senate, say they haven't given up.
They spent the weekend trying to rally at least one person from each of 40 towns that voted favorably on impeachment resolutions on Town Meeting Day and get them to go to the Statehouse to lobby lawmakers on Tuesday.
"Every time we get a roadblock from the Legislature, more and more citizens are outraged," said Dan Dewalt, a Newfane Select Board member who got his town to become one of the first to vote for impeachment last year.
On Tuesday, "They're going to see a large impeachment presence," Dewalt said.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/vermont/articles/2007/04/14/activists_plan_statehouse_blitz_on_impeachment/


Bush, Democrats trade accusations in war stand-off
By Caren Bohan April 14, 2007
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush and congressional Democrats accused each other on Saturday failing to support U.S. troops, showing no signs of backing down in their fight over funding for the Iraq war.
Democrats want to attach a date for a withdrawal from Iraq to a $100 billion funding bill but Bush insists he would veto such a measure, setting up a battle of wills over control of the unpopular war.
Bush has invited House and Senate Democratic leaders to a meeting at the White House on Wednesday to discuss the bill and used his weekly radio address to hammer Democrats for taking an approach that he said amounted to "handcuffing our generals."
"Our troops should not be trapped in the middle. They have been waiting for this money long enough," Bush said.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2007/04/14/bush_democrats_trade_accusations_in_war_stand_off/



Democrats hope to get their way on Iraq
By Anne Flaherty
Associated Press Writer
April 14, 2007

WASHINGTON --Democrats know they might lose this month's showdown with President Bush on legislation to pull troops out of Iraq. But with 2008 elections in mind, majority Democrats says it is only a matter of time before they will get their way.
Senior Democrats are calculating that if they keep the pressure on, eventually more Republicans will jump ship and challenge the president -- or lose their seats to Democratic contenders.
"It's at least my belief that they are going to have to break because they're going to look extinction, some of them, in the eye," said Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., of his Republican colleagues.
Added Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.: "We're going to pick up Senate seats as a result of this war."

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2007/04/14/democrats_hope_to_get_their_way_on_iraq/


Democrat says middle class tax relief a priority
By Donna Smith
April 14, 2007

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As millions of Americans rush to file their annual income tax returns before the April 17 deadline, Democrats on Saturday promised to push to keep middle-class families from paying a tax originally intended for the very wealthy.
The alternative minimum tax, initially intended to ensure that the rich could not take so many deductions and credits that they paid no federal income taxes, will hit some 23 million taxpayers next spring when they file their 2007 income tax returns unless Congress takes action.
"This tax now affects schoolteachers, firefighters, police officers. It was never intended to be that way," said Rep. Rahm Emanuel, an Illinois Democrat who sits on the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2007/04/14/democrat_says_middle_class_tax_relief_a_priority/


Conservatism's third failure
By Robert Kuttner
April 14, 2007

THREE TIMES in my political adulthood, we have seen the exhaustion of a conservative ideology and presidency. Under Presidents Nixon and Bush II, the ingredients were corruption, corporate excess, and overreach of presidential power. During the 12 years of Reagan and Bush I, the hallmark was the failure of conservative economics.
And twice, the electorate ousted Republicans only to get centrist Democrats, who ran more competent administrations but did little to redress the structure of financial inequality in America.
Now, the third era of conservative Republican rule is collapsing -- with the most spectacular mélange of overreach, incompetence, economic distress, and sheer corruption of all. But who, and what, will succeed Bush? The forces of privilege and inequality are now so deeply entrenched in America that it will take a Democratic successor at least as bold as FDR or LBJ to change course.

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/04/14/conservatisms_third_failure/



Expanding company skips Vt., cites taxes
April 14, 2007
ST. JOHNSBURY, Vt. --A local manufacturing plant will miss out on an expansion that could have brought 30 new jobs due to Vermont's high taxes, an executive with the firm said.
"The paradox of the situation is this: we are extremely busy but are unable to expand in Vermont," John Goodrich, vice president and general manager of Weidmann Technology, wrote to Gov. Jim Douglas.
He said Vermont needs to figure out how it wants to handle tax credits as well as other issues. For now, "Companies are left in limbo; they don't know what is possible and what is not."
Goodrich said the company, which makes insulation systems for high-voltage transformers, had been looking to expand for about a year. Six sites were considered and Vermont came in second to Switzerland, where WICOR Group, Weidmann's parent company, is based.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/vermont/articles/2007/04/14/expanding_company_skips_vt_cites_taxes/


DNA chief fired over crime lab problems
State Police had said he mishandled results
By Jonathan Saltzman, Globe Staff
April 14, 2007

The embattled administrator of the DNA database at the State Police crime laboratory was fired yesterday, three months after the agency suspended him for allegedly mishandling test results in about two-dozen unsolved sexual assault cases, according to the lawyer for his union.
Robert Pino, a 23-year civilian employee of the lab who testified in more than 240 criminal cases and helped set up the state database, was sent a letter yesterday saying he was terminated, said Ann Looney, general counsel to his union, the Massachusetts Organization of State Engineers and Scientists.
Colonel Mark F. Delaney, superintendent of the State Police, sent the letter two weeks after the agency held a closed-door administrative hearing about Pino's performance.
Pino is the second laboratory employee to lose his job over problems with the handling of DNA test results, including the alleged failure to report positive DNA matches before the statute of limitations ran out. On March 9, Carl Selavka, the civilian director of the lab since July 1998 and one of Pino's supervisors, abruptly resigned under pressure, after what Public Safety Secretary Kevin M. Burke described as an unfavorable assessment of his performance.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/04/14/dna_chief_fired_over_crime_lab_problems/


