2. A life-sized 2nd century AD bronze foot from a Roman statue in a buried temple complex in London evidences that Britons wore socks with their sandals. Mediterranean statues of the time show no evidence of socks.

Time, September 15, 2003, Vol. 162 No. 11 (Canadian Edn.) -
Inside the Kingdom - two years after 9/11, the Saudis are finally cracking down on terrorists at home. But many Americans remain skeptical that the Saudi brand of Islam is compatible with the war against terrorism - A Special Report by Lisa Beyer with Scott MacLeod/Riyadh.
[Brief: Very well illustrated, covering Saudi History, personalities, maps, The Bush-Saudi Axis, etc.]

Time, September 22, 2003, Vol. 162 No. 12 (Canadian Edn.) -
Numbers: p. 13 - $87 billion Amount President Bush has requested next year for military and rebuilding operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. $47.6 billion Amount adjusted for inflation, spent by the Marshall Plan in 1949 (its peak year) to rebuild Europe after World War II.

Time, October 6, 2003, Vol. 162 No. 14 (Canadian Edn.) -
1. So What Went Wrong? Ever since America's decisive military victory, Iraq has been nothing but trouble. Time reports on the errors and bad guesses, before and after the war, that got the Bush Administration into this spot. - by Michael Elliott. pp. 14-21.

2. Chasing a mirage - The U.S. was sure Saddam had WMD, but Iraqi scientists tell TIME the weapons were destroyed long before the war. By Nancy Gibbs and Michael Ware/Baghdad. pp.22-26.
[Brief: Both the above articles are well illustrated, and reflect the thrust of the headings.]

Time, October 20, 2003, Vol. 162 No. 16 (Canadian Edn.) pp. 20-25 The Secret Collaborators by Michael Ware - [Brief: How U.S. secretly prepared the way for easy victory in Iraq through subversive intelligence.]

Majesty Magazine Vol. 24 No. 9 carried an advertisement for a board game titled "Outrage! - Steal the Crown Jewels."
"Using hand-crafted pieces, including gold plated replicas of the Crown Jewels, this family game for 2-6 players challenges you to use all your skill and cunning to steal the jewels and escape. Age range 8 to adult. x301 UK & Europe £35.00 USA $64 CAN $92.00 Rest of World £40.00"

Saudi Aramco World Vol. 54 No. 4 - July/August 2003 - pp. 14-23 -
Traders of The Third Millennia by Richard Covington, photographs courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art - [Brief: A museum-quality, beautifully illustrated article on Mesopotamia and its archaeological treasures. saudiaramco.com ]

Focus On Geography - The American Geographical Society - Vol 47 No. 3 Spring 2003: The entire beautifully illustrated 32-page issue is devoted to "Greece."

The Globe & Mail, Sept 1 2003:
1. Geologists make Gem of a Discovery - Transparent stone found in Yukon either new find or rare emerald - by Catherine Allison.
[Brief: Transparent gemstone with colour of blue velvet. 5-columns, illustrated.]

2. Obituary: Pierre Poujade, 82. One-time mentor of Jean-Marie Le Pen. (Also Weekly Telegraph, Sept. 10-16, 2003.)

The Globe & Mail, Sept 2 2003:
1. Kelly felt betrayed, widow testifies by Warren Hoge, LONDON -
David Kelly felt betrayed by the decision of the Defence Ministry to make his name public. [Also: p. 7, Weekly Telegraph, No 632, September 3-9 2003 and p. 6 No 633, Sept. 10-16 2003.]

2. Israel continues strikes at Hamas; Israeli report slams treatment of Arabs - by Paul Adams, SAKHNIN, ISRAEL.
[Brief: Judicial panel verdict: misconduct and excessive use of force by Israeli police led to the deaths of the (13) Israeli Arabs.]

The Globe & Mail, Sept 3 2003:
Asteroid to be studied as possible Earth threat. [Brief: A kilometer-diameter asteroid could have the effect of 20 million Hiroshima atomic bombs. No need to fear, as chance of a hit earth is one in 900,000.]
COMMENT: That is far better odds than millions of lottery players face every week to become winners!

The Globe & Mail, Sept 4 2003:
Skulls enliven debate on earliest Americans - Ancient tribe's roots differ from those of modern natives, researchers say -
by Anne McIlroy, Science Reporter
[Brief: Lead sentence: "They had short, narrow faces distinctly different from North American native people and their ancestors." (An isolated Mexican tribe similar to ancient Australians.) 6-columns, illustrated.]
A 5-column, illustrated follow-up article by the same author on Sept 6: headed Who were the first North Americans? - Archeological evidence contradicts the previously accepted theory that hunters from northern Asia crossed a land bridge to Alaska 11,500 years ago deals with controversial questions (Kennewick Man).

The Globe & Mail, Sept 6 2003:
1. Jews for Jesus panel removed - Billboard in Orthodox neighbourhood (of Toronto) taken down after less than 24 hours - by Jordan Heath-Rawlings - Less than 24 hours after a controversial religious billboard was placed in an Orthodox Jewish neighbourhood by the evangelical group Jews for Jesus, community outrage yesterday caused it to be pulled down.
[Brief: 4-columns, illus. It read "Before you dismiss my belief you should hear my story."]

2. Book review: Military History - What really happened in Normandy - Fields of Fire: The Canadians in Normandy by Terry Copp, U. of T. Press 344 p. $35.00.

3. Obituary: Frank Macdonald, 107 Veteran served in First World War. Hobart, Australia -
Australia's oldest First World War veteran, a decorated war hero, died last week at the age of 107. Served with the all-Tasmanian 40th Battalion Australian infantry Force on the Western Front in 1917-18. ... French Legion of Honour. AP

The Weekly Telegraph No. 632, Sept 3-9, 2003:
1. Codebreaker's work reveals a diarist to rival Pepys - by Will Bennett.
A remarkable million-word account of life in late 17th-century Engand which is as vivid as Samuel Pepys's diary has been transcribed after lying largely forgotten for more than three centuries. [Brief: A specialist codebreaker has cracked the shorthand that Roger Morrice, a Puritan minister turned political journalist, used in part of the diary to stop the King's agents reading it. 6-columns, illustrated.]
COMMENT: Fascinating account.

2. Manor house is nation's oldest -
A MANOR house built in the 12th century has been named as the oldest continuously occupied home in Britain. Saltford Manor house in Somerset boasts a Norman window in the main bedroom and 13th century ecclesiastical paintings in the spare room. It won against several other contenders including The Old Parsonage at West Dean, Suffolk... .

3. Ambassador calls Israel 'paranoid' by Ohad Gozani in Tel Aviv.
FRANCE'S new ambassador to Israel caused a diplomatic row with his hosts at the weekend after he was reported to have described the Jewish state as "paranoid" and called its prime minister, Ariel Sahron, "a lout". Limor Livnat, Israel's education minister, said the remarks attributed to Gérard Araud were "very grave". [Brief: 2 columns unfold explanations.]

4. Kenya lifts 50 year ban on Mau Mau. [Brief: 50 years ago, British called them terrorists." Now they are called "freedom-fighters." A column gives details.]

5. Britannia's glory fading from memory by Anthony King - [Brief: a Telegraph YouGov poll surveys the British public on notable historic personalities and events.]

Globe & Mail, Sept 10 2003:
Obituary: Final curtain falls for Leni Riefenstahl - by Doug Saunders.
[Brief: Hitler years film-maker. 6-columns, Illustrated.] (Also in Weekly Telegraph: Sept. 17-23 2003: "Renowned and loathed - Hitler's film-maker dies.")

Globe & Mail, Sept 11 2003:
Obituary: Edward Teller 1908-2003 - The architect of the H-bomb by Walter Sullivan -
[Brief: Hawkish physicist who undermined Oppenheimer was seen as the model for Dr. Strangelove. ... 5 columns, illustrated.] (Also 5-columns, illustrated in Weekly Telegraph Sept. 24-30.)

