31.   Ushijima, born in Kumamoto prefecture, or state, in southwestern Japan, won many prestigious prizes for his paintings of Japanese landscapes, Kyodo said.

32.   He was also shortlisted last year for the prestigious prize by the Nobel committee in Oslo.

33.   Russian President Boris Yeltsin was awarded a prestigious prize by the German media this year and will receive it himself after his heart operation, sources said Monday.

34.   The award of a prestigious literary prize to a journalist who wrote an article with racist overtones targetting Ethiopian immigrants on Monday caused a storm in Israel.

35.   The Israeli supreme court on Thursday cancelled the award of a prestigious literary prize to a journalist who wrote an article with racist overtones targetting Ethiopian Jewish immigrants.