Big Dig gone, North End tells tourists charm is back
By Matt Viser, Globe Staff
April 14, 2007

The North End, after years of feeling hemmed in by the Big Dig, is embarking on an aggressive effort to promote itself to tourists and Boston residents who have shied away during construction, with television commercials on the Food Channel, a major makeover of Salem Street, and a new line of slogan-bearing trinkets.
Long an attraction for tourists who came for an Italian meal and to see historical sites like the church where lanterns set Paul Revere on his midnight ride, the North End is being touted by promoters who want to forge a new image of a retail paradise where high-end shopping goes hand-in-hand with old world charm.
"We are trying to create a situation where we have art stores, small boutiques, and shoe stores," said Joanne Prevost Anzalone , a local realtor and former president of the neighborhood council. "And it's going to, in some ways, become more like Newbury Street. And we want to encourage a diversity of businesses."

http://www.boston.com/news/traffic/bigdig/articles/2007/04/14/big_dig_gone_north_end_tells_tourists_charm_is_back/



Is Boston too violent for tourists?

http://boards.boston.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?tsn=5&nav=messages&webtag=bc-news&tid=13286



The woman who ran around the world
She's lacing up for her 20th marathon, and for the first time Deborah Bullerjahn is running for her life
By Bella English
Globe Staff
April 14, 2007

Like that first kiss, avid runners clearly remember their first marathon. For Deborah Bullerjahn , it was Boston, April 1989. A novice who began running in her 40s after her three children were born, Bullerjahn was pumped. At mile 15, near her Wellesley home, she beamed and waved to family and friends.
Then she hit the wall. "My mantra is never to walk, no matter how bad your legs are cramping," she says. "Just keep running. Tough it out. It's a real mental game that you play with yourself that pushes you to the finish line."
These are the lessons she took with her as she pursued her goal of finishing among the top five women in her age group in marathons on each continent, from the subfreezing glacial run in Antarctica to the mile-high marathon on Mount Kilimanjaro. She also did London, Chicago, Caracas, Canberra, and Singapore. And as dawn broke on Jan. 1, 2000, Bullerjahn, who was 50, ran the Millennium Marathon in New Zealand.

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/living/articles/2007/04/14/the_woman_who_ran_around_the_world/



Minute by minute, by the mile … the Boston Marathon

http://www.boston.com/sports/marathon/course/runnersview_interactive/



Marathoners: Ready, set, shiver
Authorities brace for weather, mobilize medical help
By Brian MacQuarrie, Globe Staff April 14, 2007
With a nasty brew of heavy rain, cold, and headwinds forecast for Monday, authorities are scrambling to mitigate the misery of 23,000 runners in what could rank among the worst conditions in the history of the Boston Marathon.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/04/14/marathoners_ready_set_shiver/


Boom times, crackdown slow emerald wave
By Kevin Cullen, Globe Staff
March 18, 2007

First of two parts
A couple of months ago, David Knox and his girlfriend, Elaine, threw in the towel. After seven years in the Boston area, they were tired of looking over their shoulders, tired of being told there was no way they could become legal residents, and so they decided to move back to Ireland.
About 100 of their friends gathered at Bad Abbots, a Quincy pub, to bid the couple farewell. A band, Tara Hill, serenaded them with the appropriately titled "Leaving on a Jet Plane." Knox hugged his teammates on the pub's soccer team. Elaine's eyes watered.
The bittersweet celebration, full of laughs, heartfelt toasts and not a few tears, was reminiscent of the "wakes" the Irish held for those sailing off to America a century ago, never to return. But these days, the wakes are held in pubs in Dorchester and Brighton, or in apartments in Quincy and South Boston, for those heading home.
Ireland's booming economy and the crackdown on illegal immigration that followed the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks have combined to produce a reversal of migration patterns for those who have long made up the biggest, and most influential, ethnic group in Boston.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2007/03/18/boom_times_crackdown_slow_emerald_wave/



Suds fill streets in Idaho, Alaska
April 13, 2007

BOISE, Idaho --City streets got an unscheduled cleaning as a sudsy citrus-scented foam erupted from manhole covers like geysers.
The bubbles spewed from a three-block stretch on the city's east side Thursday after American Linen accidentally released detergent into the municipal sewer lines. The combination of gravity and churning water whipped the soap into a sudsy foam.
"We have never had a situation like this before," said Vince Trimboli, the public works spokesman.
Officials say the company had a malfunction, caused by human error, in its automated detergent loading device, releasing 167 gallons of a harmless but concentrated detergent.

http://www.boston.com/news/odd/articles/2007/04/13/laundry_mishap_spews_suds_in_boise/



Trooper and horse crash, rider charged
April 14, 2007

COLUMBIA, Ky. --A horse was euthanized and its rider charged with being drunk on horseback after a Kentucky state trooper struck the horse with his cruiser, state police said.
Trooper James Richard was driving in a rainstorm about five miles east of Columbia in south-central Kentucky when he hit the horse and rider late Friday on an unlighted, rural highway, state police said.
The horse was critically injured and euthanized at the scene, state police said. Jonathan Bryant was charged with DUI-non-motorized vehicle after being treated and released for minor injuries. He was being held Saturday at the Adair County Jail.
Richard's car sustained severe damage and Richard was treated for minor injuries. The wreck remains under investigation.



