tokyo  -- the fukuoka high court on monday upheld the decision of the nagasaki district court to reject a damages suit filed by ten chinese plaintiffs seeking compensation for forced labor in japan under harsh conditions during world war ii, local media reported.

despite its admitting that the plaintiffs had suffered " extremely large" psychological and physical distress from forced transportation and forced labor, the high court turned down the appeal in line with a supreme court decision in april 2007 on the grounds that the plaintiffs lost their rights to war repatriations under the japan-china joint declaration issued in 1972.

in march 2007, the district court rejected the damages suit filed by the ten chinese, composed of former coal miners and relatives of deceased workers, citing the expired 20。。。

rome, italy (ap) -- italian prosecutors saturday accused an american student of fatally stabbing her british house mate in a satanic rite and asked a court to put an alleged african accomplice in prison for life, defense lawyers said.

the american, amanda knox, 21, proclaimed her innocence at the closed-door hearing in the umbrian university town of perugia and accused police of hitting her and calling her a liar during an interrogation, defense lawyers said.

at his lawyers' request, a fast-track trial is being conducted for rudy hermann guede, the ivorian accused in the case. he has acknowledged being in the bedroom where meredith kercher's body, stabbed in the neck and lying in a pool of blood, was found in november 2007 in the house she rented with knox.

london, england (ap) -- a british chef who killed a man with a knife and cooked and ate his flesh was sentenced monday to minimum of 30 years in prison.

judge james stewart said anthony morley, 36, showed no remorse for the killing of damien oldfield.

"before this case i had associated cannibalism with eras long gone, with the tale of robinson crusoe. no longer," stewart said. "you have plumbed depths rarely encountered in our court."

morley attacked oldfield, 33, during a night the pair spent together in april at morley's home in the northern city of leeds. morley slit oldfield's throat as he lay in his bed, stabbed him repeatedly and cooked some of his flesh.

stewart rejected mor。。。

beijing -- beijing's former vice mayor liu zhihua was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve for taking bribes, local media reported sunday, citing a saturday court ruling.

liu, 59, was charged with taking bribes of about 6.97 million yuan (1.02 million us dollars) when he was vice mayor of beijing and director of the management committee of zhongguancun science park from 1999 to 2006, according to hengshui intermediate people's court in neighboring hebei province.

the court said the bribes were pocketed by liu and his mistress wang jianrui. liu abused his power to get contract projects, loans and offer promotions for others in exchange for profits.。。。

facing a housing market lull which could drag china's economy further in the backdrop of a worldwide financial crisis, beijing is probing possibilities to loosen its macro control to activate the real estate sector.

as many as 18 chinese cities, including shanghai,guangzhou,hangzhou and xi'an, have announced detailed policies to boost their property market, which have seen at least four months of consecutive drops in housing prices.。。。

the draft revision of the 14-year-old state compensation law will be given its first reading by deputies to the national people's congress (npc) next thursday, it was announced wednesday at a meeting in beijing hosted by the country's top legislator wu bangguo.

the proposed changes to the statute came about following criticism from the legal sector of the way in which the law - designed to protect the public from the improper practices of government organs - was being implemented.

legal experts have said that despite the growing number of malpractice cases now being brought against the government, the law in its present form is too narrow in its scope, fails to guarantee the payment of fair levels of compensation, and is too unwieldy to function smoothly.

shen kui, a law professor at peking university, told china。。。

beijing - china's long-awaited health care reform plan, which aims at providing universal medical service to 1.3 billion people, was released tuesday for public debate.

the country wants a health care system that covers all urban and rural residents by 2020. according to the plan, that care should be safe, effective, convenient and affordable.

the plan breaks up the health care system in to four departments: public health service, medical treatment, medical insurance and medicine supply.

medical reform has been deliberated by authorities since 2006.

growing public criticism of soaring medical fees, lack of access to affordable medical service, poor doctor-patient relationships and low medical insurance coverage compelled china to launch the new round of reforms.。。。

    俄罗斯开市前临时停止交易，印尼股市暂时无限期休市，泰国触发临时暂停交易条件，日本大阪临时休市，10月10日的亚太股市已难用暴跌去形容，纷纷进入非常状态。全球股市底在何方？一片迷茫之中，市场似乎更需要寻找一些具体的可资思考的谷底标志物。
     "市场还没有到最坏的时候。"社科院金融所副研究员肇越表示。
    对于这个判断的依据，肇越说，主要是因为美国经济最严峻的时刻还没有到来，最严峻的时刻应该是美国出现商业银行倒闭的大危机，与投行相比，商业银行跟实体经济的联系要紧密得多，也重要得多，次按危机以来，问题的集中爆发点在华尔街几家大型投行，到目前为止，美国商。。。

washington: world bank chief economist justin lin said on saturday that china could remain buoyant through the current financial crisis, the most serious since the great depression in the 1930s.

"my overall position is that certainly china will be affected, because exports are a very important part of china's economic growth," lin told reporters on the sidelines of the annual meetings of the international monetary fund (imf) and the world bank.

"however, china may be able to weather this crisis in a much better shape than ma。。。

olympia, washington (ap) -- the emotionally charged battle over end-of-life decisions has taken to the airwaves as washington state voters decide whether to allow doctors to prescribe lethal medication to terminally ill patients.

recent tv and radio ads by opponents feature actor martin sheen, who calls the measure a "dangerous idea" that could be used by the most vulnerable in society. supporters are on tv with an ad spotlighting a widow who says it lets those who are suffering have control over their final days.

with both sides having raised a combined $3.5 million, much of it still unspent, more ads are expected in the coming weeks.

the measure would allow physicians in washington state to help terminally i。。。