To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Sept 8, 1999 TV Programs
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Wed, 8 Sep 1999 08:21:46 +0000
From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>
8:00 PM Eastern
HIST - THE KNIGHTS OF CAMELOT - Unraveling the Arthurian
legend; chivalry.(CC)(TVG)
9:00
DISC - NAPOLEON'S LOST FLEET - Marine archaeologists search
for Napoleon's battleship, L'Orient, in the
Mediterranean.(CC)(TVG)
HIST - ROMAN WAR MACHINE - "Roman Siege Warfare" - Rome uses
technologically advanced weapons to maintain control of the
empire.(CC)(TVG)
10:00
NBC - LAW & ORDER (Repeat) - "Refuge" - A mute
10-year-old is the sole witness to murders linked to the
Russian mob.(CC)(TV14)
HIST - PLUMBING: THE ARTERIES OF CIVILIZATION -
Plumbing involves both supplying fresh water and disposing of
human waste.(CC)(TVG)
--- BPR
BPR Web Site - http://philologos.org/bpr
========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Infobeat News items (9/8/99)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Wed, 8 Sep 1999 08:55:31 +0000
From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>
*** Palestinians want full state
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) - Just days before the start of talks on a
final peace agreement with Israel, Palestinians said Tuesday they will
not accept anything less than a state encompassing all of the West
Bank and Gaza Strip, with east Jerusalem as its capital. Negotiations
are to begin next Monday and end by Sept. 12, 2000, according to the
latest land-for-security agreement, signed Saturday in Sharm
el-Sheikh, Egypt. They are to tackle the contentious issues of
Jerusalem, Palestinian refugees, the fate of Jewish settlements, and
borders. "I hope that we can, by the September 2000 date, declare
jointly with Israel the establishment of a Palestinian state, with
east Jerusalem as its capital," said Saeb Erekat, the top Palestinian
negotiator. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2561055312-570
*** Mir's computer to be switched off
MOSCOW (AP) - Russia's Mission Control prepared Tuesday to switch off
the Mir space station's central computer and other systems to save
energy during a planned six months of unmanned flight. The ground
controllers waited for a week after the station's last permanent crew
returned to Earth to let Mir's interiors dry before switching the
temperature control to the minimum on Tuesday. Early Wednesday, they
will switch off the Mir's computer, its orientation system and other
equipment, letting the station rotate freely in orbit, said Valery
Lyndin, a Mission Control spokesman. Mission Control will help adjust
the station's position in orbit if it sees that the station's energy
supply is dropping below the level needed. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2561057219-0cb
========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Religion Today item (9/8/99)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Wed, 8 Sep 1999 13:07:43 +0000
From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>
A charismatic Catholic preaches to the pope. Rev. Raniero
Cantalamessa delivers homilies to Pope John Paul II and about 60
bishops and cardinals every Friday during Lent and Advent, The
Washington Post said. The pope appointed him in 1980, three years
after Cantalamessa received the "baptism of the Holy Spirit," an
experience described in the Book of Acts that empowers Christians with
spiritual gifts to heal others and speak in unknown tongues. ...The
experience altered Cantalamessa's ministry, he said. He said he felt
convinced of "the truth of the manifestation of the Spirit" and left
his prestigious teaching post at the University of Milan to spread the
message that the God is moving in a greater way. He frequently "sings
in tongues -- a beautiful way of prayer without passing through
words." ...Cantalamessa, a Franciscan friar, recently spoke at St.
Mark's Catholic Church in Vienna, Va. He discussed the modern
application of spiritual gifts and exhorted congregants to do more to
evangelize their friends and neighbors. "Jesus is Lord. God raised Him
from the dead. And if you believe that in your heart, you are what?"
he asked the crowd. "Saved!" they replied in unison. ...Pope John Paul
II supports the charismatic movement in the Catholic Church. "The
current holy father is favorably disposed to charismatic renewal,"
Francis Sullivan, a Jesuit priest and Boston College professor, said.
