A review of events and their interpretation.
| Thursday, 31 December Europe's biggest economic error begins as European Union officials announce the conversion rates for Europe's single currency. The euro officially comes into being at 11pm tonight, and the first trading in euro-denominated securities will take place on Monday. The announcement of the irrevocably fixed rates for the euro heralds a weekend of intense activity among players in the financial markets. The US government enacts more lenient rules over the export of encryption technology, used to guarantee privacy of e-mail and credit-card sales over the Internet. Critics complain that the restrictions still go too far, leaving sensitive data vulnerable to dedicated hackers with sufficient resources.
|
| Wednesday, 30 December In the second military confrontation of the week, US warplanes fire on an Iraqi missile position in the southern no-fly zone. They're responding to an attack on British planes patrolling the flight-exclusion zone. Six to eight Iraqi surface-to-air missiles were fired at British Tornado aircraft, say US military sources. A survivor of the Yemen shootout yesterday says the gunfight was started by Yemeni guards. Tribesmen used the tourists as human shields, he claims. Wellington (day 5): New Zealand 215/6 (Cairns 61, McMillan 74*, Srinath 3/82) New Zealand win by 4 wickets, and take the lead 1-0. |
| Tuesday, 29 December Four hostages are killed when Yemeni security forces stormed a mountain hideout where kidnappers had been holding 16 tourists. The remaining hostages are freed, according to Yemeni security sources. Two kidnappers die in the raid, with an unknown number arrested. Two top Khmer Rouge leaders issue the first public apology for their role in the deaths of nearly 2 million Cambodians during the "killing fields" of the 1970s. The government of Prime Minister Hun Sen, which had made surrender-without-trial arrangements with other former leaders, has already ruled out putting the two men on trial. Khieu Samphan and Nuon Chea, who defected last week, had earlier expressed no remorse.
Melbourne (day 4): England 244 (Hick 60, Stewart 52, Hussain 50, Nicholson 3/56) Australia 162 (M Waugh 43, S Waugh 30*, Headley 6/60) England win by 12 runs. Honest! Australia lead the series 2-1
Chelsea draw 0-0 with Manchester United, which leaves Villa atop the table.
|
| Monday, 28 December US planes fire on an Iraqi position in the north of the country. President Clintern claims that the plane was fired on, a tale rejected by Iraq who point out that it was violating their airspace.
Melbourne (day 3): Australia 340 (S Waugh 122*, MacGill 43, Gough 5/96) England 65/2 (Stewart 43*) England trail by 5 runs with eight wickets remaining.
Last day of the NFL Regular Season. Arizona books the final play-off spot, by beating San Diego 16-13 with a last-second field goal. Tampa Bay (thumping Cincinnati 35-0 away - their biggest road win ever) and the NY Giants (20-10 in Philadelphin) also won, but that was all rendered irrelevant by the Falcons' success. Arizona travel to Dallas, while Green Bay will visit San Fransisco for their first round play off game, both sides coming off wins.
Aston Villa return to the top of the Premier League, after beating Sheffield Wednesday 2-1. Liverpool beat Newcastle 4-2, while Arsenal win 1-0 at Charlton. Derby, Tottenham and West Ham also win.
|
| Sunday, 27 December US military officials say they'll act quickly if Iraq fires on planes patrolling no-fly zones. The remarks come after Iraq's vice-president said that planes would be attacked. The US and Britain warn that their planes would fight back if fired upon. The British Defense Ministry said one of its planes patrolling the "no-fly" zone over southern Iraq had seen anti-aircraft fire, but the shots were too far away to be considered a threat.
Kansas close a miserable season by beating the Oakland Raiders 37-27. Neither side makes the play-offs, and the Chiefs compile their first losing record in many seasons.
Melbourne (day 2): England 270 (Stewart 107, Ramprakash 63, MacGill 4/61) Australia 59/2 (Langer 26*, Gough 2/15). Australia trail by 211 with eight wickets remaining. |
| Saturday, 26 December - Boxing Day The backbone of the Khmer Rouge leadership is broken with the surrender of two top leaders to the Cambodian government. Deputy commander General Meas Sophea said Khmer Rouge leader Khieu Samphan and the rebel movement's political chief Nuon Chea surrendered unconditionally on Friday night and were in the former guerrilla strong hold of Pailin now under government control.
Chelsea move to the top in English soccer, after their 2-0 win at Southampton. A controversial ejection of goal-keeper Oakes leaves former leaders Villa in the lurch; they lose 2-1 in Blackburn. Arsenal keep the pressure, beating West Ham 1-0; there are also wins for Man Utd, Liverpool, Leeds, Leicester and Wimbledon.
Melbourne: England in Australia, 4th Test. No play due to rain.
