Jane's Intelligence Digest, 5 March, 2004: article "Israel's nuclear deterrent"
[Opening paragraph: "With Libya having decided to abandon its nuclear and chemical weapons programmes and Iran showing signs of agreeing to more intrusive inspections by the International Atomic Energy Authority (IAEA), JID's leading weapons specialist investigates the extent to which these developments are likely to affect Israel, the only state in the Middle East to possess a nuclear deterrent." Other notes: Israel is believed to have at least 200 nuclear weapons - perhaps more than the U.K., with 50 Jericho-2 missiles of 1,500km range, 1,000kg payload and 50 Jericho-1 (500km range, 500kg payload). Jericho-3, being developed, will range to 4,800km, with 1.000kg payload. 60 photographs of Dimona atomic facility, were taken by dismissed Israeli nuclear technician, Mordechai Vanunu and published in the UK's Sunday Times. (He was arrested, and having possibly served his sentence, may be released in April.) "The continued focus on WMD proliferation may have unintentionally brought Israel's WMD to Washington's attention. Israel is never mentioned in six-monthly reports the US Congress requires the intelligence agencies to prepare on the acquisition of WMD by foreign countries. The National Air and Space Intelligence Center lists 18 nations with missiles, with Israel noticeable by its absence."

Jane's Intelligence Digest, 12 March, 2004: article "WMD intelligence assessed":
[Brief: Intelligence ... is gathered ... from satellite surveillance and eavesdropping; testimonies from defectors ...; agents or intelligence assets; assessments by institutes with specialist knowledge of the facilities and expertise needed; analysis of present capabilities based on the country's track record; evidence of surplus production or diversion of production to the military; quantities of weapons sufficient for credible military action; quality of old chemical and biological stockpiles and evidence from current or previous UN-led inspections of the country's known weapons facilities. The failure to correctly assess the status and relative danger of Iraqi weapons has several aspects: outdated intelligence and too heavy reliance on reports by defectors and assessments of dual-use facilities. (COMMENT: Should we add to those the intelligence conduits subject to manipulation by self-serving "allies"? - Ed.)]

Near Eastern Archaeology (ASOR) Vol 65 No 4, Dec. 2002
(an issue we missed - Ed.) This issue was rich in coloured photography and information devoted to "Petra."

Saudi Aramco World January/February 2004 pp 20-40 "Mapping Arabia"
carried much historical information and many coloured maps dealing with the subject.

Science Vol 303 No 5664 12 March 2004 p. 1607 "Remembrance of Winter Past"
(Abstract:) "Many crops keep track of the cold weather they've experienced and then bloom rapidly in springtime. A spate of new gene discoveries hints at how they stay on schedule." by Jean Marx - [Brief: one whole page explains details.]

Science Vol 303 No 5665 19 March 2004:
1. p. 1753 Bid to save 'Galįpagos of Indian Ocean' (Abstract:) "Yemen hopes to balance economic growth and conservation to protect the dazzling flora and fauna of the Socotra Archipelago." by Eva Sohlman - [Brief: Island south of Arabia holds ten plant genera found nowhere else in the world, Illus. by photos, map.]
2. p. 1761 Face Transplants: Next Step in Plastic Surgery? [Brief: With organ transplants common, flesh of faces from cadavers might replace facial tissues of disfigured recipients.]

FOCUS on Geography Vol 47 No 4 Great Geographers: Charles Darwin & Thomas Henry Huxley by Jeffrey Lee:
[Brief: 3-pages, illus., yield interesting and concise biographical information on both, e.g.- Darwin had planned to become a Church of England clergyman, Huxley joined the Navy to pay off debts as surgeon on HMS Rattlesnake.]

Trinity Alumni Magazine Vol 41 No 2 Spring 2004 - Facsimile of Lindisfarne Gospels acquired by Trinity College, U of T.
The 1,300 year-old original, in the British Library, is the oldest surviving English translation of the Bible. "Perhaps the most important artifact of cultural heritage in the British Isles." [Brief: 980 meticulously illuminated high quality facsimiles of the 500-page Gospel were printed by Faksimile Verlag Luzern in Switzerland.]