The movement, which began in the 1960s, continues to spread in
developing nations, but has slowed somewhat in the United States, he
said. He witnessed people "singing in tongues" in 1975 in St. Peter's
Basilica, he said.
http://www.religiontoday.com
========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Global Phone System on Hold but not Dead
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Wed, 8 Sep 1999 13:16:00 +0000
From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>
Global Phone System on Hold But
not Dead
NEW YORK (Agencies) -- Global
satellite mobile (GSM) telephone
technology, seen just two years ago as a
telecoms miracle, has seen two of its
champions fall into bankruptcy, but
prospects for the third, Globalstar, seem
relatively strong.
The goal is to give subscribers telephone service
from any point on the globe, thanks to a
constellation of satellites orbiting the planet.
Motorola-backed Iridium -- the first to operate as a
global mobile telephone operator -- failed in a few
months when just 20,000 signed on instead of the
500,000 subscribers needed to keep the network in the
black.
So, in August, the company sought protection under US
bankruptcy law following its failure to meet
obligations on loans worth 1.5 billion dollars as its
creditors fight over the still-operating network's
assets.
Iridium's British rival, ICO -- a consortium
comprising the formerly intergovernmental satellite
group Inmarsat, -- never even left the launch pad,
instead heading straight into bankruptcy court last
week.
A third group, Globalstar -- spearheaded by Loral and
comprising, among others, French firms Alcatel and
France Telecom -- is due to begin operations in
October with a 48-satellite network.
"Globalstar seems to have learned from Iridium's
blunders," according to Mark Zohar,
telecommunications analyst with the Forrester
Research consulting firm.
"With lower per-minute pricing, lighter weight and
cheaper dual-mode handsets, as well as focused
distribution and sales strategy... Globalstar will
prosper as the leader of a small niche market but
will not take over the world," he added.
Complying with new development
Several years ago, telephone networks based on
satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) had promised to
be the answer for areas lacking the infrastructure
for cellular telephones.
But that scenario failed to take into account the
technological leaps enabling cell phones to become
ever smaller, cheaper and more reliable.
"Today, regional GSM networks in Europe enable near
seamless roaming on the continent, Zohar said.
"In addition, cellular systems are thriving in
previously unserved markets like Cambodia and India
and fixed wireless technologies are driving up
penetration rates in countries like China and
Brazil," he said.
The first Iridium phones suffered from serious
handicaps: a heavy weight and a sizeable price tag,
which did not makes things easier for an ugly
telephone on which users could not rely indoors.
Iridium and ICO are among the 1990s most stunning
business failures, according to Zohar.
Iridium cost some 5.2 billion dollars, ICO ran to 4.5
billion, while Globalstar is estimated at 3.8
billion.
Those costly failures have also cast doubts on plans
to provide Internet service as announced in 1998 by
Boeing, Microsoft, Motorola and Matra-Marconi
(Teledesic) on one side and Alcatel-Loral (Cyberstar)
on the other.
Those ventures hope to combine the existing LEO
networks with other satellites in geostationary orbit
36,000 kilometers (22,500 miles) up to offer not just
telephone service but Internet access thanks to
broadband communications.
That project would cost some 10 billion dollars and
would require one million subscribers to make money.
Teledesic hopes to start provide services in 2004,
but that goal could change in light of the problems
faced by Iridium and ICO.
But with the development of fiber optics and effort
to adapt old cables to give urban subscribers rapid
Internet access, "Forrester doubts that sufficient
demand exists for broadband data services in non
urban areas to justify Teledesic's staggering 10
billion investment," said Zohar.
http://www.arabia.com/content/tech/9_99/global_8.shtml
========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - "Mein Kampf" makes it to Palestinian bestseller list
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Wed, 8 Sep 1999 13:18:14 +0000
From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>
'Mein Kampf' Makes it to Palestinian
Bestseller List
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AFP) -- Adolf Hitler's "Mein
Kampf," the story of the Nazi leader's early
"struggle," has made it on to the bestseller list in
the Palestinian territories.
The book occupies sixth place on the list of
top-sellers compiled by the Dar El-Shuruq bookshop in
the West Bank city of Ramallah -- but less than 10
copies are being sold a week, bookshop owner Nicolas
Akel said Wednesday.
Akel attributed the popularity of "Mein Kampf" to the
fact it had been banned from the Palestinian
territories for many years during the Israeli
occupation and has only recently been allowed in by
Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority.
Dar El-Shuruq's bestseller list is the only one in
the West Bank or Gaza Strip and is itself a recent
innovation.
