SYDNEY, July 13--AsiaNet/InfoQuest HK HORSES... HONG KONG: The Chief Executive of Hong Kong SpecialAdministrative Region, Donald Tsang, Friday welcomed the newsthat Hong Kong will host the equestrian events for the 2008Beijing Olympic Games, saying the events would be a milestonein Hong Kong's sporting history. ESPN STAR... SINGAPORE: Motor racing shifts into even higher gear on ESPNSTAR Sports concluded a multi-year broadcast agreement for thenew 'World Cup of Motor Sport', the A1 Grand Prix. www.espnstar.com PEPSICO RESULTS... PURCHASE, N.Y: PepsiCo reported a 15 per cent increase insecond-quarter earnings per share to $0.70, fueled by Divisionoperating profit growth of more than 10 per cent. www.pepsico.com ETHYLENE FUTURES... LONDON: ICIS-LOR, the global market pricing and intelligenceservice for the chemicals and oil industry, announces thelaunch of the ICIS-LOR Ethylene Index (EIX), which will be usedas the benchmark settlement price for the world's firstover-the-counter (OTC) ethylene futures contract. www.icislor.com ANTARA MD... JAKARTA: Minister/State Secretary Yusril Ihza Mahendra onTuesday inducted Asro Kamal Rokan as the new managing directorof ANTARA National News Agency Institute (LKBN ANTARA)replacing M Sobary. XSIRA PHARMACEUTICALS... RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C: Xsira Pharmaceuticals, Inc.announced that its Investigational New Drug application (IND)for intravenous adenosine was filed on June 3, 2005 with theU.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and is now active. www.xsira.com BIONICHE LIFE... BELLEVILLE: Bioniche Life Sciences Inc., a research-based,technology-driven Canadian biopharmaceutical company, announcedthat an investigation into its injectable ascorbic acidproduct, Betac, has shown that the product is free of microbialcontamination. www.Bioniche.com FANNIE MAE... WASHINGTON, D.C: Fannie Mae will redeem the principalamount of four securities issues amounting to a total of US$190million on July 22, 2005 at a redemption price equal to 100percent of the principal amount redeemed plus accruedinterest. http://www.fanniemae.com SHEKEL BONDS... NEW YORK: Bloomberg, a global provider of business andfinancial news and data, announced that it has been chosen asthe primary market auction system for the government's Shekelbonds, as Israel invites applications for Primary Dealers inits domestic bond market for the first time. www.bloomberg.com CLINTON INITIATIVE... NEW YORK: Leaders from around the world are greatlysupporting President Clinton's first annual gathering ofleaders known as the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI). CGI'sgoal is to address global challenges in four areas: poverty,religion, climate change and governance. The event will takeplace September 15-17 in New York City. www.clintonglobalinitiative.org TERASEN PIPELINES... CALGARY: Terasen Pipelines has filed an application with theNational Energy Board (NEB) to increase the capacity of theTrans Mountain pipeline system from 225,000 barrels per day to260,000 barrels per day (bpd). www.terasenpipelines.com HANCOCK TIMBER... BOSTON, Mass: The Hancock Timber Resource Group announcedthat it has signed an agreement to acquire Prudential TimberInvestments, Inc., the timberland investment management unit ofPrudential Financial, Inc. Terms of the acquisition, which isexpected to close in the third quarter, were not disclosed. www.hancocktimber.com www.mfcglobal.com ICURIE LAB... MIAMI, Fla: iCurie Lab Holdings Limited, a UK company with aKorean operating subsidiary, announced it became a wholly ownedsubsidiary of iCurie, Inc., an over-the-counter bulletin boardcompany formerly known as Cedar Mountain Distributors, Inc.,through a share exchange with the former shareholders of iCurieUK. www.icurie.com SYNTHESIS BANK... GENEVA: Synthesis Bank, a Swiss online investment bank, hasrecently launched the Synthesis TradingFloor. www.tradingfloor.com (AsiaNet is a consortium of leading news agenciesdistributing unedited, translated news releases for worldwideclients. Visit www.asianetnews.net for full-text versions.)