Taiwan and China agreed to a landmark deal to expand charter flights and tourism, ending a 59-year break in transport links between the political rivals, the Daily Observer can reveal.

The pact, signed Friday in Beijing during their first formal talks since 1999, came one day after the two sides reached consensus on establishing permanent representative offices, according to reports monitored by the Daily Observer.

Such missions would mark a huge step forward in establishing contacts and mutual trust, although Taiwan's chief negotiator, Chiang Pin-kung, emphasized the Taipei government still needed to approve the measure.

"There is still a long way to go for normalization of cross-strait economic and trade exchange," Chiang told reporters following the signing of the transport and tourism pacts.

President Hu Jintao praised the new deals when he met for talks with Chiang and his delegation later Friday.

"This shows that the improvement of cross-strait relations has got off to a good start. It is to be celebrated," Hu said. "I believe it will be widely welcomed by compatriots on both sides of the strait."

Afterward Chiang told reporters he had also raised the issue of Taiwan's participation in international affairs.

"I told Hu ... that the two sides both belonged to the Chinese race and we should make positive contributions to the international community together," he said.

In return, Hu told him that he agreed that Taiwan should participate in international issues, and become involved in international bodies like the World Health Organization. He then suggested that Taiwan and China seek mutually acceptable solutions to the issue, Chiang said.

Beijing's communist administration considers Taiwan part of its territory and refuses to recognize the government in Taipei, which means that negotiations must be carried out by semiofficial bodies. Chinag is the head of the Straits Exchange Foundation, Taiwan's negotiating body.

The expansion of charter flights was a key agenda item for the talks that began Thursday. Those flights are now limited to four annual Chinese holidays and are usually packed with Taiwanese residents on the mainland returning home to visit family. Taiwan has banned direct scheduled flights ever since the sides split in 1949 amid civil war.

On Thursday, the two sides agreed to set up permanent offices in each other's territory for the first time, one of the biggest steps they have taken to build mutual trust.

The agreements mark a victory of pragmatism over politics, with the parties setting aside their ideological differences to strengthen booming trade and investment ties.

In other areas, the sides remain far apart. China continues to build up its military, especially its missile force, to back up its threat to invade Taiwan if the island declares formal independence or refuses demands for political unification with the mainland. Beijing has strongly opposed Taiwan's close ties with the United States.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has announced its first national authority for scientific research (NASR) to coordinate and fund scientific research in the country.
The national authority for scientific research was announced on March 7 by Shaikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, UAE minister for higher education and scientific research. NASR will begin with an annual budget of AED100 million (approximately US$27.2 million). The authority hopes to receive additional contributions from the public and the private sector.

NASR will look to fund research projects in various fields, including engineering, technology, medicine, water and agriculture, proposing specific projects to be competed for by researchers at universities and private research institutes.
"Projects are going to be selected to help promote scientific research and the growth of UAE society and we will compare them with international scientific research criteria," Gulf News quoted Al Nahyan as saying at the launch.

NASR will also train scientists and develop programmes for promoting public science awareness. It will also coordinate with government authorities on the issue of intellectual property rights, by providing advice on how companies and research centres should go about protecting their discoveries in the form of patents or licenses. It will also provide scholarships for researchers in the UAE to work on international research programmes, and organise national scientific conferences. NASR forms part of the UAE's strategic plan to improve higher education and scientific research.

Zakaria Maamar, associate professor at the College of Information Technology at Zayed University, UAE, told Science and Development Network (SciDev.Net) that, "This initiative is another boost to the research and development activities that are carried out in the UAE. It will definitely provide researchers with the appropriate funds to sustain such activities and promote best practices in the community."

Said Elnaffar, assistant professor at the college of information technology at the United Arab Emirates University, told SciDev.Net that, with this initiative, the UAE is taking the lead and setting a good example by building a strong development infrastructure founded on knowledge discovery and research.

The Foundation of Abdul Aziz Saud Al-Babtain’s prize for creativity is proud to announce it’s seminar to discuss the ‘Role of the Media in dialogue between Arabs and the West’ on the 30th – 31st of March 2008, in the library of Abdul Aziz Saud Al-Babtain, Kuwait.

With prominent members of the press world wide, media specialists, high-profile international commentators, politicians and activists in cross-cultural dialogue, coming for this distinguished occasion, the Foundation of Abdul Aziz Saud Al-Babtain’s prize for creativity is honored to host an event of such global significance. Never has a time come in modern history of such a need to discuss the role of the media, and its influence on the dialogue between these two vast civilisations.

