To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Russian emigration to Israel doubles
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Sun, 09 Jan 2000 12:33:11 -0500

From: owner-bpr@philologos.org

Report: Russian emigration to Israel doubles

January 8, 2000

MOSCOW (AP) -- Russian emigration to Israel was more than twice
as high in 1999 as in the previous year, the Interfax news
agency reported Saturday.

According to the Moscow office of the Jewish Agency, which
brings Jews to Israel, 29,534 Russian citizens emigrated to
Israel in 1999, up from 13,019 a year earlier, Interfax reported.

Full story:
http://cnn.com/2000/WORLD/meast/01/08/russia.israel.emigration.ap/

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To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Britain's flu bug is officially an epidemic (?)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Sun, 09 Jan 2000 12:43:10 -0500

From: owner-bpr@philologos.org

[BPRnote: One reader from Britain wrote in and told us that
while they are experiencing a flu outbreak in the region it is
"by no means an epidemic." The recent reports in the news media
(Reuters, Assoc. Press, UPI, etc.) indicate otherwise. I'm
curious now. So if any other list members from Britain have
comments on this I would love to hear them.]

Britain's flu bug is officially an epidemic
By Jacqui Thornton, Health Correspondent and Adam Lusher

BRITAIN is officially in the grip of a flu epidemic, the
Government's Chief Medical Officer said last night, as hospitals
cancelled hundreds of operations in the struggle to cope with
the outbreak.

Prof Liam Donaldson said that the scale of the problem was much
greater than statistics suggested because of the 210,000 people
calling the helpline NHS Direct, thus bypassing surgeries. NHS
Direct is the nurse-led helpline introduced last year to ease
the workload of family doctors and the ambulance service.

He said there was also under-reporting of the outbreak because
many "spotter" surgeries which are used to compile flu
statistics were closed over the holiday. Prof Donaldson said
that flu had hit "epidemic proportions . . . There's a hidden
element to this epidemic. We feel it's a lot higher and
climbing. We think we are in for a big one." The last confirmed
flu epidemic was in the winter of 1989-90 when there were 600
cases per 100,000 people.

Full story:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk:80/et?ac=000271261842766&rtmo=02XXJRKq
&atmo=ggggg3qK&pg=/et/00/1/9/nflu09.html

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========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Syria already moving on the Golan
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Sun, 9 Jan 2000 18:24:29 -0500

From: "Moza" <moza7@netzero.net>

SYRIA ALREADY MOVING ON THE GOLAN: Syria is building a huge
reservoir on the Golan Heights in what is expected to be the first of
several projects to capture water that feeds Israel's Sea of Galilee.
Military sources said the reservoir is meant to also serve as an obstacle
to any Israeli ground offensive against Syria in the Golan Heights. The
sources said the reservoir is four kilometers wide (2.4 miles) and is
being constructed near the town of Kuneitra. The area is flat and located
on a major armored offensive route between Israel and Syria. So far, the
sources said, the reservoir is not expected to be fed by tributaries that
flow directly into Israel. But one source said the reservoir is expected to
be followed by other projects meant to stem the flow of water from the
Golan Heights to the Sea of Galilee, regarded as Israel's only source of
fresh water. "There is no question that this is the first of several
projects," the source said. "The idea is to capture as much water as
possible within Syria before it enters Israeli territory." Syria and Jordan
are constructing the al Wihdat dam that will feed off the Yarmouk River,
shared by Israel. Israeli officials said the Jordanians are coordinating
their part of the project with Israel. The sources said, the reservoir could
be emptied, flooding the surrounding area, further slowing down Israeli
troops. Already, the sources said, Syria is bolstering its units around
the Golan Heights with new electronic equipment and is quietly
dismantling Israeli mines placed in the area.

Tzemach News Service
Week Ending: 8 January 2000 / 1 Shevat 5760

[And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman,
that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. And the earth helped
the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood
which the dragon cast out of his mouth. And the dragon was wroth with the
woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the
commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.--Revelation
12:15-17]

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========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Arutz-7 News items (1/9/00)
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Sun, 9 Jan 2000 19:20:27 -0500

From: "Moza" <moza7@netzero.net>

NEW PALESTINIAN DEMANDS

The Palestinian Authority has completed the construction of
what is to serve as its parliament in Abu Dis, just east of
Jerusalem. A small portion of the building is located within
Israeli sovereign territory. The Palestinians claim that
Israel has already agreed to include Abu Dis in the next
withdrawal, scheduled for eleven days from now.