Globe & Mail, Sept 13 2003:
1. Just don't try to pray -
For the first time in three years, the Dome of the Rock isn't off limits to non-Muslims and feelings are running high. Most visitors are on their best behaviour, Paul Adams reports from Jerusalem, but others look at Islam's sacred shrine and think, What a great place to build a synagogue. Non Muslims may visit again, just as long as they aren't caught saying a prayer.

2. Scoring for Jesus by Sarmishta Subramanian -
[Brief: Mel Gibson seeks music for his controversial Christ film. (3 pages).]

3. Book Review: Biography - Clever Girl: Elizabeth Bentley, the Spy Who Ushered in the McCarthy Era by Lauren Kessler HarperCollins 372 pp. 41.05

4. The Bridge to the Future -
[Brief: Lead Part of four (Sept.13, 15, 16, 17) - by Patrick Brethour, Wendy Stueck, Brent Jang, Explains how bridging the Mackenzie River to Yellowknife will open up Canada's North West Territories.]

The Weekly Telegraph No. 633, Sept. 10-16 2003:
1. Footnote "As expats await the next stage of Annette Carson's frozen pensions case - her petition to the House of Lords - news continues to reach us of the pathetic circumstances of some of those who retired overseas decades ago..."

2. English Heritage rules are final straw for thatchers -
FOR craftsmen whose forefathers have made and repaired traditional roofs for 2,000 years, it is the straw that broke the camel's back. Britain's thatchers are embroiled in an unseemly row with the Government's heritage watchdog over which materials they can use. Solicitors acting for half of Britain's 500 thatchers have written to every local council planning department urging them to ignore English Heritage guidelines that allow the use of only certain kinds of straw and reeds. They claim that craftsmen and owners of thatched houses should be allowed to break with tradition and use imported wheat straw and durable water reeds. It is the first time that the thatchers, who claim that they are preserving their ancestral trade, have banded together to oppose Government regulations. Bob West, chairman of the National Society of Master Thatchers, who authorised the letter, said they may take legal action against English Heritage.

Globe & Mail, September 15 2003: Swedes deal blow to euro with big No vote -
Slower euro growth cited in No side's campaign and
Globe & Mail, September 16 2003: Euro unhurt by Swedish rebuff - Despite warnings of doom and gloom, economists say Sweden better off on own - by Alan Freeman, LONDON.

Globe & Mail, September 17 2003 -
1. Social Studies by Michael Kesterton: Universe gets a makeover.
[Brief: It seems that scientists "touch up" Hubble Space Telescope photos to make them more photogenic. Breathtaking colours are in most cases, exaggerated. They are the product of a team of NASA astronomers, computer artists and public-relations folk...]

2. Obituary: Garner Ted Armstrong, 73. -
TV evangelist had rift with church-founding father Tyler, Tex. Evangelist Garner Ted Armstrong, who founded two independent ministries and was once the voice of the religious television program World Tomorrow, died Monday of complications from pneumonia... . (5 column follow-up in G&M Sept 18). (Also in Weekly Telegraph Sept 24-30.)

Globe & Mail, Sept. 19 2003:
1. U.S. research team in Iraq finds no traces of smallpox.
Top U.S. scientists assigned to the weapons hunt in Iraq found no evidence that Saddam Hussein's regime was making or stockpiling smallpox, according to senior American military officers involved in the search. Smallpox fears were part of the case President George W. Bush's administration used to build support for invading Iraq, and they were raised again as recently as last weekend by Vice-President Dick Cheney. But a three-month search by "Team Pox," a U.S. squad whose existence and work had not previously been disclosed, turned up only signs to the contrary: disabled equipment that had been rendered harmless by United Nations Inspectors, credible Iraqi scientists who gave no indication they had worked with smallpox and a feared laboratory that was covered in cobwebs. The findings emerged nearly six months after the United States went to war to disarm Iraq of weapons that Mr. Hussein long denied having, and the invaders haven't been able to find... . [Brief: 5-columns, illustrated.]