The Oilers play their last game under that name, and lose 26-16 to the Minnesota Vikings. From next season, the Tennessee franchise will be known as the Titans. They won't have to play the Vikings, who finish this season the top NFL team with a 15-1 record, for three years. The Vikings, meanwhile, join the 84 Bears and 85 44-9ers as the only sides to go 15-1 in regular season play. They break the 81 Redskins' record for points in a season, setting a mark of 556.
|
| Friday, 25 December - Christmas Day The latest round-the-world balloon flight ends off the Hawaii coast. The ICO Global craft, piloted by Per Linstrand, Steve Fosset and Richard Branston-Pickel, took off from Morocco last week, but ran into a trough of low pressure in the middle of the Pacific. |
| Thursday, 24 December Just one day after leaving office, Peter Meddlesome could become the new Lord Mayor of London. His undeclared candidature - there will be no formal announcement - is an attempt by the Minister for Spin to spin the unsavoury matter of his resignation into a genuine career advancement. The little matter of a potential fraud rap over fradulently obtaining a loan may yet trip up his campaign. The NBA sets the deadline to axe the remainder of the season. If negotiations are not complete by January 7, the last half of the season goes down the pan. Six months of talks have got nowhere, but players are beginning to show splits in their ranks. |
| Wednesday, 23 December Iraq slapped a ban on a United Nations flight scheduled to land in Baghdad as US Defense Secretary William Cohen orders a decrease of troops in the region. UNIKOM - the Iraq-Kuwait Observer Mission which monitors the demilitarized zone between Iraq and Kuwait - cancels a scheduled flight to Habaniya airport near Baghdad after failing to receive the clearance required from the Iraqi government. Two British Cabinet ministers resign over a home loan. Minister for Trade, Peter Meddlesome, leaves his department at lunchtime to spend more time with his mother. His other baby, the Millennium Dome, is also taken from him, though his offspring NuLabour (tm) seems secure with Mr Blair. Then, mid-afternoon, the Paymaster General, Sir Geoffrey Robinson, quits to spend more time reading the New Statesman. Robinson had loaned Meddlesome over 300,000 pounds in order to buy a des res in west London. Meddlesome should have declared this to Parliament and the taxman but failed to do either. The American Basketball League folds midway through its third season, unable to compete with its rival WNBA, which has the backing of the NBA. As the league filed for bankruptcy protection, the nine ABL franchises cancel their games and draw up plans for paying players and employees, and refunding ticketholders' money. |
| Tuesday, 22 December - Winter Solstace Israel's parliament takes a first step toward dissolving the government in a move that could freeze the Middle East peace process for months. The Knesset overwhelmingly approves the first reading of a bill to call early general elections, shortly after rejecting Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's peace policies. Over a quarter of the strikes aimed against Iraqi targets last week failed, reports the commander of American forces in the Gulf. Troops will remain in the Gulf region as part of the effort to contain Iraqi President Saddam Hussein; his forces are ready to strike again if necessary. The Denver Broncos have two problems in their Monday night match: not enough incentive, and too much Dan Marino. Miami clinch the final AFC playoff berth, downing the defending champs 31-21, giving the AFC East four teams in postseason. |
| Monday, 21 December Dressed in military fatigues and invoking the name of God, Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein tells his people in a televised speech that their country achieved victory after four days of US-British airstrikes. "You were up to the level that your leadership and comrade Saddam Hussein had hoped you would be at ... God rewarded you and delighted your hearts with the crown of victory." President Clintern denied reports that he had lost, and pointed out the five defections from the Iraqi camp to back him. God was unavailable for comment at press time. An escaped turkey causes traffic chaos in Lincolnshire. The gobbler caused feathers to flap on the busy A1 route while resisting attempts to stuff him into a sack. "He's got sauce" (cranberry probably), said one police officer, who was unable to rule out fowl play.
Adam Vinatieri's 35-yard field goal with three seconds to go gives the Patriots a 24-21 upset over the San Francisco 49ers. Acting QB Zolak, in his first start for three years, matches Steve Young's two touchdown passes, but bests him in the fourth quarter. The eight-year veteran leads the Patriots back from a 21-14 deficit with two scoring drives in the last eight minutes. The Patriots secure their place in the play-offs, while the loss means Atlanta take the NFC West and a first round bye. They celebrate by beating Detroit.
Who's in: AFC has Denver, the Jets and Jacksonville as the winners, and in that order. Buffalo and New England will be joined by Miami if they win one of their two remaining games, otherwise Tennessee can pip them to the post.