Time Magazine April 5, 2004 Vol 163 No 14 (Can. Edn.)
1. Dr. Michael Newdow, An atheist, argued before the Supreme Court against the phrase "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance (a California court previously ruled in his favour).
2. The Jains are Sparkling in India - Surat's workers may soon be kings of the diamond business.
[Brief: In Surat, north of Bombay, 1,000 skilled diamond polishers are new force.]

The Weekly Telegraph No. 658, Mar. 3-9, 2004:
1. Farewell to Majesty's pleasure - PRISONERS will no longer be sentenced at "Her Majesty's Pleasure" and warders will have to drop all royal insignia, under new Home Office plans. From July the prison service is to be renamed the National Offenders' Management Service (NOMS). When this change was announced last month, ministers indicated to prison officers that the new service name would still be prefaced by "Her Majesty's" and preserve all royal connections - that is now off the cards.
[See Weekly Telegraph No. 659 below, for more.]
2. Today's spies can listen even through a closed window
[Brief: Powerful unidirectional microphones can pick up conversations through open windows, and radio beams can be bounced off the glass to detect vibrations even if windows are closed.]
3. Howard woos gay vote with summit:
MICHAEL Howard will try to woo the pink vote next month by staging a one-day gay summit to highlight the discrimination suffered by homosexuals. The Tory leader, who recently offered his support for same-sex partnerships has given his backing to an event designed to repair the party's anti-gay image.
4. Europe rebuffs 'metric martyrs':
FIVE market traders prosecuted for selling goods in pounds and ounces only have been told that they could not take their case to the European courts. Steven Thoburn, Peter Collins, Colin Hunt, Julian Harman and John Dove - the so-called metric martyrs - argued that their convictions had breached the European Convention on Human Rights. But the European court in Strasbourg said that their argument was inadmissible.
Related: The Weekly Telegraph No. 660, March 17-23, 2004 carried this item:
'Metric Martyr' dies at 38
- A GREENGROCER who became the first market trader to be convicted for refusing to sell goods solely in metric measurements died on Sunday. Steve Thoburn, 38, known as a "Metric Martyr", defied European law by continuing to sell fruit and vegetables from his Sunderland stall in pounds and ounces. The father-of-three died after a suspected heart attack at his home.
5. Classroom mathematics in deep crisis says inquiry & Shakespeare is cut down to size for GCSE pupils -
[Brief: These two headings indicate the trends in educational standards.]
6. Unbelieving Britons -
BRITAIN has one of the lowest levels of religious belief in the world, a BBC survey has found. The poll, which was carried out for BBC2's What the World Thinks of God, surveyed 10,000 people in 10 countries. The results show that only 46 per cent of Britons say they believe in God, 27 percentage points less that the average. Only Russia (42 per cent) and South Korea (28 per cent) were lower.
7. English in decline
THE PROPORTION of the world's population that grows up speaking English is in decline and Mandarin Chinese will become the next "must learn" language, it has been claimed. By 2050 more people will speak Chinese, Hindi - and its close relative, Urdu - or Arabic as a first language than English, according to David Graddol, a language expert.
8. Roman coin reveals forgotten emperor (domitianus coin) by Nigel Reynolds Arts Correspondent -
[Brief: 1,700 years old, small and of base metal, the coin, discovered in Oxfordshire, rewrites history as it substantiates existence of the almost unknown ruler, who ruled the Gallic Empire (Gaul, Germany Britain and Spain), for a week or two before being overthrown. His likeness on the coin bears a crown of rays, with inscription "Imp(erator) C(aesar) Domitianus P(ius) Felix Aug(ustus). (4-columns, illus.)]
9. (2-page colour spread) "Gibson's bloody epic releases the passions" with adjacent headings: "Why the Jews cannot be blamed for Jesus' death", "British rabbis warn of incitement to anti-semitism","'As an exercise in cinematic technique, the film is stunning. But it also suffers from a terrible identity crisis - a devotional work masquerading as history'."
10. Milosevic trial blow as judge steps down.
(A mistrial may be claimed by the defence.)
& Globe & Mail March 6 2004: Drop genocide charge, Milosevic tribunal urged.
11. Plane crash kills voice of reason in Balkan politics
(Macedonian President, Boris Trajkovski)
12. Obituary: Flt Lt Bob Buckham - Pilot who used his skills as a draughtsman to record 400-mile forced march.
[Brief: At 6ft 4in, he was at first rejected by the RCAF, later accepted. He used a small notebook to record an illustrated diary of detailed observations gathered during an over 400 miles march across war-ravaged Germany by 10,000 prisoners from Stalag Luft III in 1945. A British armoured tank overtook the marching column. Later married and a successful freelance illustrator and artist. Dead at 85.]
13. Graf Spee remnants raised -
More than 64 years after the Graf Spee's captain scuttled his pocket battleship off Uruguay to stop it falling into British hands during the 1939-1945 war, divers have raised part of the vessel. After weeks of failed attempts a 27-ton section of the command tower, including the first embryonic radar antenna installed on a warship, was brought to the surface of the River Plate estuary using a floating crane. It is to be raised in sections over the next three years and rebuilt as a museum.
14. "Vinegar Nature's Secret Weapon" (Advertisement)
[Brief: listed are 24 uses for vinegar, plus 10 of honey and garlic. We are not qualified to give medical advice, but it all looks pretty good to us!]
15. Detainees face first war crime charges (Guantanamo captives.)
16. Bush backs ban on gay marriages.
17. Mugabe's friends siphon off nine-tenths of EU aid to poor.
18. Tsvangirai trial ends (Year-long treason trial of Zimbabwe's opposition leader.)
19. Zimbabwe newspaper sackings (Staff of closed newspaper must be let go.)

