Nominees to panel named
The Preparatory Committee published the full list of almost 5,800 nominees to the Selection Committee that will appoint Hong Kong's handover leader.
Lo Tak-shing and Arthur Garcia, two prospective candidates for chief executive of the Special Administrative Region government, were in the list.
Two members of the family of Chief Secretary Anson Chan Fong On-sang and at least two pro-Taiwan figures are bidding for seats.
Students in Beijing's university district of Haidian expressed strong support for Hong Kong protest actions over the Diaoyu islands row, but they were too frightened to stage any public protests themselves.
One student from Beida said the mood of patriotism among his peers was running high and many felt the government policy was not firm enough.
President Boris Yeltsin's heart surgery will take place in six to 10 weeks' time. The President will remain in hospital until he undergoes triple or quadruple bypass surgery and the operation would take between 90 minutes and two hours.
Hollywood actress Melanie Griffith, who married actor Antonio Banderas in May, gave birth to the couple's first child in Spain recently. The baby girl, Stella del Carman, weighed 2.7 kilograms and was in good health.
Fourth seed Boris Becker of Germany and sixth seed and former world No 1 Stefan Edberg of Sweden needed three sets to get past their first-round opponents at the US$975,000 Swiss Indoors Championship.
Becker completed his first match by beating Bohdan Ulihrach of the Czech Republic 6-1, 5-7 and 6-3. While Edberg earned his 800th career singles victory by posting a 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 win over Dutchman Jan Siemerink.
A 41-year-old man was suspected of killing his wife, three children and two male tenants by turning his Tsuen Wan flat into a gas chamber.
The suspect, who is the only survivor of the tragedy, was sent to Yan Chai Hospital and his condition turned from critical to poor.
The world's major nuclear powers including the United States, China, France, Britain and Russia signed a global treaty recently that bans nuclear test explosions. The treaty establishes a network of 201 monitoring stations worldwide to detect underground, atmospheric or underwater explosions.
A survey, carried out by the Division of Social Studies at City University, has found most parents do not know enough about sex to teach their children the facts of life. Parents were asked 21 questions and none was able to give correct answers to all questions, while half of them could only correctly answer nine.
President Bill Clinton and Republican challenger Bob Dole will hold two televised debates in October. While a 90-minute debate between Vice-President Al Gore and Republican vice-presidential candidate Jack Kemp would take place on October 9 in Florida.
