Five bogies of the Puri-Hatia Tapaswini Express derailed on Wednesday between Maneswar and Sambalpur city stations.
No one has been injured in the incident, which occurred around 5.15 am (IST). A relief train from Sambalpur station has been rushed to the spot.
Train services have been affected on the route as the railway authorities have cancelled the Sambalpur-Bhubaneswar Inter-City Express and diverted the Bhubaneswar-Kurla Express on another route.
Surging Asian demand and strong freight rates may be set to send coal prices jumping by around a quarter to record highs, wrong-footing buyers around the globe.
Tight supply could push prices to around $100 a tonne delivered in the European and Asian markets by winter, from recent levels around $80-$85.
European users may be caught out as Asia's buyers spread their nets wider for coal.
"All the consumers, not just in Asia, misread the market," a Russian coal exporter said. "We've been saying since before the beginning of this year that there was undersupply and prices would rise strongly."
An acute coal shortage in Asia is looming but consumers should manage to scrape by, producers, traders and utilities said.
"I think they will find coal but it won't be easy and they're going to have to look very hard for a spot cargo here and there. They'll be paying higher and higher prices, naturally," one trader said.
"We're going to get into the realm of hypothetical prices which won't mean anything because there won't be coal to be sold," another producer said.
The Asian market of Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Philippines and including India and Pakistan, accounts for over half of global coal demand.
Around 90 pct of the 600 million tonnes a year global trade in steam coal is sold under long-term contract with the remainder traded as spot.
But many term contracts are priced against published indices which reflect spot prices.
ASIA DEFICIT TO REACH 25 MLN T
According to some coal producers, the Asian market faces a deficit of 15 million tonnes this year, which will have to be brought in from the Atlantic market. In 2008, this deficit could rise to 25 million tonnes, producers said.
As more South African coal is sucked into Asia, Colombia and the United States are the producers most able to fill the resulting shortfall for Europe, utilities said.
Increased Latin American coal demand, notably from Mexico, will absorb a large portion of the extra 10 million tonnes of Colombian production for 2007, Colombian producers said.
European demand has been lower than usual this year because the warm winter left a stocks overhang. But European power generating companies, gencos, will need some spot cargoes for Q4 and will have to compete against Asia.
Russian exporters said they are almost sold out for 2007 and will seek $75 a tonne FOB for remaining spot tonnes. They will be catching up with shipments delayed from this year for the first quarter of 2008.
"We're really talking about displacement of one type of coal from the Atlantic into Asia and whether there'll be enough of something else to take its place into Europe," one utility said.
LESS FROM CHINA
China's large-scale withdrawal from coal exports and the impact of heavy rains on Indonesian exports forced cement makers in India and Pakistan to turn to South Africa for coal. The subcontinent could import 10-12 million tonnes in 2007, up from just over 3 million in 2006.
This is a significant proportion of South Africa's likely 2007 total exports of 63-65 million tonnes.
Around four million tonnes of Australian exports are also likely to be pushed back into 2008 as a result of recent heavy rains.
Indonesia is the world's largest exporter, at around 200 million tonnes a year, but exports can drop easily by 30 million tonnes in a season of exceptionally severe rain.
Chinese exporters have made it clear to Asian customers that availability will be less this year and prices sharply higher. Chinese producers will give priority to domestic term supply contracts, market sources said.
The reluctance of Asian utilities to look further afield for coal has puzzled producers and traders who have been in talks with Asian buyers on potential sales of Atlantic coals for several months.
"They do still seem to be very laid back," a Pacific producer said. "I think it's been a mixture of being in denial about short supply, optimism that coal prices or freights will fall.
"And also, they just take a very long time to decide a change of strategy and things have been moving very quickly in the market."
The Korean gencos have all this year appeared calm in the face of shrinking availability and rapidly-rising prices.
The gencos have quietly bought Russian, Indonesian and South African coal on a small scale and outside their usual tender process and are now more actively seeking Q4 offers.
"The Koreans are asking everybody for offers of South African, Russian, whatever. It's a diversification, but not on a huge scale," another trader who regularly supplies to Korea said.
Sania Mirza, who has been on a roll lately, has added a new victim to her list of top 20 players she has vanquished.
The Hyderabad hurricane has beaten World Number 12 Martina Hingis in the second round of the East West Bank Classic.
Mirza has now played Hingis four times and the overall head to head count is 2-2. Sania took 1 hour 36 minutes to wrap up the match 6-2, 2-6, 6-4.
She is through to the third round of the tournament where she will face the winner of the Shahar Peer and Virginie Razano match.
Mirza has over the last few weeks downed the likes of Tatiana Golovin, Patty Schnyder, Dinara Safina and now Hingis.
Reinstated Pakistan Supreme Court Chief Justice Iftikhar M Chaudhry would head a two-judge bench to hear the petitions of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his brother seeking judicial directive to the government not to obstruct their return home from their ''forced exile'' and permit them to take part in the forthcoming polls.
The petitions of Sharif and his brother Shabaz, filed on August 2, have been listed for hearing on August 9 by Chaudhry and senior judge M Javed Buttar.
It would be interesting to see what view the court takes as the Sharif brothers in their petitions mentioned an order delivered by the same court on a similar appeal in March 2004 that said the constitution bestowed the right to all citizens to move freely and settle wherever they want.
''It is a settled proposition of law that the right to enter in the country cannot be denied but a citizen can be restrained from going out of the country. The petitioner (Sharif) is a citizen of Pakistan and has a constitutional right to enter and remain in the country,'' the 2004 court order, which the Sharifs have attached to their petitions, said.
The brothers also accused the government of ''brazenly violating'' the orders in preventing them from returning.
Nawaz Sharif along with 20 family members were exiled to Jeddah in 2000, which the Musharraf government says was part of a deal it reached with Sharif and the Saudi royal family.
Sharif, who later moved to London, denies making a deal and claims that he was forcefully deported.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni was on Tuesday named captain of the Indian cricket team for the Twenty-20 World Cup in South Africa next month.
He will also be vice captain of the ODI team in England.
Virender Sehwag, Irfan Pathan and Harbhajan Singh made a comeback and were included in the Twenty-20 squad announced by BCCI Secretary Niranjan Shah in Mumbai.
Irfan Pathan's younger brother Yusuf has also been included in the squad.
Yuvraj Singh will be Dhoni's deputy at the tournament that runs from September 11 to 28.
Apart from Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly who had earlier opted out of tournament, fast bowler Zaheer Khan has also been rested.
Meanwhile, pacer S Sreesanth was dropped from the Indian ODI team for the seven-match series against England, which was also picked by the selectors on Tuesday.
Munaf Patel, who was ignored for Test series and the preceding one-dayers against Ireland and South Africa, was recalled to replace Sreesanth.
Twenty-20 World Cup squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Yuvraj Singh (vice-captain), Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh, Ajit Agarkar, Dinesh Kaarthick, Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa, Joginder Sharma, Yusuf Pathan, Piyush Chawla, S Sreesanth, Irfan Pathan, Rudra Pratap Singh and Rohit Sharma.
ODIs vs England squad: Rahul Dravid (captain), Mahendra Singh Dhoni (vice-captain), Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Yuvraj Singh, Ramesh Powar, Dinesh Kaarthick, Zaheer Khan, Munaf Patel, Piyush Chawla, Rudra Pratap Singh, Rohit Sharma, Robin Uthappa, Gautam Gambhir and Ajit Agarkar.
Independence hero Xanana Gusmao was sworn in as East Timor's new prime minister on Wednesday.
The swearing in comes a day after Gusmao's appointment triggered violence by opposition loyalists in which at least six people were injured.
Gusmao, who used to be president of East Timor, was inaugurated at a ceremony at the state palace in the capital, Dili. His deputy and the country's new government ministers were to be sworn in later.
Authorities had been expecting violence after the announcement on Monday that President Jose Ramos-Horta would break a political logjam by handing the prime ministerial post to Gusmao, who led the country's armed resistance to Indonesian rule.
The unrest, which has mostly involved young men torching unoccupied buildings and throwing stones, threatens the fragile peace that took hold after the collapse of tiny, impoverished East Timor's government a year ago.
The former ruling party, Fretilin, won 21 seats in the 65-member Parliament in June elections, well short of a majority, but insisted it had the right to form the next government. Gusmao's party won 18, but formed a coalition that now has 37 seats.
Fretilin called the decision to appoint Gusmao illegal and vowed to have it overturned in court.
Gangs rampaged in the capital, Dili, but the worst violence was in Baucau 128 kilometres to the east, where buildings housing the offices of international aid groups and government agencies were set ablaze
A friendship's day picnic turned horribly wrong for two IIM-Indore students who were swept away by strong currents of the Choral river while taking a swim.
Their screams for help were muffled by the sound of the gushing water. All attempts to save them went in vain and they eventually drowned in the river.
The body of both the victims, Nitesh Agarwal from Delhi and Neha Singh from Hyderabad have been recovered.
''It was raining Saturday night. Today when we resumed rescue operations, we found the first body four kms away and the second one was recovered 8 kms from here,'' said Angshuman Yadav, SP, Indore.
The relatives of the victims are in shock over the abruptness of the event.
''We got to know at 7:30. His friends and villagers were trying to rescue. When they didn't find the body, they called home. We are not able to contact anyone.
The authorities are not even talking to us properly,'' said Kanika Agarwal, Nitesh's sister-in-law
Both were second year post graduate students. They had gone to the Choral picnic spot along with two other friends.
''My son had also gone with four of his friends. His name is Vishal. We lost all hope after 6:30, when they stopped the rescue operations sighting electricity problems,'' said the mother of one of Nitesh's friends who had gone with them.
The director of IIM-Indore, SP Parashar said that the students had been warned about swimming in the area.
''The water came gushing from the mountains to the river. Villagers had warned the students to come out of the water but they did not listen.
''The water came with so much force that it swept them away,'' said Piyush Tiwari, Eyewitness
Though attempts were made to save the students, all of them proved futile as darkness hindered rescue work.
The incident has left the student fraternity in shock.
An abrupt end
Nitesh was 24 years old and was a bright student.
