A review of events and their interpretation.
East Timor and Indonesia(1st) Hundreds of armed militiamen take to the streets in East Timor after Monday's independence vote. The pro-Indonesian militias force 150 UN members to take refuge in the capital Dili. One person has died in the clashes. Although the ballot counting hasn't been completed, the pro-independence side has claimed victory, noting the voter turnout of up to 99 per cent. (6th) Violence continues in East Timor after the United Nations declares almost 80 percent of East Timor voters opted for independence from Indonesia. In the capital, pro-Indonesian milita set fire to the home of Bishop Carlos Belo, East Timor's spiritual leader and winner of the 1996 Nobel Peace Prize. About 6000 people had taken refuge in his compound. |
Transport(1st)An Argentine airliner crashes just after taking off from one of the largest airports in Buenos Aires. At least 69 people are killed. When the Boeing 737 finally took off, it reached an altitude of only about five metres, barely clearing a fence by a highway before finally slamming into a golf course. (21st) Air Canada urges its shareholders to reject a bid by Onex Corp to buy and merge Canada's two national airlines. The airline's board of directors called the offer "totally unacceptable" and said it favoured Canadian Airlines at the expense of Air Canada, and doesn't reflect the true value of Air Canada. The airline is actively considering its own alternatives to the Onex proposal, including a deal with one or more third parties. |
Unrest(4th) Nurses at the largest hospital in Newfoundland launch an illegal strike. They are walking out for 24 hours to protest a two-day suspension given to one of their colleagues, disciplined for writing a letter to The Telegram, calling the hospital's use of student nurses unsafe. Hospital officials say her statements were misleading and violated the hospital's confidentiality policy. (9th) An apartment building explosion in Moscow kills more than 70. Investigators have clear evidence that explosives were used, but the reason for the bombing is unknown. (20th) A 65-year-old Saskatchewan woman fighting for equal rights has been sent to jail for going topless at a swimming pool. In a Regina court, Evangeline Godron was fined $200 for mischief, refused to pay and now spends a month behind bars. Lawyer James Rybchuk says they haven't decided if they'll take the case to a higher court. But Rybchuk says Saskatchewan has a lot of catching up to do when it comes to women going topless, and this court decision proves it. Godron says she was challenging the rules of the pool because they discriminate against women. The Saskatchewan judge who ruled against her said Godron knew that women weren't allowed to swim topless at the pool and that the police would be called. (27th) Russia is massing troops along its border with Chechnya. For the past five days, Russian planes have been bombing targets in the region. Moscow says it is attacking terrorists who are blamed for a series of recent bombings in Russian cities. Russia is not ruling out a full-scale invasion of Chechnya. The territory's president is asking for a meeting with Russian President Boris Yeltsin. Britain's armed forces are condemned by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. The court ruled that Britain's policy of banning people from the armed forces because they are homosexual is illegal and a breach of human rights. |
Politicing(1st) A group of nearly 200 Chinese migrants is taken to Victoria for processing at a Canadian Forces Base. After being rescued from their ship and escorted to Port Hardy on board three Canadian vessels, the 190 migrants from the Fujian boarded buses for CFB Esquimalt. The base has already housed a total of 254 migrants in the past six weeks. The first boat arrived July 20 and the second Aug 11. Immigration officials recommend the migrants remain in detention until refugee hearings are complete, as they are a flight risk. After agreeing to pay smugglers up to $30,000, the migrants might disappear rather than be deported. (20th) The trial of Anwar Ibrahim in Malaysia is delayed again by his illness. Ibrahim was fired as deputy PM last year. A court case before Belfast court says the IRA ceasefire isn't holding. Northern Ireland secretary Mo Mowlam is expected to appear before the court next month, after a peace process review has finished. (26th) G7 finance ministers and central bankers meet in Washington. The International Monetary Fund and World Bank met in formal session. The gathering was held to find a solution to the debt burden of the world's poorest nations. Many nations spend billions each year paying the interest on IMF and World Bank loans - with no hope of ever paying them off. Poor nations, non-governmental organizations and church groups have campaigned for years for a solution. The two international bodies come up with a far-reaching plan that's available to more countries than the existing scheme. (28th) One of Canada's richest native bands sues the federal government for nearly $1.5 billion. The Samson Cree south of Edmonton claim Ottawa has been mismanaging their oil and gas reserves. They claim the government negotiated poor contracts with oil and gas companies drilling on Cree land. The band also claims it's been short-changed because the government mismanaged a trust account. The Samson Cree estimate they've lost a total of $1.4 billion. The case is expected to go to court next spring and last two years. (29th) Street protests against Yugoslav President Milosevic degenerate into clashes. Armed police come upon as many as 25,000 people who have broken through a cordon of riot police. Water cannons intimidate the demonstrators before the police wade in with batons and beat the crowd back. More than 60 were hurt. |
