State investment firm faces huge challenges
Hu Xiaolian, head of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), also said that the State investment company will be established this year, although details are yet to hammered out.
The new company is expected to be under the direction of the State Council, China's Cabinet, while professional managers will handle the reserve fund.
City Police Spied Broadly Before G.O.P. Convention
NEW YORK — For at least a year before the 2004 Republican National Convention, teams of undercover New York City police officers traveled to cities across the country, Canada and Europe to conduct covert observations of people who planned to protest at the convention, according to police records and interviews.
From Albuquerque to Montreal, San Francisco to Miami, undercover New York police officers attended meetings of political groups, posing as sympathizers or fellow activists, the records show.
They made friends, shared meals, swapped e-mail messages and then filed daily reports with the department’s Intelligence Division. Other investigators mined Internet sites and chat rooms.”
Pentagon: Taking a Hard Look at CIFA
Hundreds held as ARD protests today
Hundreds of opposition activists have been detained ahead of a countrywide protest today called by the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD) against the suspension of the chief justice of Pakistan.
The ARD has planned rallies at the divisional level across the country, with the major rally to be held at the District Courts Chowk in Rawalpindi. The decision to organise the protest was made by former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif – the heads of the two major parties in the ARD, the Pakistan People’s Party and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz – at a meeting in London last week.
Iran limits cooperation with IAEA after sanctions
The U.N. Security Council unanimously approved the sanctions on Saturday for Tehran's refusal to suspend its program, but major powers also offered new talks and renewed an economic and technological incentive package offer.
An Iranian government spokesman said Iran would limit its cooperation with the U.N. watchdog, the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, in retaliation.
"Iran will not stop its peaceful and legal nuclear trend even for one second because of such an illegal resolution," Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said.
Two rescued in Gulf after falling off cruise ship
HOUSTON, Texas -- More than four hours after they fell from a cruise ship into the Gulf of Mexico, two vacationers were pulled from the water about 150 miles off the Galveston, Texas, coast early Sunday, according to the cruise line and the U.S. Coast Guard.
The 22-year-old man and 20-year-old woman apparently fell from a passenger's cabin balcony on the Grand Princess about eight hours after the cruise ship left the Galveston port, said Julie Benson, spokeswoman for Princess Cruises.
"When alerted to this, the ship stopped, initiated an emergency search operation, and returned to the position where the overboard incident was initially reported," Benson said, adding that the ship turned around and headed back within 10 minutes of getting word.
Gucci store ram raided
Detectives are examining a stolen car that was left lodged in the doors of a high-end Sydney designer store after a ram-raid this morning.
The gold-coloured Honda Civic sedan smashed through the front doors of the Gucci store in Castlereagh Street near Martin Place about 2.30am.
The stolen car shattered the glass doors and bent back a security grille, allowing the thieves to loot designer handbags, clothing, sunglasses, footwear and jewellery from the store before fleeing in another vehicle.
Menu pet food recall widens
The company had initially recalled wet dog and cat food manufactured at its Kansas and New Jersey facilities between December 3, 2006 and March 6, 2007. But the company said in a statement Saturday it would remove all 95 brands of wet food, regardless of its manufacturing date, to ensure no tainted food remained on store shelves.
“There is no known risk from items not listed on the recall list but an abundance of caution is called for in this situation,” the company said. “(The Food and Drug Administration) has been apprised of this action.”
