www.dnd.ca
Write to the Troops

The Honourable Art Eggleton, Minister of National Defence, announced details about how Canadians can send holiday greetings to the some 3,000 Canadian Forces personnel now serving overseas.

Canadians can post electronic greetings on a message board on the National Defence web site at http://www.forces.ca (follow “Write to the Troops” link). These messages will be seen by members of the armed forces, as well as by family members and the public.

Sending postcards by regular mail, addressed to “Any” soldier, sailor, airman/airwoman, or service member is another way for Canadians to send greetings. Postcards can be sent to designated military postal addresses (see attached list), where they will be shipped overseas by the Canadian Forces Postal Service. The Postal Service cannot accept envelopes or parcels from the general public due to current safety and security concerns.

The above restrictions do not apply to family members, who can still send envelopes and packages overseas by following guidelines available through their local Military Family Resource Centre, or through the Canadian Forces Personnel Support Agency web site at http://www.cfpsa.com.

写信慰问海外军队鼓士气

加拿大国防部部长阿特・埃格尔顿(Art Eggleton)日前详细地通告加拿大人，应该如何寄发节日贺卡给正在海外服役的约3,000名加拿大军人。即日起，加拿大人就可以在国防部网站(www.forces.ca)“Write to the Troops”链接的留言版上贴电子贺信。武装部队成员、他们的家庭成员及公众都可以看到这些信息。

平邮明信片给“任何”士兵、海军、空军或者后勤人员是加拿大人邮寄贺卡的另一种方式。明信片能被寄发到指定的军队邮政地址，并由加拿大军队邮政服务系统发到海外。但出于目前保安的考虑，这类邮政服务不接受普通民众寄的信封或包裹。不过，家庭成员不受限，他们可以按照当地军队家庭资源中心，或武装人员后备局网站(www.cfpsa.com)的指导，将信件和包裹寄到海外。

文：King编译

ca.news.yahoo.com
Canada-U.S. sign agreements on visa controls
加美签署边境共管协议

Canada has as much to gain as the United States from a new security agreement the two countries signed Monday to improve co-operation and access to border-related information, U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft said.

Ashcroft denied that the measures, which include the deployment of national guardsmen along the border to temporarily relieve U.S. customs agents, are a one-sided effort to tighten what he once called a porous border.

“We as two mature, sovereign nations, each acting in our own self interests, have decided to co-operate because the mutual benefits for security and freedom and productivity…are on the line here,” Ashcroft said after signing the agreement.

The Canada-U.S. border management plan will see the two countries share more information and expand integrated border patrol units. Already in place at three border crossings, the units combine police, customs and immigration officials from both countries.

The agreement also calls for co-ordinated visa requirements between the two countries.

In addition, Canada will deploy more immigration officers abroad, and both countries will alert each other when foreigners suspected of criminal or terrorist intent are denied visas.

Also, MacAulay and Ashcroft signed a separate agreement to improve the exchange of fingerprint data between the RCMP and the FBI.

Ashcroft reiterated previous assertions from both Canadian and U.S. government officials that there is no evidence to suggest those involved in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks entered the United States through Canada.

But since modern terrorism often calls for training in one country, planning of an attack in another and the execution of the plan in a third location, the only effective way to prevent an incident is to disrupt the travel, said Ashcroft. (MICHELLE MACAFEE)

www.cp.org/english
Besieged bin Laden may still be able to strike back
困难重重拉登可能反扑

Osama bin Laden, known for his strategic thinking and planning, probably has a nasty last sting in mind as he prepares for the end of his battle to the death with America, says a terrorism expert who once interviewed the Saudi exile blamed for the Sept. 11 attacks.

Given the importance bin Laden and his al-Qaida network attach to symbolism and dates, they could attempt to hit U.S. targets before Ramadan ends in mid-December, says Peter L. Bergen, a terrorism analyst for CNN and author of a new book on bin Laden.