Arutz-7 correspondent Haggai Huberman reports that another
Palestinian demand in the final-status talks is that Israel rid
itself of its nuclear capabilities. Israeli sources did not
deny this, but claim that the demand is an Egyptian
initiative, as Egypt has been waging a struggle against Israeli
nuclear capabilities for years. In addition, the government is
conducting "advanced negotiations" with the PA on the entry of
2000 Fatah terrorists from Lebanon to PA areas.

BARAK AND A-SHARA WILL LEAVE TOMORROW

Ehud Barak and Farouk A-Shara are expected to leave
Shepherdstown tomorrow night, after the acceptance by both sides
of an American paper outlining the issues of agreement and of
disagreement. The Syrian and Israeli delegations will remain in
Shepherdstown for further deliberations. U.S. President Clinton
is scheduled to arrive in Shepherdstown today in yet another
attempt to pressure the sides to come to agreements.

A FRAGILE PROCESS

If peace between Israel and Syria means that American troops
will be stationed on the Golan Heights, some Americans want no
part of it. Harold Cosner, whose son David was one of the 241
U.S. marines murdered in the 1983 terrorist bombing in Beirut,
Lebanon, wrote a letter last week to U.S.. President Clinton,
explaining his objections. The letter, a copy of which Cosner
sent to AFSI [Americans for a Safe Israel], states, "Please, as
the Commander-in-Chief of our Armed Forces, do not send our
fine young men into harm's way unnecessarily. The Israeli army
has been doing an excellent job securing its own borders. It
is its place to continue doing so."

Another fragile element of the peace process with Syria is
Assad's health. Middle East Newsline journalist Steve Rodan,
reporting in the Israel Resource Review, states that Assad's
various illnesses - including a heart ailment and diabetes -
have severely curtailed his ability to function, and that the
two hours of work he puts in daily are basically dedicated
toward securing the Presidency for his son Bashar. These
efforts have not borne fruit, though, as Rodan notes, "Bashar
has not been approved for a leadership post in the Ba'ath Party
=85 and family infighting has prolonged delays. [Highly-
placed government] sources said that should the President die
soon, a fight over succession will erupt."

Rodan writes that the above explains why Foreign Minister
Farouk A-Shara, and not Bashar, has been enlisted to lobby
Ba'ath party officials to openly support the latest diplomatic
initiative with Israel. European Union envoy Miguel
Mauritinus told Israeli officials in late December that A-Shara
spent five hours trying to persuade the Ba'ath Party's central
committee to support the negotiations.

IGNORING THE DAMAGE

Israel's press is turning a blind eye to the archaeological
damage on the Temple Mount. So says archaeology student Tzachi
Tzveig, who organized last Thursday's demonstration of senior
archaeologists in the Kidron Valley. He told Arutz-7 today
about the recent rally sponsored by Zo Artzeinu, "which
attracted 5,000 people who protested the Waqf's desecration of
the Temple Mount. This was the first time in the history of
the State that such a large demonstration on this issue took
place! Everyone who was there saw the plethora of reporters and
television cameras. Yet the next day's papers totally ignored
it! Then came last Thursday's 30-person demonstration,
including seven very senior archaeologists. Again, there were
many reporters, including foreign and local news services, but
neither of the two major morning papers mentioned that the
protest even took place. I found out that a journalist from
Yediot Acharonot had prepared a lengthy article on the event,
but his editor decided not to publish it."

Tzveig said that originally, "Dr. Dan Bahat reported that the
Moslem Waqf's excavations on the Temple Mount mainly affected
recent layers, but caused only minimal damage to more ancient
layers. Although I respect his opinion, he is a lone voice
within the country's archaeologist community. Despite this, his
view was widely-quoted, and he was given substantial air-time."
Tzveig said that his and his colleagues' later examinations of
the Kidron Valley dumping site revealed that Bahat had
significantly underestimated the damage caused to First and
Second Temple-era artifacts. Tzveig presented these findings at
an annual convention at Bar-Ilan University three weeks ago,
causing "a great uproar in archaeologists' circles, including
much anger at the Antiquities Authority. Here, too, an article
that was prepared for Yediot was not published... The
Authority, for its part, responded harshly for my not having
released the details in a more closed forum."

Arutz Sheva News Service
 <www.ArutzSheva.org>
Sunday, January 9, 2000 / Sh'vat 2, 5760

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