Chinese firm in KabulKABUL: The China National Electric Equipment Corporation, which will shoulder the reconstruction of the irrigation project in Parwan Province, opened its representative office in Kabul Monday.It is the first Chinese company opening its office in Afghanistan after the 23 years of war.Philippines protestMANILA: The Philippines made a formal protest over reports that Malaysia has mistreated thousands of illegal Filipino migrants targeted in an immigration crackdown in which at least three children died. Foreign Secretary Blas Ople added that the protest was not meant to “offset” good bilateral relations.Suicide over hotel billMANILA: Two Japanese tourists, reportedly father and son, committed suicide in a hotel in the central Philippine city of Cebu for not being able to pay their hotel bills. Akihiro Owa, 67, and his son Masaaki, 41, who checked into the hotel on June 7, had to pay a hotel bill of over 500,000 thousand peso (US$11,400).Approval neededWASHINGTON: Legal questions aside, lawmakers say President Bush needs to seek Congress’ approval before sending American troops to attack Iraq because it’s the right thing to do. Vice President Dick Cheney warned of grave consequences from not acting quickly against Saddam Hussein.White House counsel Al Gonzales told Bush this month that he doesn’t need explicit authority from Congress to wage war with Iraq, presidential spokesman Ari Fleischer told reporters Monday in Crawford, Texas, where Bush is vacationing.CFA bans Zhou NingBEIJING Guo’an midfielder Zhou Ning was banned from playing for the rest of the season and fined 10,000 yuan (about US$1,200) over an incident in Sunday’s first division match against Sichuan Kaimisen, the Chinese Football Association announced yesterday.Zhou swore at the referee and made a vulgar gesture after he was sent off in the 71st minute.Power sportsBEIJING: China’s Power Sports Administration (CPSA) said that it would send 107-strong delegation to the Sept. 29-Oct. Asian Games in South Korean port city of Busan, aiming at more than14 golds.CPSA is in charge of five sports: weightlifting, judo, wrestling, taekwondo and boxing, which contributed 14 golds in the Asian Games in Bangkok in 1998.SwimmingZHUHAI: The amateur-studded Chinese swimming team collected 39 gold medals and finished second at the five-day Asian Youth Swimming Championships. Chinese Taipei, which sent its Busan Asiad team to Zhuhai, topped the medal tally with 53 golds. And the team of Hong Kong, China, came third with 13 titles.