Globe & Mail March 1, 2004: Gibson earns filthy lucre at the box office - Los Angeles -
Mel Gibson's gamble on The Passion of The Christ paid off enormously, riding a storm of religious debate to a $117.5-million (U.S.) haul in its first five days.

Globe & Mail March 4, 2004:
1. Scientists retract autism, vaccine connection by Helen Branswell, TORONTO -
The majority of the scientists responsible for a piece of research that fuelled fears that a common childhood vaccine caused autism have renounced that interpretation of their work. Submitting a retraction to the British medical journal that published the study.
2. Ban on Islamic scarves passes in French senate - PARIS.
A law banning Islamic head scarves in public schools was overwhelmingly adopted in the French Senate yesterday despite protests by many Muslims that the measure is discriminatory. The 276-20 vote mirrored similar support by the National Assembly. President Jacques Chirac must now formally sign it into law within 15 days. He has said such a law is needed to protect the French principle of secularism. AP

Globe & Mail March 5 2004:
1. Europe's summer of 2003 hottest in 500 years - London.
The heat wave that caused havoc across Europe last year has put 2003 in the record books as the hottest summer in more than 500 years, according to climate experts. Scientists at the University of Bern, Switzerland, found that not only was the last summer exceptionally hot, but that in the past 10 years, Europe has experienced its hottest summers since 1500. According to the journal Science, the records show that Europe was on average two degrees Celsius hotter last summer than the average summer temperature over nearly the entire 20th century. Guardian
[COMMENT: We are reminded of two verses: Isaiah 30:26 Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound., and Luke 21:25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;]
2. Nazi trial keeps a sense of humour (Holocaust Cabaret on trial of John Demjanjuk).

The Weekly Telegraph No. 659, March 10-16, 2004:
1. Labour's new snub to the Queen - Ministers fail to consult her on axing the royal link to prisons and prosecutors by Joshua Rozenberg Legal Editor and Caroline Davies:
THE ROLE OF the Queen as Head of State was further eroded last week as the government announced plans to drop the word Crown from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), without consulting Buckingham Palace. For the third time in less than a year the Queen's ministers chose not to pay her the courtesy of consultation but kept her in the dark until just before reforms were announced. The Daily Telegraph learnt that the Queen was merely "notified" of recent plans to drop the words Her Majesty's from Her Majesty's Prison Service, which is to be renamed the National Offenders' Management Service (Noms). The CPS admitted later that there had been no discussion between the Director of Public Prosecutions and Buckingham Palace prior to the Home Secretary, David Blunkett, announcing plans to rename the CPS the Public Prosecutions Service. When asked if the Palace had responded favourably to the proposed change, Mr. Blunkett would only say: "I am hopeful that the responses we have received so far can be announced by the Attorney General soon." A Buckingham Palace spokesman said: "It is a matter for the Government. We never comment on exchanges."

