Science: Vol. 306, No. 5702, 3 Dec. 2004 -
pp. 1672-1673: Plant Pathologists (in the US) Gear Up for Battle With Dread Fungus - by Erik Stokstad. [Brief: No soybean can resist a rust that has finally arrived in the US across the Mexican border.]

Science: Vol. 306, No. 5703, 10 Dec. 2004 -
p. 1857 - Edit. By Stella Hurtley and Phil Szuromi: Brainy and Agile Birds [Brief: Anecdotal evidence and human folklore have always ascribed a comparatively high level of intelligence to corvids - crows, rooks, jays, and ravens - and recent experiments on their cognitive abilities have begun to put this reputation on a factual basis ... "corvids' abilities rival or excel those of apes, excelling in tool manufacture and use; mental time travel; and social cognition... ."]

Science: Vol. 306, No. 5704, 17 Dec. 2004 -
pp. 2026-2029: The Indus Script - Write or Wrong? - by Andrew Lawler [Brief: "For 130 years scholars have struggled to decipher the Indus script. Now, in a proposal with broad academic and political implications, a brash outsider claims that such efforts are doomed to failure because the Indus symbols are not writing." Dating from about 2500 BC, Harappa and Mohenjo Daro in Pakistan held many thousands of people, with wheeled carts and sanitation including underground pipes, yet lacked monumental buildings, obvious religious shrines, large defensive fortifications, social stratification and three-dimensional sculpture. Other scholars dispute this new thesis, stating the symbols are a script.]

Science: Vol. 306, No. 5705, 24 Dec. 2004 -
p. 2172: A Ruff Theory of Evolution: Gene Stutters Drive Dog Shape - by Elizabeth Pennisi - [Brief excerpt: "DNA studies have shown that differences in the lengths of certain genes involved in development can transform a collie nose into a puglike one, and even change the number of toes in one breed."]

The Scots Magazine: New Series Vol. 161 No. 5, Nov. 2004, p. 463:
1. Tartan - Cloth of a Nation - In video and DVD, features 2 respected figures in the tartan industry - Jamie Scarlett, tartan historian, and Brian Wilton, Director of Operations of the Scottish Tartans Authority. Shown, are the ancient dyeing processes using locally-available plants and lichens on the Isle of Skye, which are still used to this day. The spinning and weaving of the cloth is shown in detail. DVD £19.99, Video £16.99 Produced by Panamint Cinema, Abercorn Schoolhouse, Newton, West Lothian EH52 6PZ, phone 01506 834936; www.panamint.co.uk
2. A two-page colour-spread illustrating 12 stamps from various countries, all of which feature the bagpipes!
3. Battles of the Scottish Lowlands, Stuart Reid - A guide tells in detail the story of nine of the most important battles to be fought in Scotland south of the Highland Line...diagrams and photographs. ISBN 1-84415-078-X £11.99 - Pen & Sword Books.

The Professional Geographer - Association of American Geographers - Vol. 56 No.4 - Nov. 2004
pp. 560-573: Israeli Geographers In Search of a National Identity. Key words: (include) Zionist geographers, search for national identity.

Majesty Magazine Vol. 25 No. 11, Nov. 2004,
carries an excellent 4-page colour-illustrated article, "Action Man", on Prince Harry, by Ingrid Seward. It reveals his serious side through his work with abused children in southern Africa and his Army assessment course in Wiltshire.
[COMMENT: Recent expressions of dismay at his choice of costume for a private party, from Jewish representatives whose theme appears to be "never forget, never forgive" draw your Editor's caution that Jews are not the only ones with long memories! Others will recall the 121 British Palestine-Mandate Police slain, in a number of cases prior to the D-Day Normandy landings, by Zionist terrorists!]

Globe & Mail, Dec. 1, 2004:
1. Obituary: Pierre Berton, writer, historian and 'famous Canadian' 1920-2004 - writes Sandra Martin [Brief: full page; illust.]

Globe & Mail, Dec. 3, 2004:
1. Thoughts of banishing Loyalist Man stir up emotions in Saint John - for decades, he's welcomed tourists to the city. Now developers want him moved to put in a fountain - by Shawna Richer, Saint John [Brief: A 7-metre painted plywood figure in heritage loyalist garb is the subject of dispute. - 3 col. & illus.]

2. Opinion Piece by John Ibbitson:
"In case you missed it, our Mideast policy has shifted." [The Canadian PM has made a relatively unpublicised shift from Canada's past UN stance, (that tended to vote with the more pro-Palestinian majority) towards a distinctly pro-Israeli direction. A big backer in this is Gerry Schwartz of Onex Corp.]

3. Heritage changes a burden, churches assert -
amendments to law punitive, groups say - by Michael Valpy [Brief: Proposed changes to the Heritage Act stick them with carrying on The Lord's work in deteriorating historic buildings that dwindling congregations can't afford to fix but won't be able to alter, tear down or sell. The religious organizations are by far the largest non-government holders of heritage buildings in the province.]

4. Obituary: Prince Bernhard, Dutch Royal Consort 1911-2004 - Bon vivant German nobleman who was husband of one queen of the Netherlands and father of another had a wartime home away from home in an Ottawa suburb. [Brief: 5-col. illlus.] Also: The Weekly Telegraph No 699, December 15-21 2004: Obituary: Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands - Queen Juliana's consort who served with distinction in the war but was tainted by a bribery scandal [Brief: 4 col. illus.] and The Weekly Telegraph No 700 December 22-28 2004: Prince had illegitimate daughters (Prince Bernhard)

Globe & Mail, Dec. 4, 2004:
1. Cover Story / U.S. dollar - want to hear the 'ugly' scenario? - David Parkinson [Brief: 6-col. graph illus. - full page deals with US dollar decline: 1975-2004.]

2. History: Forget the Scots; it was the Royal Navy - Book Review - To Rule the Waves: How the British Navy Shaped the Modern World - by Arthur Herman, HarperCollins, 645 pages, $37.50 - Reviewed by Mark Proudman - [Brief: 4-col. illus.]