In the NFC, Minnesota, Atlanta and Dallas are the divisional winners. San Fran should lead Green Bay for the 4th seeding, with Arizona needing to win to complete the last six.
|
Sunday, 20 December Pilots: cease flyingBlair, Clinton call their pilots down, saying that all the military objectives have been met. Blair warns that there will be no return to the previous cat and mouse tactics; the Iraqi vice-president points out that if there had been arms, they would have been hit in the strikes.After his impeachment vote, President Clintern's popularity soars. An NBC poll shows his support up from 68% to 72% (margin of error: 3%). Analyst Pieter van der Sniej suggests that on present trends, if the Senate trial votes to convict the president, he will enjoy the support of 99.85% of the USA (margin of error: 0.16%)
Dunedin: (day 3). Rain stops play; match drawn. India and New Zealand level 0-0 after 1 test and 0 balls.
The Spice Girls record their 9th Number One single from as many releases as "Goodbye" climbs 29 places to top the charts. Only the Beatles, with 11 straight list leaders, have more; they're also the only other act to have three consecutive Christmas Number One singles. George Michael holds off allcomers to have the Number One album with his greatest hits compilation.
|
| Saturday, 19 December A deeply divided House of Representatives impeaches President Clinton. 228 lawmakers -- a majority of 23 -- support an article of impeachment relating to perjury to the grand jury. Another article, pertaining to obstruction of justice is passed by similar margins, but two others fall. Clinton will now go for trial before the US Senate in the New Year. Baghdad endures the fiercest bombardment in three nights of US and British air strikes. US Defense Department officials hinted Friday that the attacks could end within hours, but a fourth round of strikes begin after sunset in Baghdad. A final decision was not be made until Clinton met with his national security team.
Dunedin (day 2): Rain washes out the second day's play, after taking the first.
Chelsea top the Premier League after beating Tottenham 2-0. Man Utd fall 3-2 at home to Middlesborough. Southampton, Liverpool, Newcastle and West Ham win; Notts Forest and Blackburn fight a 2-2 draw in a relegation battle. In Divison 1, Birmingham hold runaway leaders Sunderland to a goal-less draw. And in Scotland, Rangers beat Hearts 3-2, Celtic thrash Dumbarton 5-0.
The New York Jets seal the AFC East by beating Buffalo 17-10. Tampa Bay eliminate themselves from the play-off race after losing to Washington 28-25, allowing Green Bay and Dallas to progress to the post-season.
|
| Friday, 18 December Representative Henry Hyde opens the historic impeachment debate in the House of Representatives. His address says President Bill Clinton betrayed the public trust by lying under oath in the Monica Lewinsky affair and should be removed from office. Democrats continue to push for a censure instead. "The question before this House is rather simple. The matter before the House is lying under oath. This is called perjury." As US and British forces resume military strikes against Iraq, President Saddam Hussein appears on national television to tell his people that Baghdad will not back down in the conflict. Hussein urges Iraqis and Arabs to resist the bombings that began late on Wednesday, and to hit the criminals and tools of Satan. His Satanic Majesty was unavailable for comment by press time, but Minion Bill L. Zebbub of Basingstoke reported that Bill Clintern and Satan had never had any sort of relationship, although Satan could not explain a stain on his robes that looked rather like egg-white. Northern Ireland's politicians break months of stalemate and agree to the shape of a new coalition government. The power-sharing arrangement is in line with the deal hammered out in April's peace accord. The eight parties supporting the accord also announce agreement on six areas where the future Belfast administration will shape policy in conjunction with the Irish Republic. In a separate move, the guerilla Ulster Volunteer Force starts to hand over some of its weapons.
Faisalabad, day 2: Fog again prevents any play.
Dunedin, New Zealand versus India, First Test: Rain is the show-stopper here.
|
Thursday, 17 December - First Day of SaturnaliaWarometer: 100%. It's warThe war, Operation Desert Fox began when Prime Minister Blair cut the ribbon on a Point of Order to the Commons last night. Within minutes, President Clintern appeared on national television to welcome the world to his war. All the major news organisations, and SKY, cleared their channels to provide missile-to-missile coverage of the events napkin as it unswivels. Missiles strike more than 50 separate targets during the first wave of bombing, according to US Secretary of Defense William Cohen. Further waves begin soon after nightfall local time; Iraqi claims of civilian casualties could not be confirmed either.President Clinton denies that the US attack on Iraq was a diversionary tactic to avoid an impeachment vote, saying the accusation by some Republicans is simply "not true." House members who had expected to be weighing Clinton's fate today are waiting for the impeachment debate that will now start tomorrow. Results are due some time Saturday. The House of Lords sets aside its decision that Gen Augusto Pinochet, 83, has no immunity from arrest. It orders a new hearing because of one of the judge's ties with human rights group Amnesty International. It's a setback in Spain's efforts to extradite the general to face charges of murder and torture.
Faisalabad: Pakistan (0) versus Zimbabwe (1), 3rd and final Test. Fog prevents any play.
|
| front | local | mscl | music | news | sport |
| mail me | |||||