To: bprlist@egroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Ashcroft Nomination
From: "Moza"
Date: Wed, 17 Jan 2001 09:26:23 -0500
Last night I saw a TV commercial against Ashcroft's nomination (in the
Boston area). Did anyone else see it or was I dreaming? Has anyone ever
seen a commercial against a presidential nominee before?
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To: bprlist@egroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Zenit News items (1/16/01)
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Wed, 17 Jan 2001 09:26:23 -0500
CHINA RULES OUT PAPAL TRIP, FOR NOW
Italian Prime Minister Proposed Visit to Beijing Counterpart
BEIJING, JAN. 16, 2001 (ZENIT.org).-=20
China for now has ruled out any chance of a visit of John Paul II to the
country.
The news was announced Monday by Prime Minister Zhu Rongji to Giuliano=20
Amato, his Italian counterpart, during a two-hour meeting here.=20=20
At the beginning of his three-day tour of China, Amato told the press that=
=20
tension must be reduced between the Vatican and Beijing, which was=20
aggravated by the canonization of 120 China martyrs last Oct. 1.=20=20
When the Italian Prime Minister mentioned the topic of a possible visit by =
the=20
Holy Father to China, Zhu was very clear: "No, it's not possible."=20=20
The Communist official said, "The Vatican has offended us; it has opened a=
=20
wound. Now a period of maturation is indispensable."=20=20
The Chinese government expressed its "highest indignation" over the=20
canonization of the martyrs, who died in China between 1648 and 1930.=20
Beijing's Foreign Minister went as far as to say that it was "an obvious=20
provocation and attempt to distort the verdict of history on colonialism an=
d=20
imperialism."=20=20
China broke its diplomatic contacts with Rome in 1951. There are 11 million=
=20
Catholics in the country, just under half of whom are affiliated to the Chi=
nese=20
Patriotic Association, a state-controlled "church."=20=20
On a positive note, Zhu said: "We do not think the dialogue is closed;=20
however, now we await an official step from the Vatican."=20=20
As early as last July, when the Chinese prime minister visited Rome, the fi=
rst=20
question Amato asked him was about a papal visit to Beijing. On that=20
occasion, Zhu answered that the Vatican would first have to break diplomati=
c=20
relations with Taiwan and commit itself not to interfere in the life of the=
=20
Church in China. This means, among other things, that the Pope would not=20
appoint Chinese bishops.=20=20
ZE01011610
--------------------------------------
PREPARATIONS PROCEED FOR JOHN PAUL II'S VISIT TO UKRAINE
Slav Pope Is Coming for All, Bishops of Two Rites Say
KIEV, Ukraine, JAN. 16, 2001 (ZENIT.org).-
Vatican envoy Father Roberto Tucci and a delegation returned to Rome last
Saturday, following a trip to Ukraine, to prepare John Paul II's
forthcoming visit to the country, scheduled for June 23-27.
Father Tucci met with representatives of the Latin and Eastern Ukrainian=20
Catholic hierarchies, as well as with the prime minister and representative=
s=20
of the State Commission for Religious Affairs.=20=20
The commission's vice president confirmed that the Holy Father will visit=20
Kiev, the country's capital, and Lvov, the capital of Galitzia in western=20
Ukraine, center of the Catholic Church of the Byzantine-Slavonic rite (know=
n=20
as Greek-Catholic), which embraces 4 million faithful.=20=20
John Paul II will celebrate two Masses in Kiev, one in the Latin rite, and =
the=20
other in the Byzantine-Slavonic rite. No decision has been made on the=20
exact locations of the Masses.=20=20
The Catholic bishops of both rites have written a pastoral letter to the fa=
ithful,=20
on behalf of the "Catholic Episcopate of Eastern and Western tradition," on=
=20
the occasion of the closing of the Jubilee.=20=20
The text states that "from the beginning of his apostolic service, the Slav=
=20
Pope has hoped to visit the land of St. Vladimir and its capital, the city =
of=20
Kiev, and to go on pilgrimage to the Cathedral of St. Sophia."=20=20
In particular, the Ukrainian bishops express their hope for ecumenical frui=
ts=20
from this visit: "We are convinced that, not only Catholics, but all in gen=
eral,=20
anticipate with respect and care the Holy Father's visit, so that the=20
messenger of the love and peace of Christ will bring God's blessing. All ar=
e=20
aware of the Pope's concern for humanity, its rights, and the rights of all=
=20
peoples."=20=20
The Ukrainian bishops pointed out that they would have the opportunity to=20
"express to the Holy Father our fidelity, our gratitude for his presence, a=
nd=20
for the attention he has given the Slav people. We live in the hope that th=
e=20
Pope of Slav origin will be able to come as guarantor of the unity in Chris=
t of=20
all the faithful of different traditions."=20=20
One of the fundamental objectives of the Pope's visit to Ukraine is the=20
promotion of good relations with the Orthodox Church, especially with the=20
Moscow Patriarchate, which over the last few years has shown itself=20
opposed to the presence of Catholics of Eastern rite in Orthodox lands, and=
=20
against the return of properties expropriated under Stalin.=20=20
According to analysts in Rome and Moscow, a future visit of the Pope to the=
=20
Russian capital depends on the results of this objective.=20=20
ZE01011608
--------------
CARDINAL RIVERA IS READY TO RECEIVE ZAPATISTAS
Church in Mexico Fostering Reconciliation in Chiapas
MEXICO CITY, JAN. 16, 2001 (ZENIT.org).-=20
Cardinal Norberto Rivera has expressed his willingness to receive members=20
of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN), who will arrive here o=
n a=20
visit planned for March.
"If they come to greet me, I will be very pleased to greet them," the=20
archbishop primate of Mexico said, in statements published by El Universal=
=20
newspaper.=20=20
The Zapatistas rose in arms in the southern state of Chiapas in 1994 in=20
protest against the implementation of the Free Trade Treaty (NAFTA)=20
between the United States, Mexico and Canada. With their visit to Mexico=20
City, they hope to accelerate Congress' approval of the draft law of the=20
Commission for Concord and Peace (Cocopa).=20=20
Questioned about how the Zapatistas should arrive in the Federal District -=
-=20
they always appear hooded in the press -- Cardinal Rivera said that Mexico=
=20
has not established how people should dress. "I greet people as they come,=
=20
combed or uncombed," the cardinal said.=20=20
Regarding the conflict in Chiapas, the archbishop said that peace depends=20
on both sides. He believes that not only the government must be asked to=20
comply with the EZLN's demands, but that the Zapatistas must also give=20
evidence of their intention to reach a peace agreement.=20=20
Vicente Fox, the new Mexican president, has not requested the Church's=20
mediation, but her support and collaboration "so that we can support the=20
Indians."=20=20
"The only thing I want is to support them, I want to foster the human,=20
educational and economic development of all the country's Indians," Fox sai=
d=20
last Sunday. The president's invitation was also extended to Bishop=20
Emeritus Samuel Ruiz of San Crist=F3bal de las Casas.=20=20
In statements published today in Diario de Yucatan, Bishop Felipe Arizmendi=
=20
Esquivel, the current bishop of San Crist=F3bal de las Casas, pointed out t=
hat=20
all of the EZLN's demands "are worthy of a response." He suggested,=20
however, "prudence and serenity" in the measures being taken in Chiapas. =
=20
The disarmament of the rebel group "must come after" peace is signed,=20
Bishop Arizmendi stressed. "There is progressive movement in the renewal=20
of the dialogue in Chiapas, but what took several years to build, cannot be=
=20
dismantled in just a few days."=20=20
Recently, Zapatista leader "Marcos" showed readiness to renew=20
negotiations, indicating three prerequisites for the EZLN to return to dial=
ogue:=20
dismantling of seven military posts in the "conflict zone," release of Zapa=
tista=20
prisoners, and congressional approval of the law on Indians' rights.=20=20
ZE01011603
----------------
BISHOP SAYS CHURCH MAY HAVE TO RETHINK TAX-EXEMPT STATUS
Sees Limits on Free Speech
ARLINGTON, Virginia, JAN. 16, 2001 (ZENIT.org).-=20
Retired Bishop Thomas J. Welsh suggested that the time may come when=20
the Church has to say it will give up its tax-exempt status, since "our=20
message isn't getting out."
In an interview with the Arlington Catholic Herald, the founding bishop of =
the=20
Arlington Diocese, also expressed frustration at the voting pattern of most=
=20
Catholics in the United States during the recent election.=20=20
"I find it most alarming because in this election there was a clear-cut=20
choice," he said. "We had the experience of the last eight years of the=20
political consequences of a pro-abortion government -- all the things that =
they=20
can do at the local, national and international levels."=20=20
The bishop, who is also the former ordinary of the Diocese of Allentown,=20
Pennsylvania, was troubled not only by hypocritical citizens but also by=20
politicians.=20=20
"What disturbs me, then, is the politician, man or woman, who wants to have=
=20
it both ways," he told the Herald. "They say, 'I'm a Catholic,' then espous=
e all=20
sorts of things that the Catholic Church says are wrong."=20=20
He lamented that the Church is constrained in what it is allowed to say by =
its=20
tax-exempt status. He noted lawsuits have been filed costing the Church=20
hundreds of thousands of dollars to defend, centering on stripping the tax=
=20
status of the Church based on charges that it is too political.=20=20
The bishop suggested that the time might come when the Church will give up=
=20
its tax-exempt status in order to be able to speak more freely. He noted hi=
s=20
speech was restricted saying, "But with the responsibility of being a bisho=
p, I=20
can't speak as a private citizen anymore. I would like to. I should be able=
to."=20
=20
"The Lord didn't say, 'I'm with you all the time, except on some major=20
issues,'" he noted. "The Church is supposed to be guiding people on a day-
to-day basis on how to get to heaven. ... We are saying this (abortion) is=
=20
intrinsically evil. There's no time for anybody at any place to have an abo=
rtion=20
and say, 'this is right.' It's always, always wrong."=20=20
See the interview at:http://www.catholic h erald.com/articles/taxexempt.htm=
=20
ZE01011621
http://www.zenit.org
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To: bprlist@egroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Infobeat News items (1/17/01)
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Wed, 17 Jan 2001 09:26:23 -0500
*** Clinton: Ex-convicts should vote
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Clinton on Tuesday urged states to make
it easier for ex-criminals to regain their voting rights after
they've paid their debt to society. "I think if you pay a price: you
go to jail, you get out, then you're on probation a while, and then
your sentence is discharged, why shouldn't you get your vote back?"
Clinton said. Some states already allow ex-convicts to vote but
others make it difficult for others to regain their voting rights
after finishing their sentence by requiring a pardon or extensive
paperwork depending on that particular state's laws. Clinton told
the U.S. Conference of Mayors during a ceremony at the White House
that former criminals should be able to regain their rights more
easily.