Globe & Mail, December 6, 2004:
Gays challenge Pentagon's 'don't ask, don't tell' policy - Washington: The Pentagon's "don't ask, don't tell" policy is being challenged by 12 gays who have been separated from the military because of their homosexuality. They planned to file a federal lawsuit today in Boston that would cite last year's landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling that overturned state laws making homosexual sex a crime. AP

Globe & Mail, December 7, 2004:
1. U.S. soldier 'didn't want to have to kill babies' -
Uncertainty grew after birth of his son, Hinzman testifies at refugee hearing - by Marina Jiménez [Brief: 6-col. illus.] Also: G&M Dec. 8: Killed unarmed Iraqis, ex-marine tells hearing - U.S. deserter was right to flee his post, immigration and refugee board told - by Marina Jiménez [Brief: 3-col. colour illus.] and G&M Dec. 9: U.S. deserter fears 'social persecution' - Ex-paratrooper seeking asylum in Canada wants to avoid committing atrocities in Iraq [Brief: 3-col. & illus.]; [Editorial]: A deserter, not a refugee, and G&M, Dec. 11: U.S. deserter gets mixed reviews back home - Town's tourism based on patriotism, Graeme Smith writes - Rapid City, S.D. [Brief: 6-col. illus.], G&M, Dec. 13: The eccentric ways of a U.S. army deserter - Soldier seeking asylum in Canada 'misunderstood' in his hometown - by Graeme Smith, Rapid City, S.D. [Brief: 4-col. & illus.]

2. Arms experts issue missile-defence alert - Former negotiators say Pentagon plans to launch weapons into space that can shoot down satellites - by Jeff Sallot, Ottawa [Brief: 5-col. illus.]

3. [Editorial]: End the gun registry [Brief: It is a colossal waste of resources.]

The Weekly Telegraph No 697 Dec. 1 - 7, 2004:
1. Gold sale 'cost the UK £1.5bn':
GORDON BROWN has cost the British taxpayer almost £1.5bn by selling off half of Britain's bullion reserves just before the gold price soared. The Chancellor sold 395 tons of gold at an average price of $275 an ounce between 1999 and 2001, raising £2.3bn for the Exchequer. At the time, gold was at a 20-year market low. It has now risen to more than $450 an ounce.

2. Gallery told to return Nazi booty - by Nigel Reynolds -
THE Government has ordered a public art gallery to return a painting to the descendants of German Jews from whom the work was effectively stolen by the Nazis in 1936. It is the first time the Government has ordered the restitution of Nazi plundered art. However, Glasgow's Burrell Collection, which has owned the disputed painting, valued at only £7,500, for more than 50 years, said it may be legally prevented by the terms of a bequest from releasing the picture. It is to consult lawyers. The painting, once thought to be by Jean-Baptiste Siméon Chardin, the celebrated 18th century French still life artist, was owned by one of Munich's main art dealing firms. Three of the company's principal shareholders, all Jews, had fled abroad, leaving two other Jewish partners in charge. In an attempt to liquidate the firm tax officials forced a clearance sale.

3. Code-breakers fail to find holy grail - by Neil Tweedie
[Brief: Code-breakers have failed to unlock that puzzling monumental inscription "DOUOSVAVVM" 6-col. illus. (which we mentioned in our June issue of The Prophetic Expositor, p. 24).
However in a Letter to the Editor of The Weekly Telegraph No 698 December 8-14 2004: Tomb with a view, Dr Peter Hilton of Llangennith, Swansea writes: SIR - I read with interest the article concerning the DOUOSVAVVM code on the monument at Shugborough (issued 697). There is little doubt that Sheila Lawn, the veteran Bletchley code breaker, is correct that the eight central letters refer to a Latin poem. What, though, of the letters D and M which are offset and lying below the others? The answer is simple. DM stands for Dis manibus... Latin for "To the Spirit of the Departed". DM adorned virtually all Roman tombstones in very much the same way that the letters RIP adorn our. This is a fairly ordinary 18th -century memorial to a most loved woman.]

4. 1m Christians sign EU plea - by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard in Brussels
[Brief: More than a million people from all over Europe are to deliver a petition to Tony Blair and fellow EU leaders calling for changes to the constitution recognising Europe's Christian heritage. Refusing to accept a secular "fait accompli" from Brussels, a Christian coalition is demanding that each EU state publish its version of the constitution's preamble, with references to God if desired. Already armed with 1,149,000 signatures and with thousands more pouring in from Holland since the murder of the film-maker Theo van Gogh, the group claims that most states want some reference to Christianity but were blocked by France. The move is keenly backed by Pope John Paul II, who has repeatedly condemned the "moral drift" of Brussels. "One does not cut the roots to one's birthright," he told pilgrims this summer. Euro-MPs voted last week to back the calls for a change in the text. Petitioners, led by Italy's International Mission centre, will now take their case to EU governments. The current version of the preamble eschews Christianity, talking vaguely of "the cultural, religious and humanist inheritance of Europe". Valery Giscard d'Estaing, the former French president, deliberately left the issue open when he wrote the document, inviting a petition. "I have chosen not to insert the reverence to the Christian heritage in the constitution," he said. "Rather I appeal to you to persuade me of its necessity" A British Official said it was too late to change the preamble.]

5. We were wrong to let in Turks, says Schmidt - by Hannah Cleaver in Berlin -
HELMUT SCHMIDT, the former German chancellor, has inflamed the country's debate on immigration by saying that multiculturalism can only work under authoritarian regimes, and that bringing millions of Turkish guest workers to Germany was a mistake. "The concept of multiculturalism is difficult to make fit with a democratic society," he told the Hamburger Abendblatt newspaper. . . .

6. Germans want truth on Kosovo -
GERMAN MPs examining their army and intelligence service in Kosovo before the ethnic violence in March want to know why they did not follow up a tapped telephone call in which an Albanian extremist urged his allies to prepare a "hot party". [Brief: They didn't provide necessary protection for Kosovo's Serb minority . . . 19 people were killed, 5,000 were driven from their homes and dozens of churches and monasteries were sacked.]