Norwich University combat losses since the Civil War
By The Associated Press April 14, 2007
Norwich University in Northfield, Vt., has about 1,950 students, about 1,150 in the Corps of Cadets. About 65 percent of the members of the Corps of Cadets are seeking commissions in the United State Army, Air Force, Navy or Marines.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/vermont/articles/2007/04/14/norwich_university_combat_losses_since_the_civil_war/


Casualties hit home at nation's oldest private military academy
By Wilson Ring
Associated Press Writer
April 14, 2007

NORTHFIELD, Vt. --On Sept. 11, 2001, when the World Trade Center towers burned, Jonathan Pride watched from the fifth floor of Port Richmond High School in Staten Island, N.Y.
He learned then that his country wasn't safe from attack.
Last week, Pride learned again how vulnerable Americans can be, when two former students at Norwich University were killed while serving in Iraq.
"It's kind of like surreal now because before I heard names, you know, and I saw pictures and I didn't know them so it was kind of removed," said Pride, a senior cadet who will graduate next month, becoming a U.S. Army lieutenant. "Now, it's somebody I know. It's kind of like 'Wow, there really is a war out there.'"

http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2007/04/14/casualties_hit_home_at_nations_oldest_private_military_academy/



eBay says pope's old car is for sale
April 14, 2007
SAN FRANCISCO --Forget biodiesel. This 1999 metallic gray Volkswagen Golf might run on a higher power. For the second time in two years, eBay is hosting an auction for a car said to be Pope Benedict XVI's old hatchback.

http://www.boston.com/news/odd/articles/2007/04/14/ebay_says_popes_old_car_is_for_sale/



Activists ask pope to abandon fur
April 14, 2007
ROME --An Italian animal rights group is asking Pope Benedict XVI to give up his fur, including an ermine-trimmed red velvet cape and papal hat, in "a choice of high religious and ethical value."
"It would be a praiseworthy example of Christian charity," Roberto Bennati, the deputy chairman of the Anti-Vivisection League, said in a statement released late Friday.
Benedict sometimes wears a fur-trimmed hat called a "camauro," headgear popular with pontiffs in the 17th century. He has also donned a red velvet cape trimmed in ermine.
The Anti-Vivisection League made its appeal ahead of a papal trip later this month to Pavia, a northern city that is home to some of Italy's furriers.

http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2007/04/14/activists_ask_pope_to_abandon_fur/



Palestinians approve plan to fight lawlessness
April 14, 2007
RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - The Palestinian unity government said on Saturday it had approved a plan to increase co-operation among competing security forces in a bid to rein in growing lawlessness.
Hamas Islamists formed a unity government last month with members of President Mahmoud Abbas's secular Fatah faction. But tensions remain high and sporadic fighting between followers of the two groups has continued in the Gaza Strip.
"The main goal is to provide protection and security and end lawlessness," Information Minister Mustafa al-Barghouthi said. "According to the plan, security forces will act in a unified manner in carrying out their different duties."

http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2007/04/14/palestinians_approve_plan_to_fight_lawlessness/




Two bombers attack U.S. targets in Morocco
By Lamine Ghanmi
April 14, 2007

CASABLANCA, Morocco (Reuters) - Two suicide bombers blew themselves up outside U.S. diplomatic offices in Morocco's commercial hub Casablanca on Saturday in the first such attack in Morocco in four years, witnesses said.
The bloodshed coincided with a U.S. embassy warning in neighboring Algeria that armed groups might strike in Algiers again, less than a week after suicide bombs there revived fears of a return to the full-scale Algerian conflict of the 1990s.
Only the bombers were killed in the Casablanca attacks, no one was wounded.
Analysts say recent blasts in Morocco and the twin explosions that killed 33 in Algiers on Wednesday signal a sharp expansion in the threat from armed groups seeking to establish Islamic rule in north Africa.

http://www.boston.com/news/world/africa/articles/2007/04/14/two_bombers_attack_us_targets_in_morocco_1176573818/



Pakistanis rally in support of suspended judge
By Kamran Haider
April 13, 2007

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - More than 2,000 Pakistani lawyers and opposition activists rallied on Friday in support of the country's suspended top judge as he challenged a judicial panel hearing accusations against him.
The government's move to sack Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry on March 9 outraged the legal community, which saw it as an attack on the independence of the judiciary, and galvanized political opposition to President Pervez Musharraf.
The uproar is a major challenge to Musharraf, who also faces pressure from the United States to do more in the U.S.-led campaign against terrorism.
But the protests have not spun out of control and analysts say Musharraf, the army chief who seized power in 1999, has the support of the military and should weather the storm.

http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2007/04/13/pakistani_protesters_cheer_suspended_judge/

People's Daily

Bush affirms support for embattled World Bank chief
U.S. President George W. Bush affirmed his support on Friday for the World Bank president who is trapped in a scandal about personally dictating the terms of a promotion and pay raise for his lover.
"The president has full confidence in Paul Wolfowitz," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters at the daily briefing.
Wolfowitz has "apologized for the matter," Perino said. "We expect him to remain as World Bank president."
The scandal centers on Wolfowitz's lover, Shaha Riza, a World Bank staffer.
Recently released documents revealed that on Wolfowitz's personal direction, Riza was given raises that took her annual pay package to nearly 200,000 U.S, dollars when she was reassigned from the World Bank to the U.S. State Department in 2005.
Her pay increase was more than double the amount allowed by staff rules, according to the World Bank's Staff Association.
At present, Riza is still on the bank's payroll even if she no longer works there.
On Thursday, calls for Wolfowitz's resignation resounded through the World Bank's atrium when he addressed employee representatives.

