To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Arab Press on Israel - Nov 8, 1999
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Mon, 08 Nov 1999 13:42:42 -0500

From: owner-bpr@philologos.org

Nov. 8, '99 / Heshvan 29, 5760 Updated Weekly

KING ABDULLAH SPEAKS

OUT Meanwhile, the Jordan Times reports King Abdullah as saying
this past weekend that "a genuine and just peace in the region
requires the solution of the refugee problem because they are
the most affected party in the Arab-Israeli conflict." He made
the comments to a visiting delegation of the Higher French
Military Studies Center.

ArabicNews.com quotes Abdullah's assertion of Jordan's backing
for Syria and Lebanon. He said that Jordan "pledges its support
in regaining their rights and occupied land." The Jordanian
monarch also said his government will continue to back the
Palestinians until they are able to reassert their rights and
establish their own independent state on their national soil
with the holy city of Jerusalem as a capital.

OPERATION BRIGHT STAR

Egypt's major newspapers, including Al-Akhbar and Al
Gomhoureya, featured headlines this week stressing the success
of this past week's "Bright Star" military exercises. Analysis
of the exercises began in earnest in last week's Al-Aharam:
"From the Egyptian perspective, Bright Star ‘99 fully conforms
to the concerns and needs of our armed forces," writes Ibrahim
Nafie. "The central idea behind the joint training maneuvers
this year is to equip Egypt to counter a military threat. The
exercises, thus, stage a scenario in which Egypt is to intercept
and repel an armed invasion with the assistance of our partners´
air and missile coverage, thereby forcing a hostile power to
respond to a UN Security Council cease-fire resolution. In the
event the hostile power refuses to comply with the cease-fire
resolution and to withdraw from occupied territory, the scenario
calls for a comprehensive offensive operation aimed at
recovering the occupied territory."

Midde East commentator Emanuel Winston writes that Bright Star
‘99 "is a direct replay of Egypt´s sneak attack against Israel
on Yom Kippur 1973, which ended with the Egyptian Third Army
surrounded by Israeli forces led by Arik Sharon. Both the U.S.
and the Soviet Union came to Egypt´s rescue, forcing Israel to
give up her costly, bloody victory by releasing the Egyptian´
Third Army to fight another day."

Winston also quotes Israel's Hatzofeh newspaper which cited
Egyptian Defense Minister Tantawi, who instructed the Egyptian
military´s senior command to prepare plans for a possible war
with Israel. Hatzofeh, notes Winston, also criticizes the
Israeli press and media for not giving enough coverage to his
threats.

Arab Press on Israel
http://www.arutzsheva.com/

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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Project Megiddo "paranoid ... misguided"
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Mon, 08 Nov 1999 13:53:53 -0500

From: owner-bpr@philologos.org

FBI: Jerusalem Could Blow In 2000
By: ERIC J. GREENBERG , Staff Writer

Prospects of violence cited in ‘Doomsday´ report not backed by
any evidence, expert claims.

The FBI is warning about the possibility of a terrorist attack
in Jerusalem by Islamic extremists at the dawn of the new
millennium, according to a new "Doomsday" report obtained by The
Jewish Week.

The bureau also is sending out an alarm about violence from
fanatical apocalyptic Christian groups streaming into Israel
anticipating the Second Coming of Jesus after the world calendar
flips over in two months.

"Several religious cults have already made inroads into Israel,
apparently in preparation for what they believe to be the
endtimes," said the 35-page report produced by the FBI´s
Domestic Terrorism Analysis Unit in Washington.

In the report, the FBI seems to perceive Jerusalem as a
tinderbox ready to blow at the smallest provocation. But an
American millennium expert criticized the report as "paranoid."

"I think it´s misguided," said Professor Brenda Brasher, a
member of the Center for Millennial Studies, who last summer met
with the FBI and Israeli security to discuss the issues.

Brasher said the bureau has offered no evidence to make its
claims of increasing danger, and seems to have ignored pleas by
her and other scholars not to overdramatize the potential dangers.

"The FBI assessment does not appear to be grounded in a
reasonable grasp of millennial pilgrimages that we anticipate is
going to unfold," she said Tuesday.

An FBI spokesman declined to comment.

..more...

