WORLD
SHANGHAI, China — After a more than a decade of delays, China's tallest building is slicing through Shanghai's hazy, skyscraper-studded skyline — a new trophy built by a Japanese property tycoon.
The 101-story Shanghai World Financial Center, a 1,614 foot wedge-shaped tower with a rectangular hole at the very top, was topped out on Friday as its last beam was laid amid a drizzle that obscured the building's panoramic view of endless high rises.
In a city whose skyline evinces the belief "the taller the better," the building is bound to be a major tourist destination and landmark.
With China's economy growing nearly 12 percent a year and stock and real estate prices soaring, "the timing is just about the best it could be," said the builder, Minoru Mori.
After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States, the building was redesigned into a so-called "megastructure," with four huge pillars to make it stronger, Mori said.
CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuelan officials withdrew a proposal to bar parents from giving their children odd names like Edigaith, Mileidy or Superman, the state-run news agency reported Thursday.The National Electoral Council had proposed banning "names that expose (children) to ridicule, are extravagant or difficult to pronounce" or raise doubts about whether a child is a girl or a boy.The council also proposed to draw up a list of traditional names for parents to use "as a reference" when registering their children.But the clause prohibiting odd monikers was axed after child protection officials warned it could violate "the right to liberty," Electoral Council member Sandra Oblitas was quoted as saying by the Bolivarian News Agency.While unusual names appear in many countries, many Venezuelans seem to have an inclination to give their children nontraditional names. Some are creative spellings of English names like Maikel or Jhonny; others, such as Edis or Orlayny, are of uncertain origin.
MILAN, Italy — Consumer groups urged Italians to refrain from buying pasta Thursday to protest rising prices for the beloved Italian staple, in a strike that was high on symbolic value but apparently low on real impact.Consumer groups organized protests in Rome, Milan and Palermo — and even handed out free pasta, bread and milk to passers-by to help ease the pain for those who decided to support the strike and forego pasta purchases at supermarkets and restaurants.Activists say Italians will soon be paying up to 20 percent more for their daily serving of fettuccine, spaghetti or linguine. They say prices are being driven up by middlemen, while earnings for farmers and producers remain flat.