7. Greeks tread gently on ancient cobbles - by Harry De Quetteville in Athens -
[Brief: the Athens metro, under construction, is disturbing ancient Greek Iera Odos, the sacred way linking Athens to Eleusis where, from 1500 BC, initiates sought a glimpse of the mysteries of the afterlife with sacrifices to the goddess Demeter and to Hades, god of the underworld. ]

8. Two Headings:
(a) CIA infighting goes on as more top officials resign - by David Rennie in Washington,
and (b) Bush orders thousands more spies - [Brief: It is the largest expansion in its history]

9. Christian teacher sues his school - by Catherine Elsworth in Los Angeles -
A CALIFORNIAN teacher who claims he was barred from using documents in history lessons that refer to God, including the Declaration of Independence, is suing his school for discrimination. [Brief: The head teacher is weeding out any reference to God in his lesson plans.]

10. The British are rude, says Lee -
BRITAIN is a pale shadow of its former self, declining into a rude and dumbed-down society, says Lee Kuan Yew ... Singapore's founding father. Mr. Lee gained a double first in law at Cambridge. He said: "The people of Britain of the 1940s were a cultivated people, polite and well-mannered, always helpful to the old and weak. Now, the texture of society is rougher. Singapore must never go this way."

11. Zimbabwe's new laws step up repression -
Harsh security moves to curtail opposition - by Peta Thornycroft in Harare; Mugabe ditches last vestiges of freedom - by Danid Blair - [Brief: The headings tell it all.]

12. No reprieve as the Black Watch goes into battle . . . and into history - by George Jones Political Editor David Harrison and Sean Rayment - [Brief: Again, the heading covers the message.]

13. Obituary: Colonel Strome Galloway Dashing Canadian officer and ardent monarchist who held his ground under fire [Brief: 3 col. illus.]

Globe & Mail, Dec. 8, 2004: Study opens eyes to lead as a key cause of cataracts - by André Picard - Public Health Reporter -
Chronic exposure to lead may be a significant overlooked cause of cataracts according to a provocative new study. U.S. researchers have found that the more lead a person has accumulated in their bones, the greater their likelihood of developing cataracts, a clouding of the lenses of the eye that is the leading cause of blindness. While significant efforts have been made in recent years to reduce people's exposure to lead - notably by removing the heavy metal from gasoline, paints and pipes - many adults have accumulated substantial quantities in their bodies. [Brief: The study, in Journal of the American Medical Association was done on 642 men over the age of 60. Those with significant accumulations of lead in the tibia (a bone in the leg) were more than three times as likely to develop cataracts as those with low lead levels. Previously, high levels of lead had been found in cataracts themselves. Lead changes the chemical makeup of the eye and interferes with mechanisms that maintain lens clarity... . ]

The Globe & Mail, Dec. 9, 2004:
1. U.S. wounded see record survival rates -
Fast treatment at mobile hospitals is saving injured soldiers, medical journalist reports - by Marilynn Marchione - For every American soldier killed in Iraq, nine others have been wounded and survived, the highest rate of any war in U.S. history... . [Brief: By mid-November, 10,369 U.S. soldiers had been wounded, 1,004 had died. 4-col. illus. ]

2. Troops in Kuwait grill Rumsfeld on shortage of armoured vehicles - by Tabassum Zakaria Camp Buehring, Kuwait [Brief: 4-col. illus.]

3. Blair rejects call for inquiry into Iraqi civilian deaths - London.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair yesterday rejected a call for an independent inquiry into civilian deaths in Iraq, saying "terrorists and insurgents" were to blame for fatalities in the run-up to elections. Forty-six influential figures, including a number of former British ambassadors, urged Mr. Blair in a letter made public earlier in the day to agree to such an inquiry. Their appeal was prompted by a study published in the British Medical journal The Lancet, which estimated the death toll in Iraq since the March, 2003, invasion at around 100,000. AFP - Also see Weekly Telegraph No 699, Dec. 15-21, 2004: Demand for an inquiry into civilian deaths - by George Jones

4. Turkey opens multifaith complex - by Selcuk Gokoluk, Belek, Turkey -
Turkey unveiled a seaside complex yesterday comprising a mosque, a synagogue and a church in its drive to project an image of religious tolerance, but critics said the EU candidate country still has far to go. Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said the white stone-and-marble complex, built near the Mediterranean resort of Antalya at a cost of $1.19-million, symbolizes harmony between the world's three great monotheistic traditions... . [Brief: Although the multi-ethnic Ottoman Empire held to a relative religious tolerance, Turkey today is overwhelmingly Muslim, with a declining Christian community. Reuters, with a report from AFP ]

5. Hungary moves to open communist-era police files - Budapest. [Brief: Maybe!]

6. [Inset within a page devoted to computer matters: "A global laptop" - diagram with components' average actual prices indicated. - Sources: IDC; Portelligent Inc.; Stanford University and The New York Times; The Globe And Mail]

Globe & Mail, Dec. 10, 2004:
1. Court limits rights of parents to eavesdrop - Seattle.
The Washington Supreme Court ruled yesterday that state laws prohibits parents from eaves-dropping on a child's phone conversations. The case reached the high court because of a purse-snatching. A 17-year-old boy was convicted of the robbery, in part on testimony from his girlfriend's mother, who overheard him discussing the crime on the phone with her daughter. The daughter had taken a cordless phone into her room and closed the door. Her mother pressed the speaker-phone button on an extension and listened in. The court ruled that the daughter and her boyfriend had a reasonable expectation of privacy. The boyfriend will get a new trial. AP - Also Weekly Telegraph No 699 Dec. 15-21 2004: p. 22 - Eavesdropping mother 'broke law'.