The plan to drop Crown from Crown Prosecution Service is the latest in a series of changes that have alarmed those who see value in Britain's long standing constitutional practices. An even more dramatic example came last June, when Downing Street announced that the post of Lord Chancellor was to be abolished after 1,400 years. Again, the Queen was not consulted, even though the Lord Chancellor is keeper of the great seal of the Realm. For centuries, the 6in-wide seal has been affixed to documents in the Sovereign's name. A Bill published last week amends legislation on the Great Seal dating from 1531. The changes will mean the Great Seal being kept by the Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs.

Under the constitution the monarch "has the right to be consulted, the right to encourage and the right to warn". Without the first, the Queen is being denied her rights to the second and third. The CPS said there had been no discussions with the Palace, because its name change had not been finalised. "If we did go down that road and change the name along the lines the Home Secretary mentioned, then we will be discussing it with the Palace, said a spokesman. Alan Duncan, the Tory constitutional affairs spokesman, described the CPS move as "totally unacceptable". He added: "It is all part of an increasingly obvious agenda to remove the Crown from everything." The Prison Service was also angered by the removal of its royal association, which began in 1485, when Henry VII appointed the first Beefeaters who formed the "royal prison service". Buckingham Place said of the prison changes: "We are aware that changes are going to be made in that area. Consultation will take place" - a response widely seen as confirmation that no prior consultation had occurred. As the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985 refers specifically to Crown Prosecution Service and Crown Prosecutors, primary legislation will be needed before a name change.

Related articles: "'Republican agenda' denied by Blair", "Blunkett may be jumping the gun over CPS name"
(one quote: "There was also a sharp intake of breath and terse responses from the Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, and the Director of Public Prosecutions. They - not the Home Office - are responsible for the CPS.),
"Woolf fury at Blunkett curb on the courts - Home Secretary's Bill dismissed as 'threat to rule of law'."
(Related Editorial) The Daily Telegraph:
"A constitutional crisis of the government's making."

2. Serbia refuses to hand over war suspect by Alex Todorovic in Belgrade:
SERBIA'S prime minister Vojislav Kostunica, says he will refuse to extradite any more war criminals, even if it means the end of American aid. A deadline set by the US Congress to hand over high-ranking suspects, including Radovan Karadzic and the former Bosnian Serb military leader, Gen Ratko Mladie, expires at the end of March. If Serbia does not extradite Mladie by then, it may lose £55 million in foreign aid. Mr. Kostunica, a moderate nationalist who beat Slobodan Milosevic in the 2000 elections, said he would ask the tribunal for evidence against indicted war criminals, so that they could be tried in Serbia.
[COMMENT: US policy: Pay $-aid to reluctant but poor governments to grab its targets!]

3. Mobiles helped unravel al-Qa'eda web by Alec Russell in Washington:
A SHORT, silent mobile phone call led to the unravelling of an al-Qa'eda network on three continents in one of the greatest triumphs for western Intelligence since the September 11 attacks, it has emerged. The CIA and European intelligence agencies identified a brand of Swiss cellphone chip as popular with al-Qa'eda because it could be bought at the time without giving a name. ... News of the investigation is a welcome public relations fillip for the CIA and MI6 after months of pummelling over their shortcomings on Iraq, in particular their apparent failure to extract any accurate intelligence on the state of Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction programmes. [Brief: 6 columns.]

4. Kurds celebrate as constitution is signed by Patrick Bishop and Agencies:
IRAQ'S Kurds celebrated on Monday after the country's Governing Council signed an interim constitution that enshrines their right to autonomy in three northern provinces and guarantees minority rights. [COMMENT: The Governing Council is US appointed, not democratically elected.]

5. Princess reopens old wounds - Embarrassment for royals as the US watches their pain.
[Brief: NBC played video to 10 million Americans of Diana's account of her troubles.]

6. Navy will salute Trafalgar -
AFTER months of uncertainty, the Royal Navy has decided to go ahead with plans to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar next year. [Brief: Organizers had worried that Britain's fleet was now so small that there would not be enough ships. Solution: get other countries to take part (including the French and Spanish, who reckon it a victory as they managed to kill Nelson!)]

7. Learning all the right moves for the future.
Game of chess provides a great opportunity for non-athletic pupils to be competitive, says Richard Cairns. [Brief: 6-columns, colour-illus.]

