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Seychelles |
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President France-Albert René wins another term in office in elections held August 31 to September 2, taking 54% of the vote against 45% for Wavel Ramkalawan. Profile : Born in the Seychelles in 1935, France Rene was educated in Switzerland and Britain, where he became active in the British Labour Party. He returned home in 1965 and founded the Seychelles People's United Party - which later became the Seychelles People's Progressive Front - and the islands' first trade union. He campaigned against British rule and opposed the plans of James Mancham, leader of the Seychelles Democratic Party, for membership of the British Commonwealth. |
Cairns Group |
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17 Nations Open Agricultural Summit - Punta del Este, Uruguay Brazil's agriculture minister said the world's agricultural exporting nations would no longer stand for export subsidies, domestic farm support, or trade barriers based on questionable science. The Cairns Group, formed in 1986, aims to reach a common position this week to take to the World Trade Organization talks scheduled for November in Qatar. Its members, whose products account for about one-third of world farm exports, are Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Indonesia, Malaysia, NewZealand, Paraguay, the Philippines, South Africa, Thailand and Uruguay. |
South Korea |
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South Korea's parliament passed a no-confidence motion against the Cabinet minister in charge of policy toward North Korea. The vote was a blow to President Kim Dae-jung's so-called sunshine policy of engaging North Korea, which helped him win the Nobel Peace Prize last year. Of the 267 votes cast in the 271-member National Assembly, 148 supported the ouster of Unification Minister Lim Dong-won and 119 wanted to keep him in the post. |
Malaysa (Sarawak) |
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Sarawak Assembly dissolved for elections. In announcing the dissolution of the State Assembly after obtaining the consent of the Yang di-Pertua Negri Tun Abang Mohamad Salahhuddin at 10am, he said the clean sweep seen through his crystal ball may not be 100% correct. Upon being officially informed of the dissolution, the commission would conduct the state polls within 60 days, he added. |
São Tomé and Príncipe |
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Fradique de Menezes takes office as president. Fradique Bandeira Melo de Menezes' profile : Higherr education at the Instituto Superior de Psicologia Aplicada in Lisbon then in Bélgium, in the Faculty of Human Sciences from the University of Brussels. He assumed various posts under the first Republic among which, as a Foreign Minister and as an ambassador in Bélgium and the Netherlands. He is an independnet MP on ADI benches. 59, he is a widower. |
Moldova |
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Nicolae Dudau is appointed as new foreign minister. Profil : Nicolae Dudau was born on December 19, 1945 in the Grinauti-Moldova village in northern part of the country. In 1963-1975 he worked at the Chisinau tractor factory (with a break in 1964-1967, when he served in the Soviet Army), and in 1975-1988 he worked in various organs of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). In 1998-1990 he was Deputy Chairman of the Moldova's State Planning Committee, in 1990-1991 - First Secretary of the Chisinau City CPSU Committee, in 1991-1993 - Executive Director of an international charitable organization. In 1993-1994 Nicolae Dudau worked as a councillor at the Moldovan Embassy to Russia, in 1994- 1998 - Ambassador to Uzbekistan, 1997-1998 - First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, and in 1998-2001 - Ambassador to Belarus. Speaks Russian and English. Married, has an adult daughter. |
Israel |
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Élections au sein du Parti travailliste israélien. In the Israeli Labour Party's leadership election, moderate parliament speaker Avraham Burg was slightly ahead of hawkish Defence Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer but protests had been registered, party election committee head Efi Stenzler said. Ben Eliezer had been leading with 51.7 per cent to Burg's 47 per cent, party officials said. |
India |
