Date: Sun, 2 Mar 2003 23:10:41 +0100 (CET) From: "newsfox.com" <system@mail.pressetext.com> To: "newsfox subscriber" <system@mail.pressetext.com> Subject: newsfox.digest Message-ID: <20030302221041.B6096AE63A8@laetitia.pte.at>
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News of the day
Message digest by newsfox from 03/ 2/2003
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1. Irish chemist part of cat and mouse game=20
IAEO built clean lab in Seibersdorf Research Centers=20
(pte030302002)
2. Bucharest and Pireu plan "Eastern League"=20
Not just an alternative to the rich clubs' Champions League=20
(pte030302003)
3. Italians going mad for Label "made in jail"=20
=20=20=20=20=20
(pte030302004)
4. World's oldest wheel found in Slovenia=20
=20=20=20=20=20
(pte030302005)
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http://www.pressetext.com/pte.mc?pte=3D030302002
Irish chemist part of cat and mouse game
IAEO built clean lab in Seibersdorf Research Centers
Vienna, Austria (pte, Mar 2, 2003 09:15) - SADDAM Hussein's=A0hopes
of avoiding war now rest in the hands of an unassuming Irish chemist who
has unwittingly taken centre stage in the cat and mouse game=A0between
weapons inspectors and Iraqi authorities.
Dr David Donohue, a former weapons inspector in Iraq in 1991, has first
hand experience of Saddam's=A0hidden arsenal. But now he oversees the
painstaking task of examining suspect traces of dust atom by atom in an
environment so sterile even the air he breathes is filtered.
His results could swing the decision between war and peace. Any mistake
in the highly complicated series of tests he overseas could provide proof
that the ultimate weapon of mass destruction, a nuclear bomb,=A0 is in t=
he
hands of a power crazed dictator or condemn thousands of innocent Iraqis
to death by unleashing a ruthless US lead assault to topple their leader.
But while the diplomatic row over the exact wording of the next UN
resolution heats up, the Irishman says he is focused on making sure when
a decision is made, it is based on reliable and accurate evidence from
his team. And he=A0says the tests will not stop until the last minute,
adding: "If its there, we'll find it."
In Seibersdorf Research Facility 45 miles south of Vienna, Austria, the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has built a "clean lab"
containing equipment worth millions of pounds capable of isolating and
identifying individual sub-atomic particles. http://www.seibersdorf.at/
Only these sub-atomic particles can conclusively reveal if Iraq poses a
terrifying nuclear threat.
Dr Donohue, 52, said: "The lab consists of an outer and inner area. We
have to limit the amount of people who work inside to just eight. When
the enter the lab, they have to change their clothes, and when they enter
the inner part they have to change again.
"This is a clean lab, we have to avoid cross contamination at all costs.
Cross contamination and inaccurate results would mean the end of the IAEA
as an impartial authority.
"And if we do find traces of nuclear material in the sample kits when
they are returned, Iraq will blame us first and say we messed the tests
up. So we have to work extremely carefully and document everything we do.
"The samples we test here are mostly cotton swipes which the inspectors
have wiped over areas, maybe a wall or a table,=A0 they believe there may
have been activity near. We don't know exactly where the samples are from
but if there has been uranium or plutonium in the vicinity, even up to
20-years-ago we can detect it.
"The cotton swipes are put into a kit containing a sterile pen, paper and
pair of lab gloves. Each kit contain six cotton swipes that are packed in
plastic zip bags that are then put in larger plastic bags to make sure
they are not contaminated. Every kit that leaves Seibersdorf has to be
completely clean and clearly tamper proof .
"When the swipes come back to us, we have variety of methods for testing
them. Sometimes the swipe is put into the x-ray fluorescence machine
which can produce a map of uranium particles, or we dissolve the swipe
and put it in the mass spectrometer to get a complete analysis.=A0=A0 We=
aim
to complete each sample within two weeks but some times it can take
longer.
"We look for uranium and plutonium, but it is important to remember that
uranium is a naturally occurring element. If you tested anything, say the
average tin can,=A0 you would find traces of uranium, so we a looking fo=
r a
specific type of uranium.
"The uranium needed for weapons or an advanced nuclear programme, U2-35,
has a special signature that we can easily identify, but if and only if
that was found could the IAEA say there was something suspicious going
on.
"The same signature allows us to tell the difference between uranium that
may be being used by the Iraqis and uranium there as a result of the last
conflict. We also have an extensive archive gathered since 1991 which
allows us to pin-point new developments.
"Even if we do occasionally find traces of U2-35 that in itself is not a
problem. Someone at the IAEA's headquarters will know if it has been
declared. For example, the Iraqi's could say 'we did some testing in a
certain area 10-years-ago', and because they have declared it there is no
breach of international regulations.
"But I think the US is more interested in finding a breach of
international regulations than they are in what exactly has happened or
the weapons themselves. As Hans Blix has said, there's no evidence right
now of a smoking gun." he added.
The team at the Seibersdorf lab work round the clock to examine the
samples from Iraq to test Saddam Hussein's claims that his country does
not have a secret nuclear weapons programme.
Dr Donohue, whose family hail from County Kerry, and who lives=A0with his
Irish wife=A0Mary=A0originally=A0=A0from=A0=A0Limerick and two teenage s=
ons in a
small village near Vienna,=A0admits he knows the importance of his work.=
He
said: "It's a lot of responsibility, but we do not look at these samples
as any different from all of the other work we do because we check
everything to the very highest standards.
"The inspectors choose the site where they are taking samples from of
course. But we analyse them, and guarantee whatever the samples contain,
we can find it. "If its there we will find it. No matter how small the
amounts of uranium or plutonium are in the samples, we have the resources
here to track it down.
"I believe that the inspection process and the analysis of the samples
are really very powerful. Nuclear material can't deteriorate with time,
it can't evaporate, it just stays there. So it is really the question of
whether inspectors take a sample where it exists - because if they do, we
will find it.
But he added: "You know when I was at university doing my first chemistry
degree I had know idea that I would end up working on something so
important or such a news story. This is the most interesting job I have
ever had."
Every sample is also examined by IAEA subsidiary research centres in
different countries which report back to Dr Donahue and the results have
to match.
Dr Donohue said: "Inspectors took six swipes at each site which were sent
to various labs. We expect results to be a double checked. We don't take
the information on our samples seriously until they are confirmed by
another lab. "Even then we are leaving it to other people to decide what
it means."
More information: http://www.pressetext.com/pte.mc?pte=3D030115043 (end)
=A0
Submitter: pressetext.europe
=20=20=20
Contact: Deirdre Tynan,
E-Mail: editor@newsfox.com,
Phone: ++43-1-81140-319
________________________________________________________________________=
___
+++ pressetext.europe +++ newsfox.com +++ pressetext.europe =
+++
http://www.pressetext.com/pte.mc?pte=3D030302003
Bucharest and Pireu plan "Eastern League"
Not just an alternative to the rich clubs' Champions League
Bucharest (pte, Mar 2, 2003 09:30) - Football teams from nine
south and east European nations are planning to set up their own
alternative to the Champions League. Led by top Romanian side Dinamo
Bucharest and Greece's Olympiakos Pireu, talks on the competition - to be
named the 'Eastern League'- have already been held in the country's
capital. Representatives of the 16 clubs which would take part have said
the competition could start as early as next year.
Steaua Bucharest general manager Mihai Stoica said: "We are doing our
best to stay in European football even if we need to set up our own
competition for this to happen. Our competition is not just an
alternative to the rich clubs' Champions League but also an opportunity
for us to play with good teams. "Our supporters will have the chance to
watch big teams such as Olympiakos or Galatasaray live."
The 16 teams which would be involved in the competition are Steaua, Rapid
and Dinamo Bucharest from Romania, Galatasaray Istanbul and Besiktas from
Turkey, Greek sides Olympiakos Pireu and PAOK Salonic, Serbian giants
Steaua and Partizan Belgrade, Croatian team Hajduk Split, Cyrpiot side
Apoel Nicosia, Maribor from Slovenia, TSKA Sofia and Levski Sofia from
Bulgaria and Ukrainian sides Shakhtor Donestk and Dinamo Kiev.
Many teams in eastern and southern Europe fail to get past the early
qualifying rounds of the Champions League and UEFA Cup as they run up
against stronger opposition from western European countries.
Failure to go past the qualifying stages means clubs miss out on
potentially hundreds of thousands of pounds in revenues from fixtures
against European giants from England, Germany, Spain and Italy. The new
competition will first have to be approved by world and European
football's governing bodies, FIFA and UEFA, the Romanian daily 'Pro
Sport' said. (end)
=A0
Submitter: pressetext.europe
=20=20=20
Contact: Carmiola Ionescu,
E-Mail: editor@newsfox.com,
Phone: ++43-1-81140-319
________________________________________________________________________=
___
+++ pressetext.europe +++ newsfox.com +++ pressetext.europe =
+++
http://www.pressetext.com/pte.mc?pte=3D030302004
Italians going mad for Label "made in jail"
Milano (pte, Mar 2, 2003 09:35) - Mass murderers and other
criminals in Italian penitentiaries are making a killing with a new range
of clothes and accessories marketed under the name "made in jail".
Citizens in the fashion capital Milan and other cities around the country
are going mad for the new products, which include t-shirts, trousers and
leather shoes with the trademark slogan on.
As well as items of clothing the convicts also design and make "made in
jail" lamp shades, wallets and dolls. The articles are sold at reasonable
prices in shops around Italy and are also available over the internet
under http://www.madeinjail.com
(end)
=A0
Submitter: pressetext.europe
=20=20=20
Contact: Newsfox Desk,
E-Mail: editor@newsfox.com,
Phone: ++43-1-81140-319
________________________________________________________________________=
___
+++ pressetext.europe +++ newsfox.com +++ pressetext.europe =
+++
http://www.pressetext.com/pte.mc?pte=3D030302005
World's oldest wheel found in Slovenia
Ljubljana (pte, Mar 2, 2003 09:40) - Archaeologists who claim to have
unearthed the world's oldest wheel in Slovenia say it is the
'wheel-deal'. Experts estimate that the wheel is between 5,100 and 5,350
years old, making it just 100 years older than the previous
record-holders from Switzerland and southern Germany.
The wheel, which is made of ash and oak, has a radius of 70 centimetres
and is five centimetres thick, was found buried beneath an ancient marsh
settlement near the Slovenian capital Ljubljana. A 1,20 metre-long axle
was also discovered at the site, the Slovenian news agency STA reported.
Dr Anton Veluscek from the Archeological Institute at the Slovenian
Academy of Arts and Sciences who was part of the team that made the find
said: "The wheel is surprisingly technologically advanced - much more so
than the later models found in Switzerland and Germany." (end)
=A0
Submitter: pressetext.europe
=20=20=20
Contact: Newsfox Desk,
E-Mail: editor@newsfox.com,
Phone: ++43-1-81140-319
=20=20=20
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