2. Karzai declares war on drugs in Afghanistan - Kabul.
President Hamid Karzai declared "holy war" on Afghanistan's narcotics trade yesterday, calling for international aid to counter a threat he said was more dangerous than any faced by his country in more than 20 years of war. Two days after being sworn in as the country's first elected president, Mr. Karzai opened a conference on U.S.-sponsored plans to crack down on a trade that supplies most of the world's heroin. AP

Globe & Mail Dec. 11, 2004: Appeal court backs security certificates -
Process keeping suspected al-Qaeda agent in jail upheld as constitutional - Amnesty International Canada released a statement signed by more than 300 groups and individuals saying the certificate process is undemocratic and a violation of fundamental human rights - by Ross Maroits, Montreal [Brief: 5-col. illus.]

Globe & Mail Dec. 13, 2004:
1. Bacteria enlisted to gobble water toxins -
Scientists try using natural process to get rid of dangerous chlorine solvents - by Alana Mitchell [Brief:6-col. colour illus.]
2. Behind the veil of Gadhafi's security service - by Doug Saunders Tripoli
[Brief: An all-female squad of bodyguards dressed in blue uniforms and armed with AK-47 and Beretta rifles, surrounds Libyan leader Colonel Moammar Gadhafi. Drawn from the women's police academy in Tripoli, and a neighbouring women's military academy, 40 highly trained elite guards, trained in a 100-women training complex, mark an unexpected break from the normal status of women in a Moslem country; 6-col. illus.]

The Weekly Telegraph No 698 December 8-14 2004:
1. 'Political' Army shake-up leaves officers fuming - by Michael Smith Defence Correspondent -
[Brief: Since the announced consolidation of army regiments, political lobbying has stirred anew the jeopardized regiments, and has supporters up in arms.]

2. Stem cells aid paralysed woman -
A BRITISH woman paralysed by a riding accident has regained some movement after taking part in a pioneering trial in which stem cells were transplanted from her nose into her spine. Kim Gould, the first British patient to have the operation, can now crawl and has some sensation. She was one of the first patients to benefit from a pioneering trial by Dr. Carlos Lima at the Egaz Moniz Hospital in Lisbon. Because nasal tissue contains stem cells, which last a lifetime and are able to regenerate nerve tissue, it offers a way to patch up a broken spine. "Nature does most of the job, not us," said Dr. Lima, who has operated on 34 patients so far.

3. Church is imploding, says archbishop - by Elizabeth Day -
The Archbishop of York, Dr. David Hope, believes that the Anglican Church is on the brink of "implosion" over the divisive issues of the ordination of homosexual clergy and women bishops. [Brief: 5-col. illus.]

4. Tell us if you move or face a £1,000 fine - by Philip Johnston -
PEOPLE who fail to tell the Government when they move home will face a fine of up to £1,000 when the new identity card is phased in from 2008.[Brief: Tough penalties, eventual compulsion.]

5. Loss of vital university courses causes alarm - by John Clare Education Editor and Roger Highfield Science Editor -
[Brief: Science losing out to cheaper money-saving subjects. Economic values over-riding those of national strategic importance. 2-col.]

6. Conservatives back proposed bill giving homeowners right to fight - by Patrick Hennessy -
[Brief: present Law upholds rights of burglars over those of home-owners.]

7. Swiss lakes are used as arms dump - by Clare Chapman in Zurich -
[Brief: For years, beautiful Swiss lakes (80% of Swiss drinking water) have received thousands of tons of weapons and ammunition dumped by the Swiss Army and the arms industry.]

8. Mugabe bans children's charity -
NINETY thousand hungry Zimbabwean children have lost the only daily meal they could count on because President Robert Mugabe's regime has forced an aid agency to leave the country. Switzerland's Medair was feeding primary school children in two of Zimbabwe's poorest districts but the authorities refused to renew work permits for international staff. The regime stopped Medair from distributing any food four months ago and refused to register it as an approved non-governmental organisation. "The food has sat deteriorating in the warehouses since August," said a Medair spokesman.

9. Aids poses threat to survival of Masai tribe - by Adrian Blomfield in Kibera

10. Freemasons end secrecy and put their faith in PR - by Philip Sherwell in Washington -
AFTER centuries of obsessive secrecy and medieval rituals Freemasons have turned to the modern arts of public relations and advertising for an unprecedented recruitment campaign in the US. The days when newcomers could join only by a whispered invitation from an existing "brother", followed by a lengthy initiation, are coming to an end after a steady fall in membership. The grand lodge in New Jersey has launched its most energetic recruitment drive so far, investing about $100,000 (£51,000) in newspaper and cinema advertising to publicise a one-day entry "class" in March. Robert Leonard, a New York public relations executive who is handling the campaign, needed no introduction. He is a Mason.

11. 'My book was just too British' George Courtauld's simple guide to historical facts has been a runaway success. But, he tells Bryony Gordon, he had to publish it himself [Brief: 5-col. illus.]

12. Why we must all help our museums overcome their identity crisis - by Rupert Christiansen

Globe & Mail Dec. 16, 2004:
1. Interceptor-missile test ends in failure Washington -
U.S. President George W. Bush's drive to deploy a multibillion-dollar shield against ballistic missiles was set back yesterday by what critics called a stunning failure of its first full flight test in two years. The abortive $85-million exercise raised fresh questions about the reliability of the first elements of the plan, an heir to former president Ronald Reagan's vision of a space-based missile defence that critics dubbed Star Wars. The interceptor missile never left its silo at Kwajalein Atoll in the central Pacific, shutting down automatically because of an "anomaly" of unknown origin, The Pentagon's Missile Defence Agency said. About 16 minutes earlier, a target missile had been fired from Kodiak, Alaska. All eight of the system's intercept tests have fallen far short of replicating realistic war scenarios, experts inside and outside the government have said. Reuters

