Jane's Intelligence Digest, 25 April, 2004:
"NewWeapons for US arsenal" introduces an article with the words "In November 2003, President George W. Bush signed new legislation that authorises research into low-yield nuclear weapons, including earth-penetrating weapons and enhanced radiation warheads. In the process of reviewing what the USA should do with its nuclear arsenal, the Pentagon believes that low-yield weapons will reduce the US' dependence on high-yield weapons. Low-yield weapons are viewed as one means to deter countries from burying chemical and biological weapon (CBW) materials in deep bunkers, or as pre-emptive weapons to strike deeply-buried targets (DBTs) containing CBW - such as those that were supposed to be in Iraq, although none has actually been found."
[COMMENT: If plans eventuate, a whole range of weaponry intermediate in intensity between present conventional and atomic weapons will be developed with lines blurred between conventional and atomic devices. The question then arises, "How far may such weapons spread throughout the world, and who may use them?"]

The Weekly Telegraph No. 658, Mar. 3-9, 2004:
1. "Muslim culture has contributed little for centuries, says Carey -
Former archbishop duped by racist tactic, say Islamic leaders" was the front-page heading to an article by Jonathan Petre, Religion Correspondent and Graham Tibetts. [Related headings: Muslims hit back after attack on their culture and Islam has helped the civilised world for 1,400 years]

2. Blair seeks quick deal on EU constitution by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard in Brussels, and Toby Helm -
Tony Blair has started a political storm over Europe by calling for a deal on the European constitution "as soon as possible" and attacking the Tories for peddling Eurosceptic "myths". [Brief: This relates in context of entry by 10 new nations to the union.]

3. Organs ruling splits families -
HUNDREDS of families won the right to demand compensation from the National Health Service after the High Court ruled that hospitals acted unlawfully in removing the organs of dead children without their parents' permission. The judgment by Mr Justice Gage will trigger claims from 1,348 of the 2,140 families in cases where the hospital retained body parts without the authority of a coroner. But the remainder learned that they had no right to compensation because the organs had been retained following a post mortem examination ordered by a coroner.

4. Prince to raise £14m for church -
THE PRINCE of Wales is to lead a £14million fund-raising campaign to restore one of London's best known churches, St Martin-in-the-Fields in Trafalgar square.

5. Hundreds of historic shipwrecks threatened -
HUNDREDS of wrecks littering Britain's coastal waters are being needlessly lost to future generations, marine archaeologists have warned. They say valuable historic ships are being lost to the shifting sands, fishing, pipelines and dredging and that the piecemeal legislation designed to save the undersea heritage is failing. Even protected wrecks such as the Stirling Castle - part of a 17th century fleet commissioned by Samuel Pepys - are under threat. English heritage and the Department of Culture Media and Sport have launched a bid to update the law and stop the rot. Hundreds of thousands of wrecks lie off Britain's 3,435-mile coastline, some dating back to the Bronze Age. Just 56 of these wrecks are designated worthy of government protection - including the site of Henry VIII's flagship the Mary Rose, the Colossus which foundered off the Scilly Isles in 1798, and the Stirling Castle which sank off Ramsgate in 1703.

6. Nation 'under God' challenged by atheist by Marcus Warren in New York -
AN ATHEIST has petitioned the US Supreme Court for the removal of the words "under God" from the pledge of allegiance recited every morning by schoolchildren. According to an opinion poll, nearly nine in 10 Americans support keeping the reference, dating from 1950, in the pledge, but Michael Newdow, the father of a nine-year-old girl, cites the constitutional ban on state-established religion to support his case. President bush dismissed the argument as "ridiculous" when it was first made public, and many on the Christian Right see the Newdow case as another in a long line of dangerous assaults on religion. The case, argued in front of the country's highest court by Mr Newdow, soon became locked in argument, not over the separation of church and state but the respective rights of a father and mother. The court must decide not just whether the pledge is a patriotic or religious act but also whether Mr. Newdow can legally represent his daughter's interests when he only shares custody of her with her "born again" mother. [Brief: the article continues with reference to legal positions from various quarters regarding the matter.]