Full article at: http://www.infobeat.com/fullArticle?article=405856524
*** Congo president killed in shooting
KINSHASA, Congo (AP) - President Laurent Kabila, the ruler of this
vast and troubled nation, died Tuesday after being shot, his U.S.
spokesman said. The shooting came during a coup attempt, Congo
officials said. "He's died," said John Aycoth, a lobbyist and public
relations consultant who acts as Kabila's spokesman in the United
States. Aycoth, speaking by telephone from Durham, N.C., said he had
spoken to top level Congolese officials in Kinshasa who had
confirmed Kabila's death. He said the Congolese government would
make an announcement on what had happened at 6 a.m. Wednesday Congo
time (Tuesday midnight ET). The shooting could throw this vast
Central African country into further turmoil. Congo has been
convulsed since rebels lauched a civil war against Kabila more than
two years ago. Fighting has drawn in several neighboring nations,
and rebels have gained control of large swaths of eastern Congo.
Full article at: http://www.infobeat.com/fullArticle?article=405857189
*** Red Cross takes mad cow precautions
ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) - As a precaution against mad cow disease, the
American Red Cross intends to ban blood donations from people who
have lived anywhere in Western Europe since 1980, USA Today said
Wednesday. The Red Cross also plans to urge a federal panel to make
the restriction apply to all blood collection agencies this week.
"This will have a serious impact," Bernadine Healy, president of the
Red Cross, told the newspaper. She estimated a loss of 6% of current
donors, or 360,000 people. The American Red Cross collects about 6.5
million units of blood annually, about half of the nation's medical
blood supply. Fear over mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform
encephalopathy, arose in the mid-1990s when Britain discovered a new
version of the human Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease apparently was caused
by eating infected beef. About 80 people have died of the new
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in Britain since then, and now France,
Germany and other European countries are grappling with infected
livestock.
Full article at: http://www.infobeat.com/fullArticle?article=405857492
*** Annan: Child fighters can be tried
UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Tuesday that
teen soldiers who may come before a war crimes tribunal for
atrocities committed during Sierra Leone's civil war must be
guaranteed protection, counseling and rehabilitation - not prison.
Rebels recruited an estimated 5,400 children, many who were
abducted, raped and drugged into submission and then ordered to
burn, maim and kill in a nine-year war in which fighters hacked off
the limbs of tens of thousands of people. In August, the Security
Council asked Annan to negotiate an agreement with Sierra Leone's
government on creating a joint U.N.-Sierra Leone war crimes tribunal
to try those responsible for crimes against humanity committed in
the West African nation. In the proposed draft statute, Annan
overrode pleas by child advocates by saying child fighters could be
tried by the court - although he left the ultimate decision to the
council. Human rights groups said fighters under age 18 are victims
in need of psychological counseling and rehabilitation.
Full article at: http://www.infobeat.com/fullArticle?article=405857176
*** Pakistan leader pressured on Islam
MUNARA, Pakistan (AP) - A group led by retired army officers is
threatening to establish its own Islamic state within Pakistan
unless the nation's military government introduces Islamic rule
within weeks. The call for an Islamic system in the mostly Muslim
nation comes from Akram Awan, who says 300,000 people have sworn
allegiance to Tanzeem-ul-Ikhwan, the organization he leads from a
mosque 90 miles south of Islamabad. "We believe very deeply in Islam
and in the need for an Islamic system in Pakistan. This is our
jihad," Awan said. Unlike other religious groups in Pakistan,
Tanzeem-ul-Ikhwan is made up largely of ex-members of the army,
which seized control of the country in a bloodless coup in October
1999. At a public meeting of his followers last week, Awan said the
former soldiers and officers who dominate his group will enforce
their version of Islam in an area he is threatening to chalk out if
Pakistan is not made an Islamic state by March 7.
Full article at: http://www.infobeat.com/fullArticle?article=405857289
*** Companies, feds team to stop hackers
WASHINGTON (AP) - Nineteen of the nation's top technology firms -
including archrivals Microsoft, Oracle, and IBM - have teamed up
with the federal government to catch hackers. The competitors vowed
to share intelligence with each other about product vulnerabilities
and hacker trends in order to shore up public confidence in
e-commerce and protect the over $7 billion in business-to-business
revenue over the Internet. The companies will have to trust each
other, as well as share valuable competitive information with the
government. The government will in turn alert the companies to new
threats. President Clinton in May 1998 called for more
public-private partnerships to protect the critical infrastructure.
Similar collectives already exist for electric power,
telecommunications and the finance industry.
Full article at: http://www.infobeat.com/fullArticle?article=405855333
*** UK salesman fights metric system
LONDON (AP) - Greengrocer Steven Thoburn is on trial for dealing in
illicit produce. Nothing mind-altering, mind you. He's accused of
selling bananas by the pound in a nation lurching toward the metric
system. Thoburn has been dubbed "the metric martyr" - and his case
has touched a nerve among those who fear Britain is sacrificing its
traditions to please European Union bureaucrats. Trade officers in
Sunderland, 275 miles north of London, seized two of Thoburn's
scales in July because they were marked in pounds and ounces instead
of kilograms. Now lawyers are arguing over whether Britain should be
bound by an EU directive ordering shopkeepers to measure in metric.
Supporters say the case, being heard this week in court, is about
far more than Thoburn and his modest fruit stand. His lawyer warns a
courtroom loss could even free the European Union to do away with
that most cherished British tradition, the pint of beer.
Full article at: http://www.infobeat.com/fullArticle?article=405857484
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To: bprlist@egroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Infobeat News items (1/17/01)
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Wed, 17 Jan 2001 18:35:29 -0500
*** Myanmar twin leaders may get asylum
SUAN PHUNG, Thailand (AP) - Thailand said Wednesday it will consider
giving asylum to the twin boy leaders of a mystical rebel movement
from Myanmar who surrendered after 12 months on the run in the
jungle. Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai met with the twins, Johnny and
Luther Htoo, at the border patrol police headquarters here, and
talked to them briefly through an interpreter. The twins surrendered
without arms Tuesday along with 12 followers including five boys,
two girls, one middle-aged woman and four adult men or older
teen-agers. Three more surrendered Wednesday. The poorly equipped
guerrillas of God's Army, which Johnny and Luther led, believe the
twins have magical powers that make them invincible in their fight
to overthrow the government of Myanmar, also known as Burma. The
boys once claimed to have several hundred followers. The Christian
fundamentalist boys have fought to overthrow Myanmar's military
government for more than three years, driven by a hatred for the
predominantly Buddhist Myanmar army.
Full article at: http://www.infobeat.com/fullArticle?article=405860483
*** Report: India tests missile
NEW DELHI, India (AP) - India on Wednesday reportedly test fired an
improved version of its Agni-2 intermediate range ballistic missile
capable of carrying nuclear warheads and hitting anywhere in
Pakistan. The missile, which has a range of nearly 1,375 miles and a
payload of one ton, was tested at a remote range at Chandipur in
eastern Orissa state, the United News of India reported. "The flight
test results have indicated that the mission objectives were met
satisfactorily," the agency quoted missile program director R.N.
Agarwal as saying. India is under pressure from the United States
and other Western countries not to deploy Agni missiles to avoid a
nuclear weapons race with Pakistan. India and Pakistan exploded
nuclear devices in 1998. India and Pakistan already have fought
three wars since they won independence from Britain in 1947.
Full article at: http://www.infobeat.com/fullArticle?article=405860437
*** South Korea to develop missiles
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - After extended negotiations with the United
States, South Korea said Wednesday that it will build and deploy
missiles with ranges long enough to reach key cities of communist
North Korea. Under its new missile policy officially adopted
Wednesday, South Korea will build missiles capable of traveling up
to 187 miles with a payload of up to 1,100 pounds, the Foreign
Ministry said in a statement. During their historic summit in June,
the leaders of South and North Korea agreed to avoid confrontation,
especially along the DMZ, the world's most heavily armed border.
There was no immediate reaction from North Korea. Nevertheless, the
South wanted to improve its deterrent capabilities by extending the
range of its missile. A key obstacle was a 1979 agreement with
Washington that barred South Korea from developing a missile with a
range longer than 112 miles. Washington feared that South Korea's
attempt to lengthen missile ranges could trigger a regional arms
race and make it more difficult to persuade North Korea to curb its
missile development.
Full article at: http://www.infobeat.com/fullArticle?article=405860685
*** Moderate earthquake jolts Turkey
ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) - A moderate quake, registering a preliminary
magnitude of 4.9, shook the southern Turkish town of Osmaniye on
Wednesday sending residents fleeing their homes. No injuries or
damages were reported, police said. Seismologists at Istanbul's
Kandilli Observatory said the quake struck shortly after 2 p.m. and
was centered in Osmaniye, some 600 miles southeast of Istanbul. A
police officer in Osmaniye said inhabitants were slowly returning
home after the temblor. Most of Turkey lies on the active North
Anatolian fault. A 4.2-magnitude earthquake shook Istanbul early
Tuesday. The southern city of Adana was struck by a 6.3-magnitude
quake in June 1998 that killed 144 people. In 1999, two major
earthquakes struck western Turkey, killing some 18,000 people and
damaging hundreds of thousands of homes.
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Subject: [bprlist] NASA Aims to Blast Comet to Study Solar System
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Wed, 17 Jan 2001 09:26:23 -0500
NASA Aims to Blast Comet to Study Solar System
Reuters Jan 16 2001 3:39PM
SANTIAGO, Chile (Reuters) - U.S. scientists aim to blast a comet with a
copper projectile to learn about the formation of the solar system as part of a
$270 million project funded by NASA, the head of the project said on
Tuesday.
The project, called Deep Impact and which will cause an explosion capable
of destroying a small town, would be the first space mission to probe inside
a comet, whose primitive core could reveal clues about evolution of the solar
system.
"All our studies of comets look only at the surface layer. Our theoretical
models tell us the surface has changed, and only the interior has the original
composition. So our main goal is to compare the interior with the surface,"
the project's director, Michael A'Hearn, told reporters.
Scientists chose copper, Chile's No. 1 export, because it is less likely to
interfere with the materials inside the crater.
In January 2004, a rocket would launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida, a
spacecraft that would orbit the sun. In July 2005 the spacecraft would
separate from a battery-powered, copper projectile that would collide with the
comet 24 hours later at a velocity of 6 miles (10 km) per second.
It would produce a crater the width of a football field and up to 100 feet (30
meters) deep.
The spacecraft would observe the composition of the crater's interior, while
telescopes on Earth would monitor the impact.
The project also aims to see if scientists can alter the orbit of a comet to
protect the Earth from falling matter. The impact would alter the comet's orbit
by a "just barely measurable" 62 to 620 miles (100 to 1,000 km), A'Hearn
said.
The project would blast the Comet Tempel 1, which was discovered in 1867
and is a little less than Earth's distance from the sun, he said. It was chosen
because its size, rotation and trajectory favor the project and because the
collision would be observable from Earth.