Full story:
http://www.thejewishweek.com/jwcurr.exe?99110522

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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Nazareth mosque
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Mon, 8 Nov 1999 17:32:18 -0500

From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>

[Every time I see one of these news stories I wonder if this isn't needed as
a warm-up for letting the Jews rebuild on the Temple Mount?--Moza]

Churches in the Holy Land will be closed Nov. 22-23 to protest
Muslim plans to build a mosque in Nazareth. Leaders of the Roman
Catholic, Greek Orthodox, and Armenian churches issued a
statement Nov. 4 in Jerusalem, The Associated Press said.
...At issue is ownership of a half-acre plot that Christians and
Muslims have fought over for years. The site near Nazareth's
Basilica of the Annunciation is believed to be where the Angel
Gabriel declared to the Virgin Mary that she would give birth to
the Savior, Christian leaders say. A state-mediated compromise
last month gave Nazareth's Muslim majority permission to build a
mosque in a corner of the contested plaza. Israel should have
ceded jurisdiction for the decision to church control, and the
lot should be converted into a piazza to accommodate an expected
flood of millennial pilgrims in 2000, representatives of the
churches said.

via: http://www.religiontoday.com

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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Arutz-7 News items
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Mon, 8 Nov 1999 18:02:38 -0500

From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>

BARAK: RESOLUTION 242 DOESN'T APPLY TO PALESTINIANS
Prime Minister Barak told the government ministers yesterday that UN
resolutions 242 and 338 do not apply to the Palestinians. Resolution 242
calls for the "withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from territories occupied
in the [Six-Day War]" and affirms the necessity "for guaranteeing the
territorial inviolability and political independence of every State in the
area." Resolution 338, adopted during the Yom Kippur War, calls for the
implementation of Resolution 242. MK Benny Elon (National Union) praised
Barak for his declaration, while Palestinian spokesmen reacted sharply
against it.

Aryeh Stav, director of the Ariel Center for Policy Research and editor of
Netiv magazine, provided some interesting background information on
Resolution 242 for Arutz-7 today: "Barak's announcement [that 242 does not
apply to the Palestinians] is an important one, and is to his credit. No
other Prime Minister ever said this as clearly. What happened was that
after weeks of wrangling in the U.N. [following the Six-Day War], the
wording of the resolution purposely referred only to a withdrawal from
'territories' and not from 'the territories.' Then-President Lyndon
Johnson commissioned a map showing the minimum amount of territory that
Israel would need in order to survive. The map, which is not secret, was
attached to the resolution. It includes [as part of Israel] all of Judea
and Samaria - although not the Jordan Valley - and it included the entire
Golan, 5,000 square kilometers in the area of Eilat, and Sharm el-Sheikh."
Stav concluded by noting the ironic development that when the resolution
was passed, it was considered very anti-Israel "- and rightly so, but now
we find ourselves relying on it..."

FAKE QUAKE IN LAKE
An artificial earthquake will occur in the Dead Sea. The Geo-Physical
Institute will detonate five tons of TNT in order to check the performance
of its seismological instruments. Environmental groups fear that the fake
quake may cause a real one.

Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.arutzsheva.org>
Monday, November 8, 1999 / Cheshvan 29, 5760

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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Nov 8, 1999 TV Programs
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Mon, 8 Nov 1999 18:08:20 -0500

From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>

8:00 PM Eastern

PBS - INTIMATE STRANGERS: UNSEEN LIFE ON EARTH - "Tree of
  Life" - Scientists try to understand how all human life on
  Earth is related.(CC)(TVG)

DISC - BIG BROTHER - Government agencies gather volumes of
  information on citizens.(CC)(TVG)

9:00

PBS - NOVA - "Decoding Nazi Secrets" - Geniuses break
  down the German code-machine ``Enigma'' during World War
  II.(CC)(TVPG)

A&E - INVESTIGATIVE REPORTS - "Jonestown: Mystery of a
  Massacre" - Evidence implies the Jonestown mass suicides may
  have been mass murder.(CC)

10:00

HIST - DYNAMITE - Blasting out natural resources;
  building roads, tunnels and dams.(CC)(TVG)

TLC - INTIMATE UNIVERSE: THE HUMAN BODY - "Building a Baby"
  - Medical imaging techniques allow filmmakers to explore the
  mysteries of fetal development.(CC)(TVPG)

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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Misc. News items
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Mon, 8 Nov 1999 18:15:35 -0500