This Is Also News(2nd) Police in Brooklyn, Ohio, start ticketing people for using handheld cell phones while driving. Fines start at $3 for first-time offenders, but jump to $100 for a second offence, or if the driver is involved in an accident. (20th) Sears Canada pays $30 million for Eaton's department store chain. Sears will own eight Eaton's stores: in Burnaby, BC; Winnipeg; Quebec City; Halif*x; London; Etobicoke; North York; and Scarborough. The purchase is expected to be completed by the end of the year. (21st) A powerful earthquake hits the central mountainous region of Taiwan. More than 1500 people are killed. The quake's epicentre was about 150 kilometres south of Taipei. It struck Monday while most of Taiwan's 22 million people were sleeping. Many people stumbled out of bed in a fog to chaos on the streets. High-rise apartment buildings were knocked off foundations and roads collapsed. The authorities say it was the most powerful quake in the island's recorded history. With a preliminary magnitude of 7.6, it was about the same strength as the earthquake that killed more than 15,000 people in Turkey last month. (23rd) The aftermath of Hurricane Gert wrecks St Bride's harbour, NF, sinking five boats and sending three men to hospital after being thrown into the sea. (30th) There's an accident at a uranium processing plant in Japan. The government calls in United States military help. Three workers were exposed to radiation levels 4000 times higher than normal. They collapsed from radiation poisoning. About 150 people living around the plant have been moved out and schools in the area have been told to keep students inside. A nuclear reaction occurred while the workers were processing uranium into fuel for power plants; it keeps going for some hours. Two years ago, a fire in a radioactive waste storage area at the plant released contaminated smoke into the air. |
Cricket(2nd: Singapore Tournament, Game 1) Zimbabwe 244/9 (Campbell 80) West Indies 247/4 (Campbell 63) WI win by six wickets with 38 balls in hand. (25th, Nairobi Cup match 1) Kenya 199/8 (Shah 71, Whitall 3/29) Zimbabwe 200/7 (Goodwin 76*, Flower 55, Tikolo 3/22) Zimbabwe win with 4 balls in hand. Tests(9-11, Kandy, 1st Test) Australia 188 (Ponting 96, Muralitheran 4/63, Zoysa 3/38, Vaas 3/43) and 140 (Ponting 51, Vaas 3/15), Sri Lanka 234 (de Silva 78, Warne 5/52) and 95/4 (de Silva 31, Miller 3/48). SL win by six wickets with over two days in hand.(22-26, Galle) Sri Lanka 296 (de Silva 64, Warne 3/29) and 55/0 (Atapattu 28*); Australia 228 (Slater 96, Blewett 62, Muralitheran 5/71, Herath 4/97) Match drawn |
Sports(8th) Quarterfinals at the US Open. #2 seed Andre Agassi downs Nicolas Escude of Ecuador in straight sets, while third seed Yevgeni Kafelnikov takes a final set tie break to beat Dutch leader Richard Krajicek (12th seed). Lindsay Davenport, #2 seed, downs Mary Pierce (5); and Serena Williams (7) overcomes Mary Pierce (4) - both in three sets. |
Football(11th) Manchester United open up a six-point gap with a thrilling 3-2 win at Liverpool, helped by two own-goals by Jamie Carragher and some stunning debut saves by Massimo Taibi. Second-place Aston Villa lose 3-1 at Arsenal - Davor Suker netting twice for the Gunners - Chelsea, West Ham, Leeds United and the Gunners all move above Villa. Chelsea, 1-0 victor over Bobby Robson's Newcastle, and West Ham, 1-0 winner over promoted Watford, both have two games in hand on the leader and are unbeaten after five games. Everton, Middlesborough and Sunderland also win. European(14th) Group D:Defending champion Manchester United is held to a 0-0 tie by Croatia Zagreb. Olympique Marseille downs Sturm Graz 2-0. (21st) Two goals by Brazilian winger Savio cement a 4-1 win for Real Madrid over Molde. Early goals in each half by Brazilians Esquerdinha and Mario Jardel gave FC Porto a 2-0 victory over visitor Olympiakos. |
Passages(5th) Alan Clark, maverick Conservative MP, dies aged 71. He had been ill with a brain tumour for some months. The member for Kensington and Chelsea returned to the Commons in 1997, after sitting out the previous parliament. He was best known for his 1993 diaries, in which he ogled a woman on every 2.3 pages; and for being "economical with the actualite" in the 1992 Matrix Churchill trial that nearly brought down the Major government. (7th) In one of the biggest media deals ever made, CBS Corporation and Viacom will merge to create a major media and entertainment conglomerate. The two parties describe the deal as a merger of equals and not an acquisition. The new conglomerate will control CBS Television, Paramount movie studio and Blockbuster video, as well as a number of cable channels including MTV, VH1 and Nickelodeon. The company will operate under the Viacom name. (8th) Adrienne Clarkson is appointed Canada's new Governor General. Clarkson, of Chinese Canadian heritage, is fluent in French. She was Ontario's agent general in France, and was a well-known Toronto broadcaster. (17th) Singer Frankie Vaughan dies, aged 71. Vaughan became the first British crooner to top the bill in Las Vegas, broke house records at the Copacabana, and turned down a proposition from Marylin Monroe on the set of Let's Make Love. |
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sep 30 99