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Several residents who are demanding for the right of abode of their relatives in the mainland met with the Macau deputies of the National People's Congress to express their opinions.

Ung Si Meng, Pun Iok Lan, Lao Cheok Va, Ieong Sao Man and Lau Ngai Leong told them they understand their wishes and demands. However, they reminded them that clear legal procedures exist in how to allow these people to come to settle to Macau, and the starting point for such legal requirements is to ensure the stability of Macau.

They said that as deputies to the National People's Congress and heads of associations, they should “thoroughly implement the policies of the countries, obey the national laws, and to deal with problems rationally”.

They hoped these people “not to listen to untrue rumours” and “all parties should not politicise the problems on reunion of families, and even peg them with election”.

Secretary for the Economy and Finance Francis Tam Pak Yuen said that the revaluation  of the Chinese Renminbi Yuan will benefit the economic development of Macau.

He said that it will improve Macau's export and encourage mainland visitors to spend in Macau.

China announced on the 21 July that the Chinese Renminbi Yuan was depegged from the US dollar and was pegged instead with a variety of foreign currencies. The exchange rate is set at 8.11 Yuan for US$1.

Three traditional associations in Macau formed a single nomination list to contend during the Legislative Assembly election in September.

The first and second candidates of the “United Force” group are current legislators Leong Heng Teng and Iong Veng Ian. Businessman António Ferreira and Leader of the returning-overseas-Chinese community Charles Chen are also the cadidates.

Ung Si Meng, the agent of the group who is also the President of the Union of the Neighbourhood Associations in Macau, said that more than 10 people will contend at the election under this group.

The Administration and Civil Service Bureau so far has received six confirmed applications to bid for the directly-elected seats at the Legislative Assembly election.

The Commission Against Corruption referred about 50 people to the Attorney-General for election fraud cases in the past few days.

Officers of the Commission searched at different addresses to recover a batch of Voter's Cards, which were illegally retained. It is believed that organised retention of these Voter's Cards was in place, and more than 100 people were called for interviews.

The maximum penalty for this organised activity is 12 years in prison, and the Commission warned once again that voters must not give their Voter's Cards to anyone, as the maximum penalty for this will be three years in prison.

Macau will host the 2005 UNESCO Children's Performing Arts Festival of East Asia (CPAF) between 28 and 30 July.

The Festival is part of the International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World (2001-2010), under the recommendation of the Director-General of UNESCO, Mr Koïchiro Matsurra.

As a key UNESCO project, the event has five participating countries and one region, namely China (including Hong Kong), Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Mongolia and Macau SAR.

The Festival is jointly organised by the Macao Foundation, the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau and the Cultural Affairs Bureau.

The Festival aims to be a window to the unique cultrual and artistic traditions of the participating countries and region, to promote international friendship and cooperation among children and young people living in the sub-region of East Asia, and to foster mutual understanding and respect through the exchange and performance of cultural arts by the children's performing groups.

The Closing Performance of the Festival will be held at 18:00 on 30 July 2005, at the Ruins of St. Paul's, one of the 22 sites in Macau which have recently been inscribed to the prestigeous World Heritage List of UNESCO.

Entry to the Closing Performance will be free, and members of the public are invited to attend the event.

The Festival is unrelated to the recent successful inscription of the Historic Centre of Macao onto the World Heritage List.

A legislator condemned the attitude of the Government in treating the protests in the past few days.

In a speech at the Legislative Assembly session, Au Kam San said that the police interference to a sit-in at Portas do Cerco by force was a twist in interpretation to law, which does not stipulate that only the listed venues – which excludes Portas do Cerco – are allowed for demonstrations.

Meanwhile, the move by the police to set up a checkpoint to register the personal information of participants in arally on Sunday is one of the “incidents that severely jeopardise civil rights”.

He denounced that the orders to undertake these actions are “lack of their legal origins”.

He said that the responsibility of the authorities must be pursued for these acts.

The lower circulation of Typhoon Haitang continued to bring abnormally hot weather to Macau, with the temperature of 39C recorded at 16:00 yesterday (19 July), the highest temperature ever recorded since record began in 1901.

The hot weather caused a fuse to cut off automatically at a sub-station in Fai Chi Kei, resulting in power cut for a hour and a half to the area. More than 1,000 families were affected.

Members of staff from the Macau Electricity Company (CEM) carried out urgent repair, and power was restored at 00:30 today (20 July).

The Association for Democracy and Livelihood of Macau and the “Alliance for Love for Macau” became the latest two groups to contend for the directly-elected seats at the Legislative Assembly election.

The first candidate of the Association is Wong Cheong Nam, who had organised a 600-people rally demanding for the right of abode of Macau residents' children in the mainland on Sunday.

Wong said that he will continue to demand for the right of abode of these children, and officials will be checked so that people-based governance is realised.

Meanwhile, the first candidate of the Alliance is Fong Chi Keong, who is currently a member of the Legislative Assembly at the indirectly-elected constituency representing the interests of the business community.

Macau recorded the second highest temperature since record began, owing to the lower circulation of Typhoon Haitang.

A temperature of 38.2C was recorded between 14:00 and 15:00 yesterday (18 July). The highest temperature recorded so far was 38.9C, on 2 and 6 July 1930.

Power usage also reached record levels yesterday, at 459MW units recorded at 15:00, some 6% higher than last year's peak, at 431MW units.

Hot weather is expected to continue today, but showers and thunderstorms are also likely. Temperatures will fall from tomorrow.