The Periscope

Exchanges in Translation

The newest eXchanges is up, from my friends at the University of Iowa MFA in Translation.

Including ...

A translation from the Latin of Ovid

Gregory J. Reid translated into French

Frederick Douglas translated into Portuguese

Marc Israel-Le Pelletier's "Civilization' translated from French to English

Northern Berlin in June, from the German of Josef Roth

And much more, including some great graphics.

Well done everyone.

Natural Born Dualists

From Edge ...

As a teenager, Paul Bloom worked extensively with autistic children, and when he majored in psychology at McGill University, he expected to end up as a clinical child psychologist. His interests shifted when he met John Macnamara, a professor who studied the interface between psychology and philosophy. Bloom worked with Macnamara as an undergraduate, and then did his graduate work at MIT with Susan Carey, on cognitive development and language acquisition.

As a professor—first at University of Arizona, and then at Yale—Bloom explores how children learn the meanings of words, and he developed a theory of word learning that has social cognition (also known as "theory of mind" or "mindreading") at its core. More recently, Bloom and his students have started to explore a set of related puzzles having to do with the nature and development of art, religion, humor, and morality.

PAUL BLOOM is a professor of psychology at Yale University who works on language and development, and with Steven Pinker coauthored one of the seminal papers in the field. He is co-editor of Behavioral and Brain Sciences and the author of several books, the most recent of which is Descartes' Baby: How the Science of Child Development Explains What Makes Us Human.

The Good Bad Boy

From the New York Review of Books ...

Today, many people have the illusion that they know who Pinocchio is. They think that he is a wooden marionette who becomes a human boy; that he was swallowed by a huge fish; and that when he told lies his nose grew longer. (As a result of this last incident, for over a hundred years politicians have been caricatured with a lengthened nose when they prevaricate in public —most of all Richard Nixon, who already had a kind of Pinocchio nose.)

These people are right, but often in a very limited way. They know Pinocchio only from the sentimentalized and simplified Disney cartoon, or the condensed versions of his story that are thought more suitable for children. The original novel by Carlo Collodi, which today survives mainly in scholarly editions, is much longer, far more complex and interesting, and also much darker. The critic Glauco Cambon has called it one of the three most influential works in Italian literature (the others, he claims, are Dante's Divine Comedy and Manzoni's The Betrothed). For him, and those who know the real version, The Adventures of Pinocchio is not an amusing, light-hearted fantasy, but a serious fable about art and life. It is a story about growing up—and it is also, in essential ways, a story about growing up poor and Italian.

Carlo Collodi, whose real name was Carlo Lorenzini, was born in Florence in 1826, the first of ten children of household servants. When he did well in the local school, his parents' employer paid for his further education in the hope that he would become a priest. This did not happen. Instead, after graduation Lorenzini went to work for a bookseller, and eventually became a liberal journalist, skeptical of both education and the Church. In Pinocchio school is something that all boys dread, and religion is hardly mentioned.

The Passion's Passionate Despisers

At First Things ...

What are we to make of l’affaire Gibson now that his film has turned out to be a huge box-office success? Those who, like me, were deeply moved by The Passion of the Christ and judged it to be not anti-Semitic have no reason to gloat. The cultural clashes over the film opened wounds we thought had healed, and they exposed currents of hostility toward Christianity that one would have hoped had disappeared. The freewheeling commentary in the general media, with a few notable exceptions, was pitched at too low a level to call this a teaching moment. But it certainly was a moment to listen and learn—and, at times, to laugh.

Last summer, it should be recalled, Gibson’s project was on very shaky legs. He had not as yet found a distributor for a film in which he had invested twenty-five million dollars of his own money. After reading a “received” copy of the script, a self-selected group of six scholars, most of them veterans of Jewish-Christian dialogue, complained of un-Biblical and anti-Semitic stereotypes. One of the group, Paula Fredriksen of Boston University, wrote a long and fearful essay, “Mad Mel,” in the New Republic, predicting that “violence” would break out upon the film’s release. Immediately, Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, orchestrated a campaign to label the film anti-Semitic. That really got Mel mad, and he responded by showing nearly finished versions of the movie to selected audiences, most of which consisted of politically conservative pundits and evangelical Christians. None of them seemed to find the film anti-Semitic—but then few of them were Jews. To columnists such as Frank Rich of the New York Times, Gibson’s screening strategy was part of a “political-cultural war” pitting Jews against Christians, including the Bush White House and the whole conservative wing of the chattering classes.

Washington worried about faltering energy tie to Moscow

From ENN.com ...

MOSCOW — The United States is worried that the much-touted energy cooperation between Moscow and Washington might be faltering, a senior U.S. energy official said Monday.

"We are concerned about some negative trends that might be developing," U.S. Deputy Energy Secretary Kyle McSlarrow said at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations. "There is an issue with barring foreigners from participation in licensing tenders ... and we've seen on occasion selective application of the law."

He cited the "faltering of major initiatives" such as the development of oil fields off the Far Eastern island of Sakhalin among the concerns.

Toward ending nuclear proliferation

From the LA Times, via Tom Paine ...

By Madeleine Albright and Robin Cook The time has come to prevent the nightmare scenario of a nuclear attack. The rhetoric of international leaders about the spread of nuclear weapons and materials has not been matched by enough concrete action, even as Osama bin Laden declares that it is his "religious duty" to acquire and use a nuclear weapon against the West.