In February, NASA will carry out a preliminary design review to see if the
project can succeed.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010116/sc/space_chile_dc_1.html
via: Third_Watch@egroups.com
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To: bprlist@egroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Russia Today items (1/16/01)
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Wed, 17 Jan 2001 09:26:23 -0500
Russia Ratchets up Pressure on the U.S. over ABM Treaty (16Jan.01)
http://www.russiatoday.com/news.php3?id=256107&brief=text
Russia Sets New Record in Arms Sales in 2000 (16Jan.01)
http://www.russiatoday.com/news.php3?id=256097&brief=text
Last Checks for Russian Ship That Will Bring Down Space Station Mir
(16Jan.01)
http://www.russiatoday.com/news.php3?id=256317&brief=text
Russian Ultra-Nationalists Urge Gorbachev to Speak out on Soviet Debt
(16Jan.01)
http://www.russiatoday.com/news.php3?id=256318&brief=text
Afghan Rebel Leader Warns Moscow over "Mistaken Policy" (16Jan.01)
http://www.russiatoday.com/news.php3?id=256180&brief=text
Chechen Web Site Reports about Russian Brutality Against Civilians
(16Jan.01)
http://www.russiatoday.com/news.php3?id=256246&brief=text
33 Russian Troops Killed in Chechnya in Two Days (16Jan.01)
http://www.russiatoday.com/news.php3?id=256095&brief=text
Russia Pledges to Pursue Alleged Chechnya Abuses (15Jan.01)
http://www.russiatoday.com/news.php3?id=255644&brief=text
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Subject: [bprlist] Scientist Try To Cool The Planet With Particles In The Air...
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Wed, 17 Jan 2001 09:35:00 -0500
Scientist Try To Cool The Planet With Particles In The Air...
http://cbsnews.com/now/story/0,1597,264362-412,00.shtml
1-16-01
PALO ALTO, Calif (CBS) Scientists dealing with global
warming are looking at drastic solutions for the problem,
including manipulating earth's atmosphere on a massive
scale, CBS News Correspondent Jerry Bowen reports.
And the problem is serious, climate scientists say. If
current trends continue, the Earth's average surface
temperature will be 2.7 to 11 degrees Fahrenheit higher in
100 years, they project.
One solution envisions blasting tiny particles into the
atmosphere from the guns of battleships. The particles
would deflect enough sunlight to trigger global cooling.
Another falls under the category of "geo-engineering":
launching 50,000 mirrors into orbit to reflect sunlight
back into space.
"The sooner, the better," says Dr. Edward Teller, a
promoter of the plan. Teller, who helped harness the
destructive power of the atom 60 years ago, now believes
man can dim the power of the sun.
"The simplest is to put into the high atmosphere small
particles that scatter away one or two percent of the
sunlight,"he says.
Teller's colleague at Lawrence Livermore Laboratory,
climate researcher Ken Caldeira, had hoped to prove
Teller wrong.
"My first thoughts about this was that it simply wouldn't
work," he says.
Then he ran the computer models, Caldeira says.
"Much to our surprise, our model results indicated that
geo-engineering schemes would move our climate back to
what it was before," he says.
Back to cooler temperatures, that is. And Caldeira says
the best way to go about it is by "putting a huge satellite
out in space between earth and sun."
That could mean putting the device where the SOHO
satellite is now observing the sun's solar storms. The
huge solar shield would act as an orbiting sunshade to
cool the earth.
"The satellite in space would leave a little pockmark on
the surface of the sun, roughly two percent of the sun's
surface area," Caldeira says.
And the Caldeira scheme wouldn't have the downside of
blasting particles into space, a technique that would turn
blue skies absolutely white. Or that of the 50,000 orbiting
mirrors, which would create a flickering sun here on
earth.
But some global warming experts, like Stanford
University's Steve Schneider, have their doubts about
geo-engineering.
"We don't know what the precise effects would be,
whether the cure would be better or worse than the
disease," Schneider says. Eliminating harmful greenhouse
gases will take 200 yearsfar longer than global
cooperation can be expected to last, Schneider says.
"Two hundred years of continuous planetary
management on a global scalethat's asking a lot of
political institutions that have never been able to get along
for more than a few decades at a time," he says.
http://www.sightings.com/general7/particles.htm
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To: bprlist@egroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Study advises Bush to reassess 'Oslo'
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Wed, 17 Jan 2001 09:36:56 -0500
Wednesday, January 17, 2001
Study advises Bush to reassess 'Oslo'
(See excerpts in Features)
By Ze'ev Schiff
Ha'aretz Military Editor
A special Presidential Study Group sponsored by the Washington Institute
for Near East Policy is recommending that the incoming Bush Administration
"assess lessons of the Oslo experience" and "explore alternative paths to
peace" between Israel and the Palestinians.
The study stresses that "there is no strategic alternative to the diplomatic
process, for either Palestinians or Israelis," but adds that "there are,
however, different paths the parties could take to achieve progress toward
peace."
The 52-member panel that composed the study includes both Democrats
and Republicans, as well as various Middle East experts. Several
participants have asked that their names be removed from the list of
signatories since they have in the meantime received appointments in the
new administration. For example, Paul Wolfowitz will be deputy secretary of
defense and Bob Blackwell is serving in President-elect George W. Bush's
transition team.
The study concludes that "the top Middle East priority for a new president is
to prevent a descent to regional war. The current fighting between Israelis
and Palestinians could degenerate into wider regional war either through
design or miscalculation." The authors of the report see the Lebanese-Israeli
border as "the most serious 'hot zone' for potential hostilities."
The formula proposed for deterring regional war includes three "ingredients":
1. "Affirming the 'unwritten' alliance with Israel."
2. "Work with key Arab moderates (especially Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan,
and Morocco) to encourage acts of public and private leadership in support of
the peace process."
3. "Deterring adversaries, current and potential. Make sure that Syria's new
leader, Bashar Assad, understands that emboldening Hezbollah into military
actions against Israel could provoke a wider regional confrontation in which
Syria itself would receive the brunt of Israeli retaliation.
Baghdad must also understand that the United States will orchestrate
political and perhaps military responses should Iraq seek to intervene in the
Arab-Israeli conflict, to bully or blackmail regional players like Jordan into
adopting more obstructionist positions, or to exploit the current situation for
military advantage elsewhere, such as in northern Iraq.
http://www3.haaretz.co.il/eng/scripts/article.asp?mador=14&datee=1/17/01&i
d=106958
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To: bprlist@egroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Climate Scientists' Strategies Seek To Manipulate Earth'
From: <owner-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Wed, 17 Jan 2001 11:34:11 -0500
------- Forwarded message follows -------
Date sent: Wed, 17 Jan 2001 10:43:10 -0500
From: hblondel
Subject: Climate Scientists' Strategies Seek To Manipulate Earth's =
Atmosphere
http://cbsnews.com/now/story/0%2C1597%2C264362-412%2C00.shtml
Cooling The Planet: Climate Scientists Strive To Reverse Global
Warming
Strategies Seek To Manipulate Earth's Atmosphere=20
PALO ALTO, Calif., Jan. 15, 2000 (CBS) Scientists dealing with global
warming are looking at drastic solutions for the problem, including
manipulating earth's atmosphere on a massive scale, CBS News
Correspondent Jerry Bowen reports.=20
And the problem is serious, climate scientists say. If current trends
continue, the Earth's average surface temperature will be 2.7 to 11
degrees Fahrenheit higher in 100 years, they project.=20
One solution envisions blasting tiny particles into the atmosphere
from the guns of battleships. The particles would deflect enough
sunlight to trigger global cooling. Another falls under the category
of "geo-engineering": launching 50,000 mirrors into orbit to reflect
sunlight back into space.=20
"The sooner, the better," says Dr. Edward Teller, a promoter of the
plan. Teller, who helped harness the destructive power of the atom 60
years ago, now believes man can dim the power of the sun.=20
"The simplest is to put into the high atmosphere small particles that
scatter away one or two percent of the sunlight,"he says.=20
Teller's colleague at Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, climate
researcher Ken Caldeira, had hoped to prove Teller wrong.=20
"My first thoughts about this was that it simply wouldn't work," he
says.=20
Then he ran the computer models, Caldeira says.=20
"Much to our surprise, our model results indicated that
geo-engineering schemes would move our climate back to what it was
before," he says.=20
Back to cooler temperatures, that is. And Caldeira says the best way
to go about it is by "putting a huge satellite out in space between
earth and sun."=20
That could mean putting the device where the SOHO satellite is now
observing the sun's solar storms. The huge solar shield would act as
an orbiting sunshade to cool the earth.=20
"The satellite in space would leave a little pockmark on the surface
of the sun, roughly two percent of the sun's surface area," Caldeira
says.=20
And the Caldeira scheme wouldn't have the downside of blasting
particles into space, a technique that would turn blue skies
absolutely white. Or that of the 50,000 orbiting mirrors, which would
create a flickering sun here on earth.=20
But some global warming experts, like Stanford University's Steve
Schneider, have their doubts about geo-engineering.=20
"We don't know what the precise effects would be, whether the cure
would be better or worse than the disease," Schneider says.
Eliminating harmful greenhouse gases will take 200 years=96far longer
than global cooperation can be expected to last, Schneider says.=20
"Two hundred years of continuous planetary management on a global
scale=96that's asking a lot of political institutions that have never
been able to get along for more than a few decades at a time," he
says.
------- End of forwarded message -------
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To: bprlist@egroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Could Tornadoes Be Prevented? Scientist Says 'Yes
From: <owner-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Wed, 17 Jan 2001 11:34:11 -0500
Could Tornadoes Be Prevented?=20
Scientist Says 'Yes,' By Changing Energy Going Into Storm=20
He'd Use Microwave Beam From Space; Unsafe, Some Say=20
But Key Groups Say Theory Is Worth Taking A Look At=20
http://www.cbsnews.com/now/story/0,1597,264596-412,00.shtml
LOS ANGELES, Cal., Jan. 16, 2001 (CBS) "It sounded like a freight
train as it passed right over us!" That's a typical description of
one of the most terrifying experiences on Earth =97 an encounter with a
tornado.=20
Every year on average 100 people are killed by the 1,000 tornadoes
that rip across America. But, what if we could eliminate tornadoes?=20
As CBS News Correspondent Jerry Bowen reports, a former Star Wars
defense program scientist =97 who knows he's regarded as something of a
nutty professor =97 believes he has a way to tame the twisters.=20
"The basic thought," says Ben Eastlund, "is to find the right spot in
one of the storms, the area where the energy is going into rotation
and to change it."=20
Eastlund came up with his theory while brainstorming at his home in
Del Mar, Calif., an area that never experiences tornadoes.=20
"It's suspected that a tornado forms between a hot updraft and a cold,
rainy downdraft. Now, with microwaves, I could heat that cold, rainy
downdraft."=20
The job would be done with a 500-foot wide beam of microwave energy
aimed toward Earth from an orbiting satellite.=20
But will it work? Not everyone agrees.=20
"The trouble with all these schemes, beaming energy from space down
into storms, is we're not certain how well they'll work," says Stephen
Schneider, a global warming expert at Stanford University.=20
Despite the fact that it worked on a computer model, critics say
Eastlund's unproven, untested theory could actually make tornadoes
worse.=20
"We really don't understand supercells enough to start fooling around
with things like this," says John Monteverdi, a meteorologist at San
Francisco State University.=20
But one thing is already known. In order to achieve its mission,
Eastlund's microwave beam would be intense enough to explode birds and
cripple airplanes in its path. So precision targeting and warning
systems would be a must.=20
Critics, like Schneider, say that's hardly reassuring. "If you're
gonna start playing with the system and monkeying around, you'd better
have a fund to pay those people who get hurt when anything goes
wrong."=20
But if Eastlund is a scientist on the edge, he has good company. His
research is funded by the European space agency. And scientists at
both the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Sandia Labs, the New
Mexico home to Defense Department research, believe it may be worth
exploring even if it proves to be impractical.=20
So what's next? If NASA gets on board, Eastlund hopes to test his
theory from the international space station. Zapping water spouts in
the open ocean and then taking on a tornado to see if you really can
microwave Mother Nature.