The two top spots are currently occupied by novels by
Algerian writer Ahlam Mustaghani, while poets Mahmmud
Darwish and Nizar Kabbani and scholar Edward Said are
the enduring top sellers, Akel said.
http://www.arabia.com/content/culture/9_99/pales_8.shtml
========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Babylon Festival
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Wed, 8 Sep 1999 13:23:48 +0000
From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>
Iraq Invites 40 Countries to Babylon
Festival
BAGHDAD (AFP) -- Some 40 countries have been invited
to take part in Iraq's Babylon cultural festival, due
to open September 22, the official Iraqi News Agency
said Monday.
"More than 37 countries have informed us of their
decision to send their companies to Iraq to
participate in the Babylon festival," the head of the
festival's cultural committee, Ali Abdallah, said.
European countries like Italy, Spain, Greece and
Belgium will perform next to representatives of
Morocco, Lebanon, Sudan, Algerian, Jordan and Egypt.
The festival will run over 10 days in the ancient
town of Babylon, to the south of the capital.
The Babylon festival was launched in 1987 but was
called off in 1990 and 1991 because of the Gulf
crisis caused by Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.
http://www.arabia.com/content/culture/9_99/fest_8.shtml
--------------------
For more on this goto:
http://www.mv.com/ipusers/butterfly/prophl/saddam
========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - CNV news items
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Wed, 8 Sep 1999 13:30:02 +0000
From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>
ANIMALS ELEVATED ABOVE CHILDREN
Peter Singer, a bioethics professor who advocates animal rights and
rejects the sanctity of human life, has assumed a new teaching
position at Princeton University. Singer argues that children with
birth defects have less moral value than many animals and can be
euthanized (Christian News, 9/21/98).
The president of the student Bioethics Forum is surprised that the
Singer appointment has aroused protests: "I never thought Princeton
could react like this." A molecular biology teacher remarked, "I don't
know any professor at the university who's against it." He continued,
"I think there's been some amusement at the reactions this has been
getting, the attacks from both the far right and the far left" (World,
7/17/99).
UNITED METHODIST APOSTASY
The United Methodist Women's Division contributed $11,000 to help a
homosexual group that is fighting the Salt Lake City school board for
free meeting space. Methodist Women's executive Lois Dauway says her
group is "not funding anything that is promoting sexual orientation"
but merely upholding free speech. At least 400 Gay-Straight Alliance
groups meet in high schools across the country, according to the Gay,
Lesbian, and Straight Education Alliance (World, 8/6/99).
BAPTIST GENERAL CONFERENCE TAKES A VOTE ON GOD'S OMNISCIENCE--GOD
LOOSES.
A debate over God's omniscience has erupted in the Baptist General
Conference (BGC), an Illinois-based denomination with 140,000 members
in more than 800 churches. Greg Boyd, a theology professor at Bethel
College and Seminary, and the popular pastor of a 3,000-member church
in St. Paul, has written in his books that God's foreknowledge is
limited: "God can't foreknow the good or bad decisions of the people
He creates until He creates these people and they in turn create their
decisions."
An inquiry panel of the BGC concluded that Boyd's views are "within
the bounds of evangelical Christian orthodoxy and compatible with the
theological commitments expected of faculty members at Bethel."
Concerned pastors drafted an amendment to the BGC Affirmation of
Faith, which stated about the Father, "We believe 'that He foreknows
infallibly all that shall come to pass.' " Boyd said he would resign
if the amendment passed. It failed, 270-251 (World, 7/17/99).
http://cnview.com
========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - National Identity Database Details
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Wed, 08 Sep 1999 09:19:44 -0500
From: owner-bpr@philologos.org
Smile for the US Secret Service
by Declan McCullagh
3:00 a.m. 7.Sep.99.PDT WASHINGTON -- A New Hampshire company
began planning in 1997 to create a national identity database
for the federal government, newly disclosed documents show.
Image Data's US$1.5 million contract with the US Secret Service
to begin digitizing existing driver's license and other personal
data was widely reported early this year. But documents
unearthed by the Electronic Privacy Information Center reveal
the details and scope of the project.
