Macedonia buries its president. The remains of Boris Trajkovski and the eight people who were with him on board the crashed plane were flown to the Macedonian capital Skopje on Wednesday. The president's coffin was installed in the parliament building, where residents of Macedonia and foreign delegations paid their last respects to him all day on Thursday. The Macedonian president's plane crashed on Friday, February 26, as it was about to land in the city of Mostar in southern Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Chinese will have the right to own private property. The annual session of the National People's Congress, held in Beijing, must adopt relevant amendments to the Constitution. Prime Minister Wen Chia-bao's report was in many ways in contrast to the pompous atmosphere in the hall. The Prime Minister admitted that poverty and social problems in the country cause legitimate discontent among the population. The proposed amendments to the Basic Law would legalize private property for the first time in Chinese history since the Communists came to power in 1949. The “Three Symbols Theory”, specially developed by theorists of the Chinese Communist Party, is intended to sanctify the idea of privatization.
George W. Bush's first election commercial, which appeared on television screens in sixteen American states on Thursday, drew criticism from the US president. Footage of the aftermath of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center hurt the feelings of relatives of the victims of the tragedy. “We do not want the death of our loved ones to be used by anyone for political purposes. They should not become pawns in the election party,” similar statements appeared in many American newspapers. The scandal with the unsuccessful commercial could negate the advantage that George Bush's team currently has over his rival, Democrat John Kerry.