2. Bobby Fischer welcome to live in Iceland [Brief: The heading is the message.]

3. Obituary: Gary Webb, 49 - Reporter who linked CIA to drugs found dead - Sacramento Calif. -
A prize-winning investigative reporter who wrote a controversial series of stories linking the CIA to crack cocaine trafficking in Los Angeles was found dead on Friday after an apparent suicide, colleagues said. Gary Webb was 49. His 1996 series in the San Jose Mercury News concluded that a drug ring in the San Francisco Bay area sold cocaine in Los Angeles and then funnelled millions of dollars in profits to the CIA supported Nicaraguan Contras during the 1980s Some of his reporting was later discredited and a CIA probe found no evidence of CIA trafficking with Contras. The agency continued to work with Contras suspected of trafficking. After quitting the newspaper in 1997, Mr. Webb wrote the 1999 book Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion. He also worked in state government, most prominently as a member of a California audit committee that investigated the former governor Gray Davis's controversial award of a $95-million no-bid contract to computer company Oracle Corp. in 2001. AP

Globe & Mail Dec. 17, 2004:
1. Court quashes Ottawa's MP3 fee -
Copyright levies on digital players benefit musicians; MP3 levies range from $2 to $25. [Brief: "It's a significant setback to getting remuneration for private copying," said Paul Audley, a consultant to the Canadian Private Copying Collective."] Also: G&M Dec. 18, 2004: MP3 ruling 'great' for consumers - One retailer drops the copyright levy from price of digital music players after court decision - by Paul Waldie [Brief: 5-col. illus.]

2. Charges laid in alleged immigration bribery plot -
Middle Easterners paid thousands to gain permanent residency, Mounties say - by Marina Jiménez - A senior immigration manager in Ottawa, her boyfriend and three others have been charged in what police call an insider-corruption scheme that involves allegations that applicants of Middle Eastern origin paid bribes of up to $25,000 to be allowed to stay in Canada.

3. British ruling prompts anti-terror law review - by Jeff Sallot, Ottawa -
The British law lords' ruling yesterday striking down key provisions of an anti-terrorism law has Canadian officials scrambling because of similarities with a federal law on detaining foreigners suspected of terrorism.

Globe & Mail, Dec. 18, 2004:
1. Hitler evaded taxes, researcher finds - By Erik Kirschbaum, Berlin
[Brief: During the eight years before becoming chancellor in 1933, Hitler fought the tax assessments on his income. Later, as chancellor, his taxes were absolved.] (Questions: How much was a German mark worth before 1933? How much after he became chancellor? - Ed.)

2. Comment & Opinion - by Murray Campbell at Queen's Park:
[A choice quote: 'Mr Speaker, I withdraw. Half the cabinet are not asses' - Benjamin Disraeli, (on being called to order for declaring that half the cabinet were asses.) Brief:4-col. illus.]

3. Bush signs law to unify control over spy agencies - Controversial measure grants new powers that opponents say will curtail liberties - by Paul Koring, Washington [Brief: 6-col.]

4. [Editorial]: How nations deal with foreign terrorist suspects [if held without charge]

5. Obituary: Donald Winston Paty, Neurologist 1936-2004 - doctor who was born in China of American medical missionaries settled in British Columbia to become a leading researcher and world authority on multiple sclerosis, recounts Sandra Martin [Brief: 5-col. illus.]

6. 'We have no word for homosexuality' -
While gay marriage is debated in Canada, such issues threaten to break ties between Western Christian churches and their far more active branches in the Third World. It's not just morals or theology, a Nigerian archbishop [Anglican Archbishop Josiah Oduwu-Fearon] tells Michael Valpy. It is a practical matter too. [Brief: 6-col. illus.]

7. Afghanistan, 1979: A Christmas tale no one wants to hear -
This week marks the 25th anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, which led to some of today's worst crises. But as historians tell John Allemang, few leaders seem eager to learn from the episode [Brief: 6-col.]

Globe & Mail Dec 20, 2004:
1. Role of CSIS could expand, McLellan says -
spy agency may be given greater powers to gather intelligence abroad, reports say - by Brian Laghi Ottawa Bureau Chief [Brief: The heading summarises the message] Also see G&M Dec. 21, 2004: [Editorial]: CSIS abroad [Brief: Supports Deputy PM Anne McLellan's view.]

2. Ocean search set for Earhart's plane -
Explorers hope to find aircraft intact - by Dan Glaister, Los Angeles [Brief: 5-col.]

Globe & Mail Dec.21, 2004:
1. Ottawa lashed over Arar secrets - by Daniel LeBlanc, Ottawa;
Arar calls for disclosure [Brief: Front page, 4-col. colour illus. shows much of report blacked out.]

2. Let Ontario families use Muslim law in disputes, report urges - by Keith Leslie, Toronto [Brief: Sharia Law is NOT contemplated.]

3. British lawyer resigns over anti-terrorism law - London.
A senior British lawyer tasked with defending terrorism suspects from secret evidence quit in disgust yesterday, throwing security policy into more turmoil after judges ruled the state was violating basic rights. Ian Macdonald, on a government-appointed team of "special advocates" given access to secret evidence in terrorism cases, said he was resigning because the state's post-Sept. 11 emergency powers are "an odious blot." His resignation came days after judges in the House of Lords, sitting as the country's highest court, ruled the three-year-old powers violated international human rights law. AP

4. Holocaust survivors, U.S. settle suit over gold train - Miami.
The U.S. government has agreed to settle a lawsuit with tens of thousands of Hungarian Holocaust survivors, over a trainload of gold, jewellery and other property seized by the U.S. Army at the end of the Second World War, lawyers said yesterday. The agreement over 24 boxcars filled with $200-million worth of art and household goods stolen by the Nazis and then confiscated by the United States, still has to be worked out in detail, Sam Dubbin, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, told a Miami court. Government documents cited by the lawsuit said some of the property was requisitioned by U.S. Military officers to furnish homes and offices, sold in army commissaries or kept by military personnel as trinkets. Reuters

5. Obituary: Princess Kikuko, 92 - Emperor's aunt wanted women on Japan's throne. Also Weekly Telegraph No 701, Dec. 29, 2004-Jan. 4, 2005: Obituary: Princess Kikuko, 92 in Tokyo - aunt of the Japanese Emperor Akihito and the granddaughter of Tokugawa Yoshinobu, the last of the shoguns.

