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COMMENTARY -- WAR -- (the news is directly below):
You have gone back in time and are standing in the midst of a lush ancient forest. You hear and see some large vegetarian dinosaurs feeding on the moist soft leaves of brush and trees. You also see skulking about like a cat after a mouse, other smaller dinosaurs with a lighter build about them trying to catch and eat even smaller dinosaurs. You also see small dinosaurs feeding on the vegetation. Suddenly you hear a loud screech which terrifies every creature in this setting and sends them running for fear. The screech is coming from a large version of the lighter built and fast moving dinosaur with teeth designed to rip and tear other animal flesh. It quickly moves up on the large vegetarian. It lacks the weight of the vegetarian it is pursuing but has more speed and agility. It's massive and powerful jaws are set into motion as it lunges upon the vegetarian and immediately draws blood as it rips and tears away at a vital spot. The vegetarian tries to defend itself by using its heavy tail to whack the aggressor but it was too slow this time in defending itself and it quickly weakened because of pain and loss of blood. Dizzy and in weakness it dropped to the ground and took its last breath. The aggressor ruthlessly tore away at the most tasty spots and then left the carcass for scavengers.
In the natural world this story describes the "food chain" and the "predatory" character of those creatures at the top of the food chain. The predatory behavior is driven by hunger and the instinct of the predator to feed and care for it's young. Although all animals have some kind of reasoning capability their instincts most often prevail and their reasoning is subordinate to these instincts to make them more effective at surviving.
How does this story relate to war? Is war wrong? Is war necessary? What is accomplished by war?
Mankind is to be above the animals, that is he should be exercising his reasoning capabilities over his instincts. But mankind often does not do that. Tribal behavior is something like wolf pack behavior. There is a kind of civilized order within the pack but anything outside the pack is considered fair game. There is usually a pack leader. In many ways, the societies and cultures and communities of mankind are like the pack where the reasoning capabilities of the individuals in the pack and the consensus of the pack is directed at serving the primitive instincts of survival.
Although man is more technically capable as he sits atop the food chain, many of the nations, societies, cultures, and communities of man are more predatory in character with leaders that know how to control the pack and maintain their control over the pack. If allowed, these predatory packs of mankind will act just like the predatory dinosaur. No amount of talk or reasoning will prevent the attack because the overall social behavior is predatory and reason is used to make the predatory behavior more successful. The only defense against such predators is to be both prepared and more capable if attacked. But often a defensive posture will fail as it did with the vegetarian dinosaur which was no threat to the other dinosaurs. Many animal packs that are vegetarian adopt defensive and preventative postures as a pack to minimize any predatory attack on members within the vegetarian pack. Buffalo, cattle, and many other animals do this.
But only mankind has two things the animals don't have. Man is smart enough to anticipate a predatory attack and respond in a defensive manoeuvre of defense to disable or kill the predatory enemy before the "screech" of death is heard. Man has the means and abilities to develop sophisticated weaponry. Compare this weaponry to the teeth of the attacking dinosaur and the tail of the vegetarian dinosaur.
But if a society or community of man is not aware of such dangers by other predatory type societies and communities then it peacefully and obliviously eats, drinks, sleeps, reproduces, plays, and in other ways occupies itself. When the "screech" of impending death is heard it may be too late. This is especially true if the predatory society has technological superiority and readiness to use that technology in an aggressive manner. This susceptibility scenario is also true if a society or community of man has been deceived into thinking that the predators are their friends or that arbitration, deals, and discourse will stop the aggression. Nothing will stop the predatory nation or community from its behavior other than its own destruction. A predatory human or human society is far more committed to violent aggression than is a predatory animal seeking a prey for a source of food. A predator is ruthless and uncaring whether it be a dinosaur, a wolf, or man. The "whimper" (or dialog to prevent aggression) that precedes death is understood by the predator as victory and the prey can be savaged. There are those that feel that a kind of social remedial exercise involving discourse, and various other forms of reward and penalty administered against the predatory society, by some powerful majority, will cause such predatory communities to change. This is foolishness as long as the pack leader remains leader. The leaders drive the communities. This is true even in western democratic nations. Sometimes leaders reflect the views of the community that elected them and perhaps leaders exploit the community that elected them.
When leaders have control of the key social institutions they can use these institutions to brain wash the community as a whole. If leaders don't have control of the key social institutions then new potential pack leaders can use these institutions to brain wash the community and thereafter supplant the pack leader. For example, often the educational institutions are infiltrated with authority figures that have a profound influence on those they teach. So it is not unusual in just about every society to see social discontent first voiced by universities and institutions of higher learning. The so called media in the form of newspapers, magazines, radio and TV industry, the publishing industry, and the movie industry are powerful means of brainwashing a society and re-engineering the "average" social mentality. A third category is the religious institutions, seminaries, and related organizations. Whoever controls the content of these institutions inevitably controls the pack mentality. Laws and government are derived from this mentality. As the mentality changes so also do the laws and inclinations of government.
As long as the average human being allows himself or herself to be herded along in a pack type social environment there will be predatory societies that feed on the other societies. They will skulk about and wait for their moment. They will form unholy and wicked alliances with each other only to eventually turn on one another. War in this context simply realigns those at the top of the food chain. War is for the purpose of establishing different leaders, it rarely occurs for the purpose of true peace and prosperity directed from a global perspective. Although the word peace is used a lot today its meaning varies depending upon who uses it. Peace as used by world leaders means the establishment of their objectives at the cost of their opponents. World leaders shake each others hands in such deceptive gestures of peace. It is a paradox. It is a horrible dilemma. If any society disarms, adopts arbitration and dialog to effect change then they will be perceived as manipulatable through that dialog. They will also be perceived by the potential aggressor as weak because they rely too heavily on a so called diplomatic solution to disputes. Meanwhile the predatory society or societies will take whatever gain they can through the dialog and when their moment comes, lunge, and with their mighty jaws and sharp teeth rip and tear away at the vulnerabilities of their prey.
Therefore, God must manipulate the devil who influences man towards predatory behavior. The devil incarnate is Anti-Christ. The Anti-Christ or Satan is any human being that uses their reasoning capabilities to serve their primitive instincts. By so doing they have opened up and turned over their mental "real estate" to the spiritual forces of darkness that bring only death. The spiritual force of evil is only able to influence the human mind through the mechanism of our primitive instincts for survival. If we lust and are preoccupied with the things and values of a world driven by such instincts then we have been deceived into a form of mental slavery that brings only hatred and death in its wake.
Jesus Christ is the answer. He is both an example of what we must be like as humans and he is the facilitator/mediator/interface whereby we can all know and experience the love/caring of God.
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Page 1 - Note: In this section called Page 1, you will find some news bulletins older than the rest by one or two days (eg., 20 and 21 Dec.). They have been included with the 22 and 23 Dec news bulletins below due to their relevance to the current world situation. They were not previously published in this magazine.
. . . Day by Day with VOA .. . . . BBC -- Sunday, 22 December, 2002, 12:37 GMT . Analysis:
Nigeria's challenging poll
.
The vote will be the
first under civilian rule for 20 years
On 19 April 2003, Nigerians are due to go to the polls to elect a head of state to lead the country for the next four years. On the same day, elections for the governors of the 36 states of the federation are also to be held.
The last occasion, in 1983, was widely regarded to have been deeply flawed, and was followed after only a few months by a military takeover. Civilian rule only returned in 1999, when Olusegun Obasanjo, himself a former military leader in the late 1970s, was elected president. He is now seeking a second civilian term of office. Crumbling support Before Mr Obasanjo can contest the election itself, he must first be nominated as the candidate of his own People's Democratic Party, the PDP.
This selection process, due to take place at the beginning of January, is by no means a foregone conclusion. When he was elected four years ago, Mr Obasanjo's victory was in large measure due to the support of the Muslim north - despite the fact that he is a Christian and from the south-west. But during his term in office, he has alienated much of that northern support, and Muslim power brokers have made it very clear that they are now looking to alternative candidates to oppose him. Candidates No clear challenger from the north has yet emerged, although at least one former military head of state, Muhammadu Buhari, has declared an interest in contesting the presidency.
Another former military dictator, Ibrahim Babangida, is also hovering in the wings. Whilst few think he will actually contest the presidency this time around, it is widely believed that he is exerting his influence behind the scenes to engineer an outcome favourable to his allies in the north. Mr Obasanjo also has to deal with challengers from the east of the country, many of whose politicians feel that north and south-west have had their turn at the presidency and that it is now time for a head of state from the east. Foremost among these challengers is a former vice- president, Alex Ekwueme. He intends to compete with Mr Obasanjo to be nominated as the presidential candidate for the ruling PDP. A former foreign minister, Ike Nwachukwu has also declared his intention to contest the presidency. Powder keg All this regional and religious tension provides a potent mix for an unpredictable and potentially violent period ahead of the elections. Conflict, intimidation and fraud have marred previous polls in Nigeria, and this time round there have already been violent incidents at political rallies, as well religious violence in the north of the country that many observers see as having political elements. Indeed, far from bringing stability to Nigeria, the last four years have seen high levels of localised conflict. During the tenure of the current civilian administration, more than 10,000 people are known to have lost their lives in outbreaks of communal and religious violence. Huge task The election schedule itself is extremely ambitious, and one that even the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is concerned does not have the resources to undertake successfully. With an estimated 60 million voters, and with as many as 30 parties now expected to take part, even the most efficient of electoral bodies would have its work cut out.
Large numbers of potential voters have already found themselves disenfranchised because of a lack of blank forms at local registration centres when the much delayed exercise was finally undertaken in September, 2002. At the time, INEC blamed unscrupulous members of its own organisation for both hoarding and selling the forms. The performance of INEC so far has not inspired much confidence. The difficulties it has faced have been compounded by consistently delayed funding from the federal government. This has undoubtedly contributed to the slow and disorganised preparation for the polls, particularly of the voters roll itself. Accepting that there had been major shortcomings with the exercise, INEC officials promised to hold a fresh registration exercise early in 2003, ahead of the polls in April. . BBC -- Sunday, 22 December, 2002, 11:51 GMT . France 'waging
war' say Ivorian rebels
.
France has been
monitoring a repeatedly broken truce A rebel group in the Ivory Coast has accused France of waging war
after a battle with French troops who are trying to maintain a truce in the
country's civil war.
"Now it will be a fight to the finish," the Popular Ivorian Movement for the Far West (MPIGO) said in a statement released on Sunday, the AFP news agency reports. Saturday's fighting was the first time French troops in Ivory Coast tried to halt advances by rebels into government-held areas of the south and east. The BBC's Paul Welsh in Ivory Coast says French troops have finally been sucked into the civil war. Several losses Saturday's fighting broke out when MPIGO rebels encountered a heavily armed contingent of the French Foreign Legion based in the western town of Duekoue.
"The MIPGO lost several men," the rebel statement said. France says it suffered no casualties. Saturday's clash happened on a dirt road just outside Duekoue - a strategically important city where two major roads from the north and the west meet and head to the capital Yamoussoukro. France denies it started the fighting. "They opened fire on us," an army spokesman told Reuters news agency. "We fired warning shots and then they used heavy weapons." The rebels say they did not intend to attack the French position and were chasing the Ivory Coast army. Our correspondent says Saturday's clash marks a change in the role of French troops, whose official role is to protect foreign nationals and enforce a truce in the country's three-month-old civil war. Quagmire? France has more than 1,500 troops in Ivory Coast.
It was initially mandated as a buffer force to maintain a fragile ceasefire signed on 17 October, between the government troops and another rebel group, the Ivory Coast Patriotic Movement (MPCI). The MPCI on Saturday described the French troops as "forces of occupation". In recent weeks the MIPGO and a third rebel group have emerged. The MIPGO says the three groups will hold talks on Monday. The French say there has been no change in their policy in Ivory Coast - that they are continuing to protect foreigners and enforce the ceasefire with the MPCI. The United Nations Security Council has condemned the rebels for attempting to overthrow Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo. UN fears In its first intervention since the conflict began three months ago, the Security Council last week said it was gravely concerned about the consequences of the fighting, for both the country and the wider region. It also praised the French for sending troops into the region. Ivory Coast rebels began their uprising in September, spearheaded by an army revolt. The country - the world's largest cocoa producer and previously seen as a beacon of peace in the troubled region - has now been divided in two, with rebels controlling the largely Muslim north. . BBC -- Friday, 20 December, 2002, 16:25 GMT . Porn scandal
rocks Eritrean peace force
.
The UN force is
keeping the peace with Ethiopia
A sex scandal has again troubled the United Nations peacekeeping mission to Eritrea and Ethiopia (Unmee). The latest involves allegations of a pornographic video being made by an Irish peacekeeper in Asmara, involving a 22-year-old Eritrean woman. Unmee has released a statement which said that the incident took place in March. "As a result of an internal military investigation, the soldier has been severely disciplined and repatriated to his country of origin," it says. The Eritrean woman involved has been jailed. 'Filthy' The Eritrean Government press broke the story and railed against the man involved. "To him our rich and wise culture is of no interest. What interests him is fooling around and seducing girls to do these filthy acts, recording them and selling them," it said. To add to the story, the government media has carried interviews with the woman.
In the interviews she tells all. She says he gave her money, bought her everything she wanted and promised to take her to Ireland. Her allegations go further, naming hotels where the prostitutes would operate, including the country's only five-star hotel, the Intercontinental. Several Eritrean women who are alleged to be prostitutes have been arrested. Some hotels and night clubs which were popular with peacekeepers, foreigners and prostitutes were closed. The Intercontinental remains open. Public But the most interesting thing about the whole issue has been that the allegations were made public by the government. Most people thought that such things would have been kept quiet in a society which traditionally blamed prostitution on Ethiopians. However, prostitution has become more public, and the issue of a video perhaps shocked the Eritrean authorities into action. Secondly, the story does reinforce public wariness of the UN and foreigners.
The Eritrean Government has made it clear that it wants the peacekeepers out as soon as possible. And thirdly, revealing the allegations fits into a recent trend by the government of getting people accused of crime to confess publicly. Under the title "Let's stop it before it takes root", others have been put on the media. One week Ethiopians confessed to raping women, then there were Eritreans who helped fake ID cards, and some who helped other Eritreans leave the country without permission. Each of these confessions comes with an interesting moral message, as in this case. The last line of the interview with the woman in the video reads: "When I get out, I will cooperate to expose anyone who participates even in small illegal actions, let alone such films." . BBC -- Thursday, 19 December, 2002, 14:14 GMT . West Africa
split over Ivory Coast role
.
Ecowas has not
been united over Ivory Coast
Meeting under the auspices of the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas), the leaders said that the 1,500 strong force would be deployed by 31 December.
To begin with, it will work alongside the French forces which have been monitoring the unstable ceasefire between the government forces and the main rebel group, the Patriotic Movement of Ivory Coast (MPCI). But they will be going into a confused military situation with three different rebel groups fighting the government and no clear way ahead to resolve their differences. And the summit of the 15-member grouping was not a stunning demonstration of regional unity or resolve. Only four heads of state attended, and three countries did not even send delegations. The main Ivorian rebel movement, the MPCI, is angry that it was not invited. Senegal, which hosted the summit, is to provide the largest contingent and is likely to provide the commander, too. Under an agreement dating back to 18 November, Benin, Ghana, Niger and Togo have also agreed to provide troops. But the exact mandate of the force is not clear - whether it will merely monitor adherence to the unstable ceasefire agreed in October or to enforce peace, as the reinforced French force now set out to do. West Africa's military superpower, Nigeria, has declined to provide troops or a commander. Nigeria was the mainstay of the Ecowas forces sent into Liberia and Sierra Leone in the 1990s to help end the civil wars there, though the West African force, Ecomog, was not a very effective unit. Splits and rivalries The poor attendance at the Dakar summit on Wednesday has led to a questioning of the group's commitment to end the Ivorian conflict. The only president there were the host, Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal, Pedro Pires of Cape Verde, Blaise Compaore of Burkina Faso and Laurent Gbagbo of Ivory Coast. Togolese President Gnassingbe Eyadema, who has mediated the latest round of peace talks was only represented by his prime minister.
This reinforced reports that there have been major disagreements between President Wade, the current chairman of Ecowas, and President Eyadema. The French news agency, AFP, has quoted President Wade as saying in the past that the Togolese leader's efforts to achieve peace have been a failure and that regional involvement had been beset by bickering. The lack of unity is also demonstrated by Nigeria's absence at a high-level from the Dakar meeting and its decision not to commit troops to the peacekeeping mission. Hard military task Although Ecowas has been discussing the peacekeeping force for months, the lack of progress in peace talks between the government and the rebels and the appearance of two new rebel groups have held up deployment. The peacekeeping role has been filled by France, which is reinforcing its military presence to 2,500 troops. Initial reports suggest that Ecowas troops will operate alongside the French forces rather than replace them, as originally intended.
In November, the US State Department announced that it would give logistical support to the Ecowas operation over a period of six months to a year. But the countries contributing have very little time to gather and equip their forces and establish command structures ahead of the planned deployment. Another major problem is the continuation of fighting between government forces and rebel groups in the west of the country. Rebels have recaptured the town of Man from government troops. . BBC -- Friday, 20 December, 2002, 10:40 GMT . Malaysia
arrests over 'warfare training'
.
The men are
accused of sending recruits to Mindanao
The two men were arrested in pre-dawn raids on their homes in the East Malaysian state of Sabah on the island of Borneo. Police believed they were preparing to flee the country. Warfare training The two are accused of arranging for new recruits to the militant group Jemaah Islamiah to travel to the Philippines island of Mindanao to undergo guerrilla warfare training.
Jemaah Islamiah is the group widely believed to have been behind the Bali bombings. This is the first time suspected members have been arrested in Sabah, the Malaysian state nearest the Philippines. Both men are described as religious teachers. During the 1990s, several of those accused of being leading members of the group taught at religious schools in Malaysia. They included the Indonesian cleric, Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, allegedly the group's leader; Imam Samudra, who Indonesian police say has confessed to masterminding the attacks in Bali; and Hambali, thought to be the top al-Qaeda commander in the region. Political row Last month, Malaysia froze government funding for more than 500 privately-run Islamic religious schools. The Prime Minister, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, said they taught hate rather than religion, and urged Muslim parents to boycott them. Many are run by supporters of Malaysia's opposition Islamist party, Pas, which says the government funding freeze is political. Malaysia has arrested more than 70 people it accuses of belonging to violent Islamic groups in the last 15 months. A number were linked to an alleged plot to attack Western embassies in Singapore. However, human rights groups in Malaysia say the government has used its support for the United States' so-called 'war on terror' to further restrict civil liberties. . BBC -- Sunday, 22 December, 2002, 10:52 GMT . Euro
zone "at risk of recession"
.
ECB
headquarters, Frankfurt: More rate cuts on the way? The eurozone economy is stagnating, and may fall into recession in
the new year, according to a press report.
Economists at leading investment banks believe growth in the euro area slowed to a standstill during the final three months of 2002, and will contract early next year, the Business newspaper reported. Weak consumer spending, sluggish industrial production, and faltering business confidence are to blame. "The euro area is experiencing a mini-recession this cold winter, with no growth at all in the last quarter of 2002 and a dip into negative territory in the first quarter of 2003," Morgan Stanley economist Eric Chaney told the Business. "We cannot even exclude an outright recession, two or three consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth." Forecasts trimmed Morgan Stanley has cut its eurozone growth forecast for 2003 to just 1%, down from 1.4% previously, the Business said. Rival investment bank HSBC has also cut trimmed growth forecast, while other banks, including Goldman Sachs, are expected to follow suit next week. The growing gloom over the euro area's economic prospects will reinforce the case for further cuts in eurozone interest rates. The European Central Bank bowed to pressure for cheaper borrowing costs earlier this month, cutting rates by half a percentage point to 2.75%. The move followed a year-long rate freeze aimed at curbing persistently high inflation. Germany falls behind The eurozone's woes are partly due to weakness in Germany, the bloc's economic powerhouse. Falling business confidence and weak consumer spending are stifling German growth, and tax increases due to come into force next year are expected to exacerbate the problem. "As taxes hit consumers, we expect Germany's GDP to contract in the first quarter, on the heels of a fourth quarter already printed in red ink," Morgan Stanley's Eric Chaney said. . BBC -- Friday, 20 December, 2002, 11:39 GMT . Iran
receives new World Bank loan
.
Karafarin
was the first private bank after the revolution The World Bank's investment arm has approved its first investment in
Iran since 1974.
The World Bank's International Finance Corporation (IFC), said it would invest $2m to take a 20% stake in an Iranian joint-venture leasing company, and lend it a further $3m. The loan could widen the rift between the World Bank and the US, its biggest stakeholder, over future funding. "Through this small, catalytic investment in a leasing company, IFC will be helping to provide an alternate source of term finance for small and medium enterprise which is expected to boost job creation and ultimately help expand a sustainable private sector in Iran," Peter Woicke, executive vice president of the IFC, said in a statement. The IFC last lent money to Iran five years before Iran's 1979 revolution. US opposition There was strong criticism of the World Bank by the US Congress when it made two loans totalling $232m for Iranian health and sewerage projects in May 2000. The US voted against those loans at World Bank board meeting but has not revealed how it voted on the latest IFC funding. Congress decides how much the US Treasury contributes to the World Bank and IFC. The World Bank is currently considering a further three projects in Iran worth $280m. Financial sector The new lending will establish Karafarin Leasing with Iran's Karafarin Bank and Natexis Banque Populaires, one of the largest banks in France. The company will lease medical, office, manufacturing, transport and construction equipment to small and medium size business, the IFC said. Karafarin Leasing will give small and medium enterprises an alternative source of funds apart from family sources, the IFC added. Bank Karafarin became the first private bank to be licensed to operate in Iran since the Islamic revolution The majority of Iran's 13 banks are state-owned. . BBC -- Friday, 20 December, 2002, 13:57 GMT . Nigeria avoids dirty money sanctions
.
Nigeria's
banking sector will continue to be monitored The world's leading rich and industrialised
countries have decided not to impose sanctions against Nigeria after it passed
new money laundering laws.
The Nigerian legislation "significantly enhances the scope of Nigeria's 1995 anti money laundering law," the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said. But it warned that "deficiencies" remained and called for "special attention" to be given to financial transactions in Nigeria. President Olusegun Obasanjo signed the Economic and Financial Crimes Establishment Bill 2002 into law on 14 December. Nigeria remains on the OECD's list of non-cooperative countries and territories and will continue to be monitored. The OECD represents the interests of the 30 most industrialised countries in the world. Sanctions action The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an investigative arm of OECD, had threatened to impose financial sanctions if a 15 December deadline was not met. The US ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Howard Jeter, told Radio Nigeria earlier this week that if the law had not met the required standard, the US would have pushed for the sanctions. The US launched a clampdown on the funding of terrorist groups after 11 September last year. The OECD also announced it would impose sanctions against Ukraine for failing to enact effective anti-money laundering legislation. Sanctions against Ukraine are likely to involve greater surveillance, tougher controls on financial dealings by outside agencies with Ukraine and its banks, and warnings to companies seeking to do business in Ukraine. The status of Nigeria and Ukraine will be reviewed at the next FATF meeting in Paris on 12 February. . BBC -- Friday, 20 December, 2002, 20:01 GMT . Soros found guilty of insider trading
.
Billionaire financier and philanthropist
George Soros has been fined 2.2m euros (£1.4m; $2.3m) for insider
trading.
BBC -- Sunday, 22 December,
2002, 10:42 GMT A Paris court found Mr Soros guilty of profiting from inside knowledge of a 1988 takeover bid for Societe Generale, a French bank. Mr Soros, who was not in court, denied the allegations. In a statement he said he was "astounded and dismayed" by the ruling, and would "appeal the decision to the highest level necessary". "Let me repeat now what I have maintained from the start: at no point was I in possession of inside information regarding Societe Generale," he said. "The charges against me are unfounded and without merit." His lawyers had argued that the incident was too far in the past to achieve a fair trial. Two of his co-defendants, Lebanese financier Samir Traboulsi and Jean-Charles Naouri, an aide to former finance minister Pierre Beregevoy, were acquitted. Cashing in The charges relate to a raid on Societe Generale by tycoon Georges Pebereau, who built up a substantial stake in the bank before trying to take control.
Mr Soros and three other defendants, the court found, bought Societe Generale stock when it was cheap, and cashed in their investment when the price rose after the bid became public. Two other businessmen implicated in the scandal - Edmond Safra and Robert Maxwell - have since died. The affair was widely seen as a symptom of the corruption of public life in France under the presidency of Francois Mitterrand, from 1981 to 1995. Mr Pebereau, who has never been charged with any offence in relation to the Societe Generale deal, was acting at the instigation of Mr Miterrand's socialist administration, which opposed the bank's privatisation under the previous government. High profile Mr Soros is no stranger to controversy. He is widely known as the man who broke the pound, after helping force sterling out of Europe's exchange rate mechanism in 1992. Mr Soros, Hungarian-born but domiciled in the US, was also reportedly the first American to earn a billion dollars in a single year. In recent years, he has shifted his focus to his wide range of charitable projects, which concentrate on developing democracy and education in Eastern Europe. . .
ETA suspect escapes in France
.
Ibon Fernandez Iradi extricated himself from police headquarters in the town of Bayonne near the Spanish border early on Sunday morning. Fernandez Iradi was arrested on Thursday in what was seen as an important coup for police tracking ETA on either side of the Spanish border. He and a woman were driving a car with false number plates. Their detention led to seven more arrests of people Spain has recognised as ETA operatives living in hiding in France. Manhunt Fernandez Iradi is believed to be a logistics chief, responsible for organising the backup for teams who carry out attacks across the border.
His escape is a severe embarrassment for the French. They have launched a manhunt across the south western corner of the country. It comes four months after another ETA detainee walked free from a prison in central Paris. (our emphasis not the BBC) His brother, who resembled him, succeeded in swapping positions during a family visit. . BBC -- Sunday, 22 December, 2002, 14:47 GMT . French journalist killed by US tank
.
Bourrat reporting from Afghanistan last year One of the best-known television journalists
in France, Patrick Bourrat, has died in hospital in Kuwait.
He was injured on Saturday after being run over by a tank while covering US military exercises in the desert.
American military officials say the precise circumstances of the accident are being investigated. French President Jacques Chirac has led tributes to Mr Bourrat - a veteran reporter who covered conflicts from Lebanon and Afghanistan to East Timor and Kosovo. Thrown into the air More than 12,000 American troops are in Kuwait. Many of them taking part in live-fire training exercises. Mr Bourrat was thrown about five metres into the air after getting into the path of an oncoming tank as he pushed away a TF-1 cameraman. He suffered extensive damage to his organs - "his spleen was ruptured and one kidney, although still working, was half cut," a French embassy spokesman said. He was operated on but died on Sunday morning, after developing post-operative bleeding. US Major Denton Knapp told the AFP news agency: "We did everything we could to keep him safe. The guy made a mistake and it was a tragic one." He said the US army might review the freedom given to journalists to cover the exercises. President Chirac said Mr Bourrat was "one of the most talented journalists, a shining example for his profession". "Courageous, experienced, he made the ultimate sacrifice for the mission to inform," Mr Chirac said in a letter of condolences to TF-1 management. . BBC -- Sunday, 22 December, 2002, 22:07 GMT . Montenegro vote is 'invalid'
.
Too
few people went to vote Voting has ended in the Yugoslav republic of
Montenegro with fears that low turnout may have invalidated the poll, election
monitors say.
As the polls closed, the Centre for Free and Fair Elections said less than the required 50% of voters had cast their ballots. The poll has also been overshadowed by a sex scandal involving which erupted earlier this month when police arrested the Montenegrin Deputy State Attorney, Zoran Piperovic, in connection with human trafficking and forced prostitution.
The main opposition party - which prefers continued ties with Serbia, Montenegro's senior partner in the Yugoslav federation - had urged its supporters to boycott the election. The leading candidate, former Prime Minister Filip Vujanovic, was being challenged by 10 other candidates. Low turnout has invalidated two attempts in the past three months to elect a president for Serbia. Remaining confident "I estimate that the turnout cannot be higher than 47%," said Zoran Lucic, of the Centre for Free and Fair Elections as polls closed at 2000GMT. Mr Lucic said independent observers could not say how many people had voted by mail - but estimated their number at no more than 2%. The Centre said Mr Vujanovic had won 83.9% of the votes cast.
"The elections are going to be successful, and I will be the absolute winner," he said. Mr Vujanovic's close ally Milo Djukanovic, who resigned the presidency last month to become the prime minister, also expressed confidence the elections would succeed. "Montenegro must have all state institutions fully functioning... in order to carry on with social and economic reforms," he said. But many young Montenegrins were not swayed by these arguments. "I just don't care any more," said 28-year-old Predrag Starcevic, who is unemployed. Election boycott Mr Djukanovic's governing Democratic Party of Socialists achieved a landslide victory in parliamentary elections in October, campaigning on a platform of independence from Serbia. The heavily defeated opposition, the Socialist People's Party (SNP), decided not to field a candidate for the presidential poll, focusing its efforts instead on invalidating the race through a boycott. The SNP has accused the government of pressurising workers at state-run institutions to vote for Mr Vujanovic or risk losing their jobs. Sunday's poll was monitored by the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the Council of Europe, as well as local observers. Preliminary results are expected by midnight on Sunday. If invalid, the election has to be re-run in January. . BBC -- Sunday, 22 December, 2002, 15:31 GMT . Spain celebrates huge lotto wins
.
The winners came from all over the country
A staggering 1.6bn euros ($1.6bn) of prize money has been won.
This year each full first prize ticket was worth nearly $2m - and there were 180 of those, each bearing the number 08103. During a three-hour prize ceremony, one of the highlights of the Spanish holiday season, the children who traditionally sing out the winning numbers sang them in euros for the first time. Football club's joy The winners came from all corners of the country - including Granada and Cordoba in the south, the capital Madrid, Segovia in the mountains just north of the capital and Alicante on the south-east coast. But the biggest single win came in Velez Rubio, a dusty village of 4,700 inhabitants, in the southern province of Almeria. The local amateur football club bought and then resold 80 first prizes, netting some $160m for their players, friends and supporters in the village and the surrounding countryside. As the chairman of the soccer club joked, if all the prize money had gone to the club they would have been able to buy Ronaldo three times over. . BBC -- Sunday, 22 December, 2002, 00:05 GMT . Pain-free syringes developed
.
Demand for painless needles is high among
diabetics Scientists have developed a tiny hypodermic
syringe that can be used to give virtually pain-free
injections.
The breakthrough could potentially be very good news for people with conditions such as diabetes, who require daily injections of insulin to manage their condition. Japanese medical equipment maker Terumo Corporation has developed a prototype needle that is just 0.2 millimetres (0.008 inches) in diameter.
No super-thin hypodermic syringes had been developed until now for fear that they could not guarantee full, uninterrupted flow of liquid medicine. 'High demand' Company spokeswoman Takako Ogawa said: "It depends upon the individual, but many people feel almost no twinge of pain with this needle." "Demand for a painless needle is very high among diabetics, who are supposed to inject insulin four or five times a day,. "We are also looking into the possibility of marketing the needle overseas." The company hopes the needle will be commercially available for purchase within the next five or six years. Amanda Vezey, of the charity Diabetes UK, said: "We've come a long way since people with diabetes needed to inject insulin with unwieldy glass syringes and large, painful needles. "Although this is a few years off, Diabetes UK would welcome any safe, effective advances which make the treatment of diabetes easier and more comfortable" Terumo's invention is thought to be the smallest conventional needle in the world. However, a separate group of Japanese researchers has developed a microscopic alternative with a diameter of just 60 microns (60 millionths of one metre). The device is connected to a miniature electric pump modelled on the mechanics of a mosquito bite. . BBC -- Tuesday, 17 December, 2002, 09:30 GMT . Al-Qaeda: War fought in the shadows
.
Al-Qaeda has switched its focus to 'soft' tourist
targets
A year has passed since the Taleban and al-Qaeda were dislodged from their Afghan bases. The shadowy Islamist organisation co-founded by Osama Bin Laden has slunk across the border into Pakistan, regrouped, dispersed and taken up the fight against the US and its allies with renewed vigour.
So what is their strategy? The number one target for the senior leadership of al-Qaeda remains the continental United States. From their hiding places in the backstreets of Pakistani cities, the mountainous villages along the Afghan border, and the countries of the Gulf, al-Qaeda planners and strategists still dream of dealing a second crippling blow to US pride. Their supporters and sympathisers cannot resist discussing it, which is partly why Western intelligence keeps warning of alarmingly high levels of "chatter".Target list The CIA is aware of possible sleeper cells in the US. They say they may have been put in place even before 11 September. What they do not know is why they have not tried to strike yet. It may be timing - there is talk of al-Qaeda waiting till the US goes to war with Iraq. Or it may be that America's key facilities are simply too well protected at the moment.
But in the meantime, al-Qaeda and its affiliate groups have switched their sights onto softer targets - tourists in Bali, Tunisia, Kenya, and an unprotected oil tanker off the Yemeni coast. Having failed to divide America from its Western allies, al-Qaeda now includes Britain, Australia and several European countries in its target list. Iraq factor The reason? Punishment for siding with President George W Bush's War on Terror which al-Qaeda - and indeed many Muslims around the world - see as a war on Islam.
Instead, it is issuing cryptic calls through the internet, urging its followers to strike at Western and Israeli interests whenever they can. This means that attacks on soft targets will inevitably become more frequent. The casualties may be lower than on 11 September but it will be almost impossible to guard against every plot. So is there any good news for the West? Not a lot, is the answer. With a possible US-led war looming against Iraq, street-level Arab animosity towards the West is likely to increase. Al-Qaeda will not be short of volunteers for future missions. True, its members are being picked up, handed over to the US and interrogated with increasing frequency. But for every member captured, more seem to join the movement. This is a war fought in the shadows and it will likely continue for a very long time. . BBC -- Sunday, 22 December, 2002, 08:00 GMT . Children killed in Kashmir attack
.
Eleven civilians were killed in Kashmir in the past three
days Suspected Islamic militants have attacked a a
village in Indian-administered Kashmir and shot dead three sleeping children,
according to police.
Experts say militants often target Muslim families, accusing them of being informers for Indian security forces. The latest attack brings to 11 the number of civilians killed in the region in the past three days. No lull in violence More than a dozen Islamic guerrilla groups are fighting Delhi rule in Kashmir, India's only majority Muslim state. Kashmir's new chief minister, Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, has adopted a more conciliatory approach towards the insurgency against Indian rule in Kashmir. However, the violence has continued uninterrupted since his government came to power last month. India accuses Pakistan of arming Islamic gunmen and sending them across the border. Pakistan protests that it supports only a legitimate struggle for self-determination. . BBC -- Sunday, 22 December, 2002, 04:15 GMT . Germans probe Kabul
crash
.
The helicopter nose-dived, witnesses
say Aviation specialists are investigating the
cause of Saturday's helicopter crash in Afghanistan in which seven German
peacekeeping soldiers were killed.
The German Chancellor, Gerhard Schroeder, said the crash was a terrible accident and made clear that the peacekeepers' mission in Afghanistan was a dangerous one. The aircraft which belonged to the German military, came down near Kabul airport while on a routine flight. Witnesses said that flames and smoke came from the helicopter before it crashed in a ball of fire. It crashed into an empty house, where there were two Afghan girls - unconfirmed reports said that they had been killed. Mr Schroeder expressed "profound sadness for the German and Afghan victims". 'Accident' "There were seven crew members on board, members of the German Isaf contingent, all of whom were killed," Defence Minister Peter Struck told reporters in Berlin. "The helicopter was conducting a routine flight. We are doing everything to determine without delays or gaps the cause of the accident," he said. Earlier, Kabul Police Chief Bashir Salangi said two children on the ground had died.
He said the helicopter had not been fired upon. "Even though everything indicates that this was a terrible accident, this accident makes it tragically clear... that the army's mission in Afghanistan is a difficult and dangerous operation," said Mr Schroeder. The German air force provides surveillance and assistance to peacekeeping troops on the ground. US soldier dies The crash came hours after a US soldier died after clashes with enemy forces - the first US fatality in a confrontation in Afghanistan for seven months. His unit came under fire while on early-morning patrol in Paktika, a border province with Pakistan. He died while undergoing surgery. The 4,800-strong Isaf was deployed in Kabul at the end of last year to help the interim government maintain security in the city and its outskirts. Turkey took over leadership of the force in June 2002. . BBC -- Sunday, 22 December, 2002, 15:51 GMT . Neighbours back Afghan
integrity
.
The declaration aims to bolster Karzai's fragile
position
Representatives of all the countries bordering Afghanistan have signed a declaration pledging to respect that country's independence and territorial integrity. Foreign ministers and ambassadors gathered in the Afghan capital, Kabul, for talks and for the formal signing of the declaration. This United Nations-backed conference - held on the first anniversary of the post-Taleban Government - is the latest move by the international community to strengthen the position of President Hamid Karzai. Pakistan, Iran, China and three central Asian republics, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan, all signed the Kabul declaration on good neighbourly relations, reaffirming their commitment to support Afghanistan's territorial integrity and promising not to interfere in each other's internal affairs. Weak position Officials from the UN, Russia, the United States and the European Union were also present. There has been a long history of foreign interference in this unstable country, as neighbours have tried to gain influence by backing one Afghan faction or another. The Soviet occupation of the 1980s and Pakistan's support for the Taleban are just the most recent examples. As President Karzai works to strengthen his weak position, the UN hopes that visible support from the international community will prevent Afghanistan from falling back into political chaos. . BBC -- Sunday, 22 December, 2002, 10:17 GMT . One dead in Afghan
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Courageous, experienced, he made the ultimate sacrifice for the
mission to inform 