With a wide array of top international journalists coming to participate and speakers including highly respected journalists, who are regularly interviewed on top news channels like the BBC, CNN and Fox News: Adel Darwish (Senior Journalist, UK), Michael Binyon (The Times, UK), Mamoun Fandy (Author/Expert, UK), Paul Halloran (Senior Journalist, UK), Dr. Farhan Nizami (Oxford University Professor/Expert, UK), H.E Mr. Per Stenback (Former Foreign Minister of Finland), Christopher Dickey (Director of NewsWeek Office in Europe, U.S.A), Mr. Jihad Al-Khazen (Author and Media Expert, Al-Hayat Newspaper, London), Mr. Roger Hardy (Journalist, BBC World), Mr. Alain Grech (Director of Lemonde Diplomatic, France). The seminar has been prepared in order to bring to Kuwait and subsequently to the Middle East, a real chance of understanding the process of dialogue through the Western-Arab media and to dispel misunderstandings that these two cultures have had to endure.

In a recent Press conference held by Mr. Abdul Aziz Saud Al-Babtain for the Kuwaiti press, Mr. Al-Babtain stated “This seminar is considered as a continuation of the previous seminar we held in March 2007 entitled ‘Arabs in the Western Media’. For this seminar we have invited 35 top international journalists to achieve our ultimate goal, of delivering our sincere message of peace, through dialogue. The world is facing consistent clashes and wars, in these times it is essential for the benefit of our global community to reach peaceful solutions through the practice and discipline of dialogue. In this seminar we hope to achieve these great hopes.”

With four sessions spread over two days, involving participants from America, Britain, France, Germany, Scandinavia, and the wider Middle East, the Foundation of Abdul Aziz Saud Al-Babtain’s for Dialogue Between Civilisations will be hosting it’s first session in the English and French language in order to meet the challenge of fermenting dialogue between the Arabs and the occidental world.  Previous seminars from the Foundation have been orientated around similar themes; since we recognised dialogue as the main bridge of understanding between different cultures.

If you would like to receive more information on the seminar and speakers or would like to receive free press coverage (in article form) from this event please feel free to contact Toby Halloran on  tr2@albabtainprize.org  /  tmfhalloran@gmail.com. Updated news and info about the session can be found on the Foundation of Abdul Aziz Saud Al-Babtain’s website.

www.albabtainprize.org ,   http://www.albabtainprize.org/Seminar-e.html

At 23:18:55 GMT this evening, a Russian Proton-M/Briz-M rocket launched from Area 200/39 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, with the AMC-14 satellite for American communications organisation SES Americom. The rocket, operated by International Launch Services (ILS), lifted off on time, and headed towards a Geosynchronous orbit. Around fourty minutes after lift-off, ILS reported that an anomaly had occurred during the second burn of the upper stage. AMC-14, which would have been operated in conjunction with Echostar was to provide direct-to-home satellite television services. It was based on the Lockheed Martin A2100 satellite bus.

This is the 11th orbital launch of 2008, and the first to fail. It is also the 334th launch of the Proton rocket, the 41st Proton launch failure, the 2,800th Russian orbital launch, and the 45th launch to be conducted by ILS. It is also the third failure of a Proton during an ILS launch in as many years, following a malfunction during a launch last September, and another in February 2006.

The Proton itself performed nominally, and the Briz-M upper stage successfully completed the first of three burns. During the second burn, however, an undisclosed malfunction occurred, leaving the satellite stranded in a much lower orbit than planned. It is unclear whether the satllite is recoverable. There are currently three options, which are to declare the satellite a write-off and de-orbit it, attempt to raise it to geosynchronous orbit under its own power, or propel it towards the Moon, using lunar gravity to slingshot it back into the correct orbit. If either of the latter options are chosen, it will be at great cost to the satellite's on-orbit life expectancy.

Progress spacecraft M-63, serial number 363, also designated Progress 28P, has been launched by the Russian Federal Space Agency on a mission to resupply the International Space Station. Liftoff, atop a Soyuz-U carrier rocket occurred at 13:02 GMT, from Area 1/5 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

The spacecraft will dock with the space station on Thursday, a few hours ahead of the scheduled launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis on STS-122, with the Columbus module, a new laboratory which will enhance the outpost's research capabilities.

The Progress spacecraft is used to deliver supplies and experiments to the station. Typically four or five are launched each year, with the two most recently launched remaining on station, the oldest being undocked and de-orbited shortly before the arrival of a new one. However in this case, owing to the imminent Space Shuttle launch, there is currently no Progress spacecraft at the ISS, following the undocking of Progress M-62 yesterday.

Progress spacecraft, which are loose analogues of the Soyuz spacecraft, have been used as resupply craft in space station programmes since Salyut 6. Progress M-63 is the 28th Progress spacecraft to fly as part of the ISS programme.

This is the fourth orbital launch of 2008, and the second for Russia.