His family says he had a bright career ahead of him, he had scored 99.4 per cent in his first year at IIM.
He had studied at Greenfields School in Delhi. He also had a Bachelors degree in Information Technology.
He would have completed his masters from IIM in another six months.
The Mumbai blasts case has come to an end. But will the man, widely believed to have incited the 1992-93 communal riots be brought to book?
Activists pressing for the implementation of the Srikrishna Commission report say cases against Shiv Sena chief, Bal Thackeray should be reopened.
''Criminals of the blasts and the riots should be measured with the same yardstick. If action is not taken, then the distance between the two communities will only increase,'' said Maulana Azmi, activist.
A legal window opened up last week when the Supreme Court in response to a petition asked the Maharashtra government to file details of cases of communal offences against those involved in the riots.
These also included those against whom cases have been withdrawn.
The Sena chief thus could now be under scanner.
Justice Srikrishna in his report made scathing comments on Thackeray's role in inciting his cadres to attack Muslims.
The report said:
* Sena and Sainiks took lead in attacks on Muslims.
* Sainiks from Shakha Pramukhs to supremo Bal Thackeray involved.
* Thackeray, like a General commanded Sainiks to retaliate against Muslims.
Inflammatory writings
Thackeray himself stayed away from the actual violence and used his writings in Sena mouthpieces Saamna and Navakal to reportedly incite violence.
In fact the only time that he was taken into custody was because of his inflammatory writings. The police picked him up from his residence on July 25, 2000. But the court dismissed the case in 45 minutes saying it was time barred.
So far Thackeray almost had a clean sheet. That is because when they came to power the Sena-BJP alliance had rejected the report.
Of the 24 cases filed against Thackeray, sanction for prosecution was not given for 16. Of the remaining eight, the Sena-BJP government withdrew sanction for six leaving the Sena supremo to fight just two cases.
With pressure building up to implement the report, the Congress-NCP government will be hard pressed to take a stand.
''As soon as we get the judgement from the Supreme Court, we will study and do whatever needs to be done,'' said R R Patil, Home Minister, Maharashtra.
This may well force the government to take a serious re-look at possible action against Bal Thackeray. But given the sensitive balance of power shifts in Maharashtra, this is going to be a tough ask.
Shah Rukh Khan's bunch of young and fiesty women hockey players are ready to hit the screens on Friday when Chak De India releases all over.
The film revolves around the story of an Indian women's hockey team, that goes on to win a World Cup.
Real life women hockey players are now hoping that it gives their sport a big boost.
There were initial reports that Vidya Stokes, the President of the Indian Women's Hockey Federation was unhappy with the on-screen portrayal of the players. But it now seems that it was a clear case of misunderstanding.
"She was asked if women's hockey is zero, and if they're being shown as hero, so she obviously reacted to it. Everyone knows the results, and my girls are doing very well, that's a fact. So neither are we unhappy, nor have we asked for a separate screening. We have no hassles with Yashraj at all," said Amrit Bose, Secretary, IWHF.
The much-awaited blockbuster is the tale of a former Indian hockey goalkeeper, played by none other than King Khan, who leads a low profile women's team to a World Cup win.
It's believed his character is based on former real-life goalie Mir Ranjan Negi, who conceded seven goals against Pakistan in the final of the 1982 Asian Games.
During the production, the filmmakers spent time at hockey camps throughout the country, during which they chose one player to play a role in the movie.
But what if only one of these players had the opportunity to share screen space with the stars, for all the other girls, the idea of being the subject of a big banner film like this is thrilling enough.
They are now looking forward to the first day first show of the film.
"We are waiting for the release of the film. People don't know hockey as much as they know cricket. So we really want the game to spread," said Pushpa Pradhan, hockey player.
"I think hockey can get a lot of promotion through the film. We all want to watch it together when the film releases," added Joydeep Kaur, hockey player.
So come Friday, the women's hockey federation will be looking forward to netting in a few more sponsors, courtesy the massive publicity generated by the film.
Captain Oliver Kahn saved the last two penalty attempts to send Bayern Munich into the second round of the German Cup with a penalty kick victory on Monday over third-division club Wacker Burghausen.
Bayern rallied to draw 1-1 on a late goal by Miroslav Klose but could not break down Burghausen in extra time and came dangerously close to getting knocked out on penalties.
With the score 3-3 in the shootout after each team had taken five shots, Kahn stopped two straight shots and Christian Lell converted his attempt to put the star-studded Bayern side into the second round.
"We played a good game and we created many chances, but we failed to convert them and their goalkeeper was very good," Bayern manager Ottmar Hitzfeld said.
Burghausen's 18-year-old goalkeeper Manuel Riemann foiled Bayern by stopping more than a dozen shots.
He also scored from the spot to make it 3-3 in the shootout before Kahn secured Bayern's win.
Thomas Neubert flicked a free kick cross under Kahn's crossbar in the 61st minute and Burghausen appeared headed for a major upset, before Klose rose to head home a corner cross from Franck Ribery in the 79th.
Ribery, Marc van Bommel and Philipp Lahm also scored in the shootout for Bayern while Jose Ernesto Sosa had his shot saved by Riemann and Hamit Altintop's effort bounced off the crossbar.
Sania Mirza beat qualifier Aleksandra Wozniak 6-3, 6-2 to reach the second round of the East West Bank Classic at Carson on Monday.
The 30th ranked Sania did not have much problem in taming the 109th ranked Wozniak as she notched up an easy victory over the qualifier at the Tier II hard court event.
Sania will take on world no 12 and seventh-seed Martina Hingis in the next round. The Swiss got a bye in the first round.
In the doubles, Sania and her new partner Bethanie Mattek of the US will take on Janette Husarova of Slovakia and Michaella Krajicek of the Netherlands. (With PTI inputs)
Mahendra Singh Dhoni is expected to be named captain of the Indian squad for next month's Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa when the selectors meet in Mumbai on Tuesday.
Test and ODI discard Virender Sehwag may also make a comeback to the side.
Apart from the Twenty20 sqaud, the selectors will also decide on the squad for the ODI series in England.
But within India's series win over south africa in the Future Cup in Ireland, it is likely that no changes will be made for the one-day sqaud that will take on England in seven ODIs.
That squad consisted of four openers, four middle order batsmen, wicket-keeper Dhoni, two spinners with Powar and Chawla and five pacers.
As many as 10 of these players are likely to feature in the Twenty20 squad as well. The absentees will of course be the big three who have opted out and the others who miss out could be Powar, Zaheer and S Sreesanth.
India has played just one Twenty20 international till now - the least of any of the international teams so far which means the selectors don't have much to go. They know they need fit players, hard hitters and all rounders. Of course the premium is on youth.
That is why Dhoni seems to be the unanimous choice as the Twenty20 captain with Dinesh Karthik as his deputy.
Yuvraj Singh though might be disappointed to miss out. Virender Sehwag ignored, since the one-dayers in Bangaldesh, is expected to make a comeback.
Ajit Agarkar and Harbhajan Singh will be considered, while Irfan Pathan is said to be 50-50.
Mohammad Kaif is unlikely to be picked given that this game does not suit his style.
The newcomers in the team could be Pathan's brother Yusuf, an all-rounder and Yo Mahesh - the bowler from Tamil Nadu.
The certainties are Yuvraj, Gautam Gambhir and Rohit Sharma. Manoj Tiwary and Suresh Raina will be considered provided they have a fitness clearance.
he US military expects to amass more than 22,000 troops off the coast of Guam starting on Tuesday for a weeklong exercise involving dozens of ships and hundreds of aircraft.
''The exercise demonstrates to our friends and allies in the Asia-Pacific ... how important the security of the region is to the United States,'' said Navy Captain Matt Loughlin, deputy chief of staff for Task Force 519, the Hawaii-based unit directing the drills.
Last year's exercises coincided with rising tensions over a possible test launch of a North Korean long-range missile, prompting two ships participating in the games to be assigned off the Korean coast to monitor the activity.
US military officials at the time stressed the exercises were not held in response to the North Korean activity and they were not directed at any one nation.
Similarly, officials said this year's war games are not connected in any way to world events or targetted at any country.
The US military also did not invite foreign observers to this year's drill, unlike last year when it hosted observers from 10 countries, including China, India, Japan and Australia.
The 2006 Valiant Shield drill marked the first time the US had invited a Chinese delegation to officially observe US maneuvers in the Pacific. Beijing sent a 10-member delegation headed by an admiral to watch.
Loughlin said hosting the observers was logistically costly, and commanders decided to limit foreign participation during this year's drill and focus on the training.
However, foreign media have been invited again.
he US space agency NASA launched a spacecraft on a nine-month journey to the planet to dig below the surface of Mars.
If everything goes to plan, the Phoenix Mars Lander will travel 680 million Kms over nine months and land on the Red Planet on May 25 2008.
Phoenix's journey has begun after four years of work and after one failed attempt in 1999 when NASA's Polar Lander disappeared moments after reaching Mars.
Once on Martian ground the Phoenix will dig below surface for frozen water and try and look for signs of life.
A robotic arm will pick samples deliver them to the phoenix's deck where they will be tested for water, organics and minerals. While NASA scientists will monitor from Earth.
Scientists want to investigate if there is or could have been life which is possible when water comes into contact with soil.
The Phoenix will land near the polar regions of the planet where life or signs of life would be better preserved in the minus 73 degrees Celsius temperature rather than the other parts of the planet which are extremely hot.
Unlike Spirit and Endeavour other NASA spacecraft on Mars, Phoenix is not a rover and will work for the next three months looking for life.
However, for NASA scientists right now their biggest concern is a smooth landing after the flawless midnight take off.
North Korea joined the US and representatives of four other countries on Tuesday for talks at the heavily armed border dividing North and South Korea on an aid package the North would receive for its nuclear disarmament.
The two-day meeting at the truce village of Panmunjom is being held under the auspices of the six-nation talks on North Korea's nuclear program - which include China, Japan, Russia and South Korea.
The countries were to discuss technical details of how to provide North Korea with the equivalent of 950,000 tons of oil in exchange for abandoning all its nuclear programs and disabling its facilities under a February agreement.