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Prafulla Kumar Mahanta stepped down as leader of the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), which ruled the northeastern state of Assam until May, after being accused of illegally marrying his mistress. Profil : Prafulla Kumar Mahanta is the president of the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) and chief minister of Assam. An active student leader since his school days, Prafulla was first elected president of the powerful All Assam Students' Union (AASU) in 1978. Prafulla remained president of the AASU from 1978 to 1985, until they formed a new political party called the AGP in October 1985. He was elected the first president of the AGP, a post he has retained till now. Prafulla led the AGP to an overwhelming victory in the December 1985 elections to Assam's 126-member State Assembly. In November 1990, Prafulla's AGP government was dismissed and president's rule imposed in Assam. That was in the wake of an unprecedented stepped-up violence by the Ulfa. The AGP lost the polls in June 1991 and Prafulla and his colleagues sat in the opposition. In the next polls in 1996, the AGP emerged victorious again and assumed office. Prafulla is now gearing up, to lead the AGP to yet another election to the State Assembly, slated for mid-April, 2002. Prafulla is married to Jayashree Goswami, a former college teacher who has since become a Rajya Sabha MP. |
South Korea |
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President Kim Dae-jung replaced five ministers including Minister of Unification Lim Dong-won who had been voted down by the National Assembly and all three ministers from the United Liberal Democrats. He appointed Ambassador to China Hong Soon-young as new unification minister and Kim Dong-tae, former vice Minister of Agriculture and Forestry as minister there. Millennium Democratic Party assemblyman Yoo Yong-tae was appointed as minister of labour, National Tax Administration head Ahn Jeong-nam, as minister of construction and transportation and MDP Assemblyman Yoo Sam-nam, as minister of maritime affairs and fishery. |
Turkey |
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Turkish minister resigns in corruption scandal A senior Turkish nationalist resigned as housing minister as Turkey's attempts to root out corruption sparked yet more political upheaval. Minister Koray Aydin, a senior figure in the Nationalist Action Party (MHP), was the latest high-ranking minister to fall to a drive to root out corruption as part of efforts to reform the economy and earn European Union membership. Profile : born in 1955 in Trabzon, graduated from theTechnical university of the Black Sea in Mecanichal engineering.Joined the MHP in Ankara. Married with 3 children. |
Turkey |
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Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli announced that State Minister Tunca Toskay would assume the duties of Housing and Public Works Minister Koray Aydin who resigned. Profile : born in 1939 in Istanbul. Graduated from Istanbul university. A Doctorate from the same University . A professor,then he served at the Turkish Tourism Office, as head of the TRT, Chairman of the Support Commission of the Asia Pacific Cooperation, Chairman of Özel Çevre Koruma Bölgeleri . |
Seychelles |
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New Cabinet of Ministers. President France Albert Rene called on his Cabinet of Ministers to ensure that the government becomes more efficient, business-like and that each ministry is managed in a scientific way so as to better serve the public. Soon biographies and pictures |
Tajikistan |
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Tajikistan's Culture Minister Abdurakhim Rakhimov was shot dead by unknown assailants. Rakhimov, was gunned down as he was leaving his house in the capital Dushanbe, police said. The minister was hit by five bullets and died shortly after. Rakhimov, 53, was appointed culture minister in January. For six years before the appointment, he had served as head of the cultural department of President Emomali Rakhmonov's administration. |
APEC |
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APEC Finance Ministers Meeting - Suzhou, China Ministers from the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum meet for two days in the city of Suzhou and will issue a declaration on reviving the world economy. China's Finance Minister Xiang Huaicheng, noting the critical timing of the discussions, warned the ministers had their work cut out for them. The shadow hanging over the meeting darkened, with the release of gloomy data from the United States and Japan disappointing APEC members desperately relying on the world's two biggest economies to help spur their own recoveries. |
LAST ELECTIONS RESULTS
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In parliamentary elections, the Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor (Fretilin) wins 57% of the vote and 55 of 88 seats, followed by the Democratic Party with 9% and 7 seats. |
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Seats by parties : SDL (Soqosoqo Duavata Ni Lewenivanua) - 31 ; FLP (Fiji Labour Party) - 27 ; MV - 6 ; NLUP (New Labour Unity Party) - 2 ; IND (Independent Candidates) - 2 ; UGP (United General Party) - 1 and NFP (National Federation Party) - 1. |
VIPS VISITS
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Vladimir Putin Visit Finland President Vladimir Putin began his first state visit to Finland, arriving with his wife, Lyudmila, at the west-coast town of Turku for a meeting with Finnish President Tarja Halonen. Trade between Finland and Russia has developed well in recent years, and Finnish exports are recovering from the collapse caused by Russia's 1998 economic crisis. Among the main economic issues in Putin's visit will be plans for a $3 billion pipeline to pump up to 20 billion cubic meters per year of Russian natural gas under the Baltic Sea to western Europe. Two agreements will be signed, one on health cooperation and one on competition and anti-monopoly policy. |