6. Social studies by Michael Kesterton - "Deep Thoughts" (3 items) -
(a) Based on DNA sequences, whales are more closely related to hippopotamuses than any other animals.
(b) The box jellyfish may be the world's deadliest animal and able to kill a human in less than a minute, but Australian scientists have discovered that it knocks off hunting every day at 3 p.m. and drops to the ocean floor to sleep until dawn. James Cook University researcher Jamie Seymour said this is the first time that a jellyfish has been found to sleep at night. An adult Chironex fleckeri can grow to the size of basketball, with up to 60 tentacles each carrying five billion stinging cells.
"Hey, a new squash court" The Platinum, being built in the middle East for the crown prince of Dubai, will be the biggest yacht in the world at 525 feet, reports The Daily Telegraph. The current giant of the yachting world is the 452-foot Rising Sun owned by Larry Ellison, the chief executive of Oracle. The Platinum (also known as the Golden Star) will carry its own submarine, a theatre, a fully equipped gym, a swimming pool and a squash court.

7. The muckraker at Heaven's gate - After retiring, journalist Philip Mathias turned his investigative skills to probing the Lord's prayer - by Michael Valpy. [Brief: He has written a book The Perfect Prayer on the subject of The Lord's Prayer - A Christian adventure story. 6-col. illus.]

The Weekly Telegraph No 699, December 15-21 2004:
1. Big cuts for TA to save regiment - [Brief: 40% cut in Territorial Army in an attempt to save one of the regiments due to be axed this week.]

2. Paramedics query Kelly suicide - [Brief: THE PARAMEDICS who attended the death of Dr. David Kelly, the government scientist at the centre of the controversy over the Iraq weapons dossier, last week disputed the Hutton inquiry's verdict that he had killed himself by slashing his wrist. Dave Bartlett and Vanessa Hunt insisted that there was relatively little blood at the scene when Dr Kelly's body was discovered in woods near his Oxfordshire home, on July 18 last year. This, they said, made it extremely unlikely that the scientist died from the cuts on his left wrist.]

3. Too many immigrants, claims poll -NEARLY three-quarters of British people believe there are too many immigrants coming into the country, according to results of an opinion poll published last week, writes Philip Johnston. A YouGov survey for The Economist suggests that record levels of immigration are now the principal concern of voters ahead of public services, crime and terrorism. The findings also indicate that groups normally regarded as holding more liberal views, including Londoners and the young, are as ill-disposed to immigrants as others. The poll confirms what politicians have been noticing for months, that immigration has returned with a vengeance as a political issue after years of quiescence, following the fierce controversies of the late 1960s and 1970s.

4. Blunkett faces growing revolt over religious hatred law - by Philip Johnston Home Affairs Editor - DAVID BLUNKETT is facing a growing revolt over plans to make incitement to religious hatred a crime. MPs from all parties denounced the measure, which has been condemned by legal experts, Christians secular organisations and writers and comedians... . [Brief: A threat to free speech without any benefits.]

5. Four headings which tell their own story: The Army is dangerously small, warns top general - by Sean Rayment; Axe to fall on the military marching bands; Armed Forces to recruit non-Christian chaplains; Scrapping regiments not for cost-cutting, says Hoon- by Michael Smith Defence Correspondent

6. Monkeys use stones as 'spades' to dig for food - MONKEYS have been observed digging with stones, a feat that suggests the intelligence gap that separates them from humans is less than was thought, writes Roger Highfield. The stone 'spades' were used by wild capuchins. It was once thought only humans used tools but now researchers know other creatures, such as crows and chimpanzees, do the same. Chimps are known to use sticks to poke into termite mounds. But no one had reported animals using stones for digging. However, a team from Cambridge University writes in the journal Science how capuchins in Brazil were seen using tools almost daily to collect food.

7. St Paul's as good as new thanks to £5m Getty gift - by James Burleigh
- THE FAÇADE of St Paul's Cathedral has been restored to the grandeur first envisaged by Sir Christopher Wren. Last week the West Front which includes the main entrance, was unveiled after an 18-month, £5 million clean-up... [Brief: 3-col., colour illus.]

8. Bitter pill to swallow - A CHRISTMAS advertising campaign for a morning after Pill that referred to an "immaculate contraception" has been scrapped after it caused religious offence. The poster appeared on London Underground trains to promote Levonelle One Step, made by Schering Health Care of Germany. It led to 109 complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority.

9. Dutch middle classes seek new life abroad- by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard
[Brief: "The new wave of educated emigrants are quietly voting with their feet against a multicultural experiment long touted as a model for the world but now a warning of how good intentions can go wrong. - 6-col. illus.]

10. Anti-gay insult bill passes vote -
A BILL, threatening jail and fines for anti-homosexual or sexist insults has passed its second reading in the French parliament. The proposals, similar to those planned in Britain to outlaw incitement to religious hatred, were approved despite opposition from the media and the Roman Catholic Church. See also: Globe & Mail, 24 Dec. 2004: Anti-insult law sparks controversy in France - by Jon Henley, Paris -
The French parliament adopted legislation yesterday that could lead to one-year jail terms for anyone found guilty of insulting homosexuals or women. ... The law puts anti-gay and sexist comments on an equal footing with racist or anti-Semitic insults, allowing French courts to hand down fines of as much as (euro) 45,000, or about $75,000, and jail sentences as long as 12 months for "defamation or incitement to discrimination, hatred or violence on the grounds of a person's sex or sexual orientation."

11. Vatican warns of 'Christianophobia' - by Jonathan Petre -
The Vatican is pressing the United Nations to recognise Christianophobia' as an evil equal to that of anti-Semitism or Islamophobia"... . [Brief: 2-col.]

12. Violence will get worse, warns top CIA undercover operative - by David Rennie in Washington and Robin Gedye [Brief: THE CIA's station chief in Baghdad has sent a bleak cable to Washington warning that the situation in Iraq is getting worse and may not improve any time soon... . - 3-col.]