From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>

CHINA TO BUILD-UP NUCLEAR WEAPONS AGAINST THE WEST November
6, 1999

The International Herald Tribune reported today: "Western specialists
increasingly convinced that the strongest moves to counter
the new U.S. emphasis on anti-missile defenses will come not
from Russia, as widely forecast, but from China. The consensus
is that Beijing will respond to moves in Congress to shift
U.S. policy on deterrence by equipping China for
the first time with a potent, potentially destabilizing nuclear
force. 'The dirty little secret is that until now China has
never had a serious nuclear force, but Chinese leaders seem
to be deciding that they are going to need
something that is more credible,' a National Security Council
official confided recently in Washington. A move by China to
deploy a new generation of nuclear missiles - with instant
launch capability and intercontinental
range - would alarm Japan, pose an acute challenge to India,
and, at least theoretically, threaten U.S. and European territory.
Such an arms spiral in Asia was described in similar terms
by many officials and experts who took
part in a two-day meeting this week in Paris on the outlook
for global security..."

RUSSIA BOMBS CAPITAL OF CHECHNYA November 6, 1999

Associated Press reported: "Russian jets bombed the Chechen
capital of Grozny today, killing dozens of civilians, Chechen
authorities said. Six Russian warplanes pounded the city center
and a residential area in the southwestern outskirts for nearly
two hours, and shelling continued later in
the day. Just before the raid began, scores of people were
out in the streets on the warm, sunny day. At least 32 people
were killed, including 8 children and 12 women, Chechen officials
said. Several residential buildings were badly damaged. Pillows
and mattresses were blown outside by the blasts
and lay scattered in the streets. Aiming to root out Islamic
rebels, Russia insists that its forces are avoiding civilian
casualties. But Chechen officials claim thousands of civilians
have been killed since airstrikes on
the republic began in early September..."

AMERICAN GOVERNMENT TRIES TO REASSURE COUNTRY ABOUT THE MILLENNIUM
COMPUTER BUG PROBLEM November 6, 1999

Associated Press reported: “The White House senior adviser
on the Y2K problem is brushing aside doomsday scenarios and
giving assurances that any computer-related problems with the
arrival of year 2000 will be short-lived
and minor. ‘Overreaction by the public to real or perceived
Y2K risks was in some ways our greatest challenge,´ John Koskinen
told a joint House hearing Thursday. Rep. Jim Turner, D-Texas,
agreed: ‘It's the myths about Y2K rather
than the realities that could hurt us.´ Separating myths from
realities was the theme of what may have been the last House
hearing this year on the possible disruptions from computers
that read only the last two digits of a
year and could mistake the year 2000, or ‘00,´ for 1900. Koskinen
stressed what most Y2K experts are now saying, that at least
in the United States both the public and private sectors have
moved aggressively to fix computers and there should be no
serious disruptions of power, telecommunications,
financial services or food supplies on Jan. 1. There is no
validity to doomsday claims that Y2K problems will cause nuclear
weapons to launch themselves or that the federal government
is using the issue as an excuse to usurp power, he said..."

EU SUPPORTS CHINESE ENTRY TO WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION November
6, 1999

Associated Press reported yesterday: “German Chancellor Gerhard
Schroeder said today he expects the European Union to reach
agreement with China on its entry to the World Trade Organization,
perhaps before month's end. China is negotiating an agreement
with the EU as part of its 13-year-long bid to
join the global trade system. It also has to fix terms with
the United States. The Western nations have made certain demands
of China, including tariff reductions, before it can join the
WTO. In EU-China trade talks later this month, Germany wants
to see that certain conditions are met, and then
Beijing ‘will have to make the decision whether to say yes
or no,´ Schroeder told reporters shortly before meeting Chinese
President Jiang Zemin at the end of a three-day visit to China...Trade
15-member European Union will hold another round of WTO talks
‘in the course of this month, before the European-China summit,´
Schroeder said. ‘I hope that by the end of that, the question
will be settled,´ he said. No date for
the summit between Jiang and EU President Romano Prodi and
other European dignitaries has been set, although it should
take place either later this month or early December, an EU
spokeswoman in Beijing said. Pressure has
been building on China and its major trading partners -- the
EU and the United States in particular -- to come to terms
before WTO trade ministers become absorbed in a new round of
global trade talks, opening on Nov. 30 in
Seattle.”