North Korea has already received 50,000 tons of oil for shutting down its sole operating nuclear reactor last month and inviting UN nuclear inspectors to ensure it stays closed.
''After many twists and turns, the six-party process has gained momentum again,'' South Korean nuclear envoy Chun Yung-woo said as he opened the session.
The nuclear talks are usually held in Beijing and Tuesday's session is the first time the six-nation group has convened in Panmunjom, where North and South Korean soldiers stand face-to-face.
''This truce village symbolizes a particular legacy of division of the Cold War, which I believe should be remedied through the peace process to proceed in parallel with the denuclearization process,'' Chun said.
Agreements on ending the North Korea's nuclear weapons programs include proposals for discussions on a peace plan for the peninsula, which remains technically at war since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a cease-fire that has never been replaced with a peace treaty.
On the eve of the talks, North and South Korean soldiers briefly exchanged gunfire along their border, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said.
North Korean soldiers fired several shots toward a South Korean guard post in the eastern part of the Demilitarized Zone that divides the Korean peninsula.
South Korean soldiers immediately returned fire, a statement said.
No one was hurt on the southern side, and it was unclear if there were any casualties on the northern side.
On Tuesday, Chun said the nuclear talks would focus on finding a ''cost-effective and feasible'' package of options for aid. North Korea has limited storage facilities for oil and its facilities are rundown.
The US has previously said some of the assistance could be infrastructure improvement.
The South Korean diplomat said there would be ''obstacles and pitfalls'' in the talks, but also higher expectations for speedy progress in disarming North Korea.
''Our task only becomes more difficult and challenging,'' Chun said.
The deadlocked struggle between the pro-US government and mainly Shiite opposition deepened after a tense parliamentary election showed a sharp divide among Christians, a key swing bloc.
That deadlock was reinforced when pro-government candidate Amin Gemayel, a former president and the head of one of Lebanon's most powerful Maronite Christian families, conceded defeat on Monday by a mere 418 votes in Sunday's election in the Christian stronghold of Metn north of Beirut.
The victor was little-known Kamil Khoury, who was backed by the most prominent Christian leader in the pro-Syrian opposition, Michel Aoun.
Khoury took 39,534 votes to Gemayel's 39,116.
The result ''reaffirms the existing stalemate,'' said Rami Khoury, an analyst with the Issam Fares think tank at the American University of Beirut. ''It shows a very polarized Christian community.''
Sunnis are the base for the ruling coalition, which opposes Syrian influence. Shiite Muslims, led by Hezbollah, overwhelmingly back the pro-Syrian opposition.
Neither side has been able to decisively lure the Christians, around a third of Lebanon's 4 million people, to their camp.
Many fear the deepening stalemate may lead to the formation of competing governments if it is not resolved before the race to replace pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud, whose term ends November 23.
Under Lebanon's division of power among its sects, the presidency must be held by a Maronite Christian chosen parliament.
Now, no Maronite leader can boost his bid among lawmakers by claiming to represent the entire community.
Anti-Syrian candidate
Prime Minister Fuad Saniora's backers are hoping to finally put in place an anti-Syrian figure in the presidency to strengthen their power.
They rose to control the government after Syrian troops withdrew from Lebanon in 2005, ending Damascus' decades long control of Lebanon.
But the political struggle with the Hezbollah-led opposition has sapped the anti-Syrian movement's power and paralyzed the government. Gemayel's loss is a setback for his potential as a candidate.
Aoun has said he will stand for the presidency. But the slimness of Kamil Khoury's victory on Sunday damages his patron Aoun's attempts to present himself as the top Christian politician.
''Aoun is still a formidable figure but cannot really present himself as the leading Maronite figure anymore. That's probably the single most significant element in the election,'' said Rami Khoury, the analyst.
Gemayel, 65, was running in his home district with an implicit endorsement by the powerful Maronite patriarch. He was seeking to replace his son, Pierre Gemayel, who was gunned down in November in an attack that government supporters blamed on Syria.
Gemayel got more of the Maronite vote than his rival 75 per cent, according to press reports. But Aoun's candidate made up for it by winning other Christians' votes.
Gemayel supporters blamed his loss on the large ethnic Armenian community in the Metn district and said Kamil Khoury was not representative of the Maronites, who form a majority in the district and are the largest Christian sect in Lebanon.
Armenians are largely Catholic or Orthodox Christian.
Another election on Sunday was to replace lawmaker Walid Eido, a Sunni Muslim who was killed in a June car bombing there. A pro-government candidate, Mohammed al-Amin Itani, won that race easily.
A pair of Russian fighter jets violated Georgian airspace Monday evening, firing a missile that landed near a village north of the capital, Tbilisi, Georgian authorities said Tuesday morning. There were no casualties.
"Two Russian, presumably, SU-24 frontline bombers violated Georgian airspace near Kazbegi and flew towards Gori," an Interior Ministry statement said. "The Russians launched 'air-surface' precision-guided missiles and bombed the surroundings of Tsitelubani village." According to media reports, the ordnance did not explode.
A senior official in Russia's air force quickly denied the reports.
Col. Alexandr Drobyshevskiy, the assistant commander of Russia's air force, said Russia planes did not fly any missions in the area and did not violate Georgia's airspace.
Tsitelubani is located about 40 miles (65 km) north of Tbilisi, and on the border of the breakaway region of South Ossetia. South Ossetia split with Georgia in the early 1990s.
Officials from the breakaway region were to meet with Georgian officials on Tuesday, but canceled the meeting after the alleged attack, claiming Georgia could not guarantee their safety. Tbilisi accused Moscow of trying to sidetrack the talks
Israeli border police early Tuesday evicted more than 50 Jewish settlers who were illegally occupying apartments in the West Bank city of Hebron, a police spokesman said.
According to Mickey Rosenfeld, twelve members of two families, who had been living there since September 2006 and who had been ordered to leave under numerous court rulings, were removed without incident.
But a number of right-wing activists were less cooperative as they pelted police with rocks and cement, and poured oil on them. Fourteen police were injured in the clash, along with 13 activists. Four of the activists were arrested, according to Rosenfeld.
About 200 police took part in the operation.
Three U.S. soldiers died Saturday when their convoy was hit by a roadside bomb south of Baghdad, a U.S. military statement released Tuesday said.
All of the soldiers were members of the Army's Task Force Marne.
Since the start of the war in March 2003, the U.S. death toll in Iraq is 3,677. (Posted 4:45 a.m.)
BANGALORE, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Indian software exporter Wipro Ltd. (WIPR.BO: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Monday it would pay $18.70 a share to buy U.S. technology services company Infocrossing Inc. (IFOX.O: Quote, Profile, Research) and its units in an all-cash deal. Wipro's Chief Financial Officer, Suresh Senapaty, told reporters in Bangalore the deal had an enterprise value of $600 million and was likely to close in the October-December quarter.
The acquisition is the latest in a wave of foreign M&A deals by Indian companies, aiming to penetrate new markets and access the latest technology by buying foreign firms.
Infocrossing, which had revenue of $232.4 million for the 12 months ended March 31, provides infrastructure management solutions, including server management, mainframe outsourcing, network management and security services, New York-listed Wipro (WIT.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said in a statement.
"With its unique platform based solutions, Infocrossing also brings in significant expertise in health plan and payer management segments," Sudip Banerjee, president of enterprise solutions of Wipro Technologies, said in the statement.
Ahead of the announcement, shares in Wipro fell 2.6 percent to 457.85 rupees, their lowest close in over a year, in a Mumbai market (.BSESN: Quote, Profile, Research) which fell 1.6 percent.
((Reporting by Sumeet Chatterjee; Reuters Messaging: devidutta.tripathy.reuters.com@reuters.net; +91 22 6636 9031)) Keywords: INFOCROSSING WIPRO/
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Mumbai, Aug. 6 (PTI): The benchmark Sensex today slipped more than 432 points in early trade on heavy selling by funds, triggered by weak global trend.
The BSE-30 share index, Sensex, which had gained 152.70 points in the previous trading session, crashed 432.82 points at 14,705.58 in the first five minutes of trading.
The wide-based National Stock Exchange's Nifty dropped 120.85 points at 4,267.15.
Market observers said meltdown on the global markets mainly triggered major sell-off on the domestic bourses, dragging the Sensex down sharply.
Most heavy-weight stocks on the indices were in the red with sizeable losses
New Delhi, Aug. 6 (PTI): The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India on Sunday night cancelled the Common Profiency Test for admission to the Chartered Accountant's course following a television channel's expose into leakage of the question paper here and set August 26 for fresh examination.
"Today's exam held throughout India has been cancelled after a TV channel sting operation exposed the leak, and the exam will now be held on August 26," ICAI president, Sunil Talti, told PTI.
Nearly 82,000 students appeared at the examination across 209 centres in India and also in Kathmandu and Dubai.
Talti said a high-powered committee has been set up to probe the paper leak and the police will go into the matter.
India TV channel, which conducted the sting operation on Saturday night, claimed in a press release that it had procured the question paper from two middlemen Satish Singh and Sudesh Kumar for Rs 60,000.
Delhi Police registered a FIR in Nazafgarh police station in West Delhi and raided Kumar's residence as well as some other places in that locality.
"Investigations are on and we are waiting for tapes from the television channel," said a Delhi Police officer.
Karachi, Aug. 4 (PTI): The Pakistan cricketers have been guaranteed huge bonuses for beating arch-rivals India in the upcoming series as part of the Board's initiative to reward players for each win.
"We have kept a premium on winning performances against all teams including India," an official in the Pakistan Cricket Board said.
"The idea is to reward the players for winning performances as a team and individuals."
Pakistan is due to tour India in November and December to play three Tests and five one-day internationals.
The PCB's new central contracts, offered to 20 players today, contain incentives for winning matches and individual performances.
One of the clauses deals with matches against India.
For example a player in category 'A' who gets a monthly retainer of Rs. 2.5 lakhs will get the same amount for each match won against India.
There is also a team bonus for beating India.
The players in category 'B' are assured a monthly retainer of Rs. 1.5 lakhs and those in category 'C' Rs. 1 lakh.