13. FBI saw 'abuses' at Guantanamo - by David Renne in Washington -
FBI counter-terrorism agents sent to the Guantanamo Bay camp complained to the Pentagon after witnessing "highly aggressive" interrogations and apparent prisoner abuse. In a letter leaked to the Associated Press, Thomas Harrington, who led the team, told Maj-Gen Donald J. Ryder, the army's chief law-enforcement officer, that the Pentagon ignored FBI complaints about a series of incidents that matched the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad... . [Brief: more horrifying details followed.]

14. Twin tower attacks were 'two events' - by Simon English in New York -
[Brief: A jury has ruled that the attacks were two events for insurance purposes. Mr. Silverstein had insurance worth $3.5 billion with 24 companies, may get $1.1 billion more.]

15 Green light for changes to American spy services - By David Rennie in Washington -
THE United States Senate looked ready to approve the largest reorganisation of America's intelligence services in 50 years. Last week, conservatives in the House of representatives ended a rebellion and approved the reform package. The legislation creates a new post of national intelligence director, who will have unprecedented powers of oversight over all 15 spy services. The new director will act as chief intelligence adviser to the president.; A former senior CIA official is suing the agency for allegedly sacking him for refusing to falsify his reports on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction to support the White House's pre-war position, according to The Washington Post

16 EU in dispute as arms ban on China remains in force - by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard in Brussels -
THE European union refused a Franco-German request to lift its arms embargo on China, amid fierce disagreements over the country's human rights record and military ambitions. Wen Jiabao, the Chinese prime minister, was offered a "positive signal" at an EU-China summit in The Hague, but failed to achieve an end to sanctions denounced by his government as an "insult" and a "relic of the Cold War. [Brief: The 25 EU states need to be unanimous to lift the embargo. Some suggest that China's plans include a military option against Taiwan.]

17. Zimbabwe's legal system 'corrupted' - by Robin Gedye -
ZIMBABWE'S legal system has been subverted to keep the government in power and ensure that future elections can be neither free nor fair, according to a report last week by international lawyers. Stephen Irwin, chairman of the Bar of England and Wales, who visited Zimbabwe to draw up the report, said it was clear that Zimbabwe's corruption of the legal system was "directly linked" to the election results in 2000 and the intention of President Robert Mugabe "to keep a grip on power". The report gave examples of senior judges, lawyers and magistrates having been forcibly removed from office after being jailed, beaten or threatened with violence for failing to toe the government line. "I do not believe it is possible to have free elections in 2005 if the situation continues," Mr. Irwin said. The report said the judicial system had "become profoundly compromised over the past four years".

18. Obituary: Billy James Hargis - [See also: Globe & Mail Dec. 8, 2004 - Evangelist battled Communism and tax collectors; Globe & Mail Dec. 13, 2004 Billy James Hargis, Evangelist 1925-2004 - Right-wing minister who trained in Ozark-style 'bawl-and-jump' preaching was laid low by sexual scandal - by Michael Carlson [Brief: 5 col. illus.]]

Globe & Mail, 22 Dec. 2004: Insurgents pierce U.S. defences -
19 American troops die in midday attack on base near Mosul - by Borzou Daragahi, Baghdad [Brief: pages 1 (3 col.) & 14; (5 col.) illus. & map.]

Globe & Mail 27 Dec. 2004: 1. Tsunamis kill thousands - Huge underse
a quake drives 10-metre walls of water over Indian Ocean coastal communities. (Front Page & subsequent pages continued the theme. P. 3: Jakarta's Meteorology and Geophysics Office seismograph read-out shown in photo covering 5 columns.)

2. Volunteer your dog and your heart -
Volunteering caught me off-guard. It's heartbreaking to hold out your hand to people who don't want to let go - by Joanne Currie [Brief: 4-column colour illustrated article on dogs and their owner visiting aged and infirm.]

3. Obituary: Alice Strike, First World War Veteran 1896-2004 -
Enlisted in 1914, Royal Flying Corps - Halifax - Alice Strike, Canada's last surviving female veteran and oldest surviving veteran of the First World War, died last week. She was 108... . [Brief: 5-col. illus.]

4. Temple antiquity a fake, Israeli experts say - by Matthew Kalman, Jerusalem [Brief: 1-col. - deals with an ivory pomegranate.]

Globe & Mail, 28 December, 2004:
1. Struggling to cope - (Tsunami - Front page and theme carries to a number of inside pages.

2. Obituary: Paul Metivier, 104 - First World War veteran enlisted at 16.

The Weekly Telegraph No 700 December 22-28 2004:
1. Charles fights death penalty for converts - by Jonathan Petre Religion Correspondent -
THE PRINCE of Wales is brokering efforts to end the Muslim death penalty on converts to other faiths, The Daily Telegraph has learned. He held a private summit of Christian and Muslim leaders at Clarence House to explore the centuries-old Islamic law under which apostates face persecution and even death. His intervention follows mounting anger at the treatment of Muslims who have converted to Christianity in a number of Islamic states from Iran to Sudan. As an advocate of inter-faith dialogue Prince Charles has come under pressure to criticise the religious law that campaigners say, has resulted in hundreds of executions. Among the Christians at the confidential meeting was an Anglican archbishop from a part of Nigeria where Islamic Sharia law is enforced. Others included the bishop of London, the Rt Rev Richard Chartres, and the Pakistani-born Bishop of Rochester, the Rt Rev Michael Nazir-Ali. The Muslim group is thought to have cautioned against speaking publicly on the issue.

2. Scotland furious over loss of all six famous regiments - by Michael Smith Defence Correspondent [Brief: Easier said than done, if Scotland has a say!]

3. 'Chemical Ali' trial can't end suffering of victims -
MONSTER, murderer, psychopath: those are some of the descriptions the Kurds of Halabja have for Ali Majid al-Tikriti, writes Jack Fairweather. - In March 1988, Majid ordered the bombing of their town with sarin and VX nerve gases as part of the al-Anfal campaign against a Kurdish rebellion. More than 5,000 people died, many of them women and children, in an attack that came to symbolise the brutality of Saddam Hussein's regime. On Saturday, Majid - who also earned the nick-name "Chemical Ali" - finally appeared in court on charges of crimes against humanity. Saddam's former defence minister, Sultan Hashim Ahmed, also appeared in court... . [Brief: 5-col. illus.]