Full story:
http://www.wired.com/news/news/politics/story/21607.html
========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Arutz-7 News items (9/8/99)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Wed, 8 Sep 1999 14:21:20 +0000
From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>
ISRAELI-ARAB EXPERT WARNS OF A "STORM ON THE WAY"
Former MK Atty. Amnon Lin, author of a book on Israeli-Arabs entitled
"Before The Storm," explained today that increased Israeli-Arab
hostility towards Israel could have been easily foreseen, and will
likely get worse. "I am surprised that [GSS head] Ayalon said that he
is surprised," he told Arutz-7 today. "Everyone who knows anything
about this issue could have foreseen it. We are in the beginning of a
major crisis, and it will get worse as the final-status talks go into
high gear."
Lin started from the beginning: "Since the early days of the State,
up until, I would say, Oslo, Israeli-Arabs for the most part were
careful to define themselves as Israeli Arabs. They did not want to
be counted as Palestinians. Since Oslo, however, they more and more
define themselves as 'Palestinians upon whom Israeli citizenship was
forced...' There are still those among them who are more moderate,
mostly the older people... But let there be no misunderstanding: When
the struggle begins for Jerusalem, and for the right of return [for
the Arabs who left in 1948], and for the borders of the Palestinian
state, and over the fate of the Jewish settlements - and then there
will be calls for autonomy for the Arabs of the Galilee, etc. - we
will then see the extremist elements attempt to drag everyone along
with them in a violent wave against Israel."
Lin described the following scenario: "Just picture to yourself how
Arafat, as he has promised to do, calls upon the Arab-Palestinians in
Jordan and Lebanon to 'return to the homeland' - and hundreds of
thousands of people start marching on Israel's borders. And then he
calls upon the Arabs living in Palestine/Israel to 'go out and greet
your returning brethren.' Will any of the moderate elements be able
to stand in their way? We stand now at the beginning of a big
storm..."
CABINET AND KNESSET DISCUSS SHARM
The special Knesset session on the Sharm a-Sheikh agreement began this
afternoon. All 120 MKs are being given the opportunity to express
themselves, and a vote is not expected until very late at night. Prime
Minister Barak spoke first, and repeated that it is "difficult for
[him] to part with portions of the Land of Israel." Barak told the
Knesset that the agreement brings Israel closer to a final-status
arrangement with the Palestinians. He said that he understands the
pain of the Jewish settlers in Yesha, "who came there to live
according to the dictates of their conscience and as emissaries of
Israeli governments."
Opposition leader Ariel Sharon (Likud)responded with criticism of the
new Sharm agreement. He said that the new agreement is worse than the
previous Wye Memorandum, in that it forsakes the principle of
reciprocity. Sharon added that Israel is now bound by a tight
time-schedule, while the PA is not.
Earlier today, the government approved the implementation of the first
stage of the Sharm a-Sheikh agreement, including the planned transfer
of 7% of Judea and Samaria to PA-civil control, and the freeing of 200
Palestinian Arab terrorists from Israeli prisons. Seventeen ministers
voted in favor, while NRP leader Rabbi Yitzchak Levy voted against,
Yisrael B'Aliyah leader Natan Sharansky abstained, and the four Shas
ministers boycotted the meeting.
GOV'T REJECTS THREE YESHA MAP CONCERNS; TERRORISTS TO BE FREED For
the first time since Israel's withdrawal from the cities of Kalkilye
and Tulkarm in late 1995, Palestinian Authority control will be
extended to areas bordering pre-1967 Israel. This was one of the main
concerns raised by Yesha leaders after they viewed maps of the
upcoming withdrawal. "Yesha leaders raised eleven points at the map
committee meeting yesterday," reported Arutz-7's Haggai Huberman
today. "Of these, eight were accepted by the committee - chaired by
Tourism Minister and former IDF Chief of Staff Amnon Lipkin-Shachak -
and three were passed on to the government for a final decision." The
government today rejected them. The changes that were accepted
related to specific problems of water, electricity, and local roads.
The three unaccepted issues have implications not only for the
settlement enterprise, but for the entire country, Huberman explained.
"Next week's withdrawal in the area of the northern Shomron will see
Area B, northwest of Jenin, extend up to the Green Line," he said.