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To: bprlist bprlist <bprlist@egroups.com>
Subject: [bprlist] Atheists Unite Against Clericalism
From: Shophar_Sho_Good
Date: 17 Jan 2001 12:25:42 EST
Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2001. Page 4
Atheists Unite Against Clericalism
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2001/01/17/011.html
By Andrei Zolotov Jr.
Staff Writer
President Putin sharing a drink with Metropolitan Yuvenaly, left, and
Patriarch Alexy II after Tuesday's ceremony at the Kremlin.
The growing role of the Russian Orthodox Church has led some atheists to band
together to defend the once-official ideology and warn of what they call a
threat of clericalism.
One of the group's organizers, human rights activist Lev Levinson, said Monday
that the first major act of the Moscow Society of Atheists would be to send an
open letter to President Vladimir Putin protesting the mention of God in the
new lyrics of the national anthem.
"'A native land protected by God'?" Levinson said by telephone, questioning a
line in the anthem. "It is not up to the state to establish whether God
exists."
Levinson, who made a name for himself as a defender of freedom of conscience,
said the organization was formed several months ago and has about a dozen
members, including prominent physicist Vitaly Ginsburg. It is chaired by actor
and magician Yury Gorny. "Essentially, it is an anti-clerical society,"
Levinson said.
The group opposes the church's increasing involvement in state affairs over
the past decade. Among the atheists' particular concerns are the government's
tolerance of Orthodox priests in the army, the blessing of government
buildings by priests and the teaching of religious courses in state-run
educational institutions. "We are witnessing a broadscale offensive against
the secular state," Levinson said.
Putin on Tuesday awarded state medals to dozens of Russian Orthodox priests
and praised clerics for helping to "return moral foundations to our nation,"
The Associated Press reported.
"The understanding and constructive dialogue of the Church and the state serve
shared purposes: The creation of moral wealth and well-being of Russia," Putin
was quoted as saying by Itar-Tass.
He expressed gratitude to Patriarch Alexy II and praised the church's attempts
"to consolidate civil peace and interdenominational accord, and the consistent
position of the church on many key international and internal political
problems," the news agency said.
Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin, a Moscow Patriarchate official responsible for
relations with political parties and public organizations, said he considers
the formation of the Moscow Society of Atheists to be part of a broader
problem gripping the country.
"There is a new wave of godlessness among a certain group of Russian
intellectuals" that dislikes seeing "its position of spiritual leadership
decrease as the church's influence grows," Chaplin said.
He defended the Church, saying that its status in Russia differed little from
that of other churches in the West.
"Even in countries where the theory of separation between church and state is
executed in its most complete form ... there are chaplains in the army and
forms of state support for certain religious groups," the archpriest said.
"Any movement in the same direction in Russia leads to accusations that we are
building a clerical state."
Zinovy Kogan, president of the Congress of Jewish Religious Communities and
Organizations of Russia, was more phlegmatic about the group.
"It looks like a protest against the excessive zealousness of our neophytes
and bureaucrats," he said. "If such a protest takes place, it should be taken
into account. After all, everything comes from God, including atheists."
____________________________________________________________________
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To: bprlist bprlist <bprlist@egroups.com>
Subject: [bprlist] Apparition of Jesus Christ on wall in Jakarta
From: Shophar_Sho_Good
Date: 17 Jan 2001 12:28:22 EST
Apparition of Jesus Christ on wall in Jakarta
http://news.24.com/News24/Offbeat/Weird/0,1253,2-16-140_966233,00.html
Jakarta, Indonesia - With their churches bombed and Muslim vigilante groups
on the rise, hundreds of Christians prayed around a house on Tuesday to catch
a glimpse of what they say is an apparition of Jesus Christ.
Singing "Hallelujah", those in the crowd jostled to look at a stained white
wall in front of a small house that many said shows Jesus looking toward
heaven with outstretched hands.
"Jesus has come," said Marlon Pangarilan. "This is just wonderful."
The sightings coincide with a wave of attacks aimed at Indonesia's Christian
minority. On Christmas Eve, bomb blasts that ripped through churches in nine
cities killed at least 15 people and injured scores of others.
Indonesia is the world's most populous Muslim nation. Christians make up less
than 10 percent of the country's 203 million people.
Most of the sectarian bloodshed has been in the eastern Moluccan islands where
approximately 5 000 people of both faiths have been killed during the past two
years. Muslim vigilante groups also have attacked nightclubs in Jakarta
recently.
Outside the house in Jakarta's Kramat district, people climbed trees to see
the wall. Small children hopped up on their parents' shoulders. Many people
stood at the back of the crowd and prayed.
However, not everyone in the crowd was convinced. Some people said they could
not see anything on the wall discoloured with light brown watermarks.
"Open your heart and you will see it," said Lenah Mapow, a local resident who
owns a small shop in the neighbourhood.
The house's owner, Ajum - who is Muslim - said the image first appeared on
Monday night.
"I do not mind Christians believing it is an image of Jesus and crowding
around the house, but I would prefer if they did not hold midnight prayer
vigils," he said.
Joseph Patiasina, an official with the Indonesian Communion of Churches, the
country's main Christian group, said he believed the image was that of Jesus.
- Sapa-AP
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To: bprlist bprlist <bprlist@egroups.com>
Subject: [bprlist] Finding strength in goddesses
From: Shophar_Sho_Good
Date: 17 Jan 2001 12:31:25 EST
(Presented for info, not an endorsement, SSG)
Saturday, January 13, 2001, 12:00 a.m. Pacific
Finding strength in goddesses
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/SeattleTimes.woa/wa/gotoArticle?zsection_id=268448413&text_only=0&slug=isis13m&document_id=134259983
by Jennifer Levitz
The Providence Journal
Ruben W. Perez / Knight Ridder
Members of the Cauldron of Annwyn Pagan Society dance during a ritual last
month in Rhode Island. Group members consider themselves traditional witches,
but they mostly revere goddesses.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Isis is the Egyptian goddess known for her veiled beauty
and her power. She molded a serpent from soil. She raised her husband from the
dead. Now if she can only fix Laura Schmidt's 1986 Chevrolet Celebrity.
It is a rainy Monday night and Schmidt, a 22-year-old art-gallery director
whose nickname is "Tempest," sits in a circle on the floor of her East Side
apartment with four friends, a law-office librarian, health-insurance claim
worker, and file clerk among them. She drops bits of cedar and spicy scented
patchouli in a canister and lights candles.
Then she announces the evening's mission: to cast off illness, mean people,
and one more thing. "We'd like to banish poverty ... and, if possible, for my
car to find a better place and a new one to come."
Sarah Slater, 31, agrees: "Yes, we need to do some automobile healing. Mine is
running pretty rough."
The women are part of the Cauldron of Annwyn Pagan Society, a group of 30 or
so people started by Schmidt in 1998 while she was a painting student at the
Rhode Island School of Design. They are also part of a number of spirituality
seekers - many of them young women disillusioned with the female role models
in traditional religions - who are engaging in goddess-worship.
This sort of goddess-worship has nothing to with the Sports Illustrated
Swimsuit Issue, but with the female deities that grace ancient Egyptian,
Greek, and Celtic lore. It takes place, for instance, in living rooms, at the
Rhode Island School of Design and in a new-age store on Wickenden Street. It
spawned "Goddess2000," a national art project with the slogan "A Goddess on
Every Block."
Schmidt, who is one of six Rhode Island contacts for Goddess2000, a Northern
California-based project, arranged an event in downtown Providence in
September, at which people painted stones with images of goddesses.
Goddess Web sites sell bumper stickers, "goddess tours" take devotees to Crete
and Malta, and there is a board game, called Go Goddess! Amazon.com is now
touting "The Goddess in the Office," which one reviewer called a breezy book
on making your workplace goddess-friendly. (It includes "spells" to cast on
the boss.)
Many of those who revere goddesses are part of Paganism, Wicca, and other
"Earth-based" religions that link daily life with the seasons - which in
ancient myths are often controlled by goddesses. Members of the Cauldron of
Annwyn Pagan Society consider themselves traditional witches. They sometimes
worship gods, but it's Aphrodite, Athena and Diana on which they focus.
"It's so much easier to think of a girl looking over you," Slater says.
Schmidt was raised in New Jersey, the daughter of a Roman Catholic mother and
Reform Jewish father. Mary, the Virgin mother, seemed distant to her. She
turned to paganism in her teens.
Her family had a fondness for superstition; they turned their St. Joseph
statue upside down when they heard it might help sell their house.
On a recent Monday, in the East Side apartment she shares with her husband,
she relies on her own prop: a goddess card deck.
Forget the Joker and Queen of Hearts; this deck contains 48 goddesses from
ancient tales. Each woman picks a card and reads the message on it.
Schmidt picks Venus. Whoops and whistles break out. Someone explains that
Venus rises naked from the sea.
Catholics revere the Virgin Mary. The feisty Lilith is the symbol for some
modern Jewish women (not to mention Sarah McLachlan).
The idea of viewing divine beings as both masculine and feminine goes back
centuries, but today's reverence of the figures of ancient lore is likely
spawned by feminism and the rise in popularity of Wicca, says Robert
Mathieson, professor of Women, Magic and Power at Brown University.
He estimates that there are 300,000 followers of branches of goddess-based
spirituality.
It's very empowering, he says, for women to worship a deity that resembles
them, and to feel - as they delve into the tarot-card reading and witchcraft -
that they have a handle on the unknown.
Say a woman has trouble in relationships. She could turn to Aphrodite, the
goddess of love, he says. Is domestic tranquility threatened? Summon Hera, the
protector of households.
Eclipse Nielson, an East Side author, teaches a women's spirituality class in
Providence.
"What we all agree on is that the goddess is alive and well in the year 2000,"
she says.
The cauldron devotees say they don't use their gods and goddesses and their
witchcraft spells on the mundane. A spell is the last resort, Schmidt says.
But it is done. When one woman received nasty e-mails from a bitter
ex-boyfriend, the group went to Lincoln Woods to perform a "healing ritual."
"By Wednesday, the person causing her trouble - his e-mail server went down
and he could not send her messages anymore," Schmidt says.
When her husband's boss was being cruel, they bound up a voodoo doll with
string. The boss apologized, she says.
More often, though, the deities are "invoked," as it is called, to bring
creativity, peace, and to help someone who is ill.
Invoking a goddess is a matter of ceremony. And likely, believing.
At another recent cauldron meeting, 14 people - three of them men - gather in
the Rhode Island School of Design's Memorial Building. The women wear flowing
gauzy skirts and stand on a floor marked with chalk from a drawing class.
Rebecca Lebeau-Craven, 27, a Brown University researcher on alcohol
addictions, stands out in her sweater set and pearl earrings. Her inspiration
for alternative spirituality was Jim Morrison, she says.
