"Science" Journal of The American Association for the Advancement of Science, Vol 294 No 5548, for 30 November, 2001, p. 1795: The Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative (CDU) a collaboration between UCLA and the Max Planck Institute is building a massive cybermuseum that will give scholars access to many of the world's early cuneiform fragments. By 2003 CDU will have high quality photo caches from museums making up about half of the 120,000 known cuneiform tablets accessible on the internet.

"Science", Vol 294 No 5550, for 14 December, 2001, p. 2271: Bed Nets Prove Their Mettle Against Malaria. $3 to $4 Insecticide impregnated bed nets are creating a significant reduction in malaria in tropic countries.

"Science", Vol 294 No 5551, for 21 December, 2001, pp. 2494-2495 and 2529-2535 presents three articles which relate to new adjustment information on radiocarbon dating of archaeological sites.

"Science", Vol 295 No 5552, for 4 January, 2002, pp. 47-48: Biographical account of Ronald Ross, 1857-1932, born in British India, who learned how to dissect mosquitoes and worked out which parasite was the malaria pathogen.

The Toronto Globe & Mail of December 1, 2001 carried an illustrated review of a book by Gena K. Gorrell, "Heart and Soul: The story of Florence Nightingale." - copyright 2000, published by Tundra books. From the write-up it seemed interesting to your Editor and worth a mention here.

The Weekly Telegraph, No. 542, December 12-18, 2001:
Obituary - Princess George of Hanover, youngest sister of the Duke of Edinburgh. The former Princess Sophie of Greece and Denmark, 87, was the last surviving sister of the Duke of Edinburgh. The three-page illustrated article begins: "Her life was one of stark contrasts, all of which she took in her stride. There were times when she lived in the heart of royal courts, others when she lived quietly and informally without much money. A young widow in Germany in the Second World War, she was a stalwart mother to five small children and took care of their four cousins under bleak circumstances... ."

The Weekly Telegraph, No. 543, December 19-25, 2001:
1. - Huge wind farm for Scottish island. A HEBRIDEAN island could become a world centre for renewable energy following the announcement of plans for Europe's biggest wind farm.
If the project goes ahead, 300 wind turbines will be built outside Stornoway on Lewis, producing as much energy as a nuclear power station. It would double Britain's clean energy capacity.
2. - Obituary: field Marshal Lord Carver, 86, - Much decorated officer with reputation for intellect and acerbity who became a prolific author. The three column illustrated article contains much of interest concerning his life.
The Toronto Globe and Mail, December 26, 2001,carried a similar obituary article, headed "Top officer opposed nuclear arms" which also noted that he was Britain's resident commissioner in 1977-78, in the then British colony of Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe.
3. - Weekly Telegraph article headed "Religious hatred law abandoned after Bill retreat, by Benedict Brogan Political Correspondent
The British government has given up its efforts to ban incitement to religious hatred, after a defeat in the Lords forced David Blunkett to retreat on his anti-terror legislation.
Downing Street said there would not be time to try again in the current Parliament, even though Labour still has more than four years to run.

The Weekly Telegraph, No. 544, December 26, 2001-January 4, 2002: Woman Quaker set to appear on £5 note: ELIZABETH FRY, the 19th-century prison reformer, will become the second woman - apart from the Queen - to appear on a British banknote, the Bank of England said.
Mrs. Fry, a Quaker, will replace George Stephenson on the £5 note next year. Florence Nightingale featured on the £10 note between 1975-1992.

The National Geographic Magazine Vol. 201 No. 1, January, 2002,
1. - held a two page item "Unlooted Tomb Revealed." Syrian site may be the lost city of Tuba. A spectacular three-layered tomb dating from one of the world's earliest urban civilizations has been discovered in Syria. National Geographic Society grantee Glenn Schwartz and his Dutch colleague Hans Curvers led the team that uncovered the 4,300-year-old mud-brick structure at a site known as Umm el-Marra, some 200 miles northeast of Damascus. The perfectly intact tomb housed within its top level the bodies of two richly adorned young women, each curled around an infant. The second level contained far fewer objects and the less ornamented bodies of two men and a third infant; the bottom level held the body of an elderly man.
The ornaments, gold jewelry, and other finely crafted objects surrounding the bodies suggest that some of the people buried there held elite status. "Were the women royalty? Were they sacrificed or victims of an epidemic? Are the men and the babies there to accompany them in some way? These are the questions we are thinking about now," explains Schwartz, a professor of Near Eastern Studies at Johns Hopkins University. "It's very unusual to find a rich tomb this old that has never been looted," he says. "We don't have similar elite tombs for comparison."
He might get some clues from a neighboring settlement though. When the ancient Syrian city of Ebla was first unearthed in the 1970s, archaeologists recovered 17,000 cuneiform texts. Some of these writings describe a thriving community in northern Syria called Tuba. Schwartz thinks the tomb at Umm el-Marra may be part of that long-lost city. "They're still going through all the Ebla texts," says Schwartz. "There could be more information there."
In the meantime there's more to excavate at Umm el-Marra. Schwartz is planning his return.
2. - The same issue of The National Geographic Magazine contained in an article "Inside Islam", a fold-out map of the Islamic World with useful country-by-country statistics. A small bar-graph table shows: "The World's Largest Religions" which indicates Christianity leading at 2 billion, Islam at 1.3 billion, Hinduism at 900 million and Buddhism at 360 million.

The Weekly Telegraph, No. 545, January 2-8, 2002:
1. - Flag can be flown on car number plates - The threat of fines for motorists wanting to display a British flag on their number plates rather than the European Union emblem has been removed belatedly. Vehicle owners will now be able to display the Union flag, the Cross of St George, the Scottish saltire or the Welsh dragon. The emblems must be accompanied by identifying abbreviations such as GB, ENG, SCO, CYM or UK.
COMMENT: Can you imagine the disgust of our resurrected ancestors at learning such must now be by permission of Europe! Drake, sound your Drum!
2. - Three out of four Britains are Christians - THREE quarters of the population of Britain regard themselves as Christians, according to a survey.
The poll, by Opinion Research Business, also found that only 17 per cent of Britons say they do not belong to any particular religion.
The Church of England has enjoyed a sudden growth of followers, with 52 per cent of the population calling themselves Anglican compared with 44 per cent in a survey in March.

The Weekly Telegraph, No. 547, January 16-22, 2002:
1. - Archbishop to retire after 11 turbulent years - by Victoria Combe Religion Correspondent - THE Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. George Carey, is to retire in October after leading the Church of England through 11 turbulent years. The 103rd Primate of All England and President of the Anglican Communion will leave Lambeth Palace two weeks before his 67th birthday on Nov. 13, three years short of the Church's retirement age of 70.
COMMENT: The article contains more information, and is accompanied by others which note the decisive part of the Prime Minister in the selection process of a successor, and information concerning probable candidates for the office.
2. - "Struggle to keep Italy in EU fold" headed an article By Bruce Johnston in Rome -
COMMENT: It seems that even at the highest government levels there are stresses in Italy over the continuation of the Italian EU policy.

The Weekly Telegraph, No. 548, January 23-29, 2002:
1. - Police raids continue on Argentine banks: Police in Argentina have continued to raid foreign banks in an investigation into claims that billions of dollars were smuggled out before banking controls were imposed last month. The government is looking into reports that former president Fernando de la Rua allowed between $10bn (£7bn) and $26bn to leave Argentina. On December 3 the government froze $60bn in bank accounts to prevent a massive flight of capital. Last week the Buenos Aires offices of the US banks Citibank and BankBoston and other financial institutions were searched by police looking for evidence of a massive flight of capital according to local media reports. The previous night HSBC's offices in the capital were raided. So too were offices of American Airlines, money transport companies and areas of the two airports serving Buenos Aires. HSBC said it would co-operate fully with Argentine authorities.
2. - (Heading) Rich countries pledge £2bn in aid packages (to rebuild Afghanistan)
COMMENT: We can't help comparing the amounts in the above two reports.
3. - Firefighters are given race change for statue: A PLANNED statue of a flag-raising at Ground Zero to commemorate firefighters who died on September 11 has sparked a row over political correctness after two of three white firemen in the photo on which it is based were replaced by a black and a Hispanic. ... The decision to substitute a black and a Hispanic for two of the white firemen has angered Irish- and Italian- American firemen who make up the vast bulk of the fire department of New York's 11,500 firemen.
4. - Opinion divided over status of 'unlawful combatants': THE THIRD Geneva Convention of 1949 is designed to ensure that prisoners of war are treated humanely by their captors... .
COMMENT: Further details of this question followed in the article. The difference made when substituting the term "unlawful combatant" for "prisoner of war" forms more than a technicality. Questions arise with regard to two aspects.
(a) Did the US actually legally declare "war" through due process of US Constitutional Law on the then reigning Taliban Government of Afghanistan? (Many hold that it did not. Indeed legal experts question whether the US has for more than a generation substituted a "federal government" for a legally constituted "Constitutional Government.")
(b) Did the US thus itself become an "unlawful combatant", as it has never put anyone on trial to be convicted in a court of law through acceptable due process regarding the accusations against the Taliban forces? The very fact that interrogations are proceeding demonstrates that proof is not now present sufficient to bring those charged to court. It begins to look more and more like an Israeli activity out of Palestine.
5 - Bigger Union tongue-tied by 10 new official languages by Kim Willsher in Paris:
By 2004 BRUSSELS will have become a "Tower of Babel". That is the year when a host of new states will join the European Union, swelling the number of official languages from 11 to 21. An army of fresh interpreters will be needed to translate between all the different tongues and officials are already bracing themselves for a logistical nightmare. "It is already complicated enough translating everything into 11 languages," said one EU translator. "It is going to be a real horror with 10 more." "The interpreters are going to have their work cut out. Already there are MEPs who can barely speak their own language clearly." The EU is negotiating with 13 states - Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Cyprus, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Turkey - over prospective entry. The arrival of new members from eastern Europe is likely to see a growing use of English, much to the annoyance of the other big EU powers, especially the French. "The negotiations about enlargement were carried out while France was presiding over the European Union," said one European official. "But every one of the representatives from the countries wishing to enter carried out their discussions in English."
[The rest of the article followed in the same vein.]
6. - Houses of ancient Rome make a dazzling return:
A MAZE of ancient, decorated dwellings that were used from Roman until medieval Christian times has been reopened with its frescoes restored and dazzling after years of decay and neglect, writes Bruce Johnston.
The Case Romane (Roman houses) beneath the Basilica of Giovanni e Paolo on Rome's Caelian Hill comprise 20 rooms once part of two ancient Roman blocks of flats.
The buildings, dating to the second century BC, were adapted and connected in the third century AD to become one large, richly decorated patrician domus, or residence.
7. - Gibraltar vows to fight 'betrayal' by British, by Isambard Wilkinson in Madrid THE GIBRALTAR government has condemned British plans to sign an agreement with Spain granting joint sovereignty of the Rock as "profoundly undemocratic". Peter Caruana, the chief minister, railed against the idea to end Gibraltar's 298-year-old status as a British colony... .

The National Geographic Magazine Vol. 201 No. 2, February, 2002, along with interesting articles such as the one on an eruption of Mount Etna, contains coverage of several central Asian countries, and an insert explains the suffix Stan which is part of these countries' names, with the following information:
Stan -stan suffix \stan, stän\ [Per.] 1: place, place of 2: land. Adopted into several languages from Persian, the court language employed in antique kingdoms of Central Asia. Thus the place or land of the Afghans is Afghanistan, the place of the Tajiks, Tajikistan.