Jaguar aid talks with British government near collapse

Special Report:Global Financial Crisis

LONDON, May 6 (Xinhua) -- Jaguar Land Rover, a British automobile brand owned by India's Tata Group, will either have to cut its jobs and investment or turn to its parent company for help, as talks between the carmaker and the British government on financial support are nearing a collapse.

The carmaker received what it was told was a final offer from the business department on Friday, which it has not formally rejected, but is understood to feel that the tough conditions demanded in return for guaranteeing a loan are unacceptable, according to a BBC report late Wednesday.

If no financial help is provided, jobs and important investment could be cut, the report said.

The government is understood to want a right to veto management decisions, appoint its own chairman and have a say in any future redundancies at the company which employs 14,500 people.

Jaguar is said to have viewed the proposal as backdoor nationalization -- and is minded to turn the offer down.

The dispute centers on financial support from the European Investment Bank (EIB) and conditions the UK government is imposing in return for guaranteeing the loan.

At the heart of the dispute is the degree of control the UK government would be given in return for putting taxpayers money at risk by guaranteeing the EIB loan, the BBC said.

A spokesperson for the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) insisted the government was "prepared to help, although not on any terms."

Thai cabinet approves 2nd phase of economic stimulus packages

Special Report:Global Financial Crisis

BANGKOK, May 6 (Xinhua) -- The Thai weekly cabinet meeting on Wednesday approved the country's second phase of the economic stimulus packages worth of 1.4 trillion baht (39.78 billion U.S. dollars) to shore up the country's sluggish economy, Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij said.

The budget will cover several investments in transportation, irrigation, education and public health projects from this year to 2012, the minister said.

It is estimated the investments will create jobs for two million people and the country's long-term competitive advantages will also be boosted, Korn said.

The investment projects will kick off after the House of Representatives approves a loan borrowing plan to finance this second phase packages.

Korn said the loan sources will be mainly from the domestic market amid the ample liquidity.

Although the budget allocation might result in the country's higher public debt, the government's financial status will remain strong, said Korn.

It is estimated the country's public debt will rise to 60 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2013 from the current 40 percent of the GDP, said Korn.

The return of the investments, however, will be worthwhile, are port of the local media Bangkok Post quoted Korn as saying.

Korn estimated the country's public debt would start leveling off in 2014 and should stay at 47 percent of the GDP in 2018.

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China details stance on continental shelf

The Chinese Permanent Mission to the UN has presented a note to the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. In the note, China urges the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf not to review the joint submission of information by Malaysia and Vietnam. The two countries presented on Wednesday a joint submission to the UN on the outer limits of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles.





TheChinesePermanentMissiontotheUNhaspresenteda
notetotheUNSecretary-GeneralBanKi-moon.Inthenote,
ChinaurgestheCommissionontheLimitsoftheContinental
Shelfnottoreviewthejointsubmissionofinformationby
MalaysiaandVietnam.

The Chinese government said in its note presented a day later that the submission by Malaysia and Vietnam infringes upon China's sovereignty and jurisdiction in the South China Sea. And China urges the UN commission not to consider the case in accordance with the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea and relevant UN rules.

Mainland, Taiwan agree to enhance ties

Special Report:3rd round of cross-strait talk

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The chief negotiators are already looking at new possibilities aimed at enhancing ties between the mainland and Taiwan.

Themainland-basedAssociationforRelationsAcrossthe
TaiwanStraits(ARATS)PresidentChenYunlin(R,Front)and
theTaiwan-basedStraitsExchangeFoundation(SEF)Chairman
ChiangPin-kung(L,Front)signagreementsatasigning
ceremony"inNanjing,eastChina'sJiangsuProvince,on
April26,2009.

Another milestone in relations across the Taiwan Straits. Whenever Chen Yunlin meets Chiang Pin-kung, people on the mainland and Taiwan expect new impetus for economic development and also for their personal benefit. Amid the global financial crisis, the chief mainland negotiator called on both sides to join hands to overcome the current difficulties and create a win-win situation.

The mainland announced that it would promote companies to invest in Taiwan as soon as the island authorities allow such investment. And the mainland will also increase its purchase of Taiwan products, as well as encourage more Taiwan investment in the mainland.

The mainland also acknowledged that both sides need to achieve a more institutionalized mechanism or framework for their economic cooperation. Representatives agree that their new agreements and consensus will improve the environment for investment on both sides. They add that the developments would also enhance more contacts between individuals and protect their rights, aswell as laying a solid foundation to improve the peaceful development of ties.