http://english.people.com.cn/200704/14/eng20070414_366420.html


Wen's two-nation visit successful in promoting economic ties: Chinese FM
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to South Korea and Japan is a great success in strengthening mutually beneficial cooperation and promoting the economic and trade ties between China and the two countries, Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing said Friday.
Wen paid an official visit to South Korea and Japan from April 10 to 13. This is the first time a Chinese premier has visited the two countries in seven years.
Economic and trade cooperation is an important component of developing an all-round partnership of cooperation with South Korea and a mutually beneficial strategic relationship with Japan, for both nations are China's important trading and investment partners, Li told Chinese reporters.

http://english.people.com.cn/200704/14/eng20070414_366446.html



Chavez states Castro in fact reassumes government functions
Cuban leader Fidel Castro has reassumed most of his government tasks in his country, although not formally, stated here Friday his confidant and friend Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez during a press conference.
"There were times in which he completely delegated his government functions, but at this time he has reassumed most of the work although not formally," said Chavez.
Fidel Castro provisionally delegated power on July 31 to Raul Castro due to a serious illness which remains a State secret.
"His notes, his voice through the telephone and other details indicate there is a frank recovery in his health, but I cannot say more," said Chavez in reply to a question as to when Castro would officially assume Cuba's direction.
"Last night I received a message written by Fidel," said Chavez, and added that he has become, unintentionally, Castro's confidant and information recipient, "in full detail, in respect of the problem he has been undergoing."

http://english.people.com.cn/200704/14/eng20070414_366427.html


China launches "Compass" navigation satellite
China on early Saturday morning launched a navigation satellite, part of the country's "Compass" navigational system, which is expected to provide services to customers all over China and neighboring countries by 2008.
The carrier rocket, Long March 3-A, blasted off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest China's Sichuan Province at 4:11 a.m., and sources with the center said that the satellite had "accurately" entered its orbit, at the height of 21,500 km.
The "Compass" navigational system is mainly designed for the country's economic development, providing navigation and positioning services in transportation, meteorology, petroleum prospecting, forest fire monitoring, disaster forecast, telecommunications and public security, among others.
With more satellites to be sent into orbits in the coming years, the system will cover China and its neighboring countries by 2008, before being expanded into a global network of navigation and positioning.
On February 3, China successfully put a test "Compass" satellite into the orbit, the fourth of such experimental satellites launched since 2000.

http://english.people.com.cn/200704/14/eng20070414_366478.html


The Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) opens at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, on Nov. 4, 2006. Leaders or representatives of China, 48 African countries and the African Union Commission attended the two-day summit, focusing on "friendship, peace, cooperation and development". (Xinhua Photo)

http://english.people.com.cn/zhuanti/Zhuanti_492.html


The 100-day Campaign was jointly launched by ten ministries and national departments, including the Ministry of Public Security, State Administration of Press and Publication, National Copyright Administration, Ministry of Culture.

http://english.people.com.cn/zhuanti/Zhuanti_487.html



US presidential runner in Pyongyang

US presidential candidate Bill Richardson arrived in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) yesterday for a rare visit to the country by a prominent American official....
...Richardson, the Democratic governor of New Mexico, said he had no intention of negotiating nuclear matters. The delegation he brings aims to recover the remains of US servicemen killed during the Korean War (1950-53)....
..."It could be the signal of an improved relationship," he said of the discussions to secure US remains. "The North Koreans (DPRK) always consider protocol very important. They like to be considered a major power in the region."
Since the breakthrough February 13 nuclear agreement, there has been little progress. The North has refused further negotiations due to the delayed transfer of $25 million of the government's money frozen by Macao authorities after the US blacklisted a bank in the Chinese administrative region in 2005 for allegedly helping Pyongyang launder money.
Some worry the concerns could delay implementation of the disarmament agreement.
The US State Department said on Friday that a hitch stalling the release of the funds had been resolved, potentially clearing the way for the disbursement of the money. No details were released on when or how the money would be transferred.
Many details of Richardson's schedule in the DPRK were unclear, even as he flew to Pyongyang.
Richardson said he requested to meet with top DPRK leaders and to visit the North's sole operating nuclear reactor at Yongbyon, 90 kilometers north of Pyongyang.
On Wednesday, the delegation plans to drive from Pyongyang to the Republic of Korea, hopefully with the US remains.

http://english.people.com.cn/200704/09/eng20070409_364904.html



China's top 10 archeological findings for 2006 unveiled
China's top 10 new archeological findings for 2006 have been announced in Beijing through the final appraisal of 24 selected individual items.
The new selected archeological findings were, among others, the Dahe old stone age ruins in Fuyuan, southwest China's Yunnan province, the Xiantouling new stone-age ruins in Shenzhen, south China's Guandong province, the Xipo stone age settlements and graves in Lingbao, central China's Henan province.
The other new findings are the ancient Yebei ruins in Gaoming, Guangdong province, the Gaohong ruins of the Shang dynasty (1600 BC-1100 BC) in Liulin, north China's Shanxi province, Guanjiu Village mound graves, Pucheng in east China's Fujian province, the Majiayuan graves of the warring states period (475 BC-221 BC) in Zhangjiachuan, northwest China's Gansu province, the Dabaozi Hill ruins of Lixian county in Gansu province, the double-mound graves in Liu'an, east China's Anhui province, and the Zhidanyuan sluice ruins from the Yuan dynasty (1368-1644) in Shanghai.