Globe & Mail March 10, 2004:
1. Immigrants transforming Canada's cities, study says -
New waves of immigration have transformed the face of urban Canada, giving rise to a phenomenal increase of "visible-minority neighbourhoods" - enclaves where at least 30 per cent of the population comes from a single ethnic group. Statistics Canada said in a report in Canadian Social Trends yesterday. In 1981, Canada could count only six neighbourhoods across the country where 30 per cent of residents came from a single visible minority. By 2001, the number swelled to 254, nearly all of them in Toronto and Vancouver. Staff
[Brief: Information in related article: "Black population growth dramatic, report shows"; five columns and a Chart of Canadian Cities and percentages of Black Populations.]

2. Hubbell image reveals universe's first galaxies - [13 billion years distance into the past.]

Globe & Mail March 11, 2004:
1. What you need to know about Protecting Privacy
[Brief: full page yields details.]
2. Obituary: John (Jock) Anderson (1913-2004)
The Presbyterian minister served continuously with a frontline infantry battalion from D-Day to VE-Day (2 MCs) (5-col. illus.)

Globe & Mail March 12, 2004: 'Mass murder' in Madrid
(front & several other pages.) Ten explosions blast train.
[COMMENT: Questions arising: Who really was responsible? And why was it done?]

Globe & Mail March 13, 2004.
1. Passion pays for Mel. [Brief: Gibson's ultimate profits could soar to $400-million or more. (6-columns, illustrated.)]
2. International Affairs: How the U.S. fostered Taliban terror -
Book Review: Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet invasion to September 10, 2001, by Steve Coll, Penguin Press, 695 pages $45.00 - Reviewed by Wesley K. Wark [Brief: Braided factors neatly reviewed. 4-col., illus.]
3. Book: God's Secretaries - The Making of the King James Bible by Adam Nicolson - Harper Collins Canada (Hardback and Paperback available) [Brief: Your Editor acquired a copy and is impressed. Recommended.]

Globe & Mail March 15, 2004
1. Spaniards oust ruling party in wake of terrorist attacks - Widespread belief of lying by government prompts angry voters to turn to Socialists. (Heading on page 1 & 2 col.)
2. Property in China: Karl Marx would not be amused. By an overwhelming vote yesterday the parliament of the world's biggest Communist state declared that private property is "inviolable" and must be given constitutional protection. -
& Right to private property enshrined in Chinese constitution - symbolic step taken just metres from spot where Mao ushered in communism - by Geoffrey York, Beijing -
[Brief: Historic decision was almost unanimous - 2,863 in favour, 10 against and 17 abstentions. A separate amendment offers further good news for the private sector by adopting the so-called "Three Represents" theory of former president Jiang Zemin, which proclaims that all classes of society - including entrepreneurs - should be represented in the Chinese Communist Party. The vote came on the final day of the annual parliamentary session, known as the National People's Congress, as its members met in the Great Hall of the People on Tiananmen Square. (6 columns.)
3. Bush lied to justify Iraq war, Canada right to stay out: poll by Jeff Sallot, OTTAWA (page 1) -
Canadians overwhelmingly believe President George W. Bush lied to justify the Iraq war and their own government was wise to stay out of the conflict, a new poll suggests. Two-thirds (67 per cent) of adult Canadians said they agreed with the statement that Mr. Bush "knowingly lied to the world to justify his war with Iraq" a year ago The Globe and Mail- CTV News poll says. Moreover, almost three-quarters (74 per cent) of the poll respondents said that the federal government made the correct decision by not joining the U.S.-led coalition that invaded Iraq, the polling data show. The poll, conducted by Ipsos-Reid, suggests that most Canadians (61 per cent) are pessimistic about the chances of democracy ever taking root in the Middle East... .
(& page 6): U.S. will learn valuable lesson from war, most in poll believe. (3-col., 6 Questions graphed.)
4. Passion continues steamrolling competition - [Brief: Top film for 3rd straight week. (Total beyond 1/4 billion dollars.)]

