另一SCMP問題(超急)))

第一篇 : 6 new photos appear despite arrests

At least six new nude photos purported to be of celebrities - including a new face - spread like viruses across the city last night, a day after police said they had traced the source of the spate of scandalous pictures that have appeared on the internet in recent days.
The pictures, sent through e-mails and internet messaging systems, were seen as a challenge to police, who said on Monday putting obscene photos on the internet, a public domain, was an offence but sending them to friends was not.





The new photos included three graphic images purportedly of Gillian Chung Yan-tung of girl duo Twins, actress Cecilia Cheung Pak-chi and former actress Bobo Chan Man-woon - all of whom have been rumoured to be romantically linked to singer-actor Edison Chen Koon-hei. Another photograph was of a woman who could not be identified. All the pictures included a man whose face was not revealed.
Also included were two solo shots of a partly-dressed woman who looked like former singer Chiu Chung-yue, whose photographs had not been circulated previously.
Chen, also said to have appeared in some pictures, released a video statement on Monday night to apologise for the "strange, strange ordeal" that has caused pain to the "victims".
An internet industry leader said yesterday that if users chose to spread the photos by e-mails or communication tools like MSN, nothing could be done to stop it. "Hong Kong has over 100 million e-mails every day. There is nothing we can do to control the situation," said York Mok, chairman of the Hong Kong Internet Service Providers Association. He believed the spate of new photographs was aimed at the police response.


Internet Society Hong Kong Chapter chairman Charles Mok Nai-kwong said e-mail recipients in general were known to the sender and such messages did not fall under the definition of public distribution.
Mr Mok, who met police assistant commissioner (crime) Vincent Wong Fook-Chuen yesterday, said "friends" was too vague to be defined on the internet and the police explanation might stir more controversy.
Mr Wong said on Monday that keeping obscene photos and sending them to friends was not an offence.
Eight people have been arrested for allegedly distributing the photos on the internet. Police yesterday charged a 23-year-old man with using a computer with dishonest intent but not with the distribution of obscene or indecent articles. A 29-year-old man charged earlier with distributing obscene or indecent articles has been refused bail.
Barrister Jackson Poon said the police interpretation of the term "publishing" was dangerous. "As long as an article is being shown to a friend, it could be considered an act of publishing," he said. "What if you send an article to 100 friends? Is that being considered publishing?"
Legco security panel deputy chairman James To Kun-sun said that as it was not illegal to share obscene articles between friends, yesterday's spate of e-mails and messages should not be seen as a challenge to police.
Police would not comment on the new photographs for "operational reasons".
Meanwhile, a group of internet users has vowed to publicise their discontent by placing a statement in a Chinese language newspaper on Sunday. The webmaster of article23.net, a 16-year-old student identifying himself as "L", said they planned to publish a statement against a collage of photographs.

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第二篇
Storms' economic chill to be 'limited'

Official says health of nation's economy remains sound, hints of stimulus measures

The snowstorms that have raged through southern China would have only a limited impact on the nation's overall economic health, a leading official said yesterday, hinting that measures may be taken to stimulate the economy.

Since January 10 the worst winter weather in decades has ravaged 20 provinces, killing at least 60 people, damaging a million houses and causing direct losses of 54 billion yuan.

But the weather started to improve yesterday and forecasters said snow would change to rain this week. A number of airports have reopened and an official said the Beijing-Guangzhou railway, the worst hit of all lines, had "basically" resumed service. Coal stockpiles at power plants were also said to be increasing.

Zhu Hongren , deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission's economic operations department, the nation's top economic planning body, said overall economic fundamentals remained sound.

He listed several positive elements supporting economic growth, such as the Beijing Olympics in August, efforts to restore agricultural and industrial output, and some "good news" yet to be delivered.


"Let's wait and see what happens. I hope we can hear some good news."

Analysts believe he was alluding to a relaxation of economic controls by Beijing. They said policymakers were quietly loosening the monetary reins after the bad weather threatened to stunt first-quarter growth.

The analysts pointed out that President Hu Jintao did not mention the government's resolve to prevent overheating - a common topic - when he spoke about the economy last week. Instead, he told policymakers to "fully realise the complicated and changing economic environment and preserve as long as possible China's stable and relatively fast economic growth".


Mr Zhu said: "We think the disaster will not have a big influence on the fundamentals underpinning the economy."


He admitted it was too early to draw a conclusion but said the commission had gathered supporting evidence. "The hardest-hit areas are in the south, not spread across the nation. Though local industries may be obviously or badly affected, the effect on the national economy will be limited. Though [the snowstorms] have lasted for a relatively long period, this is still a limited portion of the year. And it will be warmer from now on in the southern provinces."


Mr Zhu also expressed his confidence that the prices of consumer goods would remain stable following some "temporary abnormal price increases in some areas".

Goldman Sachs economist Liang Hong said such a natural disaster would probably have a negative short-term effect on the economy but not leave a lasting impact.

"The impact of the snow storm on grain production is likely to be positive, because China is structurally short of water. The 1998 severe flood was followed by a record harvest," she said.

Royal Bank of Scotland economist Ben Simpfendorfer said the timing of the storms would minimise economic losses, as first-quarter gross domestic product was seasonally weak. Reconstruction efforts and aid relief may also lead to an increase in second-quarter GDP.

"The snowstorms will likely shave a few tenths of a percentage point off first-quarter GDP. Inflation will temporarily breach 7 per cent in the first quarter before easing again. However, there are upside risks to the forecast if crop damage is severe," he said.

The central government has consistently vowed to rein in an overheating economy and soaring inflation. Last year's GDP growth was 11.4 per cent, while the consumer price index rose 4.8 per cent, mainly due to surging food prices.