LAW ENFORCEMENT SEEKS MANDATORY DNA SAMPLES OF ANY ONE ARRESTED
November 6, 1999

CNN reported: “The International Association of Police Chiefs
says it will urge Congress to require that DNA samples be taken
from every person arrested in connection with a crime. Civil
rights advocates say that could violate the privacy of innocent
people. Typically, DNA samples are taken
only from felons convicted of violent crimes. But the chiefs
on Wednesday proposed that arrested suspects -- whether linked
to petty theft or murder -- also should be required to give
DNA samples, which would go into a nationwide FBI database
and be made available to law enforcement agencies
across the country. ‘It's indeed a brave new world,´ Barry
Steinhardt, associate director of the American Civil Liberties
Union, said Thursday. ‘We're talking about people who are accused
of a crime, but they have not yet had their day in court. A
sizable number of them will never be
convicted.´… In July, the Justice Department's National Commission
on the Future of DNA Evidence decided to oppose mandatory DNA
testing for anyone charged with a crime. However it urged federal
and state prosecutors to use DNA evidence that could exonerate
convicts..."

AMERICA PREPARES FOR ‘ELECTRONIC PEARL HARBOR´ November 6, 1999

Agency France Presse reported: “The US government is readying
to defend itself against the growing threat of an ‘electronic
Pearl Harbor´or sneak attack on the nation's computer systems,
officials said Thursday. ‘here are people out there preparing
their electronic fleets to attack us,´Dick Clarke
of the National Security Council (NSC) told a conference on
cyber threats at the State Department. larke, the council's
coordinator for transnational threats, told the conference
of government officials and businessmen that
the potential for what he termed an ‘Electronic Pearl Harbor´was
real. He made no apologies for scaring his audience with the
comparison to the Japanese attack on the US Pacific Fleet in
1941. ‘We could wake up one morning and find a city, or the
country or a section of the country without
power because of a surprise electronic warfare attack,´ he
said, lamenting past inattention by both the government and
the private sector..."

MORE CHINESE MISSILES HEADED TOWARD COAST NEAR TAIWAN November
6, 1999

The South China Morning Post reported: “A large group of military
vehicles carrying guided missiles and equipment was seen yesterday
heading towards the Taiwan Strait coast in Fuzhou, where a
top PLA general has recently visited. At least eight vehicles,
each loaded with an unidentified missile,
and four trucks carrying unknown military supplies, were spotted
on the outskirts of Fujian's provincial capital, witnesses
said...The vehicles were escorted by four police vans at the
front and another four at the rear, which had their sirens
on as the motorcade headed towards southern
Fuzhou…The Nanjing region, along with the Guangzhou command,
carried out a series of military exercises in September which
took place in the northern and southern waters of the Taiwan
Strait.”

ETHIOPIA STILL HAS 26,000 JEWS November 6, 1999

Israeli newspaper Har´aretz reported: “Around 26,000 Jews still
remain in Ethiopia, mostly in the two largest cities of Addis
Ababa and Gundar. This according to the first comprehensive
report on the number of Jews in Ethiopia, conducted by a public
committee headed by David Efrati, the former
head of the census administration in the Interior Ministry.
The census, held between February and August this year, showed
that 65 percent of the Jews still living in Ethiopia reside
in the two main urban areas, with the rest
scattered in about 150 villages. The Jews in the cities are
concentrated in transit camps where they face severe economic
and health conditions. In the last year, 580 people died of
disease, most of them children. The study also
showed that most of the Jews in Ethiopia have relatives in
Israel.”

BRITONS FEEL EU TAKING OVER NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY November
6, 1999

The London Telegraph reported: “Labour´s radical constitutional
reforms have started to dilute Britain's sense of national
identity, according to a survey published today. The findings
show that a large majority of people in
Scotland and Wales identify with their own countries and that
most Britons confidently expect that the European Parliament
will have more power over their lives than Westminster in 20
years' time...The Economist survey of the
impact of constitutional reforms was timed to coincide with
Nov 5, the day Guy Fawkes attempted to blow up Parliament 394
years ago. It asked a representative sample of British people
which body - their local council, regional parliament or assembly,
Westminster or the European Parliament and
European Union - they expected to have most power over them
in 20 years. Forty-four per cent thought the European Parliament
and the EU, compared with 22 per cent who chose the British
Parliament… In England, the number of
people expecting the European Parliament and the EU to have
most power outnumbered those choosing Westminster. This suggests
that despite Government assurances that the ‘high tide´ of
European integration has passed, people expect Mr. Blair to
take Britain further into the EU..."