4. US sees drop in black recruits - by David Rennie in Washington [Brief: 1/4 of US recruits are black. ]

5. Rock wins veto on sovereignty deal - by Anton La Guardia Diplomatic Editor [Brief: GIBRALTAR scored a diplomatic victory last week when it gained equal status with Britain and Spain in securing a veto over any talks on the colony's future.]

6. Foreign Office wields £6m axe on 30 overseas missions [Brief: 4 col. & map which indicates 11 centres to be locally staffed and 19 to be closed, world-wide.]

7. Squatters spark fears of land grab in S Africa - by David Blair at Modderklip Farm, Benoni -
TUMBLEDOWN shacks fashioned from corrugated iron and cardboard jostle for space with stagnant pools of sewage. Dogs forage on heaps of rubbish and the sing-song lilt of Portuguese travels along the shanty town's dusty alleys. At first glance, this sprawling slum could be in any city in Portuguese-speaking Africa. Yet this is a corner of South Africa and the shanty town, filled with migrants from neighbouring Mozambique, has sprung up on what were once the lush maize fields of a white-owned farm. Abraham Duvenage, the owner of Modderklip farm, has fallen victim to the biggest land invasion in South Africa's post-apartheid history. More than 40,000 squatters have occupied his land and the authorities have refused either to evict them or to pay Mr. Duvenage compensation... . [Brief: South Africa is going the way of Zimbabwe.] COMMENT: Eventually the beneficial influences of white organization and direction will give way to similar mismanagement and loss of national prosperity.]

8. World Bank accused of harming rainforest - by Andrew Downie in Rio de Janeiro and Charles Clover Environment Editor -
THE World Bank is proposing to fund a cattle project in the Brazilian Amazon which environmentalists say will destroy more rainforest. The International Finance Corporation, the World Bank Group's private-sector investment arm, has pledged to give $110 million (£60m) in a cattle-ranching project run by a company called Bertin. Conservation groups say the IFC investment, with another $185.5m from other sources, will mean further destruction of parts of the forest already so ravaged by cattle ranchers and soya farmers that it is known as the Arc of Deforestation... . [Brief - 2-col.]

9. [Editorial]: The Government's duty is to our safety -
[Brief: a quote: Once again the judiciary has judged the executive and found it wanting. Ruling against the government by a startlingly big margin of 8-1, the Law Lords argue that indefinite detention without trial under the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001 is disproportionate to the threat and discriminates against foreigners. Hence the Act is incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights... .]

Globe & Mail 29 December, 2004:
1. The day the Earth shifted -
Quake made planet wobble (Front Page: 4 pictures of global Indian Ocean at stages of spread: +35 minutes; +1:05; +1:45; +2:25. Inside pages - Death toll increases; 'Blogs' provide first-person on-the-scene account of tsunami chaos; "dead bodies all over the island"; Thirsting for more aid
Disaster images flood news agencies - by David Carr - The images speak for themselves. Travel advice.

2. Obituary: Sir Angus Ogilvy, 70 Businessman married Princess Alexandra; [See full-page obituary in G&M 30 Dec. 2004: Sir Angus Ogilvy, investor 1928-2004. [Brief: 5-col. illus.]] Also in Weekly Telegraph No. 701, Dec. 29 2004 - Jan. 4 2005: Obituary: Sir Angus Ogilvy - City businessman linked with Lonrho who refused a title and continued his career after marrying Princess Alexandra.

Globe & Mail 30 Dec. 2004: Reaching out to victims -
(Front Page) Canada pledges $40m; toll nears 100,000; Many Canadians unaccounted for; Sri Lankans in Canada at odds over uses of aid; No one was immune from tragedy; Disaster Relief - Private sector comes to rescue in Asia.

Globe & Mail 31 Dec. 2004: A relentless tide of death -
Why most of the missing will never be recovered. (Front Page - Satellite images of Banda Aceh, Indonesia: June 23 & Dec. 28 compared.) - Pledges pour in as toll exceeds 117,000; B.C. not immune, experts say.

The Weekly Telegraph No 701, December 29 2004 - January 4, 2005:
1. Tsunami's wave of death (Front p., Also pp. 3, 4, 5, 6 & 7.)

2. p. 3:British survivors relive their ordeal; p. Tourist captures terror of the waves after palmist warned her to stay out of the sea; UK helpline buckles under pressure

3. p. 4: Map of Indian Ocean countries & Tsunami; How havoc is unleashed from the floor of the sea

4. p. 5: Aid is swiftly on it way from around the world; Trips cancelled as holiday firms face loss of millions; Britain to send search and rescue teams

5. p. 6: 'I held my son's hand. We were slithering through the street and then I lost him' - Hundreds die as tourist hotel is devastated; Military planes pluck the survivors from 'dead' holiday island; More than a million are left homeless - Indonesia; Penang's tragedy on the beaches - Malaysia

6. p. 7: Stories of death and despair along the grieving shore; Shattered lives and homes in a land overwhelmed by ocean - Sri Lanka; Only 500 survive out of a population of 1,500; Hundreds of Somalis die 3,000 miles away - East Africa; Britons among 55 killed in holiday islands - The Maldives

7. Out of the flames, a work of art from 4,000 years ago - by Paul Stokes [Brief: 6 col. colour illus.]; Pagan image found smashed in church [Brief: 4 col. colour illus.]

8. IRAQ - Attack on army base kills 19 US troops - by Jeremy Redmon at the Mariz base Near Mosul; Americans see war as mistake - by Alec Russell; Terror won't stop vote, vows Blair on Baghdad trip- by Toby Helm in Baghdad; Iran may be big winner in election - by Jack Fairweather in Tuwella; New security forces 'can't take the heat' - by Alec Russell in Washington

9. Religion - Apathetic Britons' belief in God vanishes - the national mood towards faith has become one of indifference. Anthony King analyses our latest YouGov poll; The secret of living a long life... go to church

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