Weaver's News Spin

March 1999

A review of events and their interpretation. 

NATO bombs Yugoslavia (18th) Kosovo Albanians sign a deal that will lead to autonomy for their province within Serbia. Security will be guaranteed by a force of around 40,000 NATO troops. The Yugoslav government, led by President Milosevic, find this army deployment unacceptable, and intend to continue their efforts to eliminate the Kosovo Liberation Army. (23rd) US ambassador Richard Holbrooke gives up the unequal struggle. He's spent the last few days trying to bring the Yugoslav government round to his country's point of view; the next stage looks to be military action. (24th) Strike One launches mid-evening local time, inflicting damage on military targets. Yugoslavs claim many civilian casualties, but with no independent journalists allowed to report from the region, we can't confirm this. President Clinton, in a nationwide television address, reports that he's not allowing the same mistakes as took place in 1938 (Hitler) and 1994 (Bosnia). Russia orders all NATO staff to leave the country, in preparation to withdraw from co-operation with the alliance. (26th) After three days of strikes, Belgrade is reported as a city that's angry, not bowed. Two Yugoslav planes are shot down in Bosnian airspace; NATO sources report that the craft were carrying air-to-ground equipment (that's bombs to the rest of us). (27th) NATO announces phase two of their operation, in which they'll target Yugoslav ground forces in Kosovo and southern Serbia. Milosevic calls this the "worst aggression" since 1945, conveniently forgetting the Yugoslav bombing of Slovenia in 1991. The television station shows houses with a few slates removed; NATO mouthpieces speak of villages being wiped off the map and armed Serbs on the rampage through Kosovo. (28th) A NATO plane comes down over Italy with the pilot safely rescued afterwards. It's not immediately clear whether the craft was shot down or failed in another way. (29th) The greatest refugee crisis in 50 years is under way, claims NATO. More than 50,000 flee a "scorched earth" policy from the Yugoslavs. The British defence secretary claims he's "confronting a regime which is intent on genocide", but there's no avoiding the fact that this wouldn't be so bad if NATO weren't bombing. (30th) Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov has talks with Yugoslav President Milosevic, and claims a little breakthrough: Milosevic may well be ready to return to the negotiating table, and tell his troops to calm down a bit. 250,000 refugees have already left their homes. (31st) The unofficial leader of the Kosovans, Ramon Alvirez, is safe. In a briefing in Macedonia, he calls for the NATO bombing to stop while there are still people around. NATO's new plan is to go in even stronger and even harder on the Yugoslavs by bombing their government offices. Isn't this illegal when done in Oaklahoma? Pressure is growing for the use of a ground force to drive the Serbs out of Kosovo - something President Clintern ruled out last week.

 

EU In Crisis (16th) The entire European Union Commission resigns following a critical report from auditors of the group. French commissioner Edith Cresson comes in for heavy criticism over her nepotistic ways, but the criticism extends to the other 20 members. President Jacques Santer has no option but to quit his post nine months before he was expected to be forced out by EU heads of state. (24th) Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi will head an interim commission, featuring around 15 of the 20 commissioners who resigned last week. It's widely expected that there will be a complete set of fresh faces in Europe's unelected powerhouse next year; final decisions on this matter are left hanging owing to the Kosovo situation.

 

In Court Tonight (19th) The Newark MP is thrown out of the Commons after being convicted of falsifying her election expenses. She becomes the first member to be disqualified in this manner since the war, and the fourth member to be ejected or suspended from the Labour Party in 22 months since the election. This from a party that was elected on an anti-sleaze ticket. (26th) Dr Jack Kevorikan, the self-proclaimed "angel of death", is convicted of second degree murder. His conviction is based primarily on a videotape that aired on network US television early this year. The debate on the wider implications of euthenasia may now expand, but probably won't.

 

The Ireland Situation (30th) With the first anniversary of the peace agreement looming, and no substantive progress made in some months, it's looking like the whole project will run aground. Suddenly, there's a minor breakthrough. The problem was over the IRA's refusal to disarm, and the Protestant Unionist's reluctance to share power with Sinn Fein, the IRA's policital group, until there are weapons handed over. The new agreement allows SF to take their seats, so long as the IRA begin throwing down their guns in "a very short time". If they don't, the second largest party, the Catholic SDLP, will join in votes to remove SF from the cabinet.

 

News In Brief (16th) The Dow Jones passes 10,000, a doubling of stock prices in 41 months. Predictions that computers would be unable to cope with a five-figure DJIA are proved groundless; the obvious parallel with the MM hype is widely ignored. (19th) The Chief Russian Prosecutor is caught on tape with two prostitutes, following an unsuccessful attempt by President Yeltsin to remove him from office. The Sacker In Chief attempts to oust the sex agents, but finds they're directly employed by someone other than himself. (20th) The Breitling Orbiter III, piloted by Brian Jones and Bertrand Piccard, completed a circumnavigation of the world. It's the first hot-air balloon to make this mark. (21st) Televised police chases are so popular in Los Angeles that there's now a business, the Pursuit Watch Network, where subscribers are alerted by pager or email whenever local TV stations break in to their regular programming to show one. After just two months, the founder - a California cop - has hundreds of clients. F*X-TV is planning "World's Greatest Emails About Police Chases III" as we speak. (29th) The first chocolate magazine hits the news-stands. "Chocolate Lover's Monthly" describes the cocoa-based foodstuff in all its glory, and retails for UKP2.95 per issue.

 

Football (16th) FA Cup QF: Tottenham Hotspur 1, Barnsley 0; scored from an exquisite David Ginola run that might be Goal of the Season. Spurs go on to meet Newcastle in the semis. (17th) European Cup QF: Bayern Munich 4, Kaiserslauten 0 (6-0). Manchester United 1, Inter Milan 1 (3-1). Dinamo Kiev 2, Real Madrid 0 (2-0). Juventus 1 Olympiakos 1 (3-2). Semi-final pairings: MUN will meet Juve, Munich and Kiev to do battle. (18th) Cup Winners Cup QF: Lokomotiv Moscow beat Maccabi Haifa 1-0 (4-0); Chelsea, Lazio and Real Mallorca also make the final four. Moscow will meet Lazio. (27th) Qualifiers for the European Championship resume. Champions Germany notch up a 3-0 win in Northern Ireland, but Turkey still top Group 3 after a 2-0 defeat of Moldova. Italy finally get their campaign under good way, with a 2-1 win in Denmark; Switzerland beat Belarus in the other Group 1 match. Norway head Group 2 after beating Greece 2-0; Georgia and Slovenia tie 1-1. Iceland briefly go second in Group 4, with an easy 2-0 win in Andorra, while Russia pick up their first points of the tournament, 3-0 in Armenia. France and Ukraine draw 0-0. England beat Poland 3-1, with a Paul Scholes hat-trick, but Sweden still lead Group Five after downing Luxembourg 2-0. Spain go all over Austria 9-0 in Group 6, improving their goal difference no end; Israel down pacesetters Cyprus 3-0, making the group a three-horse race. Hungary downs Liechtenstein 3-0, while Romania and Slovakia draw 0-0 in Group 7. Group 9 sees the Czech Republic go top by overcoming Lithuania 2-0. Scotland's match with Bosnia is postponed by the military action in that part of the world, as are both Group 8 matches, Macedonia -v- Ireland and Yugoslavia -v- Croatia. (31st) And another round of EC00 matches. Italy head Group 1 after winning in Denmark; Switzerland beat Belarus. Norway go clear in Group 2 after beating Greece. Germany and Turkey both win; they're pacesetters in Group 3. France down Armenia to head Group 4: the other strong sides, Ukraine and Iceland (!!) draw 1-1. Sweden keep the pressure in Group 5, winning in Poland. Spain move back into Group 6 contention beating San Marino. Group 7 remains tight: Portugal and Romania both pick up wins, as Hungary and Slovenia draw. Group 8 is postponed again. And Group 9 has the Czech Republic all over it, as they win in Scotland.