MIDDLE AMERICA UNDER EARTHQUAKE THREAT November 6, 1999

Associated Press reported: “Researchers say a fault in the
center of the country is creeping toward a major earthquake
and should be considered a serious threat sometime during the
next 500 years or so. A new study of the
New Madrid seismic zone on the Missouri-Tennessee border is
moving at the rate of about six millimeters a year, enough
to produce a 7.2 magnitude earthquake every 500 years, or a
7.5 magnitude quake every 1,000 years. ‘Our
evidence shows that the New Madrid seismic zone is indeed a
threat,´ said Karl Mueller, a geologist at the University of
Colorado, Boulder, and the first author of study appearing
Friday in the journal Science...A fault
system called New Madrid extends through Arkansas, Missouri,
Tennessee, Kentucky and Illinois. It jolted the continent with
a series of quakes in 1811 and 1812 that were powerful enough
to ring bells as far away as Boston.
Based on his new research, Mueller estimated the magnitude
of those 19th century quakes at about 7.5, powerful enough
to do major and extensive damage to any nearby city. At the
time, the area of the earthquake was
sparsely populated, with few manmade structures to be affected,
but aftershocks from that series of jolts are still occurring..."

U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY SEEKS TO IMPROVE RELATIONS WITH CHINA
November 6, 1999

Associated Press reported: “China and the United States agree
they should re-establish military-to-military ties, which Beijing
broke off last spring in reaction to the mistaken U.S. bombing
of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade, Defense Secretary William
Cohen said today. ‘They have indicated they would
like to re-establish these contacts,´ Cohen told reporters
at the Pentagon. ‘Having said that, however, there have been
no concrete steps taken to re-establish the contacts,´ he added.
‘I am hopeful that can come about soon.´ Cohen said he looked
forward to visiting China ‘when the conditions
permit.´ He was to have visited China earlier this year before
the NATO air war against Yugoslavia began, but China canceled
the visit in protest of the war. All military-to-military contacts
were severed after the embassy bombing…”

PRESIDENT OF INGUSHETIA SAYS CHECHEN WAR LINKED TO UPCOMING
2000 RUSSIAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION November 6, 1999

Reuters reported: “The president of the Russian region of Ingushetia
said in an interview published on Thursday he suspected Moscow's
offensive against his breakaway neighbor Chechnya was linked
to domestic electoral politics.´I suspect that events in Chechnya
have been planned in Moscow for a long time, with a political
objective,´ Ruslan Aushev told the newspaper
Le Monde. Aushev said Russia began its 1994-1996 war with Chechnya
during campaigning for legislative elections and the latest
attacks came during the buildup to presidential polls in June
2000. ‘He who solves the problem of Chechnya will become the
favorite candidate for the presidential election,´
he said. Aushev said humanitarian supplies were inadequate
to cope with 188,000 refugees who have fled to his region from
the six-week-old war..."

HOMOSEXUAL SCOUT GROUP STARTED IN CANADA November 6, 1999

USA Today reported: “A scouting troop for gay and lesbian young
adults has been set up in Toronto, apparently the first of
its kind in North America. The 129th Toronto Scouting Group,
which began meeting recently, is the same
as any other troop except for the sexual orientation of its
members, said troop co-founder Bonte Minnema. Open to people
aged 18-26 - a level of scouts called Rovers, the oldest group
in the Canadian program - it describes itself as a gay and
lesbian troop. ‘There isn't one in Canada and
they're not allowed in the (United) States,´ Minnema said.
‘There are other lesbians and gays involved with scouting,
but not a specific lesbian and gay scouting group that we know
about.´”