Meanwile, the PCB has also sent a proposal to their Indian counterparts to play a Twenty20 match to raise funds for the academy project of their late coach Bob Woolmer.
"The mandate is also to try to convince the Indians to play the Twenty20 match," said Zakir Khan, Director cricket operations of the board, who would be leaving for India soon with a delegation to inspect arrangements and venues for the coming series.
Oil prices fell Monday in Asia, extending a decline prompted at the close of last week by news of a cooling US job market.
Light, sweet crude for September delivery lost 68 cents to $74.80 a barrel in Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange in Singapore.
The contract declined $1.38 to settle at $75.48 a barrel Friday after the US Labor Department reported the US unemployment rate rose to 4.6 per cent in July, a six-month high. That suggests the US economy might be slowing, which could lower demand for oil and gasoline.
While crude futures set new price records above US$78 last week, they ended the week US$1.54 a barrel, or 2 per cent, lower.
"Market participants are cashing in their profits and the concerns now are the weak U.S. economic data reported late last week," said Victor Shum, an energy analyst with Purvin & Gertz in Singapore.
"The weak data gives market participants a reason to cash in their profits from the record highs established in the middle of last week," he added.
Speculation
Shum and other analysts stated that the recent price run-ups have been driven more by speculation than by fundamental issues and that it's to be expected that prices will fall from the highs as traders look at seasonal supply and demand balances.
Oil prices tend to peak in the summer, then slide in the fall. Last year, for instance, oil dropped nearly $20 between early August and early October.
Fundamental factors that earlier supported prices in the U.S. spring and summer have eroded. In particular, demand for gasoline, typically high during the summer driving season, has ebbed. As well, U.S. gasoline inventories have been building the past several weeks.
Analysts say investment funds have been supporting prices in recent weeks by buying up contracts when prices hit technical triggers.
Declines in crude oil inventories as refineries increase output have been cited as a fundamental reason for the price increases, but crude oil stocks in the US are still higher than their average for this time of year.
September Brent crude fell 27 cents to $74.48 a barrel on the ICE futures exchange in London. Nymex gasoline dropped 1.9 cents to $2.01 a gallon (3.8 litres) while heating oil prices lost 0.67 cent to $2.0273 a gallon. Natural gas prices fell 8.9 cents to $6.001 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Pakistan's former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has favoured resolution of the Kashmir issue in accordance with the Shimla agreement.
''Any settlement of the issue should reflect the wishes of the people of Jammu and Kashmir,'' the Pakistan People's Party leader said at a press conference.
She said her party stood for resolution of the Kashmir issue in accordance with the 1972 Shimla agreement, which calls for its ''final settlement'' through peaceful means.
Bhutto said that India-China model is a good basis for promoting the ties between India and Pakistan.
After NDTV reported the shocking story of an 85-year-old man who has been locked up in a room for the last two years by his own son, the Union Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Meira Kumar, has promised to look into the matter.
The old man was given nothing but some straw for warmth and clothing by his son, who was also the sarpanch of a village near Godhra in Gujarat.
What's even worse is that several people knew about the old man's condition but chose not to interfere.
A fresh al-Qaida video has warned that the United States and India are among the terror networks primary targets worldwide, according to agency reports.
A wanted American member of al-Qaida has in a new video warned that US and Indian interests and diplomatic missions are ''legitimate targets''.
The warning was posted on Lauramansfield.com, an American website that monitors terrorist groups and says that al-Qaida's primary objective is to target Israel, Russia and India, apart from the US.
The video also features clips from speeches by al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden and his right hand man Ayman Al Zawahiri.
The one-hour and 17 minute-long video also featured a computer-animated recreation of a March 2006 suicide attack that killed US diplomat David Foy in Karachi and testimony from a man who claimed to be the bomber.
''We shall continue to target you, at home and abroad, just as you target us, at home and abroad, and these spy dens and military command and control centres from which you plotted your aggression against Afghanistan and Iraq,'' said Adam Gadahn, also known as Azzan al-Amriki.
The California-born Gadahn was charged with treason in the US last autumn and has been wanted since 2004 by the FBI, which is offering a $1 million reward for information leading to his arrest or conviction.
He last appeared in a video in May threatening the United States with an attack worse than September 11, 2001.
'Expel by force'
It was not known when his footage was filmed, because he did not describe any recent specific events.
''Years of bitter trial and experience have revealed the danger they (referring to embassies) pose and shown that the only way to deal with them when they refuse to leave of their own accord is to expel them by force,'' Gadahn said.
The al-Qaida message also focussed on the testimony of suicide bomber Abu Othman, who was purportedly shown sitting in a leafy shaded garden explaining how he had once fought in Afghanistan and his reasons for going on jihad, or holy war, against the United States.
Othman was purportedly shown helping to wire his white compact car with explosives and at the end of the video, hugging his friends goodbye before driving off into the night to carry out his mission. (With AP inputs)
While many in India speak about the need for 100 per cent literacy and crores are pumped into schemes like the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyaan, a government survey has unearthed some disturbing new facts and figures.
According to the report titled Elementary Education in India 2005-06, a report prepared by the National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration (NIEPA), over 32,000 schools or almost 3 per cent schools do not have a single student.
Forty-eight per cent of these schools, mostly at the primary level, are in rural areas.
The survey covered over 11 lakh schools in 35 states and union territories and found that Karnataka was the worst with almost 8,000 schools without a single student.
The survey also found 6 per cent schools had less than 25 students, mostly in Bihar, Delhi, Kerala and Uttar Pradesh.
The low enrollment is not surprising.
A school in Rewai village in Mahoba district of Uttar Pradesh has been closed ever since it was built. The village has a school, but no students and since there are no students, there are no teachers either.
''People come to the school premises to relieve themselves as it always remains closed,'' complained a student.
Twenty-three thousand schools don't have a single teacher and more than a lakh schools had just one teacher.
Schools also end up being without any students because they are set up in inaccessible areas.
Ashok Malhotra, the Delhi Assembly canteen vendor and land scam kingpin has been arrested by the CBI from the studios of Zee TV in the Noida area.
He has been taken for questioning to the CBI headquarters in New Delhi.
Fifty-two cars, allegedly belonging to Malhotra, have also been seized by the CBI from a parking lot near his residence.
The CBI has charged Malhotra with grabbing plots meant for slum-dwellers and having them allotted to private parties.
''Investigation is in a very initial stage. No one will be spared. Anybody of any stature found to have played a role will not be spared. All that's possible is being done to unravel the scam,'' said Vijay Shankar, CBI Director.
Ashok Malhotra meanwhile has been maintaining that there was nothing illegal in his possessing the fleet of cars.
''Ashok Malhotra had to surrender to the Court but we made him surrender through the Zee TV studio. The CBI has arrested him and will present him in the court and we will fight his case,'' said Ashok Malhotra's lawyer.
Malhotra had gone missing for five days after the scam broke.
The United States is undermining Venezuela's bid to enter the South American trade bloc Mercosur, President Hugo Chavez has said.
Chavez complained on Sunday that lawmakers in Brazil and Paraguay have unnecessarily delayed a vote to ratify Venezuela as a member of Mercosur even after the leaders of those countries - along with the legislatures in Argentina and Uruguay - already signed off on it.
He praised Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Argentine President Nestor Kirchner for urging the quick approval of Venezuela's membership, saying they had defied US pressure aimed at isolating Venezuela.
''Why can't Venezuela enter Mercosur? The order comes from Washington,'' said Chavez, speaking during his weekly television and radio programme Hello President.
The Venezuelan leader, a close ally of Cuban leader Fidel Castro, sees Mercosur as a way for South American nations to unite against US economic and political influence in the region.
Chavez backtracked on his recent warning that Venezuela could withdraw its bid to enter the trade bloc if Brazilian and Paraguayan lawmakers fail to approve Venezuela's entry before September.
''I didn't give anybody an ultimatum,'' he said. ''I only said that more than a year has passed and there is no answer, that we have our schedule.''
Chavez also said he plans to leave on Monday on a tour of Argentina, Uruguay, Bolivia and Ecuador.
Since taking office in 1999, Chavez has forged strong ties with Latin American countries while distancing Venezuela from the United States.
An eight-year-old Israeli boy spent six hours floating in the Dead Sea alone at night after his father left him there by accident during a family trip.
The Dead Sea, the lowest point on earth and one of srael's most popular tourist attractions, has an abnormally high salt concentration that allows swimmers to float on the surface.
Rescue workers said the boy, Shneur Zalman Friedman, from Jerusalem, was in the sea with his father and two brothers when currents swept him away from shore, without anyone else noticing.
Police spokesperson Micky Rsenfeld said the family was part of a large group visiting a beach reserve for ultra-Orthodox Jewish men -- who do not bathe in the presence of women -- away from main public areas.
His father left the water with other members of the group and only noticed the boy was missing as darkness fell, Rsenfeld said.
A major search by police helicopters and volunteers in motorboat finally found Shneur about three kilometres from the shore after six hours in the strong-smelling, corrosive water, Yhuda Meshi-Zahav of the Zaka rescue organisation said.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy lost his temper with two American news photographers covering his vacation, jumping onto their boat and scolding them loudly in French.
Sarkozy and companions were headed for open water on Sunday in a boat on Lake Winnipesaukee when he spotted Associated Press photographer Jim Cole and freelancer Vince DeWitt aboard Cole's boat, which was outside a buoy barrier monitored by the New Hampshire Marine Patrol.
Before Sarkozy spotted him, Cole had driven his boat up to the patrol boat, identified himself and received permission to be there.
''He was happy and smiling and he waved at the security people as he was coming out,'' Cole said of the president.
''And then he noticed us taking pictures and his happy demeanour diminished immediately.''
The men said they watched through their lenses as Sarkozy pointed towards them and his boat began moving in their direction.
Coming alongside Cole's boat, Sarkozy, clad only in swim trunks, jumped aboard and began shouting at them.
''The president was very agitated, speaking French at a loud volume very rapidly,'' DeWitt said.
Both men said they repeatedly stated they did not speak French.
Cole said he asked whether any of the other passengers on Sarkozy's boat spoke English, but that no one answered or intervened.