http://english.people.com.cn/200704/09/eng20070409_364891.html


Why has the deposit reserve ratio been raised so frequently?
Since the beginning of this year, China's central bank has raised the deposit reserve ratio three times and its deposit and lending rates once.
Such frequent employment of monetary tools has been uncommon in recent years. The latest reserve ratio hike is aimed at tightening the money supply and tackling excessive banking liquidity. The banks currently have ample funds and an excessive tendency to loan money.
The National Development and Reform Commission highlighted surplus banking liquidity as a major problem in the macro-economy. Experts say the problem gives rise to ample domestic funds, adding to the difficulty of curbing overheated investment and credit and therefore causing an economic imbalance.
In other countries, the interest rate is regularly manipulated to regulate the financial market, but in China, the reality is that enterprises want to borrow and banks are eager to lend. By lifting the deposit reserve ratio we can get money back directly from the banks and restrict their lending capacity.

http://english.people.com.cn/200704/09/eng20070409_364890.html



China officially appoints new Hong Kong Chief
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao Monday officially appointed Donald Tsang as the third-term Chief Executive of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), confirming the result of an election in March.
Tsang received the formal book of appointment at a ceremony held at 9:00 Monday morning at Zhongnanhai, the compound of the Chinese leadership in downtown Beijing.
The premier congratulated Tsang on his electoral victory and appointment, and expressed his approval of Tsang's administrative program that focuses on improving people's living standard, pursuing social harmony and promoting democracy.
Premier Wen, representing China's central government, urged the newly appointed Chief Executive and the SAR government to work closely with all sectors of the Hong Kong society in build a better future for the island.

http://english.people.com.cn/200704/09/eng20070409_364823.html



Sudanese president receives Chinese special envoy
Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir received Sunday Special Envoy of the Chinese government and Assistant Foreign Minister Zhai Jun who was currently visiting Sudan.
During the meeting, the two sides exchanged views on the bilateral relations between China and Sudan, the Darfur problem as well as other issues.
Zhai Jun noted that the successful state visit paid by Chinese President Hu Jintao in Sudan in February of this year had injected new vigor into the Sino-Sudanese relations.
He hoped that the Sudanese government could show more flexibility on a plan proposed by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on the Darfur issue, continuously improve the humanitarian and security situations and speed up the political process in Darfur.
He said that the Chinese side was willing to continuously play a constructive role for realizing the peace, stability and development in Darfur as soon as possible.

http://english.people.com.cn/200704/09/eng20070409_364865.html



Blair fails to improve Britain in 10 years of office: poll
A poll conducted by the Observer newspaper showed on Sunday that people believe British Prime Minister Tony Blair has failed to improve the country and lost the faith of British voters over his 10 years in power.
Blair is widely expected to quit in June or July after a decade in office. However there is not much cheer for him.
The poll of 2,034 adults showed that many people find the country is a more dangerous, less happy and less pleasant place to live.
The poll invited people's opinions ranging from their trust in politics, how they feel about their own lives to whether public services have been improved. However, people gave negative responses to almost all of its 40 questions.
Only over a quarter rated the government's general performance under Blair as good or very good.
Sixty-one percent disagreed that Britain was "a more pleasant place to live" now than in 1997, and 58 percent disagreed that it was happier, while 69 percent said it was more dangerous, the poll showed.
The poll also showed that 57 percent think Blair has stayed in office too long.
With regard to education, 45 percent rated the government's performance as poor or very poor, while 60 percent said the same about transport.

http://english.people.com.cn/200704/09/eng20070409_364764.html



U.S. Senator calls for engaging Syria
Republican Senator Arlen Specter voiced support on Sunday for U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's trip to Syria and called on the Bush administration to engage in talks with Syria.
Specter, in an interview with the CNN, said Pelosi was right to travel to Syria, where she met with Syrian President Bashar al- Assad.
Specter insisted that Assad can be negotiated with and "opening discussions with Syria are very, very important."
Pelosi visited Syria on April 3 and became the highest-ranking U.S. personnel to visit the country in years. The Bush administration has criticized the trip for sending "mixed" signals to Syria.
The bipartisan Iraq Study Group has urged the Bush administration to engage in talks with Iran and Syria. However, the Bush administration has largely ignored the suggestion and insisted Syria is a "state sponsor of terrorism."

http://english.people.com.cn/200704/09/eng20070409_364802.html



Pelosi opens up US-Syrian high-level dialogue
Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic speaker of the US House of Representatives, became the highest ranking US official to visit Syria upon her arrival in its capital of Damascus Tuesday. Her Syria trip has drawn repeated objections and opposition from the White House, and was termed as a "really bad idea." President George W. Bush, in his press briefing on Tuesday rapped Pelosi's trip to Syria as one of sending "mixed signals" to Syria and the whole Middle-East region. In response, Pelosi said she thought it was a very "good idea"to visit Syrians. Either Pelosi's Syria trip or her "rival show" staged versus president Bush has drawn extensive attention from all strata globally.
On this top issue of global concern, Chen Yiming, the desk editor of international news for the People's Daily, a leading, authorative official newspaper in China, has had a dialogue with a couple of senior PD resident reporters stationed overseas, including Li Wenyun, Wu Wenbin, Yang Jun and Huang Peizhao. And the detailed account of the dialogue is as follows:
"Iron Lady's obstinate, persistent trip to Syria angers US president
Desk Editor: Why is that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's Syria trip has angered both the White House and President Bush and drawn their repeated criticism?

