61.   Japanese Finance Minister Wataru Kubo moved Friday to hose down speculation that financial authorities were preparing to raise interest rates from their record low level.

62.   Lieutenant Chris West of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol said authorities were preparing to send divers into the section of river where the vehicles are.

63.   South African authorities are preparing massive national anti-crime measures, officials said Monday, amid widening protests by Moslem groups against gangsters and drug dealers.

64.   The authorities are also preparing a law on domestic violence, another growing scourge that remains taboo.

65.   The authorities prepared emergency measures to speed up registration so the expected deluge of late applicants could be handled before the deadline of midnight on Sunday.

66.   The Israeli authorities were preparing a major information campaign to mobilise international opinion in support of sanctions against countries backing terrorism, it added.