CANADA REACTS TO EVEN NEUTRAL STATEMENT ABOUT RELIGIOUS LIBERTY
November 6, 1999

Associated Press reported: “What got Preston Manning into such
trouble recently in the Canadian Parliament was, arguably,
that he made remarks that made him sound like an American.
Shortly after the Canadian Thanksgiving
last month, the opposition leader expressed gratitude for ‘the
religious liberty which allows each of us to turn toward God,
or away from him.´ He voiced thanks for marriage and family,
both rather broadly defined. He made
reference to defining ‘the rights of the unborn.´ And he drew
a firestorm of criticism. Accusing him of being homophobic
and intolerant, critics interpreted his language as code for
a divisive social agenda. His ‘values´
rhetoric, which would be unremarkable south of the border,
was roundly condemned in this country as ‘an address redolent
of the values of the American religious right,´ as columnist
Susan Riley put it...If religion in public life has a different
role in Canada from the United States, it is
nonetheless complex - and evolving rapidly. Church people here,
who tend to lean to the political left rather than the right,
are alarmed about cutbacks in the welfare state and are looking
for new ways to engage government. Mainline denominations are
having to find a new footing as vestiges of their
past roles as ‘established´ churches erode. And court decisions,
made in the light of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
from 1982, are raising questions about the appropriate role
of religion in a secular society..."

FASTER EU MEMBERSHIP SOUGHT BY BALTIC STATES November 5, 1999

Reuters reported: “The Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and
Lithuania Thursday urged the enlargement of both the European
Union and NATO be speeded up so that they can become members
of both blocs as soon as possible. Top officials from the three
former Soviet bloc states made the plea in varying forms at
a Baltic Sea security conference in Stockholm,
saying that the Kosovo crisis showed that membership in both
groups was vital to their security. ‘The operational conclusion
I drew from the Kosovo crisis is that EU and NATO enlargement
needs to be accelerated,´ Latvian Foreign Minister Indulius
Berzins told several hundred delegates from Europe
and the United States. ‘At the same time, the enlargement must
further strengthen, not weaken these organizations so that
they are able to continue to play the same vital role in European
security...In Latvia, we expect the enlarged EU to be a stronger
EU,´ he said."

RUSSIAN GENERALS WARN KREMLIN NOT TO STOP CHECHEN ASSAULT November
7, 1999

The London Telegraph reported today: “Russia´s generals have
warned the Kremlin that it faces a civil war if it tries to
curb brutality reminiscent of the Stalin era in the breakaway
republic of Chechnya. Determined to avenge the army's humiliating
defeat in 1994-96, the generals have
sanctioned the bombing of villages and towns, refugees and
even aid convoys without regard for the loss of human life
or misery caused. No one, least of all the prime minister,
Vladimir Putin, now leading the polls thanks to
popular support for the conflict, dares challenge the generals
as they charge headlong towards what they hope will be a crushing
victory with medals for all. Just in case anyone questions
their logic, Gen Vladimir Shamanov, Commander of the Western
Front, warned that political interference
in the campaign could bring Russia ‘to the brink of civil war´.
In other words, the armed forces which opened this war with
‘surgical strikes´ against ‘terrorist bases´, then went on
to set up a ‘security zone´ inside the rebel republic and now
aim to control all Chechnya, will decide for
themselves when victory is theirs..."

NEW TERRORIST BOMB ATTACKS IN ISRAEL November 7, 1999

USA Today reported today: “Three pipe bombs exploded simultaneously
Sunday in the coastal town of Netanya injuring 21 people. Israeli
police immediately suspected Islamic militants opposed to the
peace process. Two people suffered moderate injuries while
19 others received minor injuries in
the 10:30 a.m. blasts, said a police spokesman. The police
said two suspects had been taken into custody, but gave no
further details. Prime Minister Ehud Barak issued a statement
that said he took a ‘grave´ view of the
attack. The explosions come the day after the militant Islamic
Hamas movement faxed a leaflet to an international news agency
threatening to attack Israeli citizens.”

CHECHENS SEEK HELP FROM IRAN TO FIGHT RUSSIAN INVADERS November
7, 1999

The London Times reported: “...With the Russian Army now deployed
in huge numbers in Chechnya, complete with several thousand
armored personnel carriers, up to 400 tanks and about 200 aircraft,
the Chechens have been appealing for sophisticated weaponry
to try to stem the Russian advance. According to reports, two
senior Chechen rebels, representing the Chechen
warlord Khattab, visited Iran about three weeks ago. They held
meetings with senior members of Iran's Revolutionary Guards
and are believed to have asked for Sam 7 anti-aircraft missiles
and advanced anti-tank guided missiles
manufactured by the Iranian military industry. The Iranian
weapons are expected to be delivered to the Chechens by lorry,
traveling via Armenia and Georgia, and then by cargo ship across
the Caspian Sea, via Dagestan.”