http://english.people.com.cn/200704/05/eng20070405_364085.html



Two new cases of E. coli confirmed in California
Two new cases of E. coli were confirmed on Saturday in Orange County, Southern California, bringing the total number of infections to 12.
The two victims ate at the same restaurant which was blamed for the previous 10 cases.
The new cases prompted the Orange County Health Care Agency ( HCA) to suspend the restaurant's permit to operate.
Health officials said all employees could be tested for E. coli infection.
All the stricken people, 10 children and two adults, reported eating at the restaurant, called Foothill Ranch Souplantation, in Lake Forest in March. The new cases involved a teen who ate at the restaurant on March 25. Previously, health officials thought the outbreak applied only to people who had eaten at the restaurant on March 23 or March 24, the HCA announced in a statement on Saturday.

http://english.people.com.cn/200704/09/eng20070409_364791.html



U.S. allows Ethiopia to strike arms deal with DPRK: report
The Bush administration allowed Ethiopia to complete a secret arms purchase from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) in an apparent violation of UN sanctions aimed at punishing Pyongyang's nuclear test, the New York Times reported on Sunday.
Washington allowed the arms delivery to go through in January in part because Ethiopia was in the midst of a military offensive against Islamic militia inside Somalia, a campaign that aided the U.S. policy of combating religious extremists in the Horn of Africa, the report said.
A spokesman for the State Department was quoted by the newspaper as saying that the United States was "deeply committed to upholding and enforcing UN Security Council resolutions," but declined to comment on the arms shipment.
U.S. officials said that they were still encouraging Ethiopia to wean itself from its long-standing reliance on the DPRK for cheap Soviet-era military equipment to supply its armed forces and the Ethiopian officials appeared receptive, the report said.

http://english.people.com.cn/200704/09/eng20070409_364787.html



Three Turkish soldiers killed in clash with Kurdish rebels
Three soldiers of Turkish security forces were killed in an armed clash with militants of the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) in eastern Turkey, the semi- official Anatolia news agency reported on Sunday.
The clash between Turkish security forces and a group of the PKK militants occurred in Yayladere area of Bingol province in eastern Turkey, leaving three soldiers dead, said Anatolia.
The security forces have been staging large-scale operations in Bingol in pursuit of the PKK militants, added the report.

http://english.people.com.cn/200704/09/eng20070409_364805.html



15 people killed in rocket attack on town south of Baghdad
At least 15 people were killed and 25 others wounded on Sunday when rockets struck a building in the town of Mahmoudiyah, 30 km south of Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said.
"The rockets badly damaged a residential building and destroyed nearby shops," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.
Women and children were among the killed and wounded people, he added.
According to the source, the death toll is expected to rise as rescuers continue searching for bodies under debris.
U.S. and Iraqi security forces rushed to the area, while ambulances continue evacuating the victims.

http://english.people.com.cn/200704/09/eng20070409_364756.html



China has no serious stock market bubble
The recent rise in stock prices is recoverable growth; market-oriented economic adjustments needed.
From a sustained downturn to stable and healthy development, China's capital market has reached a major turning point. Chinese people should cherish this hard-won situation and seize the opportunity to maintain the development of the stock market, said Zhou Zhengqing, a member of the NPC Standing Committee, vice chairman of the Financial and Economic Committee and former chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, in a recent interview with the media. According to Zhou, there is no serious bubble in China's stock market.
http://english.people.com.cn/200703/23/eng20070323_360428.html



Discovery of microfossils in central China puts genesis of animal 50 mln years earlier
The discovery of some microfossils in central China's Hubei Province has proved that animals came into existence about 632 million years ago, about 50 million years earlier than previously thought, said an expert on Wednesday.
The phosphatized microfossils were discovered by a group of American and Chinese experts headed by Yin Leiming, researcher with the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences last year.
"We found diapause egg cysts in the rocks collected from Xiaofenghe in Yichang, central China's Hubei Province, which resemble those in the multi-cell embryos in Weng'an of southwest China's Guizhou Province, the oldest ever known," Yin said.
Fossil eggs and embryos in Weng'an, discovered by Chinese paleontologists in 1998, indicate that the evolution of multi-celled animals started some 580 million years ago, or in the Ediacaran (635-542 Myr ago).
"The new discovery proves that animals existed in the sea about 632 million years ago," Yin said.

http://english.people.com.cn/200704/05/eng20070405_363904.html


The 100-day Campaign was jointly launched by ten ministries and national departments, including the Ministry of Public Security, State Administration of Press and Publication, National Copyright Administration, Ministry of Culture.

http://english.people.com.cn/zhuanti/Zhuanti_487.html


PLA Navy holds exercise

http://english.people.com.cn/200704/09/eng20070409_364845.html


China Daily

Stabilize sand dunes with plants
(Reuters)Updated: 2007-04-14 10:42

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-04/14/content_850578.htm



China starts selling bullet train tickets
(Xinhua)Updated: 2007-04-14 18:48
Tickets for China's new high-speed trains went on sale on Saturday as the first bullet trains will hit the track next Wednesday, said a spokesman for the Ministry of Railways here Saturday in Beijing.
On April 18, 280 bullet trains, which can travel at speeds of up to 250 kilometers per hour, will be put into operation between the country's major cities. A total of 514 such trains will be in use by the end of this year.
The base price for the tickets is slightly higher than ordinary trains, according to the spokesman.
At a press conference Thursday, Vice Minister of Railways Hu Yadong said raising the speed limit will help boost passenger and cargo capacity on the nation's 77,000-km railway lines by 18 percent and 12 percent, respectively.
Travel time between major cities will be slashed by up to 50 percent. Currently, express trains in China travel at an average of 115 kilometers per hour.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-04/14/content_850683.htm