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Chinese Premier Zhu kicks off 4-nation tour Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji departed for a two-week official visit to Ireland, Belgium, Russia and Kazakstan to discuss various issues including trade, disarmament and economic cooperation. In Belgium, Zhu is scheduled to attend a Sino-European Union (EU) Summit meeting to discuss the EU's new China policy, released in May, in which the 15-country union deems China a somewhat difficult partner and calls for continued, intensified dialogue between the two, a senior Foreign Ministry official said. In Russia, Zhu will attempt to further strengthen ties between Beijing and Moscow, following President Jiang Zemin's July visit to Russia during which the two countries signed a new friendship treaty committing them to consultation in the case either faces a military threat, the official said. In Kazakstan, the premier will attend the first prime ministers' meeting of the member countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which consists of China, Russia, Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Zhu is accompanied by his wife Lao An, Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan, Minister in charge of the State Economic and Trade Commission Li Rongrong, Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Shi Guangsheng and Minister of Culture Sun Jiazheng. |
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Chinese President Visit North Korea Chinese President Jiang Zemin kicked off a three-day official visit to North Korea, but neither Beijing nor Pyongyang suggested any agenda. However, President Jiang's talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il are expected to revolve around improving the Stalinist state's relations with Washington and Seoul. Jiang, also the head of the Chinese Communist Party has dubbed his call on Pyongyang a "goodwill visit" and the North Korean Labor Party's Rodong Shinmun reported it expects the trip to further strengthen ties between the two countries. |
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Sharon visit Russian Leaders Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has begun talks in Moscow to seek Russia's support for efforts to end nearly a year of Israeli-Palestinian violence. Mr. Sharon began his discussions with Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov. He is to meet with President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin later. Ahead of the meetings, Mr. Ivanov as saying the situation in the Middle East could develop into an "even broader tragedy." He said it is vital to stop the violence and create conditions for a resumption of the peace process. Russia is a co-sponsor of the Mideast peace process. |
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Mexico president visit U.S. Mexican President Vicente Fox, the first state visitor of the Bush presidency, challenged the United States to strike an agreement on immigration by year's end. President Bush said ``there is no more important relationship'' than with Mexico but did not embrace Fox's ambitious deadline. |
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VIPS-GOV : IRAN - Soon biographies and pictures |
THIS WEEK'S STORY
31BC |
Famous Naval Battle of Actium in the Ionian Sea, between Roman leader Octavian and the alliance of Roman Mark Antony and Cleopatra, queen of Egypt. Octavian soundly defeated Antony's fleet which was burned and 5000 of his men were killed. |
1752 |
This day never happened nor next 10 as England and it's colonies adopts Gregorian Calendar. People riot, thinking the government stole 11 days of their lives |
1886 |
Legendary Apache leader Geronimo surrendered to General Nelson A. Miles at Skeleton Canyon, Arizona, ending one of the last major U.S.-Indian conflicts. |
1793 |
In the French Revolution, Terror is officially acknowledged by the National Convention. One delegate, claiming that the middle class Girondist (moderates) leaders be sentenced to death cried, "It is time for equality to wield its scythe over all the heads. Very well, Legislator, place Terror on the agenda!" The delegates agreed to arrest all suspects and dissenters, try them swiftly in the kangaroo courts known as the Revolutionary Tribunals, and sentence them uniformly to death. |
1620 |
149 Pilgrims set sail from England aboard the Mayflower, bound for the New World. They landed at Plymouth Rock two month later. |
1901 |
In China, the Boxer Rebellion came to a formal end with the signing of the Peking Protocol by China, the five Western powers, and Japan. |
1565 |
In Florida, Spanish explorer Pedro Menéndez de Avilés founded San Augustin, which would later become Saint Augustine-the oldest city in North America. . |
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