Globe & Mail March 16 2004 -
1. Far-flung, cold orb given an Inuit name. Kerfuffle arises after astronomers dub newly discovered planetoid Sedna.
[Brief: The planetoid orbits between 16 billion and 130 billion km from the sun (when it is 900 times earth-to-sun distance). Sedna is the Inuit goddess of the sea who, according to one version of the story, was originally a woman thrown into icy Arctic waters by her father. He was attempting to appease another god who had tricked Sedna into marrying him and from whom she was fleeing. When she tried to get back into the boat, her father beat her frozen hands, which when they broke off, turned into whales and other large mammals. While she sank, she did not die but became the goddess of the sea.]
2. Spain leaves 'coalition of the willing' -
Incoming PM calls Iraq war 'disaster,' threatens to pull troops by June 30. [Brief: Leaving the coalition was his party's stated policy prior to the train bombings. 5-columns, illustrated.]
3. Blessed are the filmmakers - Mel Gibson's the passion of the Christ is on the path to earn a miraculous $400-million and has turned other movie execs into believers, Gayle Macdonald writes. [Brief: 5 columns & 6 coloured illustrations.]

The Weekly Telegraph No. 660, March 17-23, 2004:
1. Election blow to Bush's war on terror -
Socialists take power in Spain and promise to pull troops out of Iraq. [Brief: most of front page and four pages inside.]
2. Diana told Camilla: 'I know what's going on' [Brief: 2-columns, illustrated.]
3. Teenagers reverse the moral trend By Sarah Womack Social Affairs Correspondent -
TEENAGERS want to turn back the moral clock and are more reactionary than their parents, according to new research.
4. Museum captures mystery queen.
NAKED, curvaceous and almost 4,000 years old, she has been given the come-hither nickname "the Queen of the Night", writes Nigel Reynolds. (3-col. illustrated.)
5. Lords to fight supreme court plan -
The Lords voted 216 to 183 last week to send the Constitutional Reform bill for scrutiny by special select committee. (4-col. illus).
6. Looted graves of Boer War heroes will be protected (6 columns, map, illustrated.)
7. Never forget, Prime Minister, that Parliament is sovereign. -
Thomas Strathclyde says the Government will suffer if it tries to break its word on Lords reform. (Opinion piece.)
[Related: Is the commons more democratic than the Lords?- W.F. Deedes (Opinion piece.)]
8. Frozen pensions: 'desperate' situation -
(Expatriate pensioners await appeal to House of Lords.)

Globe & Mail March 17, 2004:
Anti-Americanism spreading, poll says -
Support for Washington hits new lows by Todd Hurman, Washington [Brief: 9-country poll.]
[Related: (G&M March 19 2004 Comment Article) Foreign Policy: Canada got it right on Iraq -
We should not shrink from disagreeing with the United States when it is wrong - and it was wrong to go to war, says former UN ambassador Paul Heinbecker.

Globe & Mail March 18, 2004
1. Ethnic Albanians, Serbs clash in Kosovo: 'We are back in 1999'
[Related: G&M March 19 2004: Second day of violence rocks Kosovo (5 col. illus.)]
2. Multiheaded al-Qaeda has adapted. -
Decentralized command structure helps terrorist group continue its attacks.
[Related: Spanish probe enters 'decisive phase' (Train bombings).]
3. (Editorial page Cartoon) Hollywood mogul on knees, newspaper headlines on floor "Spirituality Boffo at the box Office!!" and "'Passion of Christ' $$$$$$", praying "so...Let's have your people talk with my people..."

Globe & Mail March 19 2004:
War-crimes suspect says he was prisoner - Federal government seeks to revoke citizenship of Edmonton man, (Mr. Furman) 85. (5-col. illus.)

Globe & Mail March 20, 2004
1. Reporter fabricated stories, USA today finds Associated Press
[Brief: star foreign correspondent Jack Kelley made up substantial portions of at least eight stories and plagiarized numerous quotes and other material from competing publications. 4 columns.]
2. Passion bashin' is in fashion -
I finally saw Mel's much-reviled movie. His Jesus isn't meek and mild, but that may be why he is working such miracles at the box office - Margaret Wente - Counterpoint. (4-columns, illustrated.)
3. Nature vs. Nurture - Why identical twins stop being identical -
Because DNA 'epigenetics' has kicked in. Paul Taylor explores a new branch of science (6 columns.)