“I don’t think you have to be an alarmist to be very concerned,” Bergen said in a telephone interview from Washington.

On Monday, the U.S. government renewed its call on American law-enforcement agencies to be “on the highest alert” for terrorism. Tom Ridge, the U.S. homeland security director, said the convergence of Christmas and Ramadan this month could be tempting to terrorists who have a history of striking during religious observations.

The U.S. alert does not pinpoint a target or mode of attack but is linked to threats from people with al-Qaida connections.

Bergen, who met bin Laden in 1997 with then-CNN correspondent Peter Arnett at a location outside Jalalabad, Afghanistan, wrote about it in his new book, Holy War Inc., Inside the Secret World of Osama bin Laden (The Free Press, New York, 2001). (PAUL LOONG)
T5

english.peopledaily.com.cn
Rice Bowls of Zhongguancun White Collar Workers Are Insecure
中国“矽谷”中关村白领饭碗不保

The present wide-ranging staff reduction in Zhongguancun enterprises gives such a signal: Under the unfavorable macro-economic environment and micro-enterprise climate, China’s IT industries have been at the time which makes it impossible for them to strive for survival without making a change.

Furthermore, such a kind of change not only remains at the level of IT firms or manufacturers, but will penetrate into the upstream and downstream industries and to IT employees and the consumers of IT products.

Zhongguancun is experiencing the test of a storm of staff-cut which is unprecedented in the history of Zhongguancun’s development. It is particularly noteworthy that not only big companies in Zhongguancun, such as Henderson, Founder of Peking University, Thunis of Tsinghua University, are involved in it, but also Legend Group, the lead of Chinese IT industry, cannot remain unaffected.

At the same time, Legend frankly admits, “The proportion of staff optimized has increased from the original 5 percent to this year’s 10 percent, and this optimization work is to be carried out once every six months, this is different from the past when this work was accomplished in one stroke at the end of the year.”
Immediately thereafter, the news about Henderson’s plan to drastically downsize the staff spread very quickly. Inspector-general Qiu Kaisheng of the company’s brand indicates: the range of Henderson’s staff reduction is not so big as what is rumored, the number of staff to be reduced in the next several months may range between 50 and 100, accounting for about 5-10 percent of the company’s total staff.(CHEN XIAORUI)

NEWS BRIEFING

english.peopledaily.com.cn
Shanghai to Continue Plan of Building Highest Tower in the World
上海继续世界最高塔建设计划

Shanghai Mayor Xu Kuangdi said in Paris on December 2 that China’s eastern metropolis of Shanghai will continue its plan of building highest tower in the world, noting that the city has full confidence and measures to safeguard the building’s safety.
www.reuters.com/

Ford Warns of Deeper Fourth-Quarter Loss
福特第四季再度预警

Ford Motor Co. F.N warned on Wednesday of a deeper-than-expected fourth-quarter operating loss as it grapples with fallout from its worst financial crisis in nearly a decade.

www.reuters.com/
Two Elite U.S. Soldiers Killed by American Bomb
美炸弹误伤己士兵两亡

Two U.S. special forces soldiers were killed and 20 injured on Wednesday along with an unknown number of anti-Taliban forces in a mistaken strike by an American B-52 bomber north of Kandahar in Afghanistan, the Pentagon said.

www.nationalpost.com
Liberals “eroding” Parliament
慷慨“侵蚀’议会

Canada’s new Auditor-General exposed misspending and mismanagement amounting to billions of dollars of taxpayers’ money yesterday and warned that Parliament has effectively lost control over federal spending.

www.thestar.com
Charges laid in teen’s death at café
少女死于网吧，警方诉两涉嫌雇员

Two employees of a downtown Internet café where a 17-year-old girl died have been charged in connection with her death.

www.cnn.com
NASA tries again for Endeavour launch
美奋进号航天机再试升空

After yet another delay in the launch of space shuttle Endeavour, NASA fueled the ship again Wednesday for a launch to begin a mission to ferry a fresh crew to the international space station.