Sarkozy picked up DeWitt's camera, but then put it down.
A woman then spoke up in English and relayed Sarkozy's request to be left alone, DeWitt said. The woman did not identify herself.
A team of UN nuclear inspectors began a four-day assessment on Monday of a nuclear power plant that was severely damaged by an earthquake last month.
The magnitude-6.8 quake in Niigata prefecture on July 16 killed 11 people and injured more than 1,000.
It also caused numerous malfunctions and leaks at the plant, the world's largest in terms of capacity, and raised concerns about safety at Japan's nuclear power stations.
The International Atomic Energy Agency team, led by Philippe Jamet, director of its Nuclear Installation Safety Division, started examining the plant on Monday morning.
The team will return to Tokyo on Friday for talks with Japanese nuclear safety officials, Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said in a statement.
Jamet said he would like to inspect the facilities first hand and would seek explanations of all the problems that occurred in the quake.
''Our aim today is to draw lessons from the earthquake that happened here and share (them) with the international community,'' he told reporters on Monday.
Jamet told reporters after his arrival Sunday that his team will conduct an independent examination and then write a report.
Japanese officials, already at the plant for investigations, will cooperate with the six-member IAEA team, but the UN agency's probe will be independent, agency officials said.
Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co has come under fire in the wake of the quake.
The company has revealed hundreds of problems and damages in the quake's aftermath, including a leak of radioactive water into the sea, although the amount of radioactivity released was minimal.
Plant officials said they had not foreseen such a powerful quake hitting the facility, and repeatedly underreported its impact afterward.
The dreaded foot and mouth disease is back to haunt the United Kingdom, six years after it first struck the country's livestock.
A cattle farm near Guildford in Surrey has reported a fresh outbreak of the disease at least 60 animals have already tested positive at the farm.
The administration has established a 3 kilometer protection zone around the farm and has ordered the monitoring of all animals in a 10 km radius.
The UK's cobra committee held an emergency meeting to discuss containment of the outbreak and PM Gordon brown cancelled his holiday to participate in the meeting by telephone.
In accordance with UK legislation all the cattle on the surrey farm will be culled and an immediate ban on the movement of all livestock within the UK has been imposed.
The last foot and mouth outbreak in the UK was in 2001 and resulted in major chaos.
Around 6.5 to10 million cattle had to be culled and cattle owners and other rural businesses lost over 8.5 billion pounds.
''The animals will be humanely slaughtered and disposed of by incineration, obviously no pyres no burning of carcasses, and we have a whole wide range of measures to identify what has happened.
It's very early stage in this. We need to determine where the virus has come from, where it might have spread,'' said Debbie Reynolds, UK Chief veterinary officer.
The disease in question
Even the slight mention of foot and mouth may give cattle owners sleepless nights but as far as humans go there is no reason for alarm.
Foot-and-mouth is a highly contagious viral disease, which affects cattle.
Symptoms include fever, lesions in the mouth and lameness. The disease only crosses the species barrier from cattle to human with great difficulty.
The disease in humans is mild, short-lived and requires no medical treatment.
The US unemployment rate inched up to a six-month high of 4.6 per cent in July as hiring simmered down. Workers' wages, meanwhile, grew modestly. Wall Street tumbled.
The latest snapshot of conditions around the country, released by the Labor Department Friday, showed that new job creation has slowed. Employers increased payrolls by 92,000 last month, down from 126,000 in June. It marked the fewest add-ons in a month since February.
Hefty job cuts by the government were a big factor in the subdued employment picture. Jobs also were eliminated by construction companies, factories and retailers, in part reflecting the toll of the sour housing market and the struggles of the US auto industry.
Employment in health care, food services, architecture and engineering, computer design and in other industries expanded.
"There are some indications that the job market may be easing up a tad but the fundamentals still remain quite solid," said Lynn Reaser, chief economist at Bank of America's Investment Strategies Group.
"So for people looking for work there are still opportunities, but some areas are much more active in seeking workers than others," she said.
Historical standards
Even with the uptick from June's 4.5 per cent, the current jobless rate is still low by historical standards. The lowest unemployment rate in a generation, 3.8 per cent was logged in 2000. In contrast, the rate topped 10 per cent in the early 1980s.
July's jobless rate was the highest since January, when it also was 4.6 percent. The last time it was higher was August 2006.
A separate report showed that the service sector, an engine of the US economy, lost momentum in July. The Institute for Supply Management's index dipped to 55.8, from 60.7 in June. Readings above 50 indicate expansion, while those below 50 indicate contraction.
On Wall Street, stocks slid. Investors already wary by the latest economic news were gripped by fresh fears of a credit crunch. The Dow Jones industrials plunged 281.42 point to close at 13,181.91.
The latest economic reports were consistent with analysts' forecasts that the economy will grow gradually but not like gangbusters, through the rest of this year.
The new employment picture was weaker than economists had expected. They were expecting employers to add around 1,35,000 jobs in July.
Former Democratic Senator Sam Nunn has said he is frustrated with the direction of the presidential race and acknowledged talking with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and others about an independent challenge to the major parties.
''We've had conversations about frustration with the fact that the process is flawed,'' Nunn said of Bloomberg, who has sent mixed signals about a potential independent White House bid.
''I've told him...It may be time for some serious people to look at what I call a time-out and having people of good faith in the Democratic and Republican parties to come together and address the issues that the parties don't seem to want to address.''
''We have not discussed any kind of joint strategy. I have just had conversations with him,'' Nunn added.
Nunn, 68, a moderate who earned a reputation for bipartisanship during four terms in the Senate, was frequently mentioned as a potential presidential or vice presidential candidate before he retired in 1996.
He said he is not ruling out his own White House run. But he insisted that he is not trying to open the door to a campaign.
Either way, he said, he plans to speak out more because he thinks the system pushes candidates toward ''wing issues'' that motivate the parties' bases instead of fundamental priorities like long-term fiscal stability and national security.
''The only thing I would consider would be running for the big office,'' he said, referring to the White House.
Now Sanjay Dutt has got the backing of none other than the Congress president Sonia Gandhi. The actor was sentenced to six years in prison for illegally possessing guns.
Mrs Gandhi on Friday met the actor's sister Priya Dutt who is also a congress MP and reportedly assured her that the party backs the family in their hour of need.
However, the Congress' support won't be public.
''I am a party worker, Priyaji is also from the party, we all are from the party. What can be my personal statement? I am a human and hence every individual statement is my own,'' said Priyaranjan Dasmunsi, I & B Minister.
''I am a party worker and not an independent and when I say something I say it for the good of the party,'' he added.
Several ministers and top leaders are already publicly expressing support for the Dutt family, as there is still a large measure of goodwill for Sanjay Dutt's father Sunil Dutt a Congress leader.
Sania Mirza's dream run at the Acura Classic came to an end after she lost in straight sets to top seed and defending champion Maria Sharapova in the quarterfinals.
Twenty-year-old Sania was looking to continue her giant killing act as she faced Sharapova in the quarterfinals, but the defending champion came out in an aggressive frame of mind.
The second ranked player in the world broke India's tennis sensation in the opening game of the match.
Sania though had the confidence of having beaten five top 25 players in the last two weeks and she fought back with her favourite weapon - her forehand.
However, the 20-year-old's weakness, namely her serve, came back to haunt her, as Sharapova made full use of Sania's many second serves to race to a 5-1 lead.
Sania, who had lost to Sharapova the last time the two played, managed to produce some winners. But they were too few as Sharapova wrapped up the opening set 6-2 in 28 minutes.
Amazing record
Sharapova, who has an amazing 9-1 record at the Acura Classic, started the second set in similar fashion, even though Sania tried her level best to match up with some awkward shots.
But the power of Sharapova, who is looking to win her first title this year, was too tough for the Hyderabad hurricane to deal with, as she failed to hold serve even once in the second set.
Sania though did manage to win one game as she broke Sharapova in the fifth game, but only to lose her serve to love immediately after.
The US Open champion wrapped up the match in just over an hour after winning point number 60 compared to just 35 for Sania.
Sharapova won 6-2, 6-1 to exactly match the scoreline from their last encounter at the 2005 US Open.
For Mirza, it's the end to a great run which should help her break into the top 30 on Monday, while for the 20-year-old Russian, it's a chance to get back into form before heading to Flushing Meadows.
Nepal launched a new national anthem replacing the previous song that praised the nation's highly unpopular monarch King Gyanendra.
The new anthem was made public by Parliament Speaker Subash Nemwang.
The song was written by local composer Byakul Maila, who won a nationwide competition to select a new anthem.
Amber Gurung, a veteran musician composed the melody.
Nepal's last national anthem praised King Gyanendra and wished him a long life, but it was scrapped soon after he was forced to give up his authoritarian rule in April 2006.
Gyanendra has been stripped of his powers and a special assembly to be elected later this year will decide whether Nepal should continue to have a king.
NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander won't blast off on the first day of its three-week launch window because of bad weather in Florida.
(TUCSON, Ariz.)—Stormy weather at Cape Canaveral delayed loading of fuel onto the Delta 2 rocket Tuesday, delaying by a least a day the first possible launch attempt. The next launch attempt is now set for 2:34 a.m. Saturday. Thunderstorms and lightning were forecast to move into the area during the time the fuel-loading operation was scheduled.
The Phoenix Mars mission, led by scientists at the University of Arizona in Tucson, will look for evidence of water beneath the planet's surface. The lander should arrive at Mars 10 months after it launches and touch down in the northern plains for its three-month mission. If successful, it will be the first time since the Viking missions three decades ago that a robot will drill beneath the Martian surface.
Once it lands, Phoenix will heat the soil samples in miniature ovens to study their chemistry. The lander can detect the presence of organics, although it won't be able to tell if there's DNA or protein, said principal investigator Peter Smith, a UA scientist.
The issue is straightforward enough, even if few countries have ever had to deal with it on this scale before: thanks primarily to its thriving export industries, China has $1.4 trillion (and counting) in its pocket, and has to put it somewhere. For years, the investment of choice has been the drab solidity of U.S. Treasury bonds. But as the dollar drops, and higher returns can be gained elsewhere, China has begun to eye more alluring places to stash some of its cash.