"The area will border the Arab village of Mukabila, an Israeli-Arab
village. Until now, Israel was always careful to leave a buffer
between Palestinian areas and the Green Line." Ecological concerns
were also raised: "Without Israeli supervision, the PA is liable to
bring about real ecological damage to the communities of the northern
Shomron and of the Jezre'el Valley, the Yesha Council fears. Waste
products could be dumped into the Kishon brook and soon threaten towns
as far north as Haifa." As mentioned, however, the government
approved the transfer of this area.
The terrorist-release committee has completed its work, and the list
of 200 terrorists it decided upon will be freed tomorrow. The
government has decided to publish the names of the soon-to-be-free
terrorists only after their release - in defiance of the wishes of
family members of terrorist victims. Among those to go free will be
those who aided and abetted the murder of Israelis, as well as those
who murdered Arab collaborators-with-Israel.
Yesha Council members are gathered today for an emergency session, in
preparation for a massive public campaign against the Sharm a-Sheikh
agreement. Council Deputy Director-General Shlomo Filber told Arutz-7
today that though the upcoming withdrawal will not imminently isolate
any Yesha communities, the next stage of IDF pull-outs will be very
difficult for them.
GARBAGE FLOWS OVER; SOLUTION IN SIGHT
Over 90,000 tons of garbage are piled up along Israeli streets, as a
result of the municipal workers' strike. Talks between the sides last
night were unsuccessful in resolving the issues, but there is renewed
optimism that a solution can be found by tonight. Leading rabbis have
ruled that the garbage filling the streets represents a "desecration
of the [upcoming Rosh HaShanah] holiday."
IN BRIEF
Mein Kampf, by Adolf Hitler, is in 6th place on the Palestinian
Authority's best-seller list. A major bookstore in Ramallah reports
that in 5th place is, "The Hidden Secrets of the Torah and the People
of Israel."
The Judea and Samaria police detachment plans to begin enforcing traffic
violations by Palestinian drivers in Yesha, after not having done so
for over a year. A police spokesman today said that two recently
passed laws will enable the cancellation of the licenses and the
confiscation of vehicles of Palestinian drivers who break traffic
laws...
The Central Bureau of Statistics reports that Israel's population on
the eve of the new year stands at 6,145,000, of which 4,847,000 are
Jews (79%), 922,000 are Muslims (15%), and 376,000 are Druze,
Christians, and others (6%). Israel's population increased by 2.4%
over the past year, the same as the year before. Immigration
accounted for 35% of this growth, compared to 34% the year before.
The Jewish population rose by 88,000, for a growth rate of 1.8%, the
same as the year before...
Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.a7.org>
Wednesday, September 8, 1999 / Elul 27, 5759
========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Weekend News Today items (9/8/99)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Wed, 8 Sep 1999 18:31:57 +0000
From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>
PA ratifies Wye-2
Weekend News Today
By Andra Brack
Source: IsraelWire
Tue Sep 7,1999 -- The PLO Authority (PA) on Monday evening
ratified the Wye-2 Agreement and announced
it would not permit terrorists to disrupt the ongoing process
with Israel. PA officials also announced they are
waiting for the official list from Israel with the names of
the 200 terrorists scheduled for release from Israeli
prisons before the weekend Jewish observance of Rosh Hashanah.
PA takes over much of eastern Jerusalem
Weekend News Today
By Andra Brack
Source: IsraelWire
Tue Sep 7,1999 -- A security report given recently to Prime
Minister Ehud Barak, Minister of Internal Security
Shlomo Ben-Ami, and Minister of Jerusalem Affairs Haim Ramon,
warns of a lessening of Israeli control in
eastern Jerusalem. According to the report, the PLO Authority
(PA) has increased its activities in eastern
Jerusalem, filling every vacuum left by the Israel establishment. The
PA has managed to take over control of most areas of daily life of the
Arab population, including education, health, transportation,
security, and the sites holy to Moslems and Christians.
Since the election of the new government, a feeling has pervaded in
eastern Jerusalem that Barak would turn civil authority control over
to the PA. According to Abd al-Kadr, a member of the PA legislative
council, senior members of One Israel, including Haim Ramon and
Justice Minsiter Yossi Beilin, made the PA a pre-election offer of
implementation of autonomy in eastern Jerusalem. The offer was
rejected because it dealt with autonomy over the citizenry, but not
over lands.