Schmidt wears dark eyeliner, a cloak, and a necklace with a charm that she
calls an "art-nouveau goddess head."
They gather to honor Samhain, which in Celtic tales is the end of the harvest.
On a tiny altar sit lavender candles and castanets, for dancing. Smoke curls
out of a burner that holds a woodsy incense.
Four people must volunteer to "be" four elements of nature, roles that
involves readings and poses. Teamwork is tricky in any religion.
On this night, their imaginations must defy the sounds of sirens outside, so
they can go into "a cave."
They count down "into the darkness." A woman, Schmidt says, is in the cave.
Who is she?
Someone saw her own mother. Another, a woman in a gorgeous black dress.
"Did you ask her where she got it?" Schmidt jokes.
Later, the women do the grapevine around a shrine. They break into a
near-Polka, clapping, and yelling, with trills.
And they sing.
"We all come from the goddess and to her we shall return."
Not by a 1986 Chevy Celebrity they won't. Schmidt now drives a 1989 Chevy Van.
____________________________________________________________________
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========
To: bprlist@egroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Blood-Brain Barrier Opened
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Wed, 17 Jan 2001 12:45:02 -0500
Blood-Brain Barrier Opened=20
German researchers have succeeded in temporarily opening the "blood-brain=20
barrier in animals. Usually, the blood-brain barrier serves as a security=20
mechanism in the body, protecting the brain's sensitive nerve cells against=
=20
potentially damaging substances in the circulating blood. However, the=20
barrier is obstructive when it comes to treating cancer tumors; only very=20
small and fat-soluble drugs can get past it. Meanwhile, tumor-destroying=20
drugs, such as cytostatics, are not readily fat-soluble. In animal=20
experiments, the researchers were now able to smuggle such substances=20
into the brain, with the help of micromolecular fat- and water-soluble=20
substances, "alkyl glycerines," developed by chemists at the University of=
=20
G=F6ttingen. By using these substances, the drugs accumulated 2- to over 50=
0=20
times as well in the animals' brain tissue. However, the technique has not=
=20
yet been tested on humans. Before they do so, the researchers plan to=20
research the details of the mechanism in further animal experiments. In=20
particular, the procedure may help children with cancer. In Germany,=20
malignant brain tumors are a very frequently occurring form of cancer among=
=20
children, second only to leukemia.=20=20
Source: Deutsche Krebshilfe e. V. (German Cancer Society), Jan 17, 01=20
Research: Dr. Bernhard Erdlenbruch, Prof. Dr. Max Lakomek, Georg August=20
University At G=F6ttingen, Pediatrics, Hematology and Oncology Depts.=20=20
via: transhumantech@egroups.com
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========
To: bprlist@egroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] BNI.Priority News 1,2 (1/17/01)
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Wed, 17 Jan 2001 12:50:01 -0500
1. Histadrut leader agrees to put strike on hold
2. Yaakov Kedmi says no difference between candidates regarding Oslo
3. Negotiations to continue =96 Israel to lift restrictions=09
4. IDF division commander opens fire on soldier=92s car=09
5. One fatality in Wadi Ara MVA=09
6. No injuries in shooting attack against military vehicle in Southern
Hebron Hills area=09
7. Lebanese infiltrator to be indicted on Wednesday=09
8. Families of abducted soldiers to meet with IRC officials=09
********************************
17-JAN.01 =96 05:33am
********************************
1. Histadrut leader agrees to put strike on hold
(BNI-JAN.17) During last-minute talks to avert a nationwide shutdown of
the public sector, Histadrut national labor union leader MK Amir Peretz
agreed to requests from Finance Minister Avraham Shohat to postpone the
planned Wednesday morning strike until Monday. Peretz agreed to extend=20
the
deadline to reach an agreement in the hope of avoiding the strike.
Histadrut officials are seeking a 16 percent salary increase over the next
three years, a demand deemed unreasonable and unacceptable by treasury
officials.
=20=20
++++
2. Yaakov Kedmi says no difference between candidates regarding Oslo
(BNI-JAN.17) In a surprise move, Yaakov Kedmi, Prime Minister Ehud=20
Barak=92s
candidate for Minister of the Interior, visited the hunger strike tent
outside Jerusalem City Hall.=20
Hunger strikers are protesting the government=92s continuing to negotiate
with the PA while daily shooting attacks continue to occur throughout
Israel.=20
Kedmi stated that regarding efforts to achieve peace in the region, there
was absolutely no difference between Prime Minister Ehud Barka and MK
Ariel Sharon.=20=20=20
++++
3. Negotiations to continue =96 Israel to lift restrictions
(BNI-JAN.17) Israeli negotiators following meetings on Tuesday report a
note of optimism. During the night, senior security officials met at the
Erez Crossing facility in Gaza. Israel=92s team was headed by Minister Amno=
n
Lipkin-Shahak who was accompanied by General Security Service (GSS/Shin
Bet) director Avi Dichter and senior IDF officers.
Saeb Erekat headed the PA team and was accompanied by heads of=20
security
services.=20
PA officials repeated complaints regarding collective punishment =96
referring to the closure placed on Gaza residents following the terrorist
attack earlier in the week during which Kfar Yam resident Roni Tzalach was
killed. Israeli negotiators told their PA counterparts that restriction
against PA residents of Gaza would be lifted on Wednesday.
The negotiators are Erez used the document submitted by CIA Director
George Tenet as a basis for the ongoing dialogue.
Talks on various levels are scheduled to resume on Wednesday.=20=20
++++
4. IDF division commander opens fire on soldier=92s car
(BNI-JAN.17) Brigadier-General Avigdor Klein, the Division Commander of
Forces in Judea & Samaria, reportedly opened fire on the vehicle of a
reserve soldier, Guy Avidan, who knowingly violated orders not to report
for duty in Yesha in his private vehicle in order to teach him a lesson.
According to the Channel 1 TV News report, military police have launched
an investigation into the incident. Bullets fired by the senior officer at
the reservist=92s car did strike the vehicle, entering the rear of the fron=
t
passenger seat and striking the dashboard. Fortunately, the soldier
escaped injury.=20
It was first explained that Klein just intended to fire at the car to
teach Avidan a lesson, making him aware of the dangers of driving one=92s
own car in Yesha. Avidan decided to ignore the order and was heading to
the Anatot base in his own vehicle. Once realizing how close he got to
injuring or killing the soldier, Klein explained that he though he was
firing at the vehicle of a terrorist.=20=20
++++
5. One fatality in Wadi Ara MVA
(BNI-JAN.17) A pedestrian was killed on Tuesday night when struck by a
motor vehicle in the Wadi Ara area. Police report the driver of the
vehicle fled the area. Police has launched an investigation and search for
the vehicle.=20=20
++++
6. No injuries in shooting attack against military vehicle in Southern
Hebron Hills area
(BNI-JAN.17) There were no injuries in a shooting attack on Tuesday night
directed at a military vehicle traveling near Levona Junction in the
Southern Hebron Hills area. Soldiers returned fire.=20=20
++++
7. Lebanese infiltrator to be indicted on Wednesday
(BNI-JAN.17) The 26-year-old Lebanese citizen, who infiltrated into
northern Israel on Saturday, will be indicted in the Netanya Magistrate=92s
Court on Wednesday. As reported earlier, police apprehended the
infiltrator in Netanya. He explained that he used a trampoline to get over
the border fence and was seeking his old job in a Netanya hotel but
learned the hotel was no longer operating.=20=20
He will be charged with entering the country illegally.
++++
8. Families of abducted soldiers to meet with IRC officials
(BNI-JAN.17) The families of three abducted IDF soldiers will be meeting
with representatives of the International Red Cross in Geneva in their
ongoing effort to obtain the release of their loved ones. The families
have expressed open criticism against the government, accusing cabinet
ministers of not doing enough to obtain the release of the captives.
On Saturday, Oct. 7. 2000, IDF soldiers Sergeant Adi Avitan from Tiberias,
Staff-Sergeant Avraham Binyamin from Bnei Brak, & Staff-Sergeant Omer
Suaed from the village of Salma (Near Carmiel), were kidnapped from Har
Dov by Hizbullah and are currently being held prisoner in Lebanon. To
date, Hizbullah has refused to permit human rights activists, IRC
officials or others to visit with the captives to verify they are alive.
According to Yaakov Peri, the government=92s official dealing with Israeli
MIAs and POWs, the families are likely to set out for Geneva during the
coming days. Family representatives met with Peri on Tuesday.=20=20
---------------
1. PA television director assassinated in mob style hit in Gaza
2. Israel eases restriction on PA residents in Gaza Wednesday=09
3. Shooting attacks continue in Gaza on Wednesday afternoon=09
4. Arab laborers attacked by neighbors for setting out to work in Israel=09
5. PA: =91settlers=92 killed Gaza resident=09
6. Arab man found dead near the Jewish community of P=92sagot=09
7. Thwarted Jerusalem terror attack=09
8. Motorist very light injured in northern Jerusalem stone-throwing
attack=09
9. Ministry of Transportation employees begin work sanctions=09
10. HMO leaders angered at unilateral treasury decision=09
11. Jerusalem Arab residents allegedly tied to northern capital firebomb
attacks=09
12. Saddam issues a new threat against Israel=09
13. IDF deployed a tank in heavy fighting in Gaza during the night
14. Laborer seriously injured in work accident in Modi=92in=09
15. Vandals target school with paintings of satanic cult=09
16. Jewish gravestones targeted by vandals in France=09
17. PA: 3 informants from East Jerusalem turn themselves in=09
18. IDF forces make additional arrests during the night=09
19. Afternoon shooting attack near P=92sagot=09
20. Six persons lightly injured in Petah Tikvah MVA=09
*****************************************************
JAN-17-01 =96 7:00pm - Daily recap and more
*****************************************************
1. PA television director assassinated in mob style hit in Gaza
(BNI-JAN.17) The director of the PA=92s television network known as
Palestine Satellite Channel (PSC) was assassinated on Wednesday while
dining in a fashionable seaside Gaza restaurant in what was described as a
mob type hit. Three masked gunmen entered Gaza=92s most prestigious
restaurant while Hisham Miki, 54, was dining with a local hotel operator.
The assassins opened fire with at least one pistol equipped with a
silencer, firing over ten shots and striking the victim in his head and
chest.=20
Israel is monitoring the situation carefully but senior analysts are
confident the PA will not try to point the finger of blame at Jerusalem.
It is believed that the =91hit=92 was motivated by internal differences or
sour business dealings, with senior Israeli analyst Ehud Ya=92ari pointing
out that Miki was known to have been involved in many notorious business
dealings and corruption, and as such, may have been targeted for
assassination.=20
Ya=92ari explained that although Miki stood behind the PA=92s televised
anti-Israel propaganda and anti-Semitism over the past four months since
the start of the PA-orchestrated =91Al-Aqsa=92 Intifada, but it would not
place him on an IDF hit list as has been the case over past weeks with
elite IDF commando units striking out at senior terrorist leaders
affiliated with Tanzim and Fatah terror factions in Israel=92s continuing
battle to curtail and eventually bring a cessation to daily Islamic
terrorist attacks.
