60220    Analysts assert that the intention of China in helping Myanmar is the construction of a naval base for its expansion into the Indian Ocean.

60221    Prince Norodom Sihanouk, the King of Cambodia, met Chinese President Jiang Zemin on December 31.

60222    The King announced his intention to go back to Cambodia early next year.

60223    JoongAng Ilbo, a Korean evening paper, reported from Beijing on January 1 that in December China stopped its supply of soft coal for power generation to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, which amounted to approximately a million tons annually.

60224    It has become sure that the political crisis in Italy, sparked by the resignation of Prime Minister Berlusconi, will extend well into next year, while in another political move, a committee has been formed to push into the Prime Minister post the former Prosecutor DiPietro, who had resigned to protest "political pressure" regarding the corruption investigation.

60225    Although the committee was only voluntarily organized by citizens that have become fed up with the recent political chaos in the country, it has attracted huge attention, as proven by the fact that whenever there is some media coverage of the organization, they receive nearly a thousand phone calls every day.

60226    This Italian volunteer organization, "DiPietro to Prime Ministership," is headed by Secretary-General Jean-Franco Masia, an ordinary citizen living in Ravenna, northern Italy.

60227    Masia passionately advocates the significance of the committee, remarking, "The people of Italy lack a political leader who is aware of his responsibility and works to fulfill it.Mr. DiPietro is one of the few exceptions who fulfilled the obligation given to him.I believe that he is exactly the person we need."

60228    A football superstar, Diego Maradona and his family met Fidel Castro, Cuban President of the Council of State, on December 30th last year, and they joyfully took photos together.

60229    President Castro and Player Maradona have known each other for a long time.

60230    Families of the two plan to enjoy holidays together in Cuba until January 2.

60231    Confrontations between Palestinians and Jewish colonists have expanded in Efrat, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank of the Jordan River, almost twenty kilometers south of Jerusalem.

60232    With eighteen injured on December 30, the conflict is ever deteriorating.

60233    According to the report from Israel, the cause of this dispute was the expansive construction of residences by colonists.

60234    Palestinians protested to this move by planting olive seedlings in the area.