When the G-8 leaders meet Tuesday in Sea Island, Ga., we urge them to put aside their differences over Iraq and unite to implement a comprehensive nonproliferation strategy that includes concrete steps and increased financial commitments to control the spread of bomb-making materials and thwart the ambitions of those who would acquire them.

Prayer and pregnancy study turns out to be a fraud

From the Chronicle of Higher Education ...

Doctors were shocked in 2001 to read a study from Columbia University that found that praying for women seeking to become pregnant could double their chances of success using in vitro fertilization. Some doctors were even more shocked that the study, which they considered highly flawed, had been published in a peer-reviewed journal. Now comes the final surprise: One of the paper's three authors pleaded guilty last month to two federal charges of fraud.

Daniel P. Wirth, a lawyer and researcher into the supernatural, was accused of conspiring with another man to defraud several banks, the Pew Charitable Trusts, and Adelphia Communications, a cable-television company. According to the charges, the two men bilked Adelphia of $2.1-million. They pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit mail fraud and bank fraud. Both men will face as much as five years in federal prison and $250,000 in fines when they are sentenced, in September. They have agreed to forfeit more than $1-million seized during an investigation of the case.

Mr. Wirth was one of three authors of an October 2001 paper in The Journal of Reproductive Medicine. The other two were Kwang Y. Cha, who is now scientific director of a fertility clinic in Los Angeles, and Rogerio A. Lobo, chairman of the department of obstetrics and gynecology at Columbia's College of Physicians and Surgeons and a member of the editorial board of the reproductive-medicine journal. Neither Dr. Cha nor Dr. Lobo responded to requests for comment on Monday.

Russia, Belarus conduct first Open Skies mission over U.S.

From Washington File ...

A combined Russian-Belarusian team will conduct its first observation mission over U.S. territory during the week of June 7 under the terms of the Treaty on Open Skies.

An unarmed Russian TU-154 aircraft with optical cameras will take images of any point along the flight plan. An escort from the U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency will accompany the plane, and copies of images will be given to U.S. officials.

The Treaty on Open Skies has 30 signatories. It is designed to enhance mutual understanding and confidence by giving all participants a direct role in gathering information about military forces and activities of concern to them.

Summer in Portugal

From the London Times ...

Lisbon, city of drama and sad songs ... and a Euro 2004 survival guide.

Loved Tarzan, Hated Wayne

From the London Telegraph ...

The Soviet dictator was also a film buff who'd teach Eisenstein how to make movies. Simon Sebag Montefiore delves into the newly opened Politburo archives

Every one of Stalin's houses had its own private cinema, and in his last years, the cinema became not only his favourite entertainment but also a source of political inspiration. It was one of the venues from which he ruled the Soviet Empire: this was cinematocracy - rule by cinema.

Peacekeepers' killings fan Congo crisis

From the Omaha World Herald ...

DAKAR, Senegal - The crisis deepened in the eastern frontier of Congo on Sunday as two U.N. peacekeepers were fatally shot in the city of Goma.

The killings coincided with a lull in fighting in nearby Bukavu, where dissident soldiers had laid siege to the city in recent days. Riots followed in the capital, Kinshasa, including attacks on U.N. workers. Virtually all international flights to Kinshasa have been canceled.

The events of the past week signal the most alarming threat to peace in the country since a power-sharing government, composed of leaders of former warring factions, took over a year ago. Until then, Congo had been partitioned and riven by war for more than four years.

Cementing Fortress Europe

From Statewatch ...

On 1 May 2004 the EU proudly welcomed ten more countries. This date also marked the end of the five year ‘transitional period’ for the implementation of the Amsterdam Treaty provisions on a common EU immigration and asylum policy. ‘Normal’ EU decision-making procedures for binding EC regulations and Directives have been suspended during this time because of the ‘political sensitivity’ of immigration and asylum issues. The European Commission’s role as drafter of EU legislation was shared with the member states, and the role of European Parliament in ‘co-deciding’ policies was limited to ‘consultation’ on proposals. To complicate things further, the 1997 Amsterdam Treaty also incorporated the Schengen provisions on visa and border controls agreed under the Schengen Convention. This meant that these could now be developed by the EU along with the new immigration and asylum policies. The rationale behind the a common European policy was that without minimum standards set by the EU, there would be a ‘race to the bottom’ over of the treatment of asylum applicants, with member states adopting ever stricter policies so as not appear a ‘soft touch’. Commitments were made at the special EU justice and home affairs summit in Tampere, Finland, in October 1999, where governments and the Commission promised they would listen to refugee and human rights groups and safeguard the right to asylum. So what happened?

Postcard from Tallinn

Euro-correspondent.com's Justin Toland spends a Saturday evening in Estonia, and finds a curious combination of east meeting west.

A Saturday evening in Tallinn: a young man walks into the centre of Raekoja Plats at the heart of the city's old town. Egged on by a group of a dozen or more friends he proceeds to drop his trousers, exposing himself to the world. His friends cheer. Bystanders look on with a mixture of shock and bemusement. For myself, there is a sense of embarrassment; the British stag party has found a new playground. Welcome to the EU, Estonia!

Throughout the evening, as I sit supping a beer outside Molly Malone's bar, groups of young British males pass by, instantly recognisable by their volume and yobbishness.

Unwelcome in Dublin, bored of Amsterdam, the capital of one of the EU's newest members has become the new destination of choice for British stag and hen parties. The beautiful medieval centre of Tallinn is now notable for sights of another kