Al-Ahram Weekly | International

		Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 15 - 21 February 2001 Issue No.521
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Peer pressure
PEOPLE power euphoria has swept nascent democracies worldwide in recent months, starting last October with the toppling of former firebrand Serbian dictator Slobodan Milosevic, surfing into the Asia Pacific with the sensational ousting of Philippine Pres-dent Joseph Estrada in January and setting off deep rumblings in the frustrated ar-hipelago of Indonesia, where Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid faces im-eachment proceedings. In formerly Soviet Ukraine, where Russian President Vladimir Putin visited this week, the voice of an an-ry populace is also growing louder.
Though Ukrainian President Leonid Kuch-a has weathered many a corruption scan-al in his administration, he has deftly dis-anced himself from them all. But Kuchma's smooth ride and Western backing may be coming to an end with the explosive case of Heorhiy Gongadze, the opposition journalist who went missing last September. When Gongadze's decapitated body was found outside the capital Kiev, Kuchma was set to do what he does best -- deny in-olvement. But he was stumped by the ap-earance of some devastating evidence: au-iotapes allegedly implicating Kuchma in the murder. The tapes served as a rallying point for thousands of protesters who de-cended on Kiev on Saturday to demand Kuchma's resignation. While a Kuchma comeback can never be ruled out, political analysts are saying that the Gongadze case could finally provide Ukraine a chance to put the democracy it ushered in a decade ago to good use.
Less is more
METAPHORS abound when it comes to translating the colossal Human Genome Project for the masses -- the miraculous genome has been called everything from a "recipe" to a "blueprint" to a "string" desperately in need of being unravelled. Though the international public consortium of academic and medical centres originally charged with the task of decoding the hu-an gene thought their task could extend into 2005, an announcement by the com-any Celera Genomics in 1998 that it would crack the code by 2000 started a race that ended with a joint announcement last June by both parties: what was once unthinkable was complete, and four years early.
More than seven months later, the first publications on each team's findings will be released this week, not surprisingly, at the same time, in rival scientific journals (Na-ure and Science). One of the most re-arkable points both teams agree on is that there are far fewer human genes than sci-ntists had estimated. Less than a decade ago, it was believed the human body con-ained some 100,000 genes, but both teams put the number at a humble 35,000. The roundworm has 19,000.
Dangerous manoeuvres
IN AN incident sure to chill already tense military relations with Japan, a US nuclear submarine collided with a Japanese fishing boat off the coast of Honolulu, Hawaii, Friday afternoon during routine military exercises. The 7,000-ton USS Greeneville tore into the 740-ton commercial fishing boat, the Ehime Maru, in an emergency surfacing drill. The destroyed Japanese vessel immediately sunk and 26 survivors were picked up shortly after. Nine passengers -- including four high school students -- remained missing, however. Students and teachers from a Japanese fisheries school in Japan were aboard the vessel for their first long sea voyage hunting big game.
Military officials are baffled as to how the accident could have happened at all: submarines frequently surface in the area and have strict procedures of first scanning the area by sonar, followed by an acoustic search and finally a visual sweep. A contrite US has been extending swift apologies and regrets, but Japan has demanded a full explanation. Separate inquiries by the US National Transportation Safety Board and the US Navy are already under way.
Human borders
THE HUNDREDS of thousands of refugees in southern Guinea, most of them escapees from civil war in neighbouring Sierra Leone and Liberia and centred in the border region of Gueckedou, are first on the list of hu-anitarian crises for new UN High Commis-ioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Ruud Lub-ers, who visited makeshift camps in the region on Saturday. Fresh rounds of fighting between Guinean forces and guerrilla groups have forced tens of thousands of refugees to flee toward Kissidougou, where the UN operations are based, and sparked widespread panic in the region.
Fingers are pointed across borders, with Guinea accusing Liberian and Sierra Leonean rebels of aiding the Guinean guer-illas -- an accusation that has turned local residents against foreign refugees. Liberia in turn says Guinea harbours rebels who then perform cross-border raids. Lubbers was swift to blame the notorious diamond trade, the long-standing source of so many African ills. Meanwhile, the refugees remain the victims of regional chaos and as fighting closes in on camps, aid is essentially cut off.
Final analysis
HIS CRIME was allegedly spurred by dis-atisfaction with the US government, and he had hoped to launch a revolution. But re-ctions were not as he had hoped when Gulf War veteran Timothy McVeigh orchestrated a deadly bombing in Oklahoma City in April 1995. The blast killed 168 people and in-ured hundreds more. In 1997, he was sen-enced to death. Now McVeigh is lobbing one last critique at the American government: he wants his execution televised.
McVeigh abandoned the appeal process in January, making clear that he wanted a date for his execution set. The date was set for 16 May, but in a letter published by The Sunday Oklahoman, McVeigh questioned the pro-ess of only allowing a limited number of people to witness the execution. He urged authorities to hold a "true public execution", reasoning that people who have sanctioned capital punishment should be allowed to "come to grips with what it actually is." Au-horities were quick to affirm that the execu-ion would not be publicly broadcast.
Compiled by Nyier Abdou

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