Around the World: United States
Former presidents honored
Former US president Bill Clinton, honored with former president George H.W. Bush for their disaster relief work, said the key to overcoming the world's major problems is putting aside differences.
"It's the most important thing of all whether we are capable of holding with the absolute conviction that as wonderful as our differences are, our common humanity matters more," Clinton said at a Saturday fundraising dinner for the National Underground Railroad and Freedom Center.
Clinton, a Democrat, and Bush, a Republican who lost his bid for re-election to Clinton in 1992, helped raise more than $1 billion for tsunami aid in Southeast Asia and for US hurricane relief in the aftermath of Katrina.
Barry brings rain to Florida
The remains of Tropical Storm Barry brought high winds and heavy rains to Florida on Saturday, but the downpour was welcomed in a parched state that has been battling stubborn wildfires.
Much of Florida's west coast was feeling the brunt of Barry by Saturday morning. There were no immediate reports of storm-related injuries or damage.
Barry formed as a tropical storm on Friday and began pelting the Tampa Bay area with rain that afternoon. It was downgraded to a tropical depression with sustained winds near 55 kph on Saturday.
(China Daily 06/04/2007 page6)