Marathon runner running short of money sells medals
By Coldness Kwan (Chinadaily.com.cn)Updated: 2007-04-10 18:43
In an old style two-bedroom apartment house her family share the rent with a girl in Beijing's suburban district of Tongzhou, former long-distance running champion Ai Dongmei displayed all her medals to visiting journalists from CCTV - not for recalling her glittering career life, but to advertise the medals for sale.
"I have no choice but to turn to my medals," said the former marathon champion of China's Huo Che Tou sports association. "I have spent all my money on the lawsuit."
Now the former runner is running short of money after suing her former coach Wang Dexian for embezzling her wages and bonuses last year. The court heard the case twice without pronouncing judgment.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/sports/2007-04/10/content_847453.htm



US-China trade war fears 'way overblown' - Gutierrez
(Agencies)Updated: 2007-04-14 09:43
WASHINGTON - Worries that recent US trade actions against China signal an impending trade war between the two countries are "way overblown," US Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez said on Friday.
The United States has filed a pair of cases against China at the World Trade Organization for movie, music and software piracy violations and market access barriers that it says keep legitimate US copyrighted products out.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-04/14/content_850564.htm



Pirated materials destroyed in ceremonies across China
(Xinhua)Updated: 2007-04-14 21:12
BEIJING - With an order given by Li Xiaojie, chief of publicity department of Gansu Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), workers set fire to 1.06 million pirated audio/video products, alongside other illegal publications in the suburbs of Lanzhou, the provincial capital, on Saturday morning.
The torching of the contraband was part of a nationwide action on Saturday to culminate China's spring campaign designed to clean up pornography and crack down on illegal publications in the country.
Altogether 42 million pieces of audio/video discs, and illegal publications were destroyed in the country's 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities on Saturday morning, according to Long Xinmin, chief of the State Press and Publication Administration.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-04/14/content_850720.htm



China weighs US plea for dialogue
By Jiang Wei (China Daily)Updated: 2007-04-12 07:17
China is studying the US request for consultations over intellectual property rights at the World Trade Organization (WTO), said the Ministry of Commerce.
The US government filed two complaints with the WTO on Monday against China over copyright piracy and restrictions on the sale of American movies, music and books.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-04/12/content_848727.htm



110m illegal discs seized in 2006
(Xinhua)Updated: 2007-04-13 16:52
BEIJING -- China confiscated around 110 million illegal CDs and DVDs in 2006, according to the Ministry of Culture.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-04/13/content_850372.htm


Hair measuring 2.42 metres

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-04/12/content_849129.htm


Please try

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/photo/2007-04/05/content_843955.htm


Feel more free

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/photo/2007-03/14/content_827312.htm



China calls on Italy for fair treatment
By Le Tian (China Daily)Updated: 2007-04-14 06:49
China has made representations to the Italian government after at least 10 Chinese nationals were injured during a clash with local riot police in Milan on Thursday, the Foreign Ministry said on Friday.
"We hope the Italian side deals fairly with the issue and seriously considers the justified demands of local Chinese nationals and takes real measures to protect their legitimate rights and interests," a statement on the ministry's website said.
The conflict was sparked by a dispute over parking between a local Chinese woman and a police officer. The woman was detained after the argument turned into a physical clash, according to the Foreign Ministry.
The situation escalated when hundreds of local Chinese protested over the detention of the woman, which led to the conflict.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-04/14/content_850562.htm



Mixed feelings over buying Japanese products
By Liu Jie (China Daily)Updated: 2007-04-13 09:22
Honda, Canon, Fuji, Sony, Mitsubishi, Asahi, Sumitomo, Shiseido, Square Enix and Daiichi Pharmaceutical apart from being Japanese, these brands have something else in common. They are all immensely popular in China.
Chinese consumers, with a collective memory of the eight-year Japanese invasion and Japanese prime ministers' constant visits to the Yasukuni Shrine that honors war criminals, have mixed feelings toward these leading brands.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2007-04/13/content_849818.htm



Program enlists help of gay community
By Shan Juan (China Daily)Updated: 2007-04-14 06:49
The country's first government-initiated program to eradicate HIV/AIDS among homosexual men will enlist help of its gay population.
The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said this week it is currently soliciting opinions on the project to be implemented by May.
A number of measures, including special funding, technical support and information sharing, are aimed at containing the spread of the virus, a growing threat among China's 20 million gays.
"It's cheering news for China's gay community, 47,000 of whom are HIV positive or AIDS patients," Xiao Dong, who heads a Beijing-based information support group, told China Daily.
"The government is beginning to take the long-neglected segment of people into the general roadmap to combat the soaring pandemic," Xiao continued.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-04/14/content_850561.htm



Jordan tops most costly divorce list
(Reuters)Updated: 2007-04-14 09:04
LOS ANGELES - The bigger they are, the harder they fall -- especially in the world of celebrity divorce.
Basketball great Michael Jordan, singer-songwriter Neil Diamond and Oscar-winning director Steven Spielberg top a new Forbes magazine list on Thursday of the most costly divorce settlements of the stars.
Jordan's pending divorce from his wife of nearly 18 years, Chicago bank officer Juanita Vanoy, could end up as the most expensive in entertainment history, Forbes said, if his estranged spouse walks away with half his fortune.
With Jordan having earned much of his wealth during his marriage, most of it through endorsement deals, Vanoy (who filed for divorce last year) stands to collect more than $150 million, the magazine said.
A close second would be the estimated $150 million settlement Diamond paid to onetime TV production assistant Marcia Murphey, whom he married in 1969 before his breakthrough album, "Touching You, Touching Me," went gold, Forbes said.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2007-04/14/content_850550.htm



Racial army video airs on German TV
(AP)Updated: 2007-04-14 22:10
BERLIN - A video showing a German army instructor telling one of his soldiers to envision African-Americans in the Bronx while firing his machine gun was broadcast Saturday on national television. The video, coming after scandals involving photos of German soldiers posing with skulls in Afghanistan and the abuse of recruits by instructors, seemed likely to raise more questions about training practices in Germany's conscript army.
"We can no longer talk about an isolated case," said Lt. Juergen Rose of the Darmstaedter Signal, a group of current and former army officers and sergeants who independently review military procedures.
"Things like this don't happen in the army on an everyday basis, but unfortunately in recent years there have been a number of comparable incidents."