REPORT THAT AMERICAN WILL WITHDRAW NUKES FROM EUROPE November
7, 1999

The London Express reported: “The U.S. is preparing to withdraw
all its nuclear bombs from Britain and the rest of Europe,
it was claimed last night. An official announcement will be
made at a Nato ministerial meeting in Brussels next month,
said military and diplomatic sources. 'It is hard to
see why these US nuclear bombs are still in Europe,' said one
source. The withdrawal of weapons from Britain, Germany, Belgium,
the Netherlands, Greece and Turkey would mark the historic
conclusion to a process of disarmament that began with Ronald
Reagan's famous fireside chat with Mikhail Gorbachev. But the
move seems extraordinary in its timing, with
tension between the US and Russia over the future of East-West
nuclear relations…A Pentagon spokesman insisted there were
no such plans...While Western Europe would continue to enjoy
the protection of Nato submarines armed with nuclear weapons,
the total withdrawal of American weapons from
Europe would leave just the small British and French arsenals.
Russia has 2,500 nuclear warheads and has resisted moves to
ratify the strategic arms reduction treaty it signed six years
ago. Only yesterday it test-fired a nuclear-capable ballistic
missile, an act of brinkmanship in its escalating
war of words over a 27-year-old treaty which helped to control
the nuclear arms race.”

FEARS OF COMING MIDEAST WATER SHORTAGES November 7, 1999

Israeli radio Arutz 7 reported: “The Meteorological Service
foresees a winter rainfall this year ranging from less-than-average
to average. The accuracy rate of such predictions is 65-70%.
The level of the Kineret (Sea of Galilee) today is 213.12 meters
below sea level, or 12 centimeters below
the ‘red line.´ It was recently reported that water supply
to the city of Damascus, Syria, is down about 1/3 compared
to last year, leading to the cutting of water supplies to the
city from 3 PM to 5 AM every day...Finance
Minister Shochat, met this week to discuss Israel's water situation.
Shochat noted that water is a matter of national security.
Water Commissioner Ben-Meir announced his intention to cut
fresh water allocations to agriculture by 40%.”

NEW NATO SECRETARY-GENERAL SEEKS INCREASED EU DEFENSE November
7, 1999

Associated Press reported: “NATO Secretary-General George Robertson
said Thursday that European nations need to do more to help
strengthen the Atlantic alliance -- without duplicating capacities
already in place. Robertson said he delivered that ‘tough message´
during what he described as a ‘substantial meeting´' with President
Jacques Chirac. ‘Europeans will need
to do more inside NATO to enforce the alliance and make it
stronger in the future,´ Robertson said at a news conference…In
an interview published in the Thursday edition of the newspaper
Le Monde, Robertson said that ‘more of
Europe does not signify less of America. It signifies a stronger
NATO.´ However, he was quoted as saying, Europe would be a
‘paper tiger´ unless it improved its defenses..."

CHINA AND U.S. BEGIN TALKING ABOUT RESUMING MILITARY TIES November
7, 1999

Reuters reported: “China has indicated that it wants to resume
military ties with the United States after a six-month freeze
and Washington is anxious to do so, U.S. Defense Secretary
William Cohen said on Thursday. Cohen and other U.S. officials
said the two nations were involved in talks
aimed at resuming military-to-military relations, including
high-level exchange visits, cut off by Beijing after NATO warplanes
bombed the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade on May 7. ‘They have
indicated that they would like to re-establish those contacts,´
Cohen told reporters at the Pentagon. ‘We do
hope to re-establish the kind of military-to-military contacts
that we had prior to the incident.´ He cautioned in response
to questions that no concrete steps had yet been agreed on,
but Pentagon spokesman Ken Bacon told
reporters that the talks on resuming military-to-military relations
had been ‘very positive.´”

