To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Oct 17, 1999 TV Programs
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Sun, 17 Oct 1999 08:47:00 +0000

From: research-bpr@philologos.org (Moza)

8:00 PM Eastern

 DISC - TATTOO!: BEAUTY, ART AND PAIN - The ancient art form
   is recognized around the world.(CC)(TVPG)

 TLC - MYSTERIOUS MAN OF THE SHROUD - The Shroud of
   Turin provokes heated controversy.(CC)(TVG)

9:00

 CNN - CNN & TIME - "Weapons of War" - Military
   rifles and ammunition are available to
   civilians.(CC)

 HIST - SWORN TO SECRECY - "Stalin's Spies" - Stalin has
   Kremlin operatives spy on friends and foes
   alike.(CC)(TVG)

 TLC - THE LOST ARK - Researchers search for an ancient ark
   capable of storing electricity.(CC)(TVG)

10:00

 CNN - MILLENNIUM - "Century of the Axe" - North American
   Indians; Gothic cathedrals; Ethiopian empire; Italian city
   states; Australian Aborigines.(CC)

 TLC - THE CATTLE FILES - Over 10,000 head of cattle
   die in unexplained nighttime
   slaughters.(CC)(TVPG)

10:30

 PBS - CROWN & COUNTRY - "Portsmouth: Home of the Fleet
   and Seat of Military Power" - Prince Edward Windsor tours the
   naval base in Portsmouth.(CC)(TVG)

--- BPR

BPR Web Site - http://philologos.org/bpr

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - China & Syria to promote military cooperation
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Sun, 17 Oct 1999 09:13:18 +0000

From: research-bpr@philologos.org (Moza)

                 China And Syria To Promote Military
                 Cooperation

                 DAMASCUS, Oct 17, 1999 -- (Reuters) Syrian
                 President Hafez al-Assad held talks on Saturday
                 with Chinese Defense Minister Chi Haotian who
                 expressed a desire to promote cooperation between the
                 Syrian and Chinese armies.

                 Presidential spokesman Joubran Kourieh said Syrian
                 Defense Minister Lieutenant General Mustafa Tlas was
                 present at the meeting during which the situation in
                 the region was also discussed.

                 "President Assad expressed Syria's appreciation
                 over China's support for the Arab causes and their
                 efforts to liberate their lands," Kourieh said.

                 Officials said that Tlas held talks earlier on
                 Saturday with the Chinese minister, who is
                 accompanied by a military delegation, on how to
                 bolster cooperation between Syrian and Chinese
                 armies.

                 "The Chinese minister expressed a desire to develop
                 ties between the two (Syrian and Chinese) armies at
                 all levels," one official said.

                 Chi also expressed support for Syria's right to the
                 Golan Heights, captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle
                 East war.

                 "There could be no just or comprehensive peace in the
                 region without the return of the Golan to Syria," one
                 Syrian official quoted the Chinese minister as
                 saying.

                 Syria which is still technically at a state of war
                 with Israel is partly equipped with Chinese arms.

http://www.insidechina.com/news.php3?id=101543&text

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - US offers help on Russian radar site
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Sun, 17 Oct 1999 09:19:06 +0000

From: research-bpr@philologos.org (Moza)

                 U.S. Offers Help On Russia Radar Site

                 WASHINGTON, Oct 17, 1999 -- (Reuters) The
                 United States has offered to help Russia complete a
                 missile-tracking radar and share more radar data if
                 Moscow agrees to renegotiate a landmark arms control
                 pact so America can build a national missile defense
                 system, newspaper reports said on Sunday.

                 Quoting U.S. and Russian officials, The New York
                 Times and The Washington Post reported that the
                 United States has offered to help Russia complete a
                 partially constructed radar near the Siberian city of
                 Irkutsk, a project estimated to cost tens of millions
                 of dollars.

                 In exchange, the United States wants to renegotiate
                 the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty (ABM), which
                 limits the systems Russia and the United States can
                 deploy to ward off enemy warheads.

                 U.S. President Bill Clinton is due to decide in June
                 whether to build a National Missile Defense that
                 would breach the treaty.

                 Moscow has consistently opposed Washington's
                 efforts to have the 1972 treaty amended. Washington
                 says it needs to develop a national missile defense
                 system because of the increased threat of attack from
                 various countries.