7. Senate rules foetuses have legal status -
THE US Senate has approved a law giving independent legal status to foetuses, in a victory for social conservatives and the US's anti-abortion movement, writes Alec Russell. After a five-year debate in Congress, the Unborn Victims of Violence Act was passed by 61 to 38 votes, making it a crime to harm a foetus in an assault on a pregnant woman. With President Bush backing the measure and his Democratic challenger, Senator John Kerry, opposing it, it is set to be an acrimonious issue in the presidential election campaign... .
Related: Globe & Mail, April 2, 2004: Bush signs into law new bill covering harm to fetuses - Supporters say act avoids abortion issue, others fear it may erode women's rights, by Caren Bohan, Washington -
U.S. President George W. Bush signed into law yesterday an act that would make it a separate federal crime to harm a pregnant woman's fetus, in a move likely to bolster his support with conservatives in an election year... .
[COMMENT: God's Law, (Exodus 21:22:) If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart from her, and yet no mischief follow: he shall be surely punished, according as the woman's husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine.]

8. [Editorial] Give us a referendum -
Speaking of Britain's attitude to the new European constitution, Tony Blair had this to say in Brussels last week: "I think the sooner we do this the better." This is a strange and humiliating change of tack for the Prime Minister. When Spain and Poland blocked further discussion of the constitution in December, Mr. Blair and his ministers could scarcely conceal their relief. But domestic political considerations have changed in both those countries, and Bertie Ahern, the Irish prime minister and current EU president, has now resolved that the issue be resolved by the end of June. Mr. Blair is trying to have it both was by sounding suddenly so keen. Notwithstanding his officials' insistence that Downing Street's "red lines" remain firmly drawn, it is clear that much in the EU constitution is not in Britain's interests, and contrary to Mr. Blair's Atlanticist instincts. Eventually Britain will be forced to go along with the spirit of the new constitution, because that is how the EU historically has developed. European economic policy under the new constitution would be designed to "ensure co-ordination of the economic policies of the member states". Meanwhile, defence and foreign policy are moving towards a "common union defence policy" built on the spirit of "loyalty and mutual solidarity". Opponents of the Iraq war, in Britain as well as in Germany and France, might well welcome the constraints that such a policy would place on a British leader. But it is impossible to see why Mr. Blair should be so sanguine about an enforced change in the Anglo-American relationship at a time when he maintains that the Iraq war was both just and essential... . [Brief: After much further incisive comment, the Editorial ends thus: "Rather than the false prospects of renegotiation, it would be more frank, and also more popular, for Mr. Howard to throw the whole weight of his party behind a campaign to say 'no' to the constitution, starting with the European election this June. If Mr. Howard did that, he would have the overwhelming majority of the public, not to mention the press, cheering him on."]

9. Obituary: Princess Juliana of the Netherlands
[Brief: mentioned in last issue, but more complete presentation, illustrated, appeared in this week's Weekly Telegraph.]

10. Obituary: Sheikh Ahmed Yassin founder and 'spiritual leader' of Hamas who orchestrated Islamist interests in the intifada.

11. Tried and trusted thatch still comes out on top -
Thatched roofs may be pretty, but they are dated, expensive and highly combustible. Not so, according to Rachel Bond, who salutes a thoroughly modern material [Brief: A full page 6-column, well illustrated article gives an interesting account covering this topic. It shows that misconceptions regarding the usefulness and effectiveness of this building material should be corrected. It is not only of historic importance, but still a popular building material.]

Globe & Mail April 1, 2004:
1. Swapping music files allowed, federal judge rules - Music industry's evidence called into question by Keith Damsell, Technology Reporter -
The music industry's fight against illegal file sharing suffered a major setback yesterday when a Federal Court judge ruled that swapping songs on the Internet for personal use does not break the law. "Downloading a song for personal use does not amount to infringement," Mr. Justice Konrad von Finckenstein of the Federal Court of Canada wrote in his decision. "I cannot see a real difference between a library that places a photo-copy machine in a room full of copyrighted material and a computer user that places a personal copy on a shared directory." The Canadian Recording Industry Association was seeking a court order to identify 29 so-called up-loaders, Internet users it claimed had illegally posted hundreds of songs illegally on the Web... . Internet service providers hailed the ruling as a trfiumph for the privacy rights of their customers. But there was general agreement that CRIA's evidence was weak and the music industry signalled the fight will continue.

2. McMichael at the crossroads -
A period of relative peace has followed years of battles over the direction of the Ontario art gallery. But now James Adams writes, it's poised to undergo big changes. McMichael's operations 'much stronger and more stable now'
[Excerpt: "In 1965, the institution's controversial founders, Robert and Signe McMichael, donated to the people of Ontario a log cabin located on six hectares of verdant land about 40 kilometres northwest of Toronto as well as about 200 art works by Tom Thomson, the Group of Seven and Emily Carr, among others. In return, the couple received a tax credit of more than $800,000 - or about $5.1 million in today's currency. The famous gallery created out of this donation - and the more than 5,000 works that have been added to it since - has generated its share of front-page headlines in the past 39 years, certainly in Ontario. But more often than not the hubbub has been less the result of discussion about the excellence of the McMichael's exhibitions at its Kleinburg, Ont. home than of the tumultuous disputes over the gallery's governance and mission. Everyone, it seems, has gotten in on the debates at one time or another."] [Brief: Most of the Board are Government appointees. Robert McMichael died recently. His wife is now in an extended care facility.]
COMMENT: As one with artistic interests, your editor has always respected the McMichaels' taste. Will "changes" reflect the past?]

3. Copyright - Lucy Maud provision fades out by Simon Tuck, Ottawa
[Brief: Complications in recent copyright legislation make certain works less inviting as choices for re-publishing.]

Globe & Mail April 2, 2004:
1. Ancient arm bone shows fish used limbs -
Discovery of 365-million-year-old fossil of salamander-like creature bridges major gap in evolution by Dawn Walton -
American scientists have unearthed the world's oldest arm bone, a 365-million-yeart-old fossil that provides key evidence that fish used limbs in water well before animals used them to climb up on land.
Report taken from Science, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Vol. 304, No. 5667, 2 April, 2004, cover photo. articles: pp. 57-58 & 90-93.

2. Packaging news when the picture is not pretty -
Events like the killing of four Americans in Iraq force TV and newspaper editors to take care playing the images, Ian Brown writes. [Brief: The full-page article, accompanied by seven (reduced) examples of front pages in full colour, of The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, The Guardian, El Pais, Die Welt and El Mundo, undertakes to demonstrate how various papers treated the same story for various national readerships.

Globe & Mail April 3, 2004:
1. Police storm Jerusalem holy site by Margaret Coker,
Jerusalem Hundreds of Israeli police using tear gas and stun grenades stormed the al-Aqsa mosque complex, one of Islam's holiest sites and revered by Jews as the ancient Temple Mount, to subdue stone-throwing Palestinians apparently angered at the heavy security presence during their Friday prayers... . Cox News Service

2. Did Neanderthals and humans mix? - by Stephen Strauss -
"One of the abiding questions in human evolution is the intimacy of the relationship between early people and their clear, near relations, the Neanderthals. At one time, it was hoped that a genetic study of ancient DNA would tell us definitely whether a Neanderthal was our uncle 10,000 times removed, but a recent analysis of the remains of the two species have demonstrate just how difficult that is, and may always be... ." [Brief: 5-columns, illus.]
COMMENT: Let's wait for Christ's Second Advent to get such questions answered authoritatively!

Globe & Mail April 5, 2004:
- Grocers developing appetite for ethnic market many find catering to their customers' palates can pay off, Marina Strauss discovers. Store's profit among Sobeys' highest, firm says. [Brief: Kosher, etc. specialties form the theme of the 10 column, colour-illustrated article. One lead paragraph mentions "A Thornhill Sobeys supermarket employs two full-time rabbis who oversee a kosher section that covers about half the store and, at this time of year is filled with special items for Passover. 'I feel like I'm back at home,' says (a named) regular customer at the Sobeys in Thornhill, who moved to Canada from Israel about 15 years ago and lives nearby.")

The Weekly Telegraph No. 663, April 7-13, 2004:
1. Drinkers slay St George - A PUBLICAN won a late extension to mark St George's Day only after agreeing to drop the name of England's patron saint and call it a "charitable event". Tony Bennett, 47, riding a scooter decorated as a dragon and flanked by regulars dressed as knights, challenged Norwich magistrates who had granted extensions to celebrate the Chinese new year and American Independence Day but said that St George's Day, April 23, was not recognised as "special" in law.

2. A two-page Obituary of Peter Ustanov:
the man of many parts, was carried in this issue.

3. Powell now doubts WMD intelligence - by David Rennie and George Jones -
THE US and Britain were facing fresh questions over the war in Iraq after Colin Powell, the US secretary of state, said a key element of the evidence that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction was probably based on faulty intelligence. His claim that Saddam had mobile biological laboratories hidden in lorry trailers was the "most dramatic" element of his presentation to the UN Security Council in February 2003, a month before the US-led invasion. Mr. Powell's admission is likely to mean fresh embarrassment for President Bush and Tony Blair over their case for war. Critics in Britain of the war called on Mr. Blair to explain whether similar claims made by the government before the invasion came from the same source.

4. NATO welcomes Baltic states -
NATO sent fighter jets to the Baltic states bordering its old enemy Russia, as seven eastern European countries formally joined the transatlantic alliance. Marking a dramatic shift of power in Europe, the jubilant prime ministers of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia gathered in Washington for the accession ceremony. They hailed the culmination of a dream that was unthinkable little more than a decade ago... .

5. Serb government funds Milosevic -
THE government of Serbia offered last week to put Slobodan Milosevic, the former Yugoslav leader, and others being tried in The Hague on its payroll. Defying the international war crimes tribunal, the new nationalist-dominated parliament in Belgrade voted to grant them a stipend for as long as the trial lasts, pay their legal costs, telephone and mail bills, plus travel expenses to The Hague for family members.

6. 60,000 mourn Dutch queen -
HOLLAND'S beloved Queen Mother, Princess Juliana, was buried with the royal honours she shunned in a life-devoted to maintaining the "common touch". Up to 60,000 mourners line the 13-mile route of the funeral cortege of one of Europe's most popular monarchs. Her horse-drawn coffin was draped in the blue, white and red Dutch flag.
Related: A full-colour,` beautifully-illustrated article on the life of the late Queen mother appears in Majesty Magazine, Vol. 25 No. 5 for May, 2004.

7. [Editorial - The Daily Telegraph] Immigration policy built on a fraud -
Things do not get much more serious than this, The Government stands accused of perpetrating a massive and calculated deceit over immigration policy - not just an isolated fib of the kind that led to Beverley Hughes's resignation last week, but a conspiracy to mislead. In recent weeks, several facts have come to light indicating that Labour has embarked, for the first time in 30 years, on a policy of large-scale primary immigration. There was the scheme to rush through eastern European applicants without proper checks. There was the wider initiative to approve all cases of more than three months' standing. There was Britain's decision, virtually alone in the EU, to grant residence rights to citizens from the 10 accession states with immediate effect. There was the massive, if untrumpeted, increase in work permits.
Now it emerges that the Home Office has ordered staff not to arrest illegal immigrants for fear that they might claim asylum. At the same time, we learn that the Prime Minister has personally reached a deal with his Romanian counterpart, Adrian Nastase, to admit visitors from that country without visas. Putting these facts together, we can reach only one conclusion. The government has decided to admit hundreds of thousands of additional migrants, even if this means breaching its own rules.
It has not embarked on this policy after putting its case honestly to the electorate. On the contrary, David Blunkett, the Home Secretary, has kept up the tough rhetoric, talking of the fear of being swamped, and periodically floating the idea of processing claims in offshore centres. Yet, all the while, he has been waving through unentitled claimants. Why? Because, just over a year ago, the Prime Minister, in order to get himself out of a tight spot, promised to reduce asylum claims by half. That target has been achieved, but only by admitting migrants legally, thus obviating their need to apply for refugee status. It will not do for Labour, nor its allies in the Left-wing press, now to start arguing for primary immigration. We have always accepted the case for controlled, legal settlement.
But such a policy relies on admitting whom you choose and in roughly the numbers you intend, which is the opposite of what is actually happening. The reason that people feel uneasy about immigration is that they sense, rightly, that the system is out of control. We have no idea how may people are entering Britain, nor their motives for coming. Indeed, one of the great differences between the current wave of illegal (or retrospectively authorised) immigration and previous Commonwealth settlement is the attitude of the migrants. Most of those who came legally to Britain after the Second World War felt some loyalty to the country that had taken them in. But those who arrive by cheating the state understandably learn to despise it. Immigration policy is built on mendacity. Applicants lie about their circumstances, ministers lie to their electorate.
People feel that politicians have decided on their objective, and will pursue it regardless of public opinion. They feel duped and frustrated, and this seems to have led to a sense of resignation so that, in 2001, people voted overwhelmingly for the party that had presided over the surge in asylum applications and against the one that was promising to tackle the crisis. Yet there is nothing inevitable about the current population influx. Several other countries, including Germany, Denmark and Holland, have drastically cut the numbers of immigrants by pursuing policies similar to those that the Tories are proposing here. If we want change, it is up to us to effect it.

8. Obituary: Gavin Vernon -77
One of four who broke into Westminster Abbey to steal the Stone of Scone on Christmas Day, 1950.

Globe & Mail April 8, 2004: The greatest myth ever told -
Religion writer and former Anglican priest Tom Harpur admits he's sticking his neck out for proffering that someone named Jesus never walked this Earth, Ray Conlogue writes. [Brief: 6-columns, illus.]
(Related: Globe & Mail April 10, 2004: Christianity without Christ - Vianney Carriere review of book by Tom Harpur: The Pagan Christ: Recovering the Lost Light - Thomas Allen, 244 pages, $34.95. [Photo caption sums up: His book is not so much original thinking as a focused synthesis of the writings of many others.]
COMMENT: Former Anglican Priest, Intellectual Atheist, whose thesis seeks a way to world religion without "impediment" of historical Jesus.)

Globe & Mail April 9, 2004:
1. Cats may have been pets 9,500 years ago - Kitten found in Neolithic grave on Cyprus appears to have been buried with a human by Alanna Mitchell
It's one of the more touching mysteries of human history: When did animals become pets? For dogs, the answer seems to lie in 12,000-year-old graves in the Levant (the regions bordering the eastern Mediterranean), where puppies have been carefully buried. But the earliest signs of domesticated cats have been from ancient Egypt about 4,000 years ago. Until now. A paper published today in the journal Science records the discovery of a cat that may have been a pet, buried 9,500 years ago in a Neolithic village on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus... . ['Perhaps this is evidence that the modern-day dichotomy between "cat people" and "dog people" is quite ancient indeed.'- Melanie Zedera curator at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington.]
[Reference: Science 9 April, 2004, Vol. 304, No. 5668 p. 189 and p. 259. Brief: 3 col., illus.]

2. Hate for U.S. unites rival Muslims - Shia, Sunni Iraqis, who until recently fought each other, donate food, blood in joint resistance by Orly Halpern,
Baghdad. [Brief: The story is summed up by the headline. 5 columns, illustrated]

Globe & Mail April 12, 2004:
The Passion reclaims top spot - Los Angeles Easter holiday moviegoers returned Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ to the top spot at the North American box office after a three-week absence... . 7-week haul: $354.9-million. Reuters

Globe & Mail April 13, 2004: Hana's suitcase a replica:
The suitcase that inspired Hana's Suitcase, a best-selling children's book about the Holocaust, has been revealed as a fake. The story of Hana Brady is true: The Jewish girl perished at 13 at Auschwitz. But her actual suitcase was destroyed 20 years ago in a fire in Birmingham, England. The Auschwitz Museum created an exact replica. Famous Holocaust artifact a replica by Michael Posner - [Brief: a 13-inch column amplifies the above report.]

The Weekly Telegraph No 664, April 14-20, 2004
1. Met joins WPc Fletcher inquiry -
A JOINT British-Libyan investigation is to be conducted into the death of WPc Yvonne Fletcher. The inquiry will be conducted under Libyan law and led by a senior Libyan investigating magistrate and a detective chief superintendent from the Metropolitan Police, the Foreign Office said. Witnesses will be summoned by the Libyan magistrate and questioned in the presence of members of the British team. The announcement follows a three-day visit to Tripoli last week by three Met officers to seek new evidence on the shooting of WPc Fletcher outside the Libyan embassy in London in April 1984.

2. Immigration figures to be checked by George Jones Political Editor -
TONY BLAIR ordered an independent check of the Government's immigration and asylum figures last week in an attempt to counter allegations that ministers had secretly relaxed checks on would-be immigrants. [Brief: 5-column article (part illustration)]

3. US 'will back Sharon plan to annex land' by Toby Harnden in Jerusalem
THE UNITED States is to back Israeli demands for parts of the occupied west bank to be annexed by the Jewish state in any final peace settlement with the Palestinians, according to diplomatic sources in Israel. A leaked draft of a letter from President George W. Bush says the White House will state that a final status deal will recognize "demographic realities" on the ground - code for allowing Israel to keep some Palestinian land settled by Jews in the occupied territories. In return, Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister, will issue a letter agreeing to evacuate all Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip, and withdraw Israeli military forces from the area, apart from the Philadelphi Road on the Egyptian border. He will also announce that four Jewish settlements in the northern part of the West Bank will be dismantled. More than 120 other settlements, however, will remain in place under Mr. Sharon's "disengagement plan", which has been the subject of intensive negotiations with Washington in recent months. The exchange of letters is due to take place at the White House on Wednesday, when Mr. Bush will welcome Mr. Sharon into his residential quarters in a display of closeness between the two leaders.
Mr. Bush's letter will also recognise Israel's "right to self-defence" and endorse anti-terrorist operations in parts of the territories from which Israel has withdrawn. It will also declare that Palestinian refugees from the 1948 war at the founding of Israel, and their descendants, should be absorbed into a new Palestinian state. Palestinian negotiators are dismayed at this rejection of the refugees' "right of return" to their original homelands. There is also anger at apparent US acceptance of withdrawal of only a small number of settlers from the west bank, and completion of the Israeli separation barrier, which cuts deep into occupied territory. Mr. Sharon has compromised on some of the barrier route, but it will still depart significantly from the "Green Line" - the internationally recognised pre-1967 border. Israel officials believe US backing will help the Israel premier with a referendum on the plan on April 29.

4. 'We need Britain and America to stay in Iraq ... until we organise ourselves' - Kurds.
[Brief: a 5-column illustrated article amplifies the heading.]

5. Unleaded chips -
INTEL, the world's biggest microchip maker, is bowing to pressure from environmentalists by drastically cutting the amount of lead in its products. The move comes after years of complaints that harmful amounts of lead leak into the environment when old computers are thrown on rubbish dumps.

Globe & Mail April 15, 2004:
Nuclear whistle blower must stay in Israel Mordechai Vanunu is barred from leaving the country.
[Related: Globe & Mail April 19, 2004:
Israeli who spilled nuclear secrets to be kept on tight leash after release - Even contact with parents is forbidden. Mordechai Vanunu will be under orders not to leave his town, speak to foreigners, use a cellphone or the Internet, or go near any border or embassy.
Also related: Globe & Mail April 22, 2004 'This day I am free - but not total free'
Former Israel nuclear technician Mordechai Vanunu greets supporters yesterday in Ashkelon, Israel, as he leaves prison after 18 years.
And [Editorial] Vanunu's punishment.
Also The Weekly Telegraph No. 666, April 28-May 4, 2004 - Whistleblower walks free - Vanunu queries Israel's right to exist.

Globe & Mail April 16, 2004: Art rewrites ice-age history by Sean Clarke -
The people who created the first surviving art in Britain were committed Europeans, belonging to a common culture spanning France, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands, according to the man who discovered the cave art in Creswell Crags, Nottinghamshire ... The discovery of 13,000-year-old rock paintings in Nottinghamshire last year rewrote ice-age history in Britain... [Brief: 3 columns on continent-wide Magdalenian culture.]

Glove & Mail April 17, 2004:
1. Beads may be jewel for anthropology by Anne McIlroy, Science Reporter -
[Brief: 41 South-African cave shells, holed forming oldest beads - apparently 75,000 years old.
[Reference: Science Vol. 304 No. 5669, pp 369, 404.]

2. Bush sought secret Iraq war plan, book says -
U.S. President tells journalist Woodward that he ordered invasion blueprint in late 2001, although he was anxious about being seen as a warmonger, Barrie McKenna reports. [Brief: 6-columns, illustrated.]

3. Nose for mines helps save lives - Afghan clerics call dog teams country's 'real holy warriors,' writes Paul Koring from Kabul
[Brief: German shepherd dogs sniff out mines.]

4. No way out -
With grim reports from Iraq and a June 30 deadline looming, many saw George Bush's waffling press conference this week as a failure of presidential leadership, Doug Saunders writes. While insisting he would stay his stubborn course, he was actually admitting defeat, adopting his Democratic opponent's Iraq line. But was it too little too late?

5. Hot time in the old town - Toronto 1904 fire:
2-pages of photos, map, text, review history of event which gutted city centre 100 years ago on this date.

Globe & Mail April 20, 2004:
1. U.S. hands peace offer to fighters in Fallujah; Honduras joins Spain in pulling troops out as crippled coalition tries to restore order.
[Brief: the heading sums it all up.]

2. British PM to announce EU referendum plans - London -
British Prime Minister Tony Blair is poised to announce plans for a referendum on a European union constitution - a major change of heart that may heighten pressure on other countries for a similar vote... The Prime Minister has previously insisted that a constitution would not fundamentally alter Britain's ties with the EU, meaning that the public's approval would not be sought.

3. Social Studies:
(a) How tall can we be? - report says "about 3 metres",
(b) World languages: About 500 years ago, humans spoke 13,000 languages - in a few centuries there could be as few as 500. The question is partly of distinction between language & dialect.

Globe & Mail April 21, 2004:
1. Britain plans referendum on proposed EU constitution. -
Vote will be an all or nothing gamble with enormous consequences for Blair. [Brief: 5-columns, illustrated.]