On July 23, Beijing made its boldest investment play yet. The China Development Bank (CDB), a huge, state-owned institution that until recently has focused on making large, subsidized loans for infrastructure projects, typically in the country's poorest regions, is plunging into the middle of a takeover fight for one of Europe's biggest and most venerable banks. Teaming up with Singapore's state-owned investment vehicle, Temasek — which will invest an initial $1.9 billion — CDB will fork over $3 billion for a stake in Barclays, the British bank now locked in a struggle with a consortium led by Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) to acquire Amsterdam-based ABN Amro. If Barclays' $94 billion cash-and-stock bid prevails against RBS's $98 billion offer, CDB will boost its stake in Barclays to $13.5 billion, making it by far the biggest Chinese offshore investment ever.
There is more — much more — where that came from. To date, China's economic engagement with the outside world has largely come via exports (it sent $969 billion worth of goods to the rest of the world last year) and by attracting huge amounts of foreign direct investment, mostly from manufacturers taking advantage of its low labor costs. That is now changing rapidly. A month ago, Beijing's State Investment Company bought a $3 billion stake in the Blackstone Group just before the American private-equity giant went public (an investment that is so far more than $300 million underwater). This and the CDB stake in Barclays are the most high-profile foreign investments China has made since the oil firm CNOOC tried and failed to buy U.S. oil company Unocal in 2005. Says Jing Ulrich, JPMorgan's Hong Kong-based head of China equities: "China has a wall of money — a tsunami, really — that is about to hit the rest of the world. In terms of global capital markets, there is just nothing happening that's bigger than this right now." Indeed, JPMorgan figures that if China boosts its national savings by 10% a year — a "conservative" estimate, it says — and only 5% of the total leaves China each year, by 2020 China's outbound investment from individuals and corporations alone (not including money from the recently formed State Investment Company) would amount to $822 billion. Last year, total Chinese foreign investment was a mere $16 billion.
For Beijing, having $1.4 trillion to invest is a nice problem, but a complicated one nonetheless. "It's the classic elephant-in-the-room syndrome," says one Western banker who advises the State Investment Company. "Where does he sit? Anywhere he wants, sure. But he's got to be very careful that he doesn't squash anything when he does." The mere whiff of a rumor that, say, Beijing may shift part of its foreign-exchange holdings from dollars into euros has rattled world currency markets several times in the past year.
To date, most of the direct investments Chinese companies have made abroad have been relatively small, aimed principally at gaining access to key supplies of oil, gas and minerals in Africa and elsewhere. Much of this has gone largely unnoticed. Chinese companies, for example, quietly invested a total of $4.2 billion in Russian companies last year. But some, of course, has been decidedly noticed. The country's investments in Sudan, which increased in early July when China National Petroleum Corp. said it would spend an additional $25 million developing an offshore field there, have become a global flashpoint given the carnage the Khartoum government has allowed to continue in Darfur.
Nor has that been the only political problem tied to foreign investment for China. Beijing has not forgotten the protectionist uproar that was triggered in the U.S. when CNOOC tried to buy the Los Angeles-based Unocal. The lessons, say people involved in the deal, have been seared into their brains, and have been evident in the Chinese investments in Barclays and Blackstone. Rather than trying to swallow big, high-profile Western firms in one bite, the Chinese are taking smaller, strategic stakes and working, in the case of the Barclays deal, with another prominent partner, Temasek.
This measured, strategic-stake approach may help Chinese firms avoid the disaster that befell many Japanese companies when they went on their own foreign spending spree in the late 1980s. The Japanese not only met considerable public opposition in the U.S., but in several instances, vastly overpaid for glamorous properties such as the Pebble Beach golf course. "I don't expect China to go in for trophy properties," says JPMorgan's Ulrich. "They know the lesson of the Japanese debacle." That said, she concedes, the odds are that Chinese companies will make mistakes of their own, given the sheer volume of deals to come. "This," she says, "has only just begun."
President Vladimir Putin has long promised to restore Russian greatness and build an "energy empire." But until now, his empire-building had been confined to taking control of corporations operating on his turf, buying into businesses abroad, and blackmailing former Soviet Republics who dared vote against Moscow-backed candidates, moved to join NATO or acted in otherwise uppity ways. But Putin's imperial ambitions have recently added an element of classic 19th century-style territorial expansion: Late last month, Moscow signaled its intentions to annex the entire North Pole, an area twice the size of France with Belgium and Switzerland thrown in — except all of it under water.
The ice-frozen North Pole is currently a no man's land supervised by a U.N. Commission. The five Polar countries — Russia, the U.S., Canada, Norway and Denmark — each control only a 200-mile economic zone along their coasts. And none of these economic zones reach the North Pole. Under the current U.N. Maritime convention, one country's zone can be extended only if it can prove that the continental shelf into which it wishes to expand is a natural extension of its own territory, by showing that it shares a similar geological structure.
So, the Russians claimed a great scientific discovery late last month. An expedition of 50 scientists that spent 45 days aboard the Rossia nuclear ice-breaker found that an underwater ridge (the Lomonosov ridge) directly links Russia's Arctic coast to the North Pole. This, they insist, surely guarantees Russia's rights over a vast Polar territory that also happens to contain some 10 billion tons of oil and natural gas deposits.
Russia's first attempt to expand beyond its Arctic zone was rebuffed by the U.N. Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, but Moscow hopes that its "latest scientific findings" will produce a different outcome when the Commission next meets, in 2009.
Besides risking the defacing of the pristine beauty of the North Polar cap by oil rigs and pipelines, some believe Russia's planned expansion will threaten their own interests. In May, U.S. Senator Richard Lugar told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that Russia claiming the hydrocarbon-rich area would be to the detriment of U.S. interests. Unless Washington ratifies the U.N. Maritime Convention, pending since 1982, the Senator explained, the U.S. will have no say whatsoever in the dispute — it won't even have a seat on the International Seabed Authority that monitors nations' compliance with the U.N. Maritime convention, controls activities beyond the national jurisdiction limits and currently administers the area around the pole.
The North Pole isn't the only prize in the eyes of the resurgent Russian empire — Moscow is also looking to restore control over a 47,000 sq. km (18,000 sq. mile) piece of the Bering Sea separating Alaska from Russian Chukotka. The territory was ceded to the U.S. in 1990 under the U.S.-Soviet Maritime Boundary Agreement signed by Secretary of State James Baker and Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze. While the deal may have helped ease Cold War tensions, anti-reform Soviet hard-liners always opposed giving up a piece of territory rich in sea life and hydrocarbon deposits, and they and their nationalist successors prevented the agreement's ratification. Today, the Agreement still operates on a provisional basis, pending its ratification by the Russian parliament.
But what had once been a battle cry of the nationalist opposition has now become the official line. In recent weeks, Kremlin-controlled media have berated the Agreement as a treasonous act by Shervardnadze (who later became the pro-NATO President of Georgia). Now, leading pro-Kremlin members of the Russian legislature are publicly demanding that the Agreement be reviewed, with the aim of recovering the country's riches.
Meanwhile, on the morning of January 7 this year, the rotor blades of a Russian Mi-8 helicopter shattered the divine silence at the opposite end of the Earth, disgorging a group of top Russian dignitaries led by none other than FSB (the former KGB) Director Nikolai Patrushev, to proudly raised the Russian flag over the South Pole. At the time, it might have looked like a stunt. But back in 2004, Patrushev landed at the North Pole in much the same fashion. Stay tuned.
(TOKYO) — A strong quake hit near Sakhalin island in Russia's Far East on Thursday, reportedly killing one person and sending small tsunami waves to northern Japan.
The temblor, with a preliminary magnitude of 6.4, struck at 11:38 a.m. Japan time (10:30 p.m. EDT) and hit the southern tip of Sakhalin, just north of Japan, according to Japan's Meteorological Agency.
One person died and two people were injured on Sakhalin from the quake, the Russian news service Interfax reported.
In Japan, tsunami waves of about 1 foot hit the coastal city of Wakkanai on the country's northernmost island of Hokkaido shortly before 2 p.m., according to the Meteorological Agency. Smaller waves were recorded elsewhere along Hokkaido's western coast.
A second quake of magnitude 5.9 struck the region at 2:22 p.m., the agency said, but said there was no danger of a tsunami.
There were no reports of injuries or damage in Japan from the quakes or tsunami waves. Authorities lifted a tsunami warning for western Hokkaido three hours after the first quake.
Japan and Russia's Far Eastern provinces form part of the Pacific Ocean's seismically active "Ring of Fire."
The Japanese government issues tsunami warnings even when only tiny waves are expected, and the country's most heavily populated coastlines are fitted with loudspeakers to order tsunami evacuations.
LONDON, England (Reuters) -- British Airways has been hit with almost £270 million ($547 million) in fines after reaching settlements with U.S. and UK authorities for price fixing on fuel surcharges.
British Airways faces $547 million in fines from UK and U.S. regulators.
Arch rival Virgin Atlantic Airways blew the whistle on BA last year after individuals at the two carriers discussed proposed changes to fuel surcharges for long flights.
Virgin won immunity in the UK, where the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) fined BA 121.5 million pounds in the OFT's biggest-ever civil penalty.
The U.S. Department of Justice fined BA $300 million (£148 million) as part of a wider investigation that also resulted in a fine for Korean Air Lines and notice that Virgin and Germany's Lufthansa would have to pay restitution to customers. Watch how rivals were thick as thieves »
"This resolves the OFT's and the DoJ's (U.S. Department of Justice) investigation of British Airways," BA said in a statement to the London Stock Exchange.
Virgin was not available for immediate comment.
The fines, already the biggest in BA's history, could have been higher if the airline had not admitted wrongdoing.
"Had BA not made admissions and cooperated from the outset, they would have been fined many millions of pounds more ... tens of millions of pounds," OFT director of cartel operations Simon Williams said in a telephone interview with Reuters.
"This is the largest civil fine ever imposed by the OFT," he said, adding that he hoped it would serve as a deterrent and encourage businesses to come forth with information before their rivals do. "Businesses up and down Britain have to ask themselves some very hard questions."
