 The world's biggest cruise ship, the "Freedom of the Seas", has drawn a crowd of thousands in Hamburg ahead of its maiden transatlantic voyage. The Finnish-built vessel - flagship of Royal Caribbean International - will have a thorough check and final polish at Germany's Blohm and Voss shipyard. It boasts the world's first on-board surfing pool, called "Flow Rider", a skating rink and a rock-climbing wall. It will take up to 4,375 passengers at a time on Caribbean cruises. The 160,000-ton ship is 339 metres (1,112 ft) long, 56m (184 ft) wide and has a cruising speed of 21.6 knots. The crew had to carry out a tricky manoeuvre in Hamburg, as the ship's berth was only three metres wider and 12m longer than the ship. The ocean liner Queen Mary II is six metres longer but 15m narrower than the Freedom of the Seas, which will be based in Miami, Florida....
http://news.bbc.co.uk
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Editor - 09:40:00 04-17-06
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 Iran brushes off uranium worries |
Iran has again insisted it will keep enriching uranium in spite of growing international concern that it is pursuing nuclear weapons. Ali Larijani, its top nuclear official, said demands to halt the programme were "irrational" and he advised other states "not to repeat past mistakes". US senators have called for direct talks between America and Iran. New satellite photographs published in the US appear to show Iran has expanded and reinforced its main nuclear plants. Uranium conversion facilities at Isfahan look to have been expanded while an underground uranium enrichment plant at Natanz appears to have been reinforced, the US-based Institute for Science and International Security (Isis) think-tank reports. According to Isis, Natanz's two subterranean cascade halls have been buried by successive layers of earth and concrete and the roof of the halls is now eight metres (26 feet) underground. ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4915416.stm
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Editor - 09:36:00 04-17-06
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| US probes 'friendly fire' deaths |
US-led forces in Afghanistan say they are investigating 2 separate incidents in which they may have killed civilians and Afghan policemen. 7 civilians died during a battle with insurgents in the eastern province of Kunar on Saturday. A US statement regretted the "loss of innocent life" in that incident. A separate investigation is under way to determine if "friendly fire" led to the deaths of 6 Afghan policemen on Fri in southern Kandahar province. The deaths occurred during a fire fight between a coalition patrol and militants in Kunar province near the border with Pakistan, the US military said. Some 10 militants are said to have been killed in the clash in which US aircraft & artillery were used to target a house & a cave in which they were hiding. "Our surveillance indicated that there was a house with a cave nearby and that the insurgents were going back and forth between both, so we suppressed the area with a combined arms assault of close air support, artillery and direct fire,"...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4914838.stm
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Editor - 09:32:00 04-17-06
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| Dig aims to unearth miracle of Jesus |
Cana, the village in Galilee where the Bible says Jesus changed water into wine, has been excavated by archaeologists in a crash effort to uncover its ruins before they are pulverized by local building contractors. The site is situated at Karm-a-Ras, a picturesque slope dotted by olive trees planted in the 14th and 15th centuries. It overlooks a lush agricultural expanse, part of which may eventually become an archaeological park. Many of Cana's houses contained ritual baths and stone vessels indicating its inhabitants were Galilean Jews at the time of the miracle described in the Gospel of John. No imported or glass vessels were found, a factor that attests to its Jewish identity and economically modest circumstances. That may explain why the wine ran short there after the first three days of a weeklong Jewish wedding mentioned in the biblical narrative. Jesus' first miracle is described in John 2:1-10. "When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, 'They have no more wine.' ...
http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20060416-115958-4935r.htm
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Editor - 09:13:00 04-17-06
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| China backs overseas investment |
Foreign firms will still be welcome to invest in China, despite fears inflows are swelling the country's currency reserves, a senior official has said. Hu Jingyan, of the Commerce Ministry's foreign investment office, said China "will not change" the policy of encouraging foreign investment. It came as the OECD said increased transparency would bring more inflows. China drew $60.3bn(£34.3bn) in FDI in 2005 and $60.6bn in 2004. FDI rose 6.4% in the first quarter of 2006 to $14bn. However, some analysts say it has created an excessive rise in currency reserves. Reserves grew $56.2bn in the first quarter to $875.1bn, but Mr Hu claimed the foreign exchange reserves, per head of China's 1.3 billion population, were still relatively low...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4915500.stm
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Editor - 09:09:00 04-17-06
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| Overseas operations aid Citigroup |
US banking giant Citigroup has said first-quarter profit rose 4% thanks to its corporate and investment banking, and to revenues from its overseas arms. That offset weakness in its US consumer banking operations, it said. Net income for the New York-based firm - the largest US bank - rose to $5.64 bn ($3.2bn) from $5.44bn a year before. Profit from continuing operations was up 9% to $5.56bn. And revenue from ongoing operations rose 5% to $22.18bn, said the owner of Citibank. Citigroup also said it was to proceed with a $10bn buy-back of shares. Chief Executive Charles Prince said in a statement that investment had helped generate "record revenues" in non-US and corporate and investment banking units. International revenues were up 47% on the same period a year ago. ...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4915850.stm
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Editor - 09:07:00 04-17-06
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