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2007-04/14/content_850721.htm



37 die as car bomb hits near Iraq shrine
(AP)Updated: 2007-04-14 20:49
BAGHDAD - A car bomb blasted through a busy bus station near one of Iraq's holiest shrines Saturday, killing at least 37 people, police and hospital officials said.
The bus station bombing occurred about 200 yards from the Imam Hussein shrine in Karbala, where the grandson of Islam's Prophet Muhammad is buried - one of the most important sites for Shiites. After the attack, hundreds of people swarmed around ambulances, crying out and pounding their chests, and attacking police who tried to clear the roadway.
"I want my father. Where is my father?" 11-year-old Sajad Kadhim cried out as he lay on the grounds of the hospital, where doctors were treating his burns.
"All I remember was we were shopping. My father was holding my hand and suddenly there was a big explosion. I don't know where my father is. I want my father," the boy cried.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2007-04/14/content_850719.htm



HIV cases hit record high in Shanghai
By Zhang Kun (China Daily)Updated: 2007-04-14 06:49
SHANGHAI: This city reported a record number of new HIV infections last year, according to the municipal public health administration.
There were 718 HIV infections last year, and 53 HIV patients developed AIDS. The number of infections represents a 54 percent increase over the previous year and a record.
Despite the higher figures, the incidence rate of the disease in Shanghai is still lower than the national average, said Cai Wei, vice-director of the municipal public health administration.
Shanghai reported its first HIV infection in 1987. Since then, 2,313 infections had been reported by the end of 2006. One hundred people have died.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-04/14/content_850560.htm



Google to acquire DoubleClick for $3.1B
(AP)Updated: 2007-04-14 08:51
SAN FRANCISCO - Seeking to expand its already well-honed ability to sell targeted Internet advertisements, online search leader Google Inc. said it has agreed to pay $3.1 billion in cash to acquire ad-management technology company DoubleClick Inc.
The two companies announced the deal after the markets closed Friday. The boards of both companies have approved the takeover, which is expected to close by the end of the year.
New York-based DoubleClick helps its customers place and track online advertising, including search ads, which Google -- more than its nearest search competitors Yahoo Inc. and Microsoft Corp. -- has turned into an extremely lucrative business.
DoubleClick had been the target of a fierce bidding war between Microsoft and Google, and Google's winning bid is nearly three times the amount DoubleClick fetched when it went private in 2005 for $1.1 billion.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2007-04/14/content_850548.htm



UN nuke chief: Iran's program limited
(AP)Updated: 2007-04-13 09:35
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - The head of the UN nuclear watchdog said Thursday Iran is operating only several hundred centrifuges at its uranium enrichment plant at Natanz, despite its claims to have activated 3,000.
Mohamed ElBaradei said Iran's nuclear program was a concern, but he discounted Tehran's claims of a major advance in uranium enrichment, a process the United Nations demands Iran suspend or else be hit by increasing sanctions.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced Monday that the Natanz facility had begun "industrial-scale" production of nuclear fuel. Iran's top nuclear negotiator said workers had begun injecting uranium gas into a new array of 3,000 centrifuges, many more than the 328 centrifuges known to be operating at Natanz.
Experts say that 3,000 centrifuges would be enough in theory to develop a nuclear warhead in about a year, but they doubt Iran really had that many devices successfully running.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2007-04/13/content_849856.htm



Stem cell transplant promising for diabetes
(Reuters)Updated: 2007-04-11 09:28
In a small study, a treatment that included stem cell transplantation induced prolonged insulin independence in patients with newly diagnosed type 1, or insulin-dependent, diabetes.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2007-04/11/content_847892.htm



Bush doesn't budge on stem cell bill
(AP)Updated: 2007-04-12 16:27
WASHINGTON - President Bush remains opposed to easing restrictions on embryonic stem cell research, vowing to veto a measure the Senate hopes will lead to new medical treatments.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2007-04/12/content_849366.htm


Beijing to dent bad English translations
By Coldness Kwan (Chinadaily.com.cn)Updated: 2007-04-12 15:37
Beijing has corrected over 6,500 traffic signs and will next target other public facilities including toilets, museums, hospitals, sports venues and restaurant menus in an endeavor to weed out bad English translations in public before the 2008 Olympics.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/2008/2007-04/12/content_849340.htm



Kidman receives Australia's top honor
(AP)Updated: 2007-04-13 16:08
Actress Nicole Kidman, left, and her son Connor are seated before the start of the 20th Annual Kids' Choice Awards in Los Angeles, on Saturday, March 31, 2007.[AP]
Hollywood actress Nicole Kidman, at home in Australia to make a new movie, was awarded Australia's top civil honor on Friday at a ceremony at Government House.
Kidman was awarded the Companion of the Order of Australia by Governor-General Michael Jeffery for her contribution to cinema, and for her work promoting women and children's health, and cancer research.
"It's a pat on the back, which as a little girl is something you dream of," Kidman told reporters after receiving her award.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/entertainment/2007-04/13/content_850331.htm

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