[G&M Editorial] Mr. Blair's referendum - In a dramatic about-face, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said yesterday that he now supports the idea of a national referendum to accept or reject a proposed constitution for the European Union, a vote he has steadfastly maintained was unnecessary. Why the sudden switch? Mr. Blair and his government seem to be betting that the risks in such a reversal will pay off over the longer term, in part by pushing the constitutional issue so far into the future that it won't affect the upcoming national election... The reasoning may be sound, but it sacrifices a lot on the altar of domestic politics. As soon as Mr. Blair made his pledge, critics said the decision would increase the pressure for a vote in France and other EU countries, and could even destabilize the entire constitutional process, still in its formative stages.
In the blink of an eye, in other words, Mr. Blair has transformed himself from one of the EU's main supporters into a major thorn in its side. And that's before a vote is even held. What if there is one and the EU side loses? How would that affect Britain's standing in the European community and the benefits that flow from it? As a French official said, there is a real risk that British voters will "reply to a different question (from) the one that has been asked." The vote could become a referendum on Britain's role in the EU altogether.
The constitution still being written, has already been painted as a power grab by the European bureaucrats keen to intervene in domestic affairs. One critic said the next British prime minister would have "the power of a local councillor" next to Brussels. In that atmosphere, Mr. Blair is taking a big chance. If a vote occurs and is positive for the EU, he will have dodged a bullet. If it is negative, he may have cast Britain into a political quagmire.
Related: The Weekly Telegraph No 665, April 21-27, 2004 -
Blair bows to pressure for EU poll.
Also related: [The Daily Telegraph Editorial in The Weekly Telegraph No 665, April 21-27, 2004]
"A referendum: brave, right and risky."
Also see The Weekly Telegraph No. 666, April 28-May 4, 2004: [Editorial] Yesterday's big idea,
Also: Referendum result might not be binding if vote is 'No'; The best-laid plans of European leaders undone at a stroke; Decision on poll depends on party political calculations; Blair stakes his future on Britain's place in EU and £100m bill likely for 10-week campaign.

2. Obituary: Norris McWhirter, 78 -
founded Guinness record book with twin brother.
Related: Globe & Mail April 22, 2004 - Obituary: Norris McWhirter, 1925-2002 [Brief: 5-columns, illustrated.
Also The Weekly Telegraph No. 666, April 28-May 4, 2004: 4-col, illustrated - Obituary: Norris McWhirter

The Weekly Telegraph No 665, April 21-27, 2004
1. Eton's first imam hopes to close cultural divide by Matilda McLean -
Monawar Hussain, 34, an Oxford graduate who is training as a cleric, has been chosen by Eton, one of Britain's leading fee-paying schools, to help to teach its 20 Muslim pupils about Islam... - Part of a programme to increase understanding of Islamic culture. The traditionally Christian and largely Anglican school teaches 1,290 boys aged 13-18. It already has four Anglican priests, a Roman Catholic chaplain and a Jewish tutor. [Brief: 6 columns, illlustrated.]

2. Fury as Church appoints gay canon new dean of St Albans by Julie Henry -
THE Church of England was accused of creating a ""spiritual vacuum" in Britain at the weekend after the disclosure that Jeffrey John, the gay canon forced to stand down as bishop of reading is to be the next dean of St. Albans... The Rev David Holloway, a leading member of Reform, an evangelical group, who is the vicar of Jesmond, Tyne and Wear, insisted that Dr. John's new role would lead to schism within the Church.
Also The Weekly Telegraph No. 666, April 28-May 4, 2004 - Controversial dean says the church should bless gays.

3. Official jets may drop the flag by Caroline Davies -
EXECUTIVE jets used by the Royal Family, Tony Blair and his Cabinet colleagues could lose the distinctive union flag markings from their tails under anti-terrorism measures to be introduced by the Ministry of Defence.

4. Imperial lesson for US troops by Michael Smith Defence Correspondent -
AMERICAN military commanders in Iraq are being urged by an influentian US think tank to read an unlikely tactical manual: a book written by a 1920s British General on how to police the Empire. US members of the Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad have criticised British tactics in southern Iraq for being too "soft" and reminiscent of London's policy in the country in the 1920's and '30s. But the influential Strategic Issues Research Institute in Arlington, Virginia, is urging US commanders to read Gen Sir William Gwynn's 1934 textbook, Imperial Policing. Sir William, the son of a Regius Professor of Divinity of Trinity College, Dublin, urged soldiers to avoid hurting innocent people at all costs lest they lose the confidence of the population at large. "Drastic punitive measures to induce surrender, or in the nature of reprisals, may awaken sympathy with the revolutionaries, and in the long run militate against the re-establishment of normal conditions," he wrote. Benjamin works, the SIRI executive director, who is himself a Vietnam veteran feels that Imperial Policing has particular relevance to the situation in Iraq. Depending on whether copyright problems can be overcome, Mr. Works hopes to send copies of the relevant chapters to troops in Iraq. "The book will be of great help," he said.

5. Flag clash goes to UN [Brief: Romania & Chad have much the same flag.]

6. [Editorial] Lords is the more democratic house - [Brief: Support for The Lords vs. Tony Blair's attempted encroachments.]

7. Rothschild quits gold market
THE investment bank that has chaired the London meetings setting the world gold price since 1919 is quitting the market. NM Rothschild will withdraw from all its commodity trading activities, which also include an oil trading business set up less than two years ago, as part of a strategic review. The move brings to an end nearly 200 years of tradition. NM Rothschild was founded in London in 1810 by Nathan Mayer Rothschild.

Globe & Mail April 23, 2004:
Obituary: Ratu Kamisese Mara, 83, Island chief was Fiji's first prime minister. AP [Brief: 1 column, illustrated.
Also: The Weekly Telegraph No. 666, April 28-May 4, 2004 Obituary: Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara - was President of Fiji. - 3-columns.]

Globe & Mail April 24, 2004:
1. Press baron unleashes Nazi tirade at Germans -
a British press baron unleashed an extraordinary torrent of anti-German abuse toward rivals at a business meeting, making Nazi salutes and goose-stepping around the room, witnesses said yesterday. Richard Desmond, who owns the Daily and Sunday express titles, also levelled a stream of expletives at top executives from the Telegraph newspaper group, and even offered to fight its chief executive.
Also: The Weekly Telegraph No. 666, April 28-May 4, 2004 - Desmond tirade at Germans embarrasses the Tories.

2. Photos of returning coffins anger, embarrass officials -
Washington. Photos of the flag-draped coffins of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq received extensive coverage in the U.S. media yesterday, angering the Pentagon and embarrassing the Department of Defence, which bars the media from access to military coffins being transported, out of respect for relatives. The result of that 1991 policy had, until now, been a total absence of images of the transport of military coffins in the U.S. press, particularly of their arrival at the Delaware military base that receives most coffins arriving from Iraq. More than 350 photos of the coffins, taken by military photographers, were published this week on a website (www.thememory-hold.org), which obtained them from the military under the Freedom of Information Act. AFP
Also The Weekly Telegraph No. 666, April 28-May 4, 2004 - Pictures the Pentagon tried to hide (U.S. caskets)

3. [Book Review] Bush vs. Saddam: It was inevitable -
Plan of Attack by Bob Woodward, Simon & Schuster, 467 pages, $40.50 reviewed by Thomas S. Axworthy [Brief: An important work, worthy of attention. 4-columns, illustrated.]
Also related: The Weekly Telegraph No. 666, April 28-May 4, 2004 - Blair was 'driving force' in war plans

Globe & Mail April 27, 2004:
1. Experts say new Iraqi flag lacks symmetry, symbolism -
[Brief: Colours, design, bear striking resemblance to Israeli flag. Front page (Illus.) & 5 columns inside.]

2. It's not just Mona Lisa's smile that has the Louvre wringing its hands over -
[Brief: (The painting was done on thin poplar-wood backing, which is warping.]

Globe & Mail April 28 2004: Code red alert against Da Vinci -
The novel that questions principles of Christianity spawns a backlash of books that aim to break, crack, or debunk it.

Globe & Mail April 29, 2004:
1. Did U.S. abuse prisoners in Iraq? Soldier's photos aired by CBS program indicate Iraqi detainees were mistreated. Investigation started after soldier raised concerns.

2. Bush treading on rights of citizens, U.S. top court told.

3. Social studies:
(a) The tallest trees: 130 metres limit,
(b) Illegal downloading - Christians do it almost as much as non-Christians
(c) Old hand push mowers are more ecologically-friendly.

Globe & Mail April 30 2004:
1. Mel Gibson's next project: Braveheart with a bra.
Mel Gibson is planning to use some of his $500 million from The Passion to create a movie on Queen Boudicca, the British woman who led resistance to the Roman invaders.

2. Social Studies:
(a) U.S. corporations spend $15-billion (U.S.) a year on advertising and marketing to children,
(b) Americans are moving to use the brains, intestines, hearts, and other 'variety meats,' as they are known in the trade, which have generally been scrapped in the past.

3. Scientists excavate earliest evidence of fire use.
Dig is at Gesher Benot Ya'aqov in northern Israel.

4. EU braces for May Day 'invasion' of migrants.
Prosperous Western Europe nervously awaits an influx of young workers, hungry for opportunities, Doug. Saunders reports. (Map of new countries entering the EU.)

Errata: The April, 2004 issue of Prophetic Expositor held several pages conveying A Christian Viewpoint out of correct order.
This can be corrected by the following:
At the bottom of page 5, write "continued on page 28."
At the bottom of page 28, write "continued on page 6."
At the bottom of page 27, write "continued on page 29."

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