Two senior BA executives quit last October after being linked to the investigation and in May BA set aside £350 million as a provision for possible fines.
BA said it expected that provision to cover the fines and any impact from a separate, widespread probe of the airline industry regarding cargo fuel surcharges which also involve authorities in Europe, Canada, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand.
Analysts said the UK fine was in line with expectations, given the provision already taken, and noted BA could have fared far worse.
"The fine is less than the maximum 10 percent of revenue (£850 million) that could have been imposed," said Citigroup analyst Andrew Light in a research note that carried a 580 pence target price for BA and a "Buy/High Risk" investment rating.
"This news is already fully priced in," he said.
The price fixing related to surcharge increases which took place from 2004 until 2006.
Fuel surcharges soared from £5 to £60 per ticket on typical BA or Virgin long return flights during the period, but BA Chief Executive Willie Walsh defended the rises, which came as crude oil prices surged.
"I want to reassure our passengers that they were not overcharged," he said.
BA said both the OFT and the U.S. Department of Justice would continue with criminal investigations into the conduct of individuals involved.
Shares in BA were down 1.89 percent at 390 pence by 1437 GMT, while the FTSE 100 index was down 1.31 percent.
CANADIAN researchers have positively identified the remains of a young child who died when the RMS Titanic sank in 1912
The remains belong to a 19-month-old English boy named Sidney Leslie Goodwin who died with his family as they were setting out for a new life in Niagara Falls, New York, researchers said.
Goodwin's body was found floating in the waters of the North Atlantic six days after the luxury liner sank on April 15, 1912, killing 1503 passengers and crew.
Many of the Titanic victims are buried in a cemetery in Halifax, on Canada's eastern coast.
In 2002 researchers mistakenly identified the baby as 13-month-old Eino Viljami Panula, who they said was travelling in third class to the United States with his mother and four brothers when they all perished.
His DNA matched to living family members in Finland who travelled to his grave dedicated to ``the unknown child'' in Halifax for an elaborate ceremony.
"There was a lot of confusion because we thought we had it right, but more information came to light and we did more research,'' said Ryan Parr, lead researcher in the case at Lakehead University in Ontario.
"Now it looks like it is the Goodwin child.''
Based on the size of the child's teeth, scientists had been able to narrow the possible candidates to children about one year old, or younger.
"Based on the (original) DNA testing, it had to be either the Goodwin child or the Panula child and so we said, 'OK, it must be the (younger) Panula child,''' Mr Parr said.
Later, a pair of shoes showed up that had been found on the child's body, causing the scientists to doubt their original conclusions. Toronto's Bata shoe museum analysed the shoes, at their request, and said they were for an older child, Mr Parr said.
Further DNA testing found that the child's HVS1, a type of mitochondria DNA molecule, did not match the Panula family.
"Many Europeans have DNA sequences that are very, very close, if not the same. And that was the case with these two (children); they were identical for the section that we had looked at,'' Mr Parr said.
"When we expanded our search, it was still very, very close, but it looks more like it is the Goodwin child.''
According to reports, the Goodwin family has been informed of the discovery.
UP to nine people have been reported dead, 20 missing and scores injured when a major freeway bridge over the Mississippi River collapsed and sent up to 100 cars into the water below.
The bridge was packed with early rush-hour traffic when it fell at about 6.15pm (9.15am AEST). At least three sections collapsed, with a fourth feared to follow.
Rescue officials told CNN there could be between 50 and 100 cars in the river.
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Do you know anything about the collapse? Do you know any Australians in the area? Send us your news, pictures and video to news@news.com.au or SMS / MMS 0429 300 245
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"At this point we have seven confirmed fatalities, and we expect that number to go up as well," said Minneapolis Fire Chief Jim Clack.
The Minneapolis Star-Tribune newspaper reported at least nine people were killed in the collapse and 20 people were missing.
The paper cited state authorities who "expected the death toll to rise".
Mr Clack said more than 60 people were sent to hospitals and rescue operations in the river had been halted due to darkness.
"There's too much debris in the river to continue in the river tonight," he said.
Minneapolis Mayor RT Rybak earlier warned people to brace for a "tragic night".
Dr Joseph Clifton of the Hennepin County Medical Centre said the hospital had taken in 22 injured people so far - six of them in a critical condition.
One man was dead on arrival, after having drowned. Many of the injured had internal wounds and more patients and deaths were expected, Dr Clifton said.
"Most were blunt-type injuries, in the face and extremities," he said.
A freight train was also passing under the bridge when it collapsed and was cut in two, WCCO television reported.
Aerial footage of the tragedy showed cars and other vehicles strewn across the collapsed bridge and one truck erupting in flames near a yellow school bus.
Cars hung over the edge of the collapsed bridge, trucks were cut in two and other vehicles lay precariously on collapsed sections of the structure, footage showed.
Local hospitals were put on alert, but it was unclear how many people were injured.
"I can't tell you how many people we've got, they're still coming in," said an official in the emergency department at the Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis.
Divers were in the water under the bridge searching for victims and survivors.
'The worst thing I ever saw'
Witnesses said they heard a rumbling sound as the bridge collapsed into the river.
"First I heard this huge roar," Leone Carstens, a nearby resident, told the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
"I was at my computer. Initially I thought, Wow was that an airplane?"
29-year-old Andy Scwich arrived at the scene a few minutes after the collapse.
"I saw them carrying up a body – I don't know if he was alive or dead," he said.
"It was the worst thing I ever saw."
Melissa Hughes, a new mother with a three-month-old child, was in a car on the bridge during the collapse.
“I was pretty much freaking out and sitting in the car with my foot as hard as it could go on the brake,” Ms Hughes said on Fox News.
“I thought: ‘oh my God, what do we do?’
After she was helped from her car, she saw at least one male victim seriously hurt during the accident.
“I saw him screaming in pain. After it happened and I found out he had gotten out of the car during the accident and that’s how he got hurt so bad.”
Another witness said she saw people swimming in the river trying to get to shore.
Ramon Houge of St Paul was driving on the bridge when he heard a rumbling noise and saw the ground collapse, he told The Star Tribune.
He said cars backed up as best they could when the bridge buckled. Mr Houge turned around in a construction zone and was able to drive to safety, he said.
“It didn’t seem like it was real,” he said.
'Not a terrorist attack'
The US Department of Homeland Security in Washington said there was no indication of terrorism in the disaster. Police said the cause was still unknown.
The 160m steel arch bridge was built in 1967 and carried up to 200,000 vehicles per day. Workers had been repairing the bridge's surface when it collapsed.
In a report released in May 2006, transport department inspectors had seen fatigue cracks and bending of girders that lift the approaching span, local media said
MANILA: External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi on Wednesday expressed satisfaction that the bilateral trade relations “are moving forward.”
Indicating this, official sources said the two leaders, who met in Manila on the margins of multilateral meetings being organised by the Association of South East Asian Nations, noted that the two countries were on course to achieve the targets set during Chinese President Hu Jintao’s “very successful visit to India” several months ago.
The two Foreign Ministers discussed climate change and energy security issues as well.
Asked whether the latest United States-India civil nuclear energy pact was discussed, sources said the Chinese side, which “knew about it,” had in fact “noted it.” To a query whether China did so with satisfaction, sources said “there is no question of with satisfaction or without satisfaction.”
Mr. Mukherjee briefed Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso about the latest India-United States civil nuclear energy accord. The two leaders discussed issues of climate change and possible bilateral cooperation in the energy sector.
Mr. Mukherjee briefly met Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to review bilateral ties, and discussed climate change and energy security issues with European Union High Representative Javier Solana.
Later, Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mitsuo Sakaba told The Hindu that Tokyo was adopting a “cautious position” with regard to the U.S.-India civil nuclear energy deal.
The spokesman said: “We will discuss this matter when Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visits India later this month. But, at the same time, we want to study the text of India-U.S. agreement. We don’t know what kind of agreement [it is].” Noting that India still needed to negotiate with the International Atomic Energy Agency and ensure that the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) would amend their guidelines, he said “only after that process is over, Japan can make a decision on this matter.”
Japan, like China and the U.S., is an important member of the NSG.
NEW DELHI, Aug 1: India and Pakistan today set a target to achieve a bilateral trade of $10 billion by 2010, more than five times against its present level, by putting in place several measures, including opening bank branches, allowing movement of cement and tea as well as addressing issues of non-tariff barriers.
India agreed to facilitate cement import from Pakistan by putting it on a “fast track”, commerce secretaries of the two neighbours informed at the end of a two-day talk to iron out trade related issues. The Indian side, led by commerce secretary, Mr Gopal K Pillai, said that India would complete all statutory certification related formalities on a fast track. India was also in the process of making appropriate policy changes to accept third party certification, said a joint statement, issued at the end of the trade talks set within the framework of the composite dialogue, launched in February 2004.
“In Pakistan, up to 15 million tons of cement is available for export. The first shipment should be ready by next month,” Pakistan commerce secretary Mr Syed Asif Shah said at a joint press conference, expressing confidence that the $10 billion trade target was achievable.
Mr Pillai said BIS inspectors had already inspected four Pakistani facilities and their report would be ready by the end of this month. India has a cement capacity of 170 million tons and faces a shortfall of 10 million tons and Pakistan could bridge this gap.
Marking another important milestone in the economic relations between the two countries, New Delhi and Islamabad agreed to allow two of their banks to open branches across the border within six months of receipt of applications or by 31 December, whichever is later.
The State Bank of India and Bank of India had applied for opening branches in Pakistan, while United Bank and National Bank want to start operations in India.
It was also agreed to encourage export of Indian tea ~ which takes places through unofficial channels of Singapore and Dubai ~ through rail route. “Pakistan side also noted the request for providing duty concessions on import of Indian tea,” the joint statement said.
The two countries also agreed to jointly file application for geographical indication on Basmati to end the dispute over sale of the rice variety in international markets. A technical committee would be set up for this purpose, the joint statement said.
The Pakistan side raised the issue of notification by India declaring ‘Super Basmati Rice’ as an approved variety for export. “Super Basmati is a variety evolved by Pakistan in the 1960’s and sold world over,” Mr Sayed Asif Shah said.