OFFER OF RUSSIAN MILITARY BASE DECLINED BY CHECHNYA´S NEIGHBOR
November 7, 1999

Reuters reported: “Georgia's defence minister, worried his
country might be dragged into Russia's campaign in Chechnya,
said on Friday the government had refused a request from Moscow
to activate Russian military bases on its
territory. Georgia and Russia have had a quarrel over Georgia's
border with Chechnya, where Moscow wants to set up joint patrols
to stop infiltration by guerrillas. Russia has said that Georgia
would not cooperate over the request and Prime Minister Vladimir
Putin threatened to demand visas from
Georgians to travel to Russia.”

via: pre-trib-news - http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Rhodes/7895

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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Networks plan New Year's coverage
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Mon, 8 Nov 1999 18:19:38 -0500

From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>

Monday November 8 1:24 PM ET
Networks Plan New Year's Coverage
By DAVID BAUDER AP Television Writer

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/19991108/en/tv_welcoming_2000_1.html

NEW YORK (AP) - Clinking champagne flutes in a hotel ballroom or a styrofoam
cup on the couch: America's top television networks have different styles
for celebrating the passage into the year 2000.

ABC News is spending more than $5 million on a 24-hour, telethon-like
broadcast anchored by Peter Jennings from Times Square beginning at 5 a.m.
EST on Dec. 31. Although top-name entertainers will perform, it's largely a
news show.

CBS, meanwhile, has turned its New Year's Eve celebration over to its
entertainment division and people like David Letterman and Steven Spielberg.

NBC appears the least interested in Y2K, at least based on time set aside to
mark the occasion. The network has largely kept its plans under wraps.

Intense millenial interest isn't anything new at ABC News. The network spent
more than $20 million compiling a documentary series, "The Century," which
also begat a coffee-table book co-written by Jennings.

"If all we did was cover fireworks and balls dropping, it wouldn't be a very
useful enterprise," said Tom Yellin, executive producer of ABC's Y2K
coverage. "But if we use it as a chance to take a snapshot of the world at
this particular time - where we've been and where we're going - then we're
journalists again. And we view this as a huge journalistic opportunity."

Jennings' base is ABC's new studio in Times Square, opened this fall. The
network is dispatching people all over the world - Diane Sawyer to New
Zealand, Barbara Walters to Paris, Charles Gibson to London. Competition was
fierce for warm-weather assignments.

The network even considered sending a reporter to Antarctica before backing
out. ABC will have a camera there, though.

Dozens of news reports are being prepared, probably more than will ever make
the air. For instance, ABC will examine population trends in both rapidly
growing India and shrinking Italy.

Billy Joel, 'N Sync, Aretha Franklin, Sting, Ray Charles, Neil Diamond and
others will perform. News' dominance over the celebration has reportedly
miffed Dick Clark, whose annual New Year's role on ABC was reduced.

More than half of 506 adults polled by ABC this summer said they were
planning to stay home on New Year's Eve, so the network hopes for a big
audience.

"I think people before the day will be bored to tears by this," Yellin said.
"But on the day, I believe there's going to be a unique feeling in the air
and this broadcast will be the place to experience that with the rest of the
world."

ABC is the American member of a group of 60 countries that will produce a
24-hour feed of Y2K stories. The deal "is really a barrier to entry for the
other networks," Yellin said, "because you can't do this yourself."

News is largely being left out of the party at CBS, except for brief cut-ins
or special reports. CBS's news people are instead concentrating on the days
leading up to New Year's Eve, like a Dec. 27 collaboration with Time
magazine on "People of the Century."

CBS plans a Letterman special at 8 p.m. EST New Year's Eve, then a one-hour
music special. The network has broadcast rights to the White House-sponsored
"America's Millennium Gala," a 21/2-hour entertainment special produced by
Quincy Jones and including a brief Spielberg film on this century's
highlights.

"The Early Show" will originate from Sydney on Dec. 31, coinciding with
midnight there. CBS will also report from Taveuni, an island in Fiji where
one side of the island celebrates the new year 24 hours before the other,
said Linda Mason, CBS spokeswoman.

ABC and CBS planners say they haven't run into many people from NBC in their
preparations, leading them to believe their rival is downplaying the event.
"If they haven't seen us, it's because we're someplace they're not," said
Beth O'Connell, NBC executive producer for special events.

NBC News has scheduled a two-hour special at 9 p.m. on Dec. 31 that will be
"celebratory in nature," O'Connell said. Jay Leno comes on at his usual time
after local news, with a show that will be combined with news reports.

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