 

Cricket: Tests (#1450: 12-15) Pakistan complete victory in the Asian Test Tournament, dismissing Sri Lanka for 188 following Wasim Akram's second hat-trick in a week at the start of the innings. Pakistan win by an innings and 175 runs. (#1451: 13-16) West Indies 431 (Lara 213, Adams 94, McGrath 5/94) and 3/0; Australia 256 and 177 (Perry 5/66) West Indies win by 10 wickets (#1452: 18-22, Wellington, 3rd Test) New Zealand 222 (Stead 68, Harris 68, Pollock 5/33) and 291 (Astle 62, Doull 38*, Elworthy 4/58) South Africa 498/8dec (Gibbs 120, Cullinan 152) and 16/2 (Kirsten 10* to become SA's all-time top run scorer) SA win by 8 wickets, win the series 1-0) (#1453: 26-, Bridgetown) Australia 490 (Steve Waugh 199, Ponting 104, Perry 3/102) and 146 (Walsh 5/39, Warne 32) West Indies 329 (Campbell 105, Jacobs 68, McGrath 4/128) and 308/9 (Lara 153*, recovering from 56/4). West Indies win by 1 wicket in one of the greatest tests ever South East Asia (16th, Dhaka) Pakistan 293/7 (Haq 70, Shanta 3/50) Bangladesh 141 Pakistan win by an embarrassment (19th, SE Asia tourney) Pakistan 246/9 (Anwar 72, Afridi 71, Wickremasinghe 4/36) Sri Lanka 237 PAK win by 9 (22nd, SE Asia) India 287/4 (Ganguly 130*, Dravid 116) Sri Lanka 207 (Ganguly 4/6 in 4 ov) IND win by 80 runs with 72 balls in hand. (24th, SE Asia) Pakistan 278/9, India 135 Pakistan win in style. (27th, SE Asia) Sri Lanka 253/8 (Jayawardene 101, Azhar 4/36) Pakistan 241 (Akram 79, Wickrasinghe 3/35) Sri Lanka win by 12 runs (30th) India 286/6 (Jadeja 103*, Ganguly 65, Waramasinghe 2/38) Sri Lanka 235 (de Silva 55, Extras 29, Agarkar 3/35)Indian win by 53 runs, and will be in the final. Dhaka tournament (19th, Dhaka tourney) Zimbabwe 272, Kenya 139 ZIM win by 133 runs. (20th, Dhaka) Banglasesh 213, Kenya 215/2 Kenya win by 8w with 37 balls. (21st, Dhaka) Zimbabwe 310/6, Bangladesh 184 ZIM win by 126 runs. (23rd, Dhaka) Zimbabwe 280/6 Kenya 216/8 ZIM win by 64 runs (24th, Dhaka) Kenya 231, Bangladesh 158 Kenya win by 73 runs (25th, Dhaka) Bangladesh 257/5, Zimbabwe 261/7 Zim win with 3 balls left and will face Kenya in the final (27th, Dhaka final) Zimbabwe 325/6 (Flower 140) Kenya 123 (Whittall 3/29) ZIM win by 202 runs South Africa in New Zealand (25th, Napier, 40 ovs) New Zealand 191 (Twose 79*, Pollock 3/33, Kallis 3/41) South Africa 194/8 (Cullinan 61, Gibbs 52, Kluesener 35*) SA win with a six off the final ball to square the series 2-2 (27th, Auckland) South Africa 290/5 (Cullinan 94 from 56 balls, Kallis 100, Allott 4/47), New Zealand 147 (Harris 31, Cronje 3/26, Klusener 2/21) SA win by 143 runs, lead 3-2.

 

Passages Rod Hull, entertainer, 63. Rod came to fame with Emu, and hit the zenith of his career when Emu attacked chat-show host Michael Parkinson in 1979. Credits include EBC (1976-81), Emu's World (1982-8). Ernie Wise, comedian, 73. Ernie teamed with Eric Morecambe for a hugely successful 20-year career with their "Morecambe and Wise" light entertainment show, with Little Ern acting as straight man to Eric's comic.

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