                 A U.S. intelligence report last month said that over
                 the next 15 years, the United States would "most
                 likely" face long-range ballistic missile threats
                 from Russia, China and North Korea, "probably" from
                 Iran and "possibly" from Iraq.

                 "We've raised with them a number of cooperative
                 activities to show that we see this as a threat that
                 affects both countries," a senior Clinton
                 administration official told The Washington Post.

                 "We don't see this as anything against Russia, and
                 we're willing to look at a whole range of cooperative
                 measures that would address the same rogue threat
                 we're concerned about."

                 The New York Times in its story from Moscow said
                 other U.S. proposals include possibly giving Russia
                 access to data from American early-warning radar
                 stations, and the two countries might collaborate on
                 some satellite systems.

                 The administration decided last month to ask
                 initially for modest changes in the ABM treaty,
                 rather than seek whole revisions, as some Republicans
                 in Congress have advocated, the reports said.

                 The United States is also trying to convince Russia
                 that they have a common interest in guarding against
                 rogue states that have growing capabilities for
                 launching intercontinental missiles.

                 The Washington Post said although Russia has
                 officially rejected U.S. proposals to renegotiate the
                 ABM, it has nonetheless agreed to listen to American
                 ideas. The latest round of talks on the ABM treaty
                 occurred last week, and the United States has not yet
                 received a Russian response.

                 The increasingly heated dispute over antimissile
                 defenses comes after the U.S. Senate on Wednesday
                 rejected ratification of a global treaty banning
                 nuclear tests. More than 150 countries have signed
                 the treaty but it will not come into force until the
                 44 nuclear-capable states, including the United
                 States, ratify it.

                 On Saturday, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov
                 told U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright the
                 United States' failure to ratify the Comprehensive
                 Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) was a serious problem for
                 future weapons talks.

                 The two also discussed the Strategic Arms Reduction
                 Treaties (START) and ABM treaty, a statement issued
                 in Moscow said without elaborating.

http://www.russiatoday.com/news.php3?id=101554&text

========
To: bpr-list@philologos.org (BPR Mailing List)
Subject: [BPR] - Corn modified to be contraceptive
From: bpr-list@philologos.org(BPR)
Date: Sun, 17 Oct 1999 17:19:47 +0000

From: research-bpr@philologos.org (Moza)

From The Sunday Times,
http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/news/pages/sti/99/10/17/stinwenws01045.html?999
- October 17 1999 BRITAIN

Corn modified to be contraceptive

CORN has been genetically modified to make it grow a contraceptive,
writes Roger Dobson. In a move which could revolutionise birth
control, especially in developing countries, scientists have succeeded
in getting the maize to produce human antibodies to sperm.

After being harvested from the seeds of the GM corn, the antibodies
are purified and processed, and then added to a lubricant designed to
protect against pregnancy.

"It is an inexpensive technology and that means it can be used
globally," said Dr Kevin Whaley, who has directed the research at
Johns Hopkins University in America. "We envisage that it will be used
topically and that it would be put into sexual lubricants. It would be
something that women could apply many hours before intercourse and it
would be effective for 12 to 24 hours."

Scientists envisage large acreages of the corn being grown to meet
demand for what will be a relatively cheap production process. The
corn, now growing in a greenhouse in San Diego, California, has been
licensed for development to the biotech company Epicyte.

The technology is based on a human gene that carries the instructions
for making a particular antibody or protein being transplanted into
the DNA of a plant. Once in place the antibody becomes a "natural"
product of that plant.

Antibodies are produced by the human immune system to counter and
destroy alien bugs and viruses, but sperm is one of the few invaders
that does not usually trigger an immune response in women.

However, there are some women - fewer than one in 100 - who are
immune-infertile. The incoming sperm is seen by the killer cells of
their immune systems as an unwanted invader and is neutralised by
antibodies.

Scientists at Johns Hopkins have harnessed this antibody in the white
blood cells of immune-infertile women, then cloned those cells and
produced genetic material which is mixed into the DNA of the corn.

"The main concentrations are in the kernel of the corn," said Whaley.
"We can keep the seeds in store and purify the protein or antibody
when we need it."

Human trials should take place within two years.

The scientists are also growing a herpes antibody in corn and looking
at adding others for HIV and other diseases.

via: isml@onelist.com