Globe & Mail March 22, 2004:
1. Ex-counterintelligence chief blasts Bush's record -
[Brief: Former White House counterterrorism co-ordinator Richard Clarke said yesterday that it is "outrageous" that President George W. Bush is running for re-election based on his record in fighting terror... .]
2. Obituary: Princess Juliana 1909-2004 -
Dutch queen fostered ties with Canada (5-col. well illus.)
[Also Weekly Telegraph March 24-30 2004: Dutch pay tribute to former Queen: by Alex Bellos -
PRINCESS JULIANA of the Netherlands - the original "bicycling monarch", who reigned for 32 years before her abdication in 1980 - died on Saturday at the age of 94. The former Queen Juliana, who had been ill for many years, succumbed to a lung infection. Her daughter Beatrix who succeeded her as queen ... in 1980, was at her side.

Globe & Mail March 23, 2004:
1. Martyr or arch-terrorist? -
Revered by Palestinians, Yassin regarded by Israel as mastermind of suicide attacks. &Yassin's followers prepare for revenge. [Related: (Editorial) Why Israel was wrong to kill Sheik Yassin.]
2. White House boosts effort to counter war critic (vs. former ant-terrorism adviser Richard Clarke)
3. Passion gets green light from Singapore censors
4. 'Museum' of stolen artifacts found in Spain

The Weekly Telegraph No. 661, March 24-30, 2004:
1. Falconer climbdown over Lords reform
2. Bush puts brave face on crushing diplomatic blow & Britain, US fear spate of allies' desertions & Howard accuses Spain of 'moral cowardice'
3. Albanians renew war on Serbs - 600 British troops sent back into Kosovo & Churches and mosques blaze as mobs run wild.
4. Missiles kill Hamas cleric who embraced martyrdom & Gaza's most influential public figure.
5. Obituary: David Harvey, aged 57,
spent 36 years seeking and researching the graves and memorials of more than 1,300 holders of the Victoria Cross since the first awards were made in 1856.

Globe & Mail March 25, 2004:
1. U.S. court battle over pledge raucous -
emotions spill over as arguments begin on constitutionality of term 'under God' (5-columns, illustrated.)
2. Sharon cannot seem to change -
the killing of Sheik Yassin portends only bad things for Israel. Terrorism is likely to increase in a region where most people already feel hopeless, says Rami Khouri.

Globe & Mail March 26, 2004:
1. AIDS rate higher among uncircumcised -
new study finds no difference in incidence of other sexually transmitted diseases - Laboratory studies have suggested that foreskins are full of certain cells 'which are essentially a magnet for HIV infection' (6-columns).
2. U.S. Senate approves law boosting fetal rights.
3. Ethnic-Albanian officials vow to rebuild Serb village.
4. Afghans find new use for stock of land mines.
(melted, used to recast them into iron grills for wood-burning stoves, as part of a Canadian-led project).

Globe & Mail March 27, 2004:
1. Judgment day for a nation's judges -
Canada started to withdraw its peacekeepers this week, highlighting a major problem for crime-ridden Bosnia; What do you do when those enforcing the law don't obey it themselves? Alan Baldachin visits Sarajevo, where Canadian Christopher Harland is working on a radical solution to the problem. [Brief: Essentially, all former judges are fired, then, all factors considered, selection interviews by international legal staff seek to hire or re-appoint the "best" candidates to fill 1,000 positions.]
2. The Isaac Newton of logic -
It was 150 years ago that George Boole published his classic The Laws of Thought, in which he outlined concepts that form the underpinnings of the modern high-speed computer. Siobhan Roberts chronicles the man and his method. [Brief: e.g.- A proposed associated "truth" might be sieved using gates marked "and", "or", "not", with 1 meaning true, 0 meaning false. 5-columns, illustrated.]

Globe & Mail March 29, 2004:
Sharon faces corruption charges -
Israeli leader's future thrown into doubt after prosecutor's bribery investigation, - Businessman provided Sharon with staff, office.

Globe & Mail March 30, 2004:
1. Rivals ready as scandal laps at Sharon - Likud Party hopefuls test waters in wake of Greek island affair engulfing Israeli PM.
2. Obituary: Peter Ustinov 1921-2004 'The genius of our generation' in the theatre world -
"So stupendous was the actor/dramatist's early talent that his achievements seem almost anticlimactic - Ustinov ruled Stratford."

Globe & Mail March 31, 2004:
Can saffron supplant poppy among growers in Afghanistan? Kabul hopes costliest spice will tempt farmers away from lucrative opium trade. (6-columns, colour illustrated.)
_____________________________________________________________________

As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country. Proverbs 25:25