``President Jiang Zemin expressed concern at the sheer number of publications at a recent propaganda meeting, and no new permits to publish are now being issued.'' In January, Jiang he ordered China's media to stop sensational and negative reporting in a year which also marks the 50th anniversary of Communist Party rule.

WASHINGTON: Suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden and the Taliban, his protectors in Afghanistan, have had a violent falling-out, raising the possibility that his days of refuge may be numbered, says the New York Times, quoting senior US officials. Thaey said a fight broke out three weeks ago between bin Laden's bodyguards anda group of Taliban officers assigned to keep a watch over him. After the fight, the officials said, bin Laden was expelled from Kandahar, where he had taken refuge with his family. He was stripped of his satellite telephones, which allowed him to plot with radicals throughout the world. The Taliban has shown no sign that it is willing to deliver him to the US. But an official said the Taliban had sent a clear signal that its desire to protect bin Laden is waning.