1.   He is trying to consolidate his power ahead of the death of ailing Chinese patriarch Deng Xiaoping.

2.   Pope to visit ailing Armenian patriarch on Friday.

3.   But analysts say China is unlikely to ease its blockade on Taiwan until after the emergence of a new leadership succeeding the ailing patriarch Deng Xiaoping.

4.   Pope John Paul II will fly Friday to Armenia to visit the ailing Orthodox patriarch.

5.   Pope John Paul II will fly to Armenia on Friday to visit the ailing Orthodox patriarch.

6.   Then, during a visit to Poland earlier this month, John Paul decided to make a stop of a few hours to see the ailing patriarch.

7.   Chinese authorities have eased the alert over the condition of ailing patriarch Deng Xiaoping, Hong Kong and Japanese news reports said Wednesday.

8.   Chinese President Jiang Zemin appears set to adopt the mantle of ailing patriarch Deng Xiaoping, but history has shown that there are no long-term guarantees in Chinese politics.

9.   The ailing patriarch of the group, Chung Tae-Soo, was moved from his jail cell to hospital on Tuesday after a reported stroke.

10.   The Chinese parliament denied Wednesday a foreign news agency report that a provincial governor had recently met ailing patriarch Deng Xiaoping in Beijing.