Miki was known to be a close associate to PA Chairman Yassir Arafat and
senior Fatah figure. One may not rule out that the assassination of a
close senior Arafat ally in broad daylight, near Arafat=92s Headquarters,
might be a signal to the PA leader by opposition factions within the PA.
Miki has stood at the helm of the PA television network since it was
founded in 1994, as well as the newly founded PSC that began broadcasting
last year.
He was the father of seven children.
++++
2. Israel eases restriction on PA residents in Gaza Wednesday
(BNI-JAN.17) Following a renewal of negotiations between Israeli and PA
teams, dealing with both political and security issues, Israel on
Wednesday agreed to ease restrictions imposed on PA residents of Gaza
autonomous areas following the terrorist murder earlier in the week of
Kfar Yam resident Roni Tzalach.=20
As a confidence building measure, Israel has ordered the reopening of the
PA=92s international airport in Gaza, as well as the Karnei commercial
crossing point from Gaza to =93Israel proper,=94 and the Rafiach crossing t=
o
Egypt.
Talks were renewed earlier this week when Minister Shimon Peres met with
PA Chairman Yassir Arafat, followed by multiple meetings of the political
and security teams, working to hammer out some type of agreement or
negotiating guideline by the end of the Clinton administration, or more
realistically, by Election Day in Israel on Feb. 6.
The security cabinet met in Israel on Tuesday night but ministers emerged
divided. Peres and Barak exchanged words differing in their positions at
this critical juncture of the Oslo process -- with the Clinton
administration leaving office on Saturday, and elections for a new prime
minister less than three weeks away.
Peres and his supporters are confident that an agreement may be reached
prior to Election Day and no effort may be spared to reach that goal.
Barak however is more inclined to declare the coming weeks a hiatus
period, waiting until after the election to move forward.
Meretz leader Yossi Sarid, who is being entrusted with a more pivotal role
in the ongoing talks with the PA, told the Channel One TV =91Erev Hadash=92
news magazine program on Wednesday evening that he believes that the=20
talks
must continue with the attitude that the Barak camp will lose to Sharon on
Election Day.
Sarid explained that a modest outlook may contribute to an election
victory but in addition to that, the current administration has a
responsibility to the nation to see the coming days as the final ones for
Barak and his cabinet, pointing out the need to create some political
realities set stumbling blocks into place assuming that a Sharon-led
right-wing government that may take office would be less inclined to make
concessions to the PA.=20=20
Sarid emphasized the need to do everything possible to secure the future
of the Oslo process so that the past seven years of negotiations cannot be
eliminated by a Sharon victory on Feb. 6.
++++
3. Shooting attacks continue in Gaza on Wednesday afternoon
(BNI-JAN.17) The Jewish communities of Neve Dekalim and Gadid were
targeted by PA gunfire from the autonomous area of Khan Yunis in southern
Gaza on Wednesday afternoon. There were no reported casualties among
Israeli military personnel or civilians. Soldiers returned fire.=20=20
++++
4. Arab laborers attacked by neighbors for setting out to work in Israel
(BNI-JAN.17) Arab residents of PA autonomous areas in Gaza on=20
Wednesday
morning were targeted by stone-throwers as they attempted to cross the
Erez crossing point from Gaza over the =93Green Line=94 into =93Israel prop=
er=94.=20
Israeli employers have confirmed that it is becoming increasingly
difficult to get Arab laborers to report for work despite the high
unemployment in Gaza. Many are afraid they or their families would be
targeted by Islamic fundamentalists for working for Israelis. Israeli
businesspersons point out that while the PA condemns Israel for closures
that prevent PA residents from going to work, the PA does nothing to
protect its residents that wish to work for Jews inside Gaza or over the
=93Green Line=94 in Israel.=20=20
++++
5. PA: =91settlers=92 killed Gaza resident
(BNI-JAN.17) Officials in the PA are blaming =91settlers,=92 Jewish residen=
ts
of the area, for the death of a local Arab resident. The 30-year-old Gaza
resident was found near the Jewish community of Netzarim on Wednesday
morning.=20
PA officials report he was shot in his head in an apparent revenge attack
following the murder of local Jewish resident Roni Tzalach of Kfar Yam,
who was killed on Sunday night.=20=20=20=20=20=20
++++
6. Arab man found dead near the Jewish community of P=92sagot
(BNI-JAN.17) The body of a dead Arab male was found in proximity of the PA
autonomous city of el-Bireh on Wednesday afternoon. It is being theorized
that the dead man was another victim in the ongoing PA crackdown to strike
out against PA residents who are suspected of having worked as informants
for Israeli security agencies.=20
PA officials over past days report hundreds of former informants have
turned themselves in following an offer of clemency from PA Minister of
Justice Freih Abu Meidan earlier in the week. Other bodies of suspected
informants have been found during the week, all near PA autonomous areas.
Leaders of the Hamas terrorist organization in Gaza on Tuesday condemned
the clemency offer by the senior PA official, with the terrorist
organization calling for an =91iron fist=94 policy in dealing with persons =
who
assisted Israel in apprehended and eliminating terrorist leaders inside
the PA.=20=20
++++
7. Thwarted Jerusalem terror attack=20
(BNI-JAN.17) A Jewish woman on early Wednesday afternoon told police that
an Arab man attempted to stab her in the Abu Tor section of the capital.
According to the report filed with police by the woman, she did manage to
strike out at her attacker, escaping injury, and permitting enough time to
flee the scene.
Police have launched an investigation.=20
++++
8. Motorist very light injured in northern Jerusalem stone-throwing attack
(BNI-JAN.17) An Israeli motorist on Wednesday afternoon sustained very
light injuries in a stone-throwing attack at northern Jerusalem=92s Aram
Junction. The injured person received medical treatment on the scene.
=20=20
++++
9. Ministry of Transportation employees begin work sanctions
(BNI-JAN.17) Employees of the Ministry of Transportation have made good on
threats to begin work sanction throughout Israel on Wednesday. Practical
driving exams and written theory exams have been cancelled, as have office
hours and persons responding to telephone inquiries in the nation=92s Motor
Vehicle Bureaus.
Strike leaders explain that they place the blame on the treasury which
they insist have failed to implement agreements signed in the past
designed to improve working condition while creating a more balanced pay
scale and salary structure for all employees.=20=20
++++
10. HMO leaders angered at unilateral treasury decision
(BNI-JAN.17) Directors of the nation=92s HMOs are angered over the
announcement Tuesday by Finance Minister Avraham Shohat that persons
visiting medical specialists would no longer be required to pay a nominal
fee if their general practitioner refers them.
HMO officials called the decision irresponsible, explaining it would
without a doubt increase HMO deficits by NIS millions annually, adding
that the standing agreement between the treasury and the HMOs calls for
the HMOs to be involved in such decision-making processes, as well as the
Knesset Finance Committee.
Members of the opposition parties in the Knesset, Israel=92s parliament,
called the signing into law of the new bills =93electioneering,=94 accusing
the government of deliberately announcing the new health benefits less
than three weeks before the election.
Shohat rejected any calls to delegitimize his decision, insisting the
legislation was in the works for some time. Likud MKs pointed out that the
promise to reduce the costs to HMO subscribers was one of the many
unfulfilled Barak administration promises and the Labor Party realized it
must do something to narrow the gap in the pre-election polls, prompting
the new payment scale for health insurance subscribers.=20=20
++++
11. Jerusalem Arab residents allegedly tied to northern capital firebomb
attacks
(BNI-JAN.17) Three Arab residents of the Shuafat refugee camp in Jerusalem
were taken into custody by Israeli security agents during the night. The
three are alleged to have taken part in firebomb attacks in Jerusalem=92s
northern Pisgat Ze=92ev neighborhood.=20=20
++++
12. Saddam issues a new threat against Israel
(BNI-JAN.17) Almost to the day marking ten years since the Gulf War during
which Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein launched Scud missiles against Israel,
the Iraqi leader on Wednesday issued a new threat to once again launch his
arsenal against the Jewish state.
Making an address marking a decade since the war, Hussein stated he would
launch missiles against Israel for six consecutive months to do his part
towards the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Explaining that he would be willing to once again engage Israel in a
conflict if supported by the Arab world, Saddam Hussein explained that he
would hit Israel from the land and sea.=20=20
++++
13. IDF deployed a tank in heavy fighting in Gaza during the night
(BNI-JAN.17) During heavy gun battles between Tuesday night and=20
Wednesday
morning, IDF forces positioned near Netzarim in Gaza were compelled to
deploy a tank against the heavy PA gunfire.
There were no reports of casualties among Israeli forces.=20=20
++++
14. Laborer seriously injured in work accident in Modi=92in
(BNI-JAN.17) A laborer was seriously injured on Wednesday afternoon in a
work accident in Modi=92in. Three large pipes weighing two tons each fell
off a truck, crushing the victim who was standing at the side of the
vehicle. A crane was needed to remove the pipes in order to extricate the
badly injured worker who was transported to Tel Aviv=92s Tel HaShomer
Hospital where is was listed in serious condition. Police have launched an
investigation.=20=20
++++
15. Vandals target school with paintings of satanic cult
(BNI-JAN.17) Vandals on Wednesday painted one-half meter paintings related
to a satanic cult on the school walls of the ORT HaShomron School in
Binyamina. No motive for the criminal act was explained at the time of the
report. Police are investigating.=20=20
++++
16. Jewish gravestones targeted by vandals in France
(BNI-JAN.17) Strasburg Police report that over the past month, tens of
Jewish gravestones were damaged and/or vandalized in anti-Semitic attacks
in the city=92s Jewish cemetery.=20
Police stressed they are working ardently to apprehend the suspects in the
case.=20=20
++++
17. PA: 3 informants from East Jerusalem turn themselves in
(BNI-JAN.17) According to PA sources, three East Jerusalem Arab residents
have turned themselves over to PA security forces in response to the call
by PA officials offering clemency to former Israeli informants.=20=20
++++
18. IDF forces make additional arrests during the night
(BNI-JAN.17) IDF forces operating in northern Samaria last night
apprehended three suspects alleged to have taken part in shooting attacks
against Israeli targets.
A fourth person was apprehended in the Gush Etzion area, a resident of the
el-Aroub refugee camp. He is suspected of having placed roadside explosive
devices in the area, targeting Israeli motorists.=20=20
The suspects were turned over to the custody of the General Security
Service (GSS/Shin Bet).=20=20
++++
19. Afternoon shooting attack near P=92sagot
(BNI-JAN.17) Shots were fired from a heavy machinegun at IDF forces at
about noon on Wednesday near the community of P=92sagot in the Benjamin
Regional Council region of Samaria.
There were no injuries to Israeli forces in the attack. Soldiers returned
fire.=20=20
++++
20. Six persons lightly injured in Petah Tikvah MVA
(BNI-JAN.17) Six persons were lightly injured in a Wednesday morning motor
vehicle accident at Sirkin Junction in Petah Tikvah. A taxi that was
crossing the intersection struck a curb and flipped over.