Chinese mainland, HK sign further expanded economic agreement

HONG KONG, May 9 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese central government and the government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region signed on Saturday the sixth supplement to an important trade agreement to give Hong Kong firms greater and easier access to the mainland market for tourism, securities and banking services, among others.

The Supplement VI to the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) was signed by John Tsang, financial secretary of the HKSAR government, and the central government's Vice Minister of Commerce Jiang Zengwei in Hong Kong at a ceremony witnessed by HKSAR Chief Executive Donald Tsang.

Speaking at the ceremony, Donald Tsang said the supplement agreement will introduce 29 measures that will build on the liberalization of 20 services sectors and open two more sectors of research and development and rail transport to Hong Kong businesses.

The total number of services sectors covered by the CEPA and its supplements will thereby be expanded from 40 to 42, Jiang said. Under the agreements, the mainland has agreed to exempt tariffs for all products of Hong Kong origin and allow preferential treatment to Hong Kong service suppliers in the service sectors.

The new measures will take effect on Oct. 1, 2009, three months earlier than usual, to allow the trade to enjoy the benefits earlier, Jiang said at the ceremony.

Donald Tsang welcomed the agreement, saying that the new measures will be mutually beneficial and help mitigate the impacts of the ongoing economic downturn.

Under the new agreement, mainland travel agents authorized to operate group tours to Taiwan can organize group tours for mainland residents to enter Hong Kong in transit. The aim was to help the travel trade develop multi-destination tourism packages.

Authorization requirements have been also further relaxed under the agreement for Hong Kong commercial banks to establish sub-branches or service points, while qualified securities firms in Hong Kong and the mainland will be allowed to establish joint businesses in Guangdong, the mainland province neighboring Hong Kong.

Official: DPRK not to consider dialogue with S Korea

PYONGYANG, May 9 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) could not consider having a dialogue with South Korea considering that Seoul was making an issue of human rights in the country, a spokesman for the Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea said Saturday.

The fact of South Korea enticed some defectors to hold a so-called North Korea Freedom Week in Washington showed that the South attempted to make the DPRK's human rights international, the spokesman was quoted by the official KCNA news agency as saying in a statement.

This behavior was totally negation and provocation against the regime and dignity of the DPRK, the spokesman said.

The spokesman said South Korea was not qualified to discuss the problems considering that it had itself human rights problems.

The spokesman said the army and people of the DPRK were inflamed by the South's act of defaming or slandering the public. The DPRK could not consider having a dialogue with South Korea at all, he said.

35 rebels killed in Sri Lanka fighting

COLOMBO, May 9 (Xinhua) -- At least 35 rebels were killed Friday as the advancing troops took control of what appeared to be the last rebel defensive earth bund in the island's northeastern battle zone.

The Army's 58 division had completely cleared the Karyamullvaikkal area in the Mullaithivu district, defense officials said Saturday. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels are now limited to an area of just 3 sq kms.

Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara, the military spokesman, said that troops would continue to carry out operations outside the newly demarcated no fire zone, a 2-km-long, 1.5-km-wide coastal strip covering the area south of Karyamullivaikkal and Velamullivaikkal.

"The troops will continue to target LTTE in order to free civilians from LTTE clutches", Nanayakkara said.

The last bits of fighting has left a massive civilian population in internally displace camps.

Some 200,000 are already in government welfare camps in the northern districts of Jaffna and Vavuniya.

Some 50,000 are still believed to be trapped in the now shrunk no fire zone where the LTTE rebels are mingling with the civilian population.

Sri Lanka's over 3 decade old conflict has cost over 70,000 lives during the LTTE's quest to set up a separate homeland for the minority Tamils seeking political independence from the Sinhala majority.

ECB announces combined new measures to fight downturns

FRANKFURT, May 7 (Xinhua) -- The European Central Bank (ECB) on Thursday renewed its efforts to fight against economic downturns, with combined measures including cutting its key interest rate to a new low and buying up bonds, surprising most market players.

RATE CUT

The ECB cut its key interest rate by 25 basis points to a record-low 1 percent on Thursday.

ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet told reporters after the ratecut this was not necessarily the lowest point of the cycle, which has slashed the main refinancing rate by 325 basis points since October.

The ECB said the rate cut is due to the fact that the inflation threat to the eurozone continue easing, while the recession deepens.

According to the International Monetary Fund, the 16-nation economy will shrink 4.2 percent this year, more than the projected2.8 percent contraction in the United States and 4.1 percent in the United Kingdom.

Inflation was 0.6 percent in April. The ECB, which aims to keep the rate just below 2 percent, said the figure may drop below zero in 2009.

Dollar falls amid better-than-expected job data

NEW YORK, May 8 (Xinhua) -- The dollar fell against major currencies on Friday as risk appetite in foreign exchange trading was boosted by better-than-expected job data.