The PA has spread rumors recently about Israeli agreement to
giving various Arab neighborhoods in Jerusalem to
the PA, including such peripheral neighborhoods as Kfar Akev,
Samiramis, Dhiyat al-Brid, Bet Haninah, and even
parts of Shuafat. These neighborhoods border areas under PA
control, and the Israeli presence in them is weak.
Most of these areas have not received basic municipal services
for a long while. Also, the area of illegal
construction is worse than ever. The Arabs closely follow the
statements of government ministers concerning the
destruction of illegal construction. Among those opposed to
tearing down illegally built buildings are Ministers
Ramon and Ben-Ami.
Ramon and Ben-Ami's statements have been taken as a carte blanche for
unlicensed construction. Recent weeks have seen unprecedented amounts
of illegal construction in the Old City and Arab neighborhoods. The
illegal building is so widespread and so out of line that the
municipality has received letters from Arabs complaining about the
construction undertaken by neighbors. The mayor's advisor for eastern
Jerusalem, Shalom Goldstein, warned that the illegal construction
constitutes a danger for the Arab citizens themselves.
A second area of chaos is in public transportation. The Ministry of
Transportation does not supervise the transportation in eastern
Jerusalem. The area is full of pirate, unlicensed taxis, which block
the main streets and prevent licensed buses from passing and picking
up passengers. Also, since the beginning of the Intifada, municipal
parking inspectors have not entered eastern Jerusalem to oversee
illegal parking. Similarly, building inspectors rarely enter eastern
Jerusalem to inspect construction. The police also admit to negligence
in dealing with problems in eastern Jerusalem. Therefore, Arab
residents turn to the PA police in Abu Dis and Ramallah.
The PA is also developing its political power in eastern Jerusalem. It
recently held a meeting of its council for a tourist industry. Senior
PA officials are involved in phases of development of many aspects of
political development. This activity began when Barak became prime
minister.The the Mufti from moving into new offices next to the
al-Aksa mosque, because it was an infringement of the status quo. The
move was made as soon as Barak took office. The Orient House, which
serves as the PA foreign ministry, has moved into a higher gear of
political and diplomatic activity. Official foreign delegations
continue to visit there and to meet with Faisal Husseini and his
associates.
In education matters, the PA continues to be involved in the
schools not affiliated with the municipality, especially
those belonging to the Wakf. Health has remained a hard nut
to crack for the PA, because they have found it
difficult to establish alternative medical institutions that
can compete with the Israeli health funds and hospitals.
PA representatives state that the parting with eastern Jerusalem has
begun. They say that the Israeli establishment has proven since June
1967 that they are not interested in eastern Jerusalem.
via: pre-trib-news <pretribnews@listbot.com>
========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Infobeat News items (9/8/99)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Wed, 8 Sep 1999 18:50:08 +0000
From: "Moza" <moza@butterfly.mv.com>
*** Cohen: No U.S. troops for East Timor
WASHINGTON (AP) - Defense Secretary William Cohen said Wednesday the
United States has no plans to contribute troops to any peacekeeping
force for Indonesia. Cohen, responding bluntly to questions from
reporters on the Pentagon lawn, said it is up to the Indonesian
government and the international community to respond to the growing
post-election violence in East Timor. At the White House, spokesman
Joe Lockhart said the situation in East Timor is "clearly very serious
and very dangerous." There has been a dramatic deterioration in the
security situation in East Timor since the referendum nine days ago,
giving rise to a number of calls for the establishment of a
U.N.-sponsored international peacekeeping force. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2561068558-491 ***
Also: U.S. lawmakers wary of E. Timor force, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2561066413-c4c ***
And: East Timor sending off shock waves, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2561063028-dc4
*** Russian warplanes bombard militants
MAKHACHKALA, Russia (AP) - Russian warplanes and artillery Wednesday
bombarded positions held by Islamic militants in two villages amid
growing criticism of their failure to defeat the rebels. Russian
forces claimed to have knocked out two rebel mortar posts, five trucks
and five weapons caches in Karamakhi and retaken parts of the village
in the southern Russian republic of Dagestan, a spokesman with
Dagestan's Interior Ministry said. Territory in the village has
changed hands several times and the military appeared no closer to
defeating the militants, who took over there and in the village of
Chabanmakhi a year ago and imposed a strict version of Islamic law.