The victims of the accident were transported to Beilinson Hospital.=20=20
++++
++++
News items published by BNI (=93BreakingNews-Israel=94) and/or =93BNI.Elect=
ion=94
lists, may be distributed, copied, posted providing the websites and other
forums carrying the stories display the footer below instructing readers
how to subscribe in plain view on the same page with the news.=20=20
++++
1. To subscribe to the BreakingNews-Israel list, send a blank email
message to 44828-subscribe@listbot.com=20=20=20
2. To subscribe to the BNI.Election list, providing election coverage,
send a blank email message to=20
BNI.Election-subscribe@listbot.com=20
3. To subscribe to the BNI.PriorityNews list, providing news of
importance, send a blank email message to=20
BNI.PriorityNews-subscribe@listbot.com
4. To contact the owner of BNI lists, send an email to
BNI1@netvision.net.il=20
To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
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Bible Prophecy Research
URL: http://philologos.org/bpr
========
To: bprlist@egroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Rare, Minor Quake Hits New York City Area
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Wed, 17 Jan 2001 12:59:19 -0500
Wednesday January 17 11:33 AM ET
Rare, Minor Quake Hits New York City Area
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A rare, very minor earthquake was felt in the New
York City metropolitan area on Wednesday, but no injuries or damage were
reported, officials said.
The National Earthquake Information Center in Golden, Colorado, recorded a
preliminary measurement of 2.5 magnitude for the quake at 7.34 a.m. EST. It
was centered in Newark, New Jersey and felt in two New York City boroughs
and Long Island.
``This was very minor,'' said geophysicist Don Blakeman, of the U.S.
Geological Survey's National Earthquake Information Center. ``It may have
been felt in some other areas but because it is so small, we would not
expect any damage.''
New York state generally is not considered a place for earthquakes, but at
least three small quakes were recorded last year in the region of the state
capital, Albany.
A study published last year by University of Buffalo geologists said the state
is crisscrossed by hundreds of faults that have the potential to become
active.
Blakeman said earthquakes in New York City were ``infrequent but they do
happen occasionally.'' He said the previous quake recorded in the same
general area as Wednesday's was in 1992 with a 3.1 magnitude.
New York City officials said 11 emergency calls were made after the quake,
one from Manhattan and 10 from the borough of Queens. No injuries or
damage was reported. The quake was also felt in the borough of Staten
Island.
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010117/ts/quake_newyork_dc_1.html
via: End_Times_News@egroups.com
To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
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Bible Prophecy Research
URL: http://philologos.org/bpr
========
To: bprlist@egroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Arutz-7 News (1/17/01)
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Wed, 17 Jan 2001 18:22:15 -0500
Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com>
Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2000 / Tevet 22, 5761
TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. LABOR APOLOGIES ALL AROUND
2. RESTRICTIONS DROPPED, ISRAELI NEGOTIATOR QUITS
3. THE RACE TO SIGN
4. THE VIOLENCE
5. THE WALLENBERG-POLLARD CONNECTION
6. IN BRIEF
1. LABOR APOLOGIES ALL AROUND
The talk of the day is last night's debut of the Prime Ministerial election=
=20
campaign commercials. Each candidate is allotted an equal amount of time=20
for television (and radio) ads, which will appear on both major channels at=
=20
specific times each evening for the next three weeks. Last night's ads=20
featured Prime Minister Barak enumerating his mistakes and promising to=20
correct them, while Ariel Sharon's ads emphasized his distinguished=20
military career - up to but not including the Peace for Galilee War.
The Labor party had to deal with two awkward incidents in connection with=20
the ads. First, it issued an apology to the family of the late Sgt. Shimon=
=20
Shitubi. One of the ads, proudly showing off Barak's main=20
"accomplishment," showed Shitubi as one of the soldiers happily leaving=20
Lebanon during the IDF withdrawal last May; Shitubi was killed by a=20
Palestinian policeman in Kfar Darom two months ago. Army Radio=20
commentator=20
Uri Orbach said that the error is much more than a technical oversight: "It=
=20
shows that continued running away does not solve the deeper problem, and=20
that the security dangers we are now facing are a direct continuation of=20
these mistaken policies."
Another Labor party error occurred when Shimon Peres, who was shown=20
endorsing Barak's candidacy, said that Ehud Barak had prepared the plan for=
=20
the rescue of the Entebbe hostages in 1976. Peres made two calls of=20
apology this morning: One to former IDF Chief of Staff Dan Shomron, who=20
served as overall commander (Col. Yoni Netanyahu was the assault=20
commander)=20
of the rescue operation; Peres said he was sorry for attributing the=20
Entebbe plan to Barak, instead of to Shomron himself. He then called Dalia=
=20
Rabin-Pilosoph, daughter of Yitzchak Rabin, to apologize for not having=20
mentioned her father's name in connection with the rescue. Rabin, as Prime=
=20
Minister in July 1976, gave the approval for the Entebbe rescue operation.
2. RESTRICTIONS DROPPED, ISRAELI NEGOTIATOR QUITS
Despite the continued Palestinian terrorism in Gaza - including the murder=
=20
of Roni Tzalach on Sunday night - talks between Israeli and Palestinian=20
representatives continue at a steady pace. Though army sources note a=20
drop=20
in Arab shootings, to only 3-5 for each of the last few days, Palestinians=
=20
did shoot at several Israeli targets in Gaza last night. At the same time,=
=20
at the Erez Checkpoint not far away, Israeli and Palestinian negotiators=20
were agreeing on the further easing of security restrictions: The PA's=20
Dahaniyeh airport will be re-opened after a one-day closing, as will the=20
Rafiach and Karni crossings, Palestinian workers will be allowed to cross=20
into pre-1967 Israel, and the main north-south Gaza highway, which passes=20
by Kfar Darom, will be re-opened to Palestinian traffic.
In response to the opening of the airport, MK Tzvi Hendel said this=20
morning, "Apparently, the murder of a Jew is worth a one-day closure of the=
=20
airport."
Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami is in Cairo, briefing Egypt's President=20
Mubarak on the latest developments in the talks. Ben-Ami will meet with=20
Arafat tonight. Israeli and Palestinian delegations will meet in Jerusalem=
=20
today, for the third such meeting in two days; the Israelis will apparently=
=20
show them maps of the areas from which the Barak government intends to=20
withdraw. The Palestinian delegation includes such figures as Muhammad=20
Dahlan, who has been responsible for a number of murderous attacks=20
against=20
Israelis over the past few weeks.
A senior member of the Israeli delegation to the Palestinian talks, Yisrael=
=20
Hason, has resigned his position. He explained that he cannot accept=20
Barak's policies in the negotiations. Hason served in the past as Deputy=20
Director of the General Security Service.
3. THE RACE TO SIGN
Will the above talks lead to an agreement of some sort? No one is ruling=20
it out completely, but even Shimon Peres - who said earlier this week that=
=20
with "hard work" it could be done - said today that the chances of signing=
=20
an agreement before the Feb. 6 Prime Ministerial election are=20
slim. Culture and Sport Minister Matan Vilnai, another Israeli player in=20
the talks, told Arutz-7's Moshe Priel today that in his opinion, no=20
"agreement" will be signed, "although there is still a chance that a joint=
=20
declaration of principles could be formulated."
Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami, leader of the Israeli delegation, refuses=
=20
to give up, and feels that Clinton's departure from the scene this Saturday=
=20
need not be seen as a deadline. The talks are currently running without=20
American intervention, Ben-Ami observes, and they can therefore continue=20
until the Israeli election. Prime Minister Ehud Barak, for his part, also=
=20
apparently believes that there is little or no chance of reaching an=20
agreement before the upcoming election.
MK Rehavam Ze'evi (National Union) explained to Arutz-7 today how he=20
came=20
to announce earlier this week that an agreement is likely to be signed=20
tomorrow: "A high-ranking source told me that a document - I don't even=20
know if Barak knew about it - had been prepared for signing on Thursday,=20
the last working day before Clinton leaves office. I haven't spoken to=20
this source since then, but he agreed to divulge three clauses in this=20
document: 250,000 Palestinian refuges are to enter Israel within five=20
years; Israel is to withdraw from eastern Jerusalem, and a bridge that will=
=20
be under Palestinian sovereignty will connect Gaza and Ramallah=85" In=20
answer=20
to a question, Ze'evi said that he is "not at all sure that there will be=20
such a signing - Peres is pushing hard for it, while Barak is a bit more=20
restrained - and I wasn't even sure if I should go public with this, but I=
=20
finally decided that even if I come out looking like a false-alarmist, it's=
=20
important to go public with it if only to cause the agreement *not* to be=20
signed."
Journalist Roni Shaked, who covers Judea and Samaria for Yediot=20
Acharonot,=20
told Arutz-7 today that he does not thing anything will come of the current=
=20
talks, "but one thing is clear: Arafat has not budged even one millimeter=
=20
in any of his positions. He continues to demand a total withdrawal from=20
100% of Yesha, including Jerusalem - and regarding the 'right of return,'=20
they continue to demand neighborhoods in pre-1967 Israel such as Katamon=20
[in Jerusalem] and Lod, exactly as before=85" Shaked said that Arafat would=
=20
like to have his achievements to date - i.e., the latest Israeli=20
concessions - set down in writing so that the new Bush Administration could=
=20
use them as a basis for continuing the process, but "on the other hand, he=
=20
[Arafat] doesn't want just 'principles,' but rather more concrete and=20
implementable clauses."
Remarks last week by Farouk al-Kadoumi, director of the PLO Political=20
Department, appear to bolster this point. He told Voice of Palestine Radio=
,
"We refuse any restraints or limitations that would give Israel the=20
opportunity to maneuver [around the issue of refugees]... There's no=20
getting away from it: Public and world opinion in this matter [realizes]=20
that the question of Palestine is fundamentally, and before anything else,=
=20
about the return of the refugees to their homes. Secondly, the carrying=20
out of resolution 181 that calls for the establishment of an independent=20
Palestinian state according to the Partition Plan [of 1947, which leaves=20
Israel divided into three sections, without Be'er Sheva, Beit Shemesh, and=
=20
half of the Galilee]. Also, there [must be] an independent Palestinian=20
state possessing a sovereignty that has no other conditions placed upon it=
=20
by Israel or by American proposals... The American proposals now want to=20
be called a declaration of principles. Well, that is refused. It would=20
deal with things in a general way. That is why we refuse such a declaration=
=20
of principles. We need specific details, clearly..." [With thanks to=20
Michael Widlanski and Israel Resource News Agency]
An editorial in Ma'ariv newspaper today feels, as well, that the talks are=
=20
leading nowhere:
"The continuing contacts between Israel and the Palestinians are like the=
=20
last gasp before death... Both sides have already given up hope for an=20
agreement. The chances for a dramatic, last-minute breakthrough are=20
diminishing... As of now, Prime Minister Barak =AD in consultation with hi=
s=20
image doctors =AD believes that last-minute diplomatic progress will only=20
damage him in the polls and on election day. Given this situation, the=20
negotiations are being conducted out of sheer inertia."
4. THE VIOLENCE
Arab terrorists detonated a roadside bomb near Netzarim last night, and=20
shot at IDF positions near Gadid. No one was hurt, and IDF soldiers=20
returned fire. This morning, Palestinians shot machine-gun fire at an IDF=
=20
jeep on its way to Psagot; no one was hurt.