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No coaching career is eternal, but some seem that way. So the sense of shock when the Australian football club Essendon announced that it was not renewing the contract of coach Kevin Sheedy matches the impact in the United States when the Dallas Cowboys fired Tom Landry after 29 years and the certain reaction in Britain when Alex Ferguson (21 years so far) finally leaves Manchester United.
Sheedy has coached Essendon since 1981, winning four Grand Finals. The match against Adelaide on Sunday was his 630th in charge, second on the all-time list after Jock McHale. Add in 251 matches as a player for the Richmond club and he is the sport's most enduring figure, having overtaken McHale's combined playing and coaching totals this month.
He was a player of middling talent made formidable by application, intelligence and big-match temperament - scoring three early goals when Richmond won the 1973 Grand Final. He was voted best player in its 1974 victory.
It is his coaching career, though, that will make him a certainty for Australian Football's Hall of Fame - there were suggestions after the announcement last week that he would be voted in immediately, without the usual three-year wait.
Martin Flanagan, Australia's finest contemporary sportswriter, rates him alongside Ron Barassi - a great player of the 1950s and 1960s, then an innovative coach - as the game's most influential figure since World War II.
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His career has coincided with great transformations. In 1981 Sheedy became coach of a club playing home matches in the Victoria Football League, essentially a Melbourne city championship, at its compact Windy Hill Stadium. But starting with Sydney in 1982, the league expanded to become a national competition, the Australian Football League, with teams in every mainland state - "interstate" teams have won the last six Grand Finals and 10 of the last 15.
Although he has always supported expanding the game, including international combined-rules games against Ireland's best Gaelic footballers, this might have happened even without Sheedy.
His influence in other changes is, however, unquestionable.
While Sheedy has been among the most articulate and quotable coaches of his time - calling erring umpires "Martians" and describing a bombastic club president prominent in rightist politics as "the reason there is a Labor Party" - he led the trend away from hectoring exhortation to analysis and the application of sports science as techniques for getting the best out of players.
Still more significant was his impact on race relations. Although Australia's sports never operated a formal color bar, only the most gifted individuals in the Aborigine population prospered, generally in isolation.
Flanagan points to Sheedy as both the first coach, in 1993, to bring in a group of Aborigine players and an important mentor to Michael Long, the Essendon player who emerged as the spokesman for native players.
His confrontation of the issue forced a change of attitude about racial discrimination. Flanagan wrote that Sheedy "enabled the game to furnish a vision of Australia of which we could be proud."
Among his four championship teams, that of 2000 may be the most remembered. It was the middle of three years in which Essendon dominated the game with an aggressive, free-flowing style that showed novice the possibilities of Australian Football. In 1999 and 2001 the team had stumbled, but in 2000 it had arguably the greatest season in the game's history, winning 24 of its 25 matches, including a 135-75 Grand Final victory over Melbourne.
Sheedy has been less successful in recent years, missing the playoffs for the past three seasons and finishing a calamitous 15th out of 16 in 2006.
Essendon's management decided that a coach who will be 60 on Christmas Eve may not be the man, for all his past achievements, for a long-term rebuilding program.
The decision not to renew his contract followed rapidly on the dismissals of three other coaches in the 16-team competition, encouraging speculation that Essendon may be after another of the jobless trio's jobs.
Sheedy, though, will stay in post until the end of the season. His players responded to last week's news with a 117-105 victory, the 385th of his coaching career, over Adelaide that took them above their opponents into the eighth and last playoff place with five of 22 regular-season matches left.
Don't rule out Sheedy's adding further postseason honors on his farewell tour, or turning up at another club to extend that formidable personal record book next year.
SHANGHAI: Chinese readers could not wait for the official release of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," the much anticipated seventh and concluding book in the series, a little more than a week ago. And they did not have to.
A book with the same title came out a full 10 days before the official worldwide English-language release on July 21 — a wholly unauthorized version that bears nothing in common with the instant best seller written by J. K. Rowling.
The iterations of Potter fraud and imitation here are, in fact, so copious they must be peeled back layer by layer.
There are the books, like the phony seventh novel, that masquerade as works written by Rowling. There are the copies of the genuine items, in both English and Chinese, scanned, reprinted, bound and sold for a fraction of the authorized texts.
As in some other countries, there are the unauthorized translations of real Harry Potter books, as well as books published under the imprint of major Chinese publishing houses, about which the publishers themselves say they have no knowledge. And there are the novels by budding Chinese writers hoping to piggyback on the success of the series — sometimes only to have their fake Potters copied by underground publishers who, naturally, pay them no royalties.
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No one can say with any certainty what the full tally is, but there are easily a dozen unauthorized Harry Potter titles on the market here already, and that is counting only bound versions that are sold on street corners and can even be found in school libraries. Still more versions exist online.
These include "Harry Potter and the Half-Blooded Relative Prince," a creation whose name in Chinese closely resembles the title of the genuine sixth book by Rowling, as well as pure inventions that include "Harry Potter and the Hiking Dragon," "Harry Potter and the Chinese Empire," "Harry Potter and the Young Heroes," "Harry Potter and Leopard-Walk-Up-to-Dragon," and "Harry Potter and the Big Funnel."
Some borrow little more than the names of Rowling's characters, lifting plots from other well-known authors, like J. R. R. Tolkien, or placing the famously British protagonist in plots lifted from well-known kung-fu epics and introducing new characters from Chinese literary classics like "Journey to the West."
Here, the global Harry Potter publishing phenomenon has mutated into something altogether Chinese: a combination of remarkable imagination and startling industriousness, all placed in the service of counterfeiting, literary fraud and copyright violation.
Wang Lili, editor of the China Braille Publishing House, which published "Harry Potter and the Chinese Porcelain Doll" in 2002, one of the Chinese knockoffs, said: "We published the book out of a very common incentive. Harry Potter was so popular that we wanted to enjoy the fruits of its widely accepted publicity in China."
The attitude reflected in Wang's comment goes a long way toward explaining not only the explosion of unauthorized Harry Potter literature in China, but also the much larger problem of rampant piracy in China, where travelers can find six different knockoffs of Viagra, without prescription, on display at airport drugstores, and where bootleg DVDs, fake Picassos, and even near-identical copies of famous-brand automobiles are widely available.
China has recently stepped up efforts to rein in the production, and especially the export, of fraudulent and substandard goods in the wake of scandals concerning exports of contaminated food and a dangerous drug additive. Authors and editors say, though, that cleaning up the worlds of literature and publishing is, at best, an afterthought.
Wei Bin, editor of the Writers' Publishing House, which investigates book piracy, said that his group's last survey in 2001 showed that as many as 30 to 40 percent of the books for sale in China might be illegal.
"The focus of the government is not to fight against piracy," Wei said. "It seems they fight harder for banned publications, like pornography, political books, such as things written about the leadership, the government, and historical matters like the Cultural Revolution, and the Anti-Rightist Campaign.
"They maintain tight control over such things, but as literary books, such as the ones we identify as being pirated, when we report the matter to the relevant authorities, they settle matters by leaving them unsettled."
Neil Blair, a solicitor at the Christopher Little Literary Agency in London, which represents Rowling, said the company was investigating reports of piracy and preparing to take action through its local lawyers and Chinese publishers and with the help of law enforcement officials in China.
"Some of these examples seem to suggest that J. K. Rowling actually wrote the books," Blair said, speaking of the fake books. "It is possible that people might buy those believing them to be part of the series, and obviously they'd be disappointed. "
An Boshun, the editor of one of the best-selling works of Chinese fiction in recent years, "Wolf Totem" (whose author has maintained anonymity), said there were at least 15 million fake copies of that novel in circulation here, compared with 2 million legal ones.
"I once even got a call from someone who said that he represented two pirate-book businessmen and they wanted him to say thanks to me for my work," An said. "They wanted me to know that 'Wolf Totem' had brought many job opportunities to country folks working in printing shops in Hebei and Shandong Provinces."
Some homegrown "Harry Potter" authors are also unabashed about their forays into publishing.
One such writer is a manager at a Shanghai textile factory named Li Jingsheng. "I bought Harry Potter 1 through 6 for my son a couple of years ago, and when he finished reading them, he kept asking me to tell him what happens next," he explained. "We couldn't wait, so I began making up my own story and in May last year, I typed it up on my computer. I had to get up early and go to bed late to write this novel, usually spending one hour, from 6 to 7 in the morning and 10 to 11 in the evening to write it."
The result was "Harry Potter and the Showdown," a 250,000-word novel, the final version of which he placed recently on Web sites, followed by a notice saying he was looking for publishers. The book quickly logged 150,000 readers on a popular Chinese site, Baidu.com's Harry Potter fan Web page.
"This is fantastic," Gu Guaiguai, an admiring reader, wrote online about "Showdown." "I wonder if Rowling would bother to continue to write if she had read it."
Another reader was even more breathless. "You are the pride of our Harry Potter fans," he wrote, adding, "We expect you to go on and write Harry Potter number eight," which Li has in fact already begun.
For all the reader enthusiasm, no publishers contacted Li, a 35-year-old high school graduate who grew up in rural Henan Province and said that he and his wife, who works at the same factory, together make about $600 a month.
That didn't stop his book from turning up for sale in a bound version on the streets of Beijing, Tianjin, Dalian and Shenzhen under the imprint of the People's Literature Publishing House, the official publisher of the Harry Potter series in China, which says it had nothing to do with the printing of "Showdown."
"You are not supposed to use the name of Harry Potter anywhere else other than J. K. Rowling's own books," said Sun Shunlin, director for business development of the publishing house.
Not all book editors hew to this strict interpretation of copyright, however. Lu Jia, whose Ba Shu publishing company acknowledges printing one knockoff, "Harry Potter and the Chinese Empire," a few years ago, initially said she did not wish to discuss Harry Potter. "It had problems of intellectual property violations," she said.
Moments later, though, Lu spoke almost wistfully about the experience. "Everything would have been fine if they hadn't made the cover so obvious, even if you copied some sections of the original story," she said. "But the cover was so outstanding, and foreign people care a lot about things like that."