2. News for Worrywarts -
[Brief: Each mobile phone creates a rough electronic account of the user's location in time and space. During the first year of the second intifada, the government of Israel assassinated six Palestinian militants 'by first locating the target's cell phone and then directing fire at the co-ordinates of the phone...]
COMMENT: This report brings to mind that The Prophetic Expositor of April, 2002 (pp. 7-8) mentioned that Janes' Intelligence Digest, of 15 March 2002 had carried a lead article which mentioned Comverse Infosys and Admocs, two Israeli-owned telecommunications companies which, between them, handle virtually all the billings records in the USA. That's a rather large net!

The Weekly Telegraph No. 634, Sept. 17-23 2003:
1. Swedes say no to the euro.
2. Estonians vote for EU membership.
3. 'The little people are voting No; the euro is for big business' [Brief: Analysis Of Swedish vote, Norwegian and Danish attitudes.

4. Last hereditary peers face axe - THE Government is planning to remove the remaining hereditary peers from the House of Lords in the next stage of its reforms. Lord Falconer, the Constitutional Affairs Secretary, is expected to make a statement to Parliament this week on the Governments plans.

5. Gibson hits back at 'vicious' critics of Christ film. -
MEL GIBSON has turned on critics of his film the passion, about Jesus Christ, over claims that it is anti-Semitic, but his language has ignited a new controversy. The Australian-born actor and director said he was the target of "vehement anti-Christian sentiment" but admitted that the row over his £18 million self-financed film was good publicity. In one of a series of inflammatory remarks quoted in last week's The New Yorker, Gibson accuses "modern secular Judaism" of trying "to blame the holocaust on the Roman Catholic Church". "It's a lie. And it's revisionism," said Gibson, a follower of Traditionalist Catholicism. "And they've been working on that one for a while." His film, due to be released next Easter, has been described as likely to fuel "hatred, bigotry and anti-Semitism" by the Anti-Defamation League and has been criticised by some Roman Catholic theologians. Its commercial appeal is also open to question as it has been shot entirely in Latin and Aramaic, the everyday language of Jesus and his disciples. It is unclear whether it will be subtitled. Its director portrays himself as caught up in a huge conflict between "big realms that are warring and battling. You stick your head up and you get knocked" he said. "I didn't realise it would be so vicious. The acts against this film started early. There is vehement anti-Christian sentiment out there and they don't want it."

6. A column of "Letters to the Editor" pertaining to the question of the date of the last invasion of the British mainland mention variously:
1216 when the Dauphin of France came, and was defeated at the Battle of Lincoln in 1217, a French raid in 1457, 1495 when the Spanish landed from four ships at Mousehole in Cornwall, The Dutch fleet which sailed up the Medway, landing at Sheerness, and William of Orange, who overthrew James II. Likewise the invasions of 1715 and 1745 by Jacobites were mentioned. Another letter points out that it depends on one's definition of the term "invasion."
COMMENT: Some from more traditional stock might term present day massive immigration of non-traditional folk as the "most recent invasion"!

7. Tribesmen accuse 'racist' ANC of diamond apartheid - by Tim Butcher in the Richtersveld -
THE African National Congress government is using colonial-era principles to justify refusing to hand back a lucrative South African diamond mine to tribesmen who originally lived on the land. In a case with huge constitutional and financial implications, the Nama community has accused the government of being as racist as the whites who created apartheid. The Nama once lived at Alexander Bay, on South Africa's north-western coast, but were evicted from the land after diamonds were discovered there in 1925. Since then the mine has produced millions of carats, and the tribe is demanding compensation which could run to billions of pounds. But lawyers representing the ANC in court cited an old, colonial-era principle, claiming that the Nama were so "uncivilised" that they could not enjoy any land rights. Citing the British principle of terra nullius, empty land, the lawyers argued that even though the Nama lived in the area they were so backward that they did not warrant ownership rights. [Brief: the three-column, illustrated article treats further of the contentious issues.]

8. "Scanner captures an unborn baby's smile" captions a short article beneath a coloured photo which will delight those who believe that life starts at conception!