Brig.-Gen. Ya'ir Naveh, IDF Gaza commander, said this morning that the=20
Gaza=20
Strip is "the largest weapons storehouse in the Middle East." Other senior=
=20
officers in the Southern Command had strong complaints against the speed=20
with which the security restrictions on Palestinians were lifted=20
today. They expressed the concern that the resumption of Arab traffic only=
=20
48 hours after the murder of Roni Tzalach - termed a "barbaric act" by=20
government sources at the time - will lead to an escalation of Palestinian=
=20
violence.
An Israeli was injured today when rocks were thrown at his car in northern=
=20
Jerusalem's A-Ram area. Shots were fired this afternoon at greenhouses in=
=20
the Gush Katif community of Gadid.
5. THE WALLENBERG-POLLARD CONNECTION
Today, January 17, is the 55th anniversary of Raoul Wallenberg's arrest by=
=20
Soviet forces in Hungary. The fate of Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat who=20
is credited with saving the lives of at least 100,000 Jews, has never been=
=20
clarified - although Russia recently admitted that it executed him in=20
1947. Swedish investigators studying Wallenberg's fate concluded last=20
Friday that its government should have pressed harder for answers decades=20
ago, and that "now the truth may never be known." Others say that the=20
Jewish people should also have done more to help Wallenberg.
Eli Joseph, a former school principal in Ma'aleh Adumim, says that when=20
Wallenberg's half-brother - "probably the only person in the world actively=
=20
seeking information on his fate" - came to Israel a few years ago, "not one=
=20
Knesset Member or government official agreed to meet with him... I pleaded=
=20
with them, saying that he saved 100,000 Jews - but in vain..." Joseph has=
=20
had some experience with what he calls the "abandonment of those who=20
have=20
helped us." Several months ago, he completed a 150-day hunger strike on=20
behalf of Jonathan Pollard; he consumed only juice and light soup during=20
that time. "The press [not including Arutz-7 - ed. note] totally ignored=20
me, and so did the officials," he said. "Pollard's actions saved Israel=20
from nuclear attack from Iraq. I believe that this phenomenon, of ignoring=
=20
those who have helped us, is a plague of the Diaspora mentality that still=
=20
exists within us. We must, and we will, purge ourselves of it."
Arutz-7's Ron Meir then asked him, "We have been mentioning the Entebbe=20
rescue of late - don't you think that this shows that this spirit of 'All=20
Jews are responsible for one another' is still alive?"
Joseph: "Certainly - this is exactly the spirit of which Israel is=20
made. But we have gotten away from it in too many cases of late... We=20
must return to our true essence, and realize that a Jew must adopt the=20
motto of Judah, the son of Jacob, who was willing to sit in prison until=20
his brother Benjamin was released, saying (Gen. 44,34), 'How shall I=20
[return] to my father if the lad is not with me?'"
A biography of Raoul Wallenberg can be seen at
"www.us-israel.org/jsource/biography/wallenberg.html"
Information on Jonathan Pollard can be seen at
"www.jonathanpollard.org/"
6. IN BRIEF
Dozens of cars from Beit Horon - just west of Givat Ze'ev - encircled the=
=20
Prime Minister's Office in Jerusalem this afternoon, as part of the "Israel=
=20
Insists on Life" campaign...
The two men from Gush Katif who were arrested two days ago for=20
destroying=20
Arab property following the murder of Roni Tzalach have been released to=20
house arrest...
Israeli security forces have arrested six Palestinians since yesterday in=
=20
connection with terrorist activity...
=09
Hebrew News Editor: Ariel Kahane and Yigal Shok
English News Editor: Hillel Fendel
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========
To: bprlist@egroups.com
Subject: [bprlist] Weekend News Today items (1/17/01)
From: "research-bpr" <research-bpr@philologos.org>
Date: Wed, 17 Jan 2001 18:39:24 -0500
Armenia, Azerbaijan to join Council of Europe on January 25
Weekend News Today
Lead: Kelly
Source: AFP
Wed Jan 17,2001 -- Armenia and Azerbaijan will become the 42nd and 43rd
members of the Council of Europe on January 25, the organization
announced here Wednesday. The Council had shown reluctance to set a
date for the entry of the two former Soviet republics after observers reported
serious irregularities during legislative elections in Azerbaijan in November.
New elections held in 11 districts in Azerbaijan on January 7 cleared the way
for Baku to join the Council of Europe. Presidents Heydar Aliyev of
Azerbaijan and Robert Kocharian of Armenia will attend the ceremony
marking their entry into the European body which focuses on issues of
human rights and democracy.
Saddam Hussein calls Arab countries to enable his army to pass through to
fight Israel
Weekend News Today
Lead: Kelly
Source: Ha'aretz and Reuters
Wed Jan 17,2001 -- Iraqi President Saddam Hussein called for the
annihilation of the state of Israel and for the establishment of a "Palestine
state from the river to the sea", in a televised speech marking the Gulf War's
10th anniversary. Saddam emphasized his support of the Palestinians in
their struggle against Israel. Saddam also called on the Arab states to
enable his army to pass through their land on its way to annihilate Israel.
Many Palestinians consider Saddam a hero for resisting the powerful U.S.-
led military coalition which ejected Iraqi troops who had invaded neighboring
Kuwait. Palestinian babies are named after him. They called on the Iraqi
leader to repeat the Scud missile strikes he launched against Tel Aviv and
other Israeli cities during the Gulf War. "Dear Saddam, hit Tel Aviv," they
said.
Jordan pulls observer out of joint naval exercise
Weekend News Today
Lead: Kelly
Source: Jerusalem Post
Wed Jan 17,2001 -- Jordan at the last minute has decided not to send an
observer to today's joint Reliant Mermaid III naval exercise, to be conducted
off the coast by the US, Turkish, and Israeli navies. Jordan sent observers to
the two previous exercises, also named Reliant Mermaid. No others would
be participating in the exercise, not even as observers, apart from the three
navies which are jointly conducting the drill. Israel has been at pains to
stress the non-belligerent, humanitarian nature of the exercise, following
Arab countries' condemnation of the two previous ones, apparently because
of concern about the growing Israeli-Turkish strategic alliance.
Five ships - the Israel Navy's Lahav, a Sa'ar 5 guided missile corvette, and
Keshet, a Sa'ar 4.5 fast-attack missile boat, the Turkish Navy frigates
Gaziantep and Akdeniz, and the USS Porter from the Sixth Fleet's destroyer
squadron - are taking part in the exercise. A number of aircraft will also
participate in the drill, in which two Israel Navy patrol boats will simulate
ships in distress, with dummies being used as survivors awaiting rescue from
the sea.
Saddam to PA: I would shell Israel for six months
Weekend News Today
Lead: Kelly
Source: Jerusalem Post
Wed Jan 17,2001 -- Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein threatened Israel in an
address given on the ten-year anniversary of the Gulf War. The Iraqi leader
said he would shell Israel daily for six months from land and sea in order to
bring about Palestinian independence. Hussein said that Israel could not
withstand an artillery bombardment, adding that Iraq would do it if the Arab
world supported the decision. He added that despite possible US
intervention, nothing could stand in the way of the Iraqi attack. Israel Radio
said Hussein made the statements in a discussion with Palestinian Authority
official Farouk Kaddumi, according to Iraqi media reports.
Iraq remains unrepentant over Kuwait invasion
Weekend News Today
Lead: Leo
Source: Nando Times/AP
Wed Jan 17,2001 -- On the eve of the 10th anniversary of the Gulf War, a
defiant Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz defended Iraq's 1990 invasion of
Kuwait and said his country was the victim of a "conspiracy."
A decade after the conflict, the hostility between Iraq and the United States
still burns, and Aziz on Tuesday blamed the Americans for keeping tough
international sanctions in place despite growing calls to ease or lift the
punitive measures. Aziz said Iraq had no regrets for its takeover of Kuwait,
which prompted more than 30 Western and Arab nations to join forces and
drive out President Saddam Hussein's troops in a one-sided war that lasted
just six weeks.
"When the criminals who attacked Iraq regret their crimes against Iraq, we
will consider whether we made any mistakes," Aziz told a news conference.
"Iraq was the victim of conspiracy against its sovereignty and its national
interests, and Kuwait was part and parcel of that conspiracy," Aziz said. "So
Kuwait deserves what it had in 1990." In another development, Saddam's
eldest son, Odai, who is a member of parliament, proposed that Kuwait
should be included in a new map of Iraq.
Blair's 5-year Internet pledge
Weekend News Today
Lead: Leo
Source: BBC NEWS
Wed Jan 17,2001 -- Prime Minister Tony Blair has set out his strategy to
tackle the threat of a "digital divide", with a pledge to get everyone in the UK
online within five years.
Mr Blair told a conference on the "knowledge economy" on Tuesday how
important the Internet will be in everyone's lives - and that universal access
was a must for all.
Canadian Governor-general sends congrats on gay ''marriage''
Weekend News Today
Wed Jan 17,2001 -- Source: LifeSite.net
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2001/jan/010116.html#7
The staged homosexual "weddings" that took place at Toronto's Metropolitan
Community church over the weekend were of limited real significance since
the Ontario government had already said it would not recognize the
"marriages" in law. However, the "weddings" were honoured by a letter of
congratulations from Canada's Governor General Adrienne Clarkson.
Bob Runciman, Ontario's Minister of Consumer and Commercial Relations
commented on Clarkson's letter saying, "I would think it highly unusual if not
unprecedented ... [having] the representative of the Queen wade into issues
which are so highly charged politically ... is unusual to say the least."
Runciman has said when the registration papers for the marriages arrive at
his office he will refuse to sign them since, "same-sex marriage doesn't
qualify under the federal legislation which defines marriage."
Clarkson's office is now claiming that the letter was sent inadvertently in
response to invitations sent to her to attend. The letter, however, would be
consistent with Adrienne Clarkson's leftist reputation. LifeSite reported in
February that Clarkson, who was appointed Governor General by Prime
Minister Jean Chretien in September 1999, was listed in 1983 as one of
eighteen "Honorary Directors" of the Canadian Abortion Rights Action
League. The Interim has also reported on her left-leaning tendencies, as well
as her personal disregard for marriage. She was in a live-in relationship with
her current husband and married hurriedly only shortly before her
appointment to the post of Governor General.
Euthanasia clinic allowed to operate in Australia
Weekend News Today
Lead: Leo
Source: LifeSite.net
Wed Jan 17,2001 -- The Western Australia State Medical Board has allowed
a euthanasia clinic to be set up by euthanasia advocate Dr. Philip Nitschke.
The Age reports that neither Premier Richard Court nor Opposition Leader
Geoff Gallop are willing to take action, or even denounce the move.
LifeSite reported that Nitschke, who has traveled the country over the past
two years running workshops showing terminally ill people how to kill
themselves, has expanded his "service" to healthy people. Nitschke claims
that he discovered that his workshops for the terminally ill were sometimes
attended by healthy people, so he decided to offer the workshops for them
as well.
http://216.219.160.226/cgi-
bin/readnews.cgi?day=01_01_17&item=#979766014
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