See http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2561062937-28a
*** U.S. opens nuclear talks with Russia
MOSCOW (AP) - A U.S. delegation led by Deputy Secretary of State
Strobe Talbott Wednesday began two days of talks with Russian Deputy
Foreign Minister Georgy Mamedov on reducing nuclear stockpiles and
possibly changing the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. Russian
officials said the two sides registered their disagreement on the ABM
at a first round of talks last month. The United States wants to
modify the treaty so that it can build a limited missile defense
system. President Boris Yeltsin agreed in June to discuss ABM
modifications, but Russian officials continue to insist that an
anti-missile defense system in the United States would tilt the
strategic balance and launch a new arms race. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2561065235-2aa
*** War crimes tribunal head quits
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) - Judge Antonio Cassese of Italy, the
first president of the Yugoslav war crimes tribunal, will leave the
U.N. court by February to resume teaching at Florence University, the
tribunal said Wednesday. Cassese is the third prominent figure to
leave the court. Cassese hasn't explained why he decided to leave
midway through his four-year term. He was elected as the tribunal's
first president in 1993, after the Security Council established the
court to bring to justice those suspected of atrocities in the wars
that followed the breakup of the former Yugoslavia. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2561066128-8ea
*** Russia denies sub in Mediterranean
MOSCOW (AP) - The Russian navy denied reports Wednesday that a
Russian nuclear submarine operated recently in the Mediterranean for
the first time in years. Several Russian newspapers reported that a
Schuka-class nuclear-powered submarine, armed with torpedoes and
cruise missiles, was spotted by NATO forces last week when it passed
from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean through the Straits of
Gibraltar. Capt. Igor Dygalo, the chief spokesman for the Russian
Navy, dismissed the reports as "utter lies," but would not comment
further. The reports claimed that NATO forces spotted the submarine
briefly near Corsica and off the coast of the former Yugoslavia. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2561065239-06e
*** Indonesia turns down arms fair
LONDON (AP) - Indonesia has turned down an invitation to attend
Britain's biggest arms fair, the Defense Ministry said Wednesday. The
British government, which has been criticized for selling arms to
Indonesia, had invited the country's senior military personnel to
examine the latest hardware next week at the Defense Systems and
Equipment International Exhibition in London. Critics claim defense
equipment sold to the Indonesians is being used in the repression of
the East Timorese, and Britain had come under increasing pressure to
revoke the invitation. Indonesia was among nearly 60 countries invited
to the arms exhibition, which is expected to attract arms exhibitors
from the United States and other countries. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2561067881-23e
*** Deal will boost Russia arms exports
MOSCOW (AP) - President Boris Yeltsin signed a decree Wednesday aimed
at helping Russian weapons manufacturers gain a larger share of the
global market. Russia is currently the world's fourth largest arms
exporter, after the United States, Britain, and France. Russian arms
exporters complain that bureaucratic hassles cause long delivery
delays and deter buyers. The decree calls for joint financing between
the government and military contractors to develop new types of
weapons and confirms the Defense Ministry's right to train foreign
military and technical personnel, a key part of many foreign deals.
See http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2561065418-779
*** Report: Saddam kin gets asylum
CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - An Iraqi opposition group said Wednesday that a
half brother of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has been granted
political asylum in the United Arab Emirates. Baghdad, however, denied
that Barzan al-Tikriti had defected. Salah al-Shaikhly, spokesman for
the opposition Iraqi National Accord, said al-Tikriti has been in the
United Arab Emirates for over a week. The head of the official Iraqi
News Agency, Odai al-Ta'i, said reports of defection are "totally bare
of truth." He said al-Tikriti is visiting family in Switzerland and
reporters can contact him there, but refused to give a contact number
and did not name a location in Switzerland. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2561068380-f1d
*** Report of weather condition delayed
WASHINGTON (AP) - A breakdown in National Weather Service computer
hardware Tuesday morning was blamed for delays in reporting
temperatures and weather conditions across the nation. It was the
first time in 20 years of service that the computer has had failures
in both of two duplicate systems, said Art Wick, chief of the
networking and communications branch at the National Center for
Environmental Prediction. Temperatures and other weather data are
collected across the country by the system, called AFOS, which
delivers the data to the center in suburban Camp Springs, Md. AFOS
then relays tables and summaries of the data to users such as
newspapers. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2561053985-bcc
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