Non-farm payroll employment declined by 539,000 in April, the U.S. Labor Department reported on Friday. It was the smallest decline in six months, less than a loss of 620,000 expected by analysts and far below the 699,000 drop in March. The unemployment rate rose from 8.5 percent to 8.9 percent, the highest since late 1983.

The report showed that the labor market was still deteriorating, but the rate of decline was moderating, analysts said. About half of the improvement from March came in the government sector, as it hired temporary workers for preparatory work on the 2010 Census. The rest of the improvement was widely spread across the private sector.

There were indications that the industry's headlong decline is bottoming out, as the manufacturing workweek rose for the first time since July 2008, and manufacturing overtime rose for the first time since November 2007.

Investors' risk appetite was also helped by the results of the U.S. government's stress test, which showed better-than-expected picture of health of major U.S. banks. The government said 10 of the 19 largest U.S. banks must raise about 74.6 billion U.S. dollars in new capital, less than some had feared.

The euro bought 1.3622 dollars in late New York trading compared with 1.3373 dollars it bought late Thursday. The pound rose to 1.5215 dollars from 1.4996 dollars.

The dollar fell to 1.1513 Canadian dollars from 1.1740 Canadian dollars, and fell to 1.1065 Swiss francs from 1.1309 Swiss francs. It fell to 98.40 Japanese yen from 98.99 Japanese yen.

Djokovic cruises through to semis in Serbia Open

BELGRADE, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Serbia's Novak Djokovic beat compatriot Viktor Troicki 6-3, 6-2 on Friday to cruise through to the semifinals of the Serbia Open in Belgrade.

Top-seeded Djokovic defeated fifth seed Troicki in just over an hour and will face fourth-seeded Italian Andreas Seppi in the semifinals.

The obstacle for me was tough because I had to face my fellow countrymen. I am taking it step by step and I am not thinking about the finals. Seppi is a tough competitor, but I think that the advantage is on my side. said Djokovic.

The Serbia Open, which opened on Tuesday evening, would last until Sunday. Djokovic, the world number three, is the odds-on favorite to win the tournament, although the 21-year-old expects strong challenges.

NASA set for Monday Hubble launch

Special Report:Tech Max

BEIJING, May 9 (Xinhuanet)-- NASA will set off on the final shuttle mission to the Hubble space telescope on May 11.

ThecrewofthespaceshuttleAtlantisSTS-125(LtoR)
missionspecialist'sMeganMcArthur,MichaelGood,pilot
GregoryJohnson,commanderScottAltman,mission
specialist'sJohnGrunsfeld,MichaelMassiminoandAndrew
Feustelstandforagroupphotoafterarrivingatthe
shuttlelandingfacilityatKennedySpaceCenterinCape
Canaveral,FloridaMay8,2009.(Xinhua/ReutersPhoto)

Space shuttle Atlantis is scheduled to blast off at 2:01 p.m. EDT May 11 from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Shuttle weather officer Kathy Winters told reporters there was an 80 percent chance of favorable meteorological conditions for the launch of space shuttle Atlantis.

The countdown for NASA's trip to the Hubble Space Telescope began Friday as the astronauts arrived at the launching site.

The 11-day mission will be lead by Commander Scott Altman and six crew mates. They will be tasked with refurbishing the Hubble with state-of-the-art instruments that are expected to expand the telescope's capabilities and extend its lifetime through at least 2014.

The Hubble Telescope has been in space for 19 years at this point which is already twice the length of time it was initially expected to work.

The misssion -- code named STS-125 -- is the fifth and last of its kind.

Flu cases continue to grow worldwide, WHO keeps alert

Special Report:World tackles A/H1N1 flu

BEIJING, May 8 (Xinhua) -- The number of confirmed A/H1N1 flu cases continued to rise worldwide, especially in the United States, while the World Health Organization (WHO) has left its alert level unchanged.

According to the latest figures, over 3,000 cases have now been confirmed in 27 countries around the world.

The confirmed A/H1N1 flu cases in the United States rose sharply on Friday to 1,639 in 43 of its 50 states, including two deaths, overtaking Mexico as the country having the most confirmed cases in the world.

The update registered a sharp increase from the case count on Thursday when confirmed cases were 896, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

However, the jump "does not reflect a speed-up of the epidemic," said Dave Daigle, a spokesman for the CDC. The number of cases may jump quickly day to day as a backlog of likely cases need to be confirmed through extra testing, he said.

About 3.5 percent of the cases have been sick enough to be admitted to hospitals and health officials say the rate will continue to fall as more screening is done in the community.

U.S. President Barack Obama Friday urged Americans to take persistent precaution on the A/H1N1 flu, even though he said the virus was not as virulent as people first feared.

Chinas Zhuhai speeds up transport plans

BEIJING, May 8 -- Zhuhai is speeding up its construction of highways in a bid to become a traffic center in the western Pearl River Delta (PRD) area, the local transportation authority said yesterday.

The city will invest more than 14 billion yuan ($2 billion) in 10 highway projects. The work will start this year and continue until 2012, said Zheng Chaolong, director of the Zhuhai transportation bureau.

The highways will link harbors, airports and checkpoints between Zhuhai and Macao, helping develop the city into an important transportation hub in the western PRD region, Zheng said.

This year alone, the city has earmarked 3.7 billion yuan for urban provincial highway projects, Zheng said.

The work is part of the provincial government's plan to accelerate domestic consumption by speeding up infrastructure development amid the global economic downturn, Zheng said.

By next year, about 152 km of new highways will be added to the city's current traffic network, Zheng said.

He highlighted the importance of the proposed Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, which will be started at the end of the year.

The 29.6-km bridge, which will be the world's longest sea link, will attract 37.4 billion yuan in government investment and more than 21 billion yuan in bank loans. The city will also push on with renovations of the Gongbei checkpoints linking Zhuhai and Macao.

The renovation is to meet increasing traffic demand after the bridge linking Hong Kong, Macao and Guangdong is completed, Zheng said.

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UEFA: Barcelona prepare to face Villarreal

In the UEFA Champions League final, Barcelona is determined to win the Spanish Primera Liga title. The Catalan side plays host to Villarreal on Sunday.

BarcelonasoccerplayerSamuelEto'ovisits
theCatalunyaracetrackinMontmelo,near
Barcelona,Spain,onFriday,May8,2009.
TheSpanishGrandPrixwilltakeplaceon
Sunday.(APPhoto/DavidRamos)

The past week has been almost perfect for Barcelona. They thrashed arch rivals Real Madrid 6-2 in La Liga last Saturday, and secured their place in the UEFA Champions League final on Wednesday, thanks to a hard-fought 1-1 draw at Chelsea. And more glory could be in store.

Tennis: Davydenko to meet Blake in semifinal

Second-seeded Nikolay Davydenko of Russia beat Mardy Fish 6-4, 6-3 on Friday at the Estoril Open. The 2003 champion will now play fourth seed James Blake in the semi-finals, after Blake defeated Florent Serra of France.

NikolayDavydenkoofRussiaeyestheball
duringhisEstorilTennisOpenmatchagainst
MardyFishoftheU.S.,inLisbonMay8,
2009.REUTERS/HugoCorreia

Davydenko took the favorites' role against the sixth-seeded Fish, who was making his Estoril debut.

It was only Davydenko's fifth tournament of the year after a two-month lay-off due to a heel injury. But he started strongly, taking the opener 6-4. The Russian broke Fish's serve again in the second set. A sharp backhand winner down the line gave the Russian a 6-4, 6-3 victory.

James Blake looked to earn the right to face Davydenko in the semi-finals. The American fourth seed, playing against Florent Serra, was soon 3-1 down in the first set. But he quickly fought back, winning eight consecutive games to take the set 6-4.

Kazakhstan holds Chinese proficiency competition

ALMATY, May 7 (Xinhua) -- The final Kazakh round of the Eighth Chinese Bridge competition, a Chinese-language proficiency contest for foreign college students, concluded on Thursday in the capital city of Astana.

A senior student from the Kazakh Abai National Normal University won the first prize and got a chance to take part in the semi-final competition in China in the final with 10 contestants.

The contest was made up of three parts: a speech in Chinese, a question-and-answer quiz on Chinese culture and history, and a show of the competitors' artistic skills.

Cheng Guoping, Chinese ambassador to Kazakhstan, presented the awards to the winners and expressed the hope that more Kazakh students would know more about China by learning the Chinese language.

The Chinese language learning has become popular in the central Asian country in recent years. Currently, 10 Kazakh universities have offered Chinese courses.

The annual Chinese Bridge competition was initiated in 2002 with the aim of expanding exchanges and cooperation between China and the rest of the world.

The Chinese language proficiency competition has become an important platform for college students around the world to learn the Chinese language and know more about the Asian country.

Statistics show that more than 30 million people overseas are learning Chinese.

Ancient town sees revival

Dan Ger, an ancient town linking Qinghai and western regions like Xinjiang and Tibet, has reopened after a two-year-long restoration project. It boasted a major road, through which merchants transported tea from the inland towns of China to western countries. The revival of this ancient commercial town is expected to attract many tourists to the area.

After two years of restoration, the ancient town Dan Ger has taken on a look just like it had centuries ago. The town，situated in Huangyuan county of northwest China's Qinghai province, rose to its peak of prosperity during the Qing dynasty. The major Chinese export products, like silk and tea, were transported to the west through here.

DanGer,anancienttownlinkingQinghaiandwesternregionslike
XinjiangandTibet,hasreopenedafteratwo-year-longrestoration
project.

Temples, local political institutions, and hundreds of shops line the street, reminding visitors of the ancient town's glorious past.

Cai Chengyong, the director of Huangyuan County in Qinghai province said, “Along the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, there is more natural scenery, with few historical spots. The ancient town of Dan Ger displays a mixture of Han culture and the Tibetan culture, which is a good supplement to our region's tourist image.”

As hoped, the ancient town of Dan Ger has enjoyed a tourist boom since it reopened on Tuesday.

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Winner of worldwide best job announced

A bungee-jumping, ostrich-riding British charity worker was named the winner of what's been dubbed the "Best Job in the World", a six-month contract to serve as caretaker of a tropical island in Australia.

Thirty-four-year-old Ben Southall, of Petersfield, beat out nearly 35-thousand applicants from around the world for the dream assignment. His job: to swim, explore, and relax on Hamilton Island in the Great Barrier Reef, while writing a blog to promote the area.

Abungee-jumping,ostrich-ridingBritishcharityworkerwasnamedthe
winnerofwhat'sbeendubbedthe"BestJobintheWorld".

He was selected for the 111-thousand US dollar gig by officials from the tourism department of Queensland state.

Southall and 15 other finalists spent the past four days on the island for an extended interview process, which required applicants to snorkel through

crystalline waters, gorge themselves at a beachside barbecue and relax at a spa.

The finalists also had to demonstrate their blogging abilities, take swimming tests, and participate in live interviews.

The job is part of a 1.2 million US dollar tourism campaign to publicize the charms of northeastern Queensland. Officials say it has already generated more than 110-million Australian dollars, or over 81-million US dollars worth of publicity.

Southall once worked as a tour guide in Africa, but most recently as a charity fundraiser.

He will live for free in an airy, three-bedroom oceanfront villa with a private pool and sweeping views of the surrounding islands.

The happy winner starts "work" on July the 1st.

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World expo promoted in Canada

Officials from the Shanghai municipal government are currently on a whirlwind tour of Canada promoting the 2010 World Expo.

OfficialsfromtheShanghaimunicipalgovernmentarecurrentlyona
whirlwindtourofCanadapromotingthe2010WorldExpo.

The group has visited major cities in Canada, including Vancouver, Toronto, and Calgary. They told local media how preparations are going and where to buy tickets for overseas visitors. The limited version of the 2010 Expo tickets are already on sale in Toronto.

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Tony Award nominations

"Billy Elliot, The Musical" leads the race for Broadway's top honors, receiving 15 Tony Award nominations on Tuesday. Popular stars up for an award include Geoffrey Rush, Angela Lansbury, James Gandolfini, and Jane Fonda.

"Billy Elliot" is based on Oscar-nominated director Stephen Daldry's 2000 film about a ballet dancing schoolboy in a northern England mining town. The musical has already won several Laurence Olivier Awards in London and played in Australia.

"BillyElliot,TheMusical"leadstheraceforBroadway'stophonors,
receiving15TonyAwardnominationsonTuesday.

The show is competing for best musical against "Shrek the Musical," "Next to Normal," and "Rock of Ages." Nominations for best play are "Dividing the Estate," "33 Variations," "God of Carnage," and "Reasons to be Pretty."

Stephen Daldry is up for best direction of a musical, while Sir Elton John, who wrote the music for "Billy Elliot," is up against Dolly Parton in the best original score category. She wrote the music and lyrics for "9 to 5: The Musical."

"Next to Normal," a musical about a suburban family coping with a crisis, has 11 nominations.

"Mary Stuart" and "The Norman Conquests" picked up the most nominations for a play, with seven each.

Oscar winner Geoffrey Rush is nominated for best performance by a leading actor in a play for his Broadway debut in "Exit the King."

Jane Fonda is nominated for best performance by a leading actress in a play for her role in "33 Variations," her first Broadway role in more than 40 years. She is up against "God of Carnage" co-stars Marcia Gay Harden and Hope Davis. Also nominated in that category are "Mary Stuart" co-stars Janet McTeer and Harriet Walter.

The Tony Awards are voted on by about 750 industry professionals. Winners will be announced on June 7th.

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