9. Divers find Stone Age site in North Sea - by Paul Stokes -
THE FIRST evidence of Stone Age settlements in the North sea has been found by chance during a diving lesson. The divers found artefacts including flint tools and arrow-heads that have been preserved under the water for between 5,000 and 10,000 years. One of the two settlements off Tynemouth, Tyne and Wear, may prove to be the oldest underwater archaeological site off the British coast. There had been only one previous such discovery, in the Solent near Southampton. Dr. Penny Spikins, a lecturer at Newcastle university, stumbled on the latest find while learning to scuba dive. "I noticed lots of pieces of flint beneath me on the sea-bed," she said. "to the average person they would seem like ordinary stones you would find on the beach but to a specialist they were very exciting indeed." Dr. Spikins was with four members of an international archaeological research team from the university's school of historical studies who were practising diving techniques to enable them to look for suspected submerged sites in more remote places. The two sites are about 100 yards apart and 500 yards out to sea. One is at the end of a long, rocky outcrop that was once a small cliff face and thought to be from the early Mesolithic period 8,500 years ago. The other is believed to belong to the late Mesolithic period, dating back 5,000 to 8,500 years. The Mesolithic people lived in the Middle Stone Age, between the end of the last Ice Age and the start of organised agriculture. The sites were submerged as sea levels rose. The flint artefacts, which were in up to 20 feet of water, range from a core that was used to make knives and other sharp objects to a microlith or arrowhead. David Miles, English Heritage's chief archaeologist, said: "We know there is a prehistoric Atlantis beneath the North Sea where once an area equal to the size of present-day Britain attached us to the continent where prehistoric people and animals roamed. "It is potentially an area for exploration and this discovery gives us a stepping stone into this unknown world.

Globe & Mail, September 24 2003: United States - Exxon Mobil Corp. said it wants to proceed with a second oil and natural gas project in Russia's Pacific waters.

Globe & Mail, Sept 25 2003: Won't bomb civilians, 27 Israeli pilots say.

Globe & Mail, Sept 26 2003:
1. Woman avoids stoning death in Nigeria.
[Brief: Reversal of adultery verdict is celebrated as 'victory for womanhood and humanity.]
(Also in The Weekly Telegraph no 636, October 1-7 2003.)

2. Drop in childhood cancer linked to folic-acid intake -
Adding folic acid to processed foods results in a 60-per-cent reduction in the incidence of neuroblastoma, a deadly childhood cancer, a Canadian study says. "Our research indicated that this is the first pediatric cancer that can be prevented through maternal diet," said Gideon Koren, a researcher at Toronto's Hospital for sick children. In 1997, Canada began fortifying flour with folic acid to help prevent neural-tube birth defects such as spina bifida. Neuroblastoma is the second most common pediatric tumour and the most prevalent solid tumour that occurs outside of the brain in children under the age of 5, affecting one in every 6,000 to 7,000 children in North America.

3. High-tech spying office in Pentagon to close. Washington. The Pentagon office that was developing a vast computerized terrorism surveillance system would be closed and no money could be spent to use those high-tech spying tools against Americans on U.S. soil, House and Senate negotiators have agreed. But they shifted some of the high-powered software under development to different government offices, to be used to gather intelligence from citizens abroad and foreigners in the U.S. AP

4. Social Studies by Michael Kesterton mentions a report that some roots of gospel music sung in black American churches originated in Scotland.

5. Obituary: Edward Said 1935-2003 - Palestine loses an eloquent voice. Columbia University literary scholar was a passionate advocate of the Palestinian cause, and a bitter critic of Arafat by Ula Ilnytzky, NEW YORK -
[Brief: 5-columns, illustrated.] Also in The Weekly Telegraph, No 636, Oct. 1-7, 2003, and 5-columns, illustrated in The Weekly Telegraph, No 637, Oct. 8-14, 2003.

Globe & Mail, Sept 27 2003:
1. Toronto cop's plea to Microsoft for aid in porn battle by David Ebner, TORONTO -
[Brief: A Toronto detective, frustrated in attempts to cope with massive Internet child porn, made an e-mail approach to Bill Gates. Microsoft has donated software to the police, and the company has initiated work on new software to combat porn by computer processing. (Last year the U.S. Customs Service estimated that 100,000 Web sites peddle child pornography.)]

2. A northern passage to safety... Mark Stevenson explains:
The death toll on a stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway was so alarming that Banff National Park built a series of overpasses and underpasses to allow animals to cross. Now deer, elk, and bears can cross the highway using bridges, tunnels.
A related article by Shawn Blore reports that South American jaguars use corridors in a Brazilian park.

Globe & Mail, Sept 29 2003 by Paul Adams: A solitary Christian Priest builds a sanctuary in strife-torn Nablus
[Brief: A 5-column illustrated article explains the motivation and the work entailed in being guardian to the famed Jacob's Well.]

Globe & Mail, Sept 30 2003:
1. U.K. dusts off 1982 probe of Vatican banker's death LONDON.
More than two decades after Italian financier Roberto Calvi was found hanging from a London bridge, British police said yesterday they have reopened the case of the man nicknamed "God's banker." Mr. Calvi, who earned his soubriquet because of his close ties to the Vatican, was found hanging from scaffolding under London's Blackfriars Bridge on June 18, 1982, with bricks in his pockets along with thousands of dollars. A British coroner initially ruled his death a suicide, but a second coroner left the verdict open. British police say they have new leads. Italian police said this year they believed he was slain by the Mafia, and have since charged four people with the crime.

2. Amish and electricity:
In the wake of hurricane Isabel's power outages, the Amish community in southern Maryland fared better than many people, reports Eugene Meyer in The Washington Post. "Alternating current, or AC, is one of the basics of modern life that members of the community historically have shunned..[However, the] Amish don't exactly live in pure, pre-electrical simplicity. Their beliefs allow the use of batteries - often recharged from solar panels - to start diesel engines.... Twelve-volt batteries even light the lamps in Amish buggies."

The Weekly Telegraph No. 635, Sept. 24-30 2003:
1. Pond cleaner gets EU ban - [Brief: Barley straw, centuries-old remedy for cleaning ponds is to be effectively banned under EU directive because no one knows how it works. Expense to research the reasons would be ruinous.]

2. Muslim bloc vote 'a turning point in British politics' [Brief: The Brent East by-election reveals strength of this new component of the populace. (Full page, 5 heads).]

3. Blueprint for changes to Lords - [Brief: 2-column statement & comments.]

4. Australia links great train divide. -
The centuries-old dream of linking northern and southern Australia by rail was finally realised last week. Workmen completed a final weld at a ceremony in Alice Springs to create a continuous 1,800-mile railway line between Adelaide and Darwin. Dismissed by its critics as "a train line from nowhere to nowhere", the £550 million Ghan railway project has been completed under budget and ahead of schedule.

5. Another letter on British invasions
[Brief: In 1797, 1,400 Napoleonic troops landed in Pembrokeshire, but Welsh women marched, giving the appearance of a large army and thus faked them into surrendering. Ever since the women who thus routed the French have been known as the Women of Strumble Head.]

Globe & Mail, Oct. 1 2003 - Social Studies by Michael Kesterton:
What's new in fakes - Manufacturers have really come a long way with artificial plants and flowers. [Brief: Fake flowers, fake fish in fish-tanks (powered by two AA batteries!), a fake bugle to give a trumpet call, - a bit like a loud-hailer- all now available and appear real.]

National Post, Oct. 3 2003: Saddam bluffed about WMDs: CIA expert - A bid to deter invasion, by Steven Edwards -
United Nations - Arms experts dispatched by the United States to hunt for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq told committees of the U.S. Congress yesterday they have come up dry. David Kay, head of Washington's Iraq Survey group, said Saddam Hussein may have simply been bluffing about possessing such weapons in a bid to deter invasion. [Brief: 2 lengthy columns weigh statements and implications in U.S. Government circles, and in London and the U.N.] CanWest News Service sedwards@nationalpost.com .

Globe & Mail, Oct. 4 2003: Two Book Reviews:
1. The Meaning of Everything - The Story of the Oxford Dictionary by Simon Winchester Oxford University Press, 259 pp. $34.95 reviewed by Jack Chambers.
[Brief: The reviewer's opening sentences set the stage: "I work with the firm belief (at most times) that I am doing what God has fitted me for, & so made my duty, & a hope that He will strengthen me to see the end of it." So wrote Sir James Murray near the end of his life, when it was finally prudent to say aloud that what he saw as his divine mission would actually be completed. He was editor of the Oxford English Dictionary, an appointment he took up part time in 1879 when he was 42 and then full-time in 1885. As fate would have it, when he died in 1915, he was writing definitions for words starting with T. It would take another 13 years, until 1928, for Murray's dictionary, the redoubtable OED, to reach a kind of end... ."]
COMMENT: This review speaks volumes. It not only describes the excellent and arduous work of a number of people drawn into the mainstream of a common task with uncommon zeal, which the author traces, but it likewise testifies to the remarkable ability of both author and reviewer to capture the interest of the casual reader. One inclines to obtain a copy of a book so well presented! The story of the OED reveals the hunger for exact knowledge in the minds of those who laboured to produce it through many years, and sets the results of such labours among our national treasures. Through this review of the author's contribution, one can the better appreciate this lively enterprise which has continued to preserve lasting values while absorbing the further distinguished work of others.

2. Spoken Here: Travels Among Threatened Languages by Mark Abley, Random House Canada, 322 pp., $34.95 reviewed by Gale Zoë Garnett.
[Brief: Again, a delightful review of a book which presents deeply held, yet endangered values that appeal to the senses of the reader as matters worth preserving. One paragraph seems most appropriate within the confines of this brief. "Abley sees minority languages dying at lightning speed, and, recognizing their relationship to collective identity and pride, he wishes to shine a light on some of them, in hope that the speakers will take heart and others will take heed. We will all be richer if we do... ."

Globe & Mail, Oct. 6 2003: Old land mine killed Canadians, Afghan says - by Hamida Ghafour, KABUL -
The device that killed two Canadian soldiers patrolling the outskirts of Kabul was an old explosive, and not a deliberate attack on Canadians, an Afghan intelligence official said yesterday.

Globe & Mail, Oct. 7 2003:
1. Black woman to lead Britain's Lords - London.
Lady Amos is a surprise choice by Prime minister Tony Blair to be the first black leader of the House of Lords, having been promoted to Secretary of State for International Development only six months ago. Mr. Blair is said to have debated whether to promote her or Lady Scotland, the black Home Office Minister. Lady Amos has been a government whip and spokes-woman for social security, women's issues, international development and the Foreign Office recently. Guardian

2. FBI funded Hamas as Clinton urged peace by John Solomon, WASHINGTON -
While president Bill Clinton was trying to broker an elusive peace deal between Israelis and Palestinians, the FBI was secretly funnelling money to suspected Hamas figures to see whether the militant group would use it for terrorist attacks, according to interviews and court documents. The counterterrorism operation in 1998 and 1999 was run out of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Phoenix office in co-operation with Israeli intelligence and was approved by the attorney-general at the time, Janet Reno, FBI officials said. Several thousand dollars in U.S. money was sent to suspected terror supporters during the operation as the FBI tried to track the flow of cash through terrorist organizations, the bureau said in a rare acknowledgment of an undercover sting that never resulted in prosecutions. "This was done in conjunction with permission from the attorney-general for an ongoing operation, and Israeli authorities were aware of it," it said. One of the FBI's key operatives, who has had a falling-out with the bureau, provided an account of the operation at a friend's closed immigration court proceeding... . Associated Press
[Brief: A two column article conveys further details.]

Globe & Mail, Oct. 8 2003:
1. Obituary: Izzy Asper, 1932-2003 - Abrasive, litigious, brilliant, charming - He built an empire and leaves a major imprint on his country - by Gordon Pitts -
"If the voters of Manitoba had been kinder, Izzy Asper might have ended up as premier of the province - and ultimately faded into retirement as a jazz-loving elder statesman of the Liberal Party. Instead, he built one of Canada's major communications companies, ignited a firestorm of controversy over media diversity and left a long string of fierce friends and bitter foes in his considerable wake. Mr. Asper, who died yesterday aged 71, is a case study in how peculiar twists of fate, blended with the intelligence and nerve of a larger-than-life personality, can leave a huge imprint on a country's cultural and political life ... ."
[COMMENT: In his introductory comments, quoted above, the author of this exceeding well written lead article, the theme of which extends through the combined articles of about seven other feature writers covering several full and well-illustrated pages of the newspaper, can hardly be bettered. Considering their focus, they might be cited as an exemplary and concise introduction to several pages of newspaper coverage in similar circumstances.]

2. Men accused of slaying Biko won't be prosecuted - Johannesburg.
The five policemen who were accused of killing anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko in 1977 won't be prosecuted because of insufficient evidence, South African Justice Ministry officials said yesterday. A murder charge could not be supported, in part because there were no witnesses to the killing, officials said. Charges of culpable homicide and assault were also considered, but because the killing of the black-consciousness movement leader occurred in 1977, the time frame for prosecution had lapsed. AP

The Weekly Telegraph No. 636, Oct. 1-7 2003:
1. Canada funds frozen pensions appeal by Fred Langan in Toronto -
THE Canadian Government is financing part of the legal expenses of Annette Carson, the British pensioner living in South Africa who is fighting for indexation of all British pensions. Her case goes to the House of Lords this month. The Canadian Government has spent C$350,000 (£161,000) so far on the two failed court cases where Mrs Carson was ordered to pay costs. Ottawa has reimbursed two groups representing British pensioners in Canada with C$111,000 in June 2002 and another C$238,000 this July. The Canadian government did provide financial assistance to the (British) pensioners' organizations," said Ed Tamango, a Canadian government official who described the issue as "a file I've been working on for 20 years now." British pensions are not indexed to the cost of living in Canada, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand and many other countries. But the pensions do increase every year in the United States, Barbados, Jamaica and elsewhere. The reason the Canadian government is interested in seeing the 147,000 British pensioners in Canada with increased incomes is so that Ottawa can stop paying many of them cost of living benefits... .

2. Order that sent 600 into Valley of Death by Peter Foster -
it is almost 150 years since the 600 rode into the Valley of Death but one look at the hastily scrawled order that launched the charge of the Light Brigade is still capable of eliciting an involuntary shudder. Handwritten in pencil on a yellowed scrap of notepaper, the order dictated by Lord Raglan, the commander of the British army at Balaklava, has remained hidden from public view for more than 20 years in the archives of the National Army Museum in London. This month, however, it will go on display as the centre-piece of a year-long exhibition showing a soldier's-eye view of the Crimean War of 1854-56. As Dr Alastair Massie observed while granting The Daily Telegraph a sneak preview of the paper, it is all the more chilling for its unassuming appearance. "It is hard to think of an historical artefact that looks so apparently insignificant but from which flowed such fatal consequences," he said.
Raglan's order, signed by Richard Airey, the Quarter-master-General, reads: "Lord Raglan wishes the cavalry to advance rapidly to the front, follow the enemy & try to prevent the enemy carrying away the guns. Troop horse artillery may accompany. French cavalry is on your left. Immediate. R. Airey."
[Brief: full page, colour-illustrated account of the charge, and the initiating order.]

3. Rape claims are forged, says Army - by Adrian Blomfield in Nairobi -
A PLANNED lawsuit by 650 Kenyan tribeswomen alleging that they were raped by British soldiers was put in danger after Royal Military police investigators concluded that police records filed by the claimants were forged. ... The women say the incidents of rape go back to 1965.

4. CIA plays down hope of discovering WMD -
IN ITS first public comments on the search for Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, the CIA has conceded that a long-awaited report on the hunt would reach "no firm conclusions", write Alec Russell and George Jones. The comments appeared to underline diminishing hopes in Washington and Whitehall that WMD would be found. After several months in Iraq following the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, David Kay, a former United Nations weapons inspector and the civilian head of the 1,400-strong Iraq Survey Group, is expected to submit his interim report this week. With President George W. Bush and his officials sounding less confident about the search for WMD in recent weeks, and talking more of weapons programmes than working systems, the CIA statement appeared to be an attempt to reduce expectations before the reports publication ... In London the BBC quoted an anonymous source in the US administration saying the inspectors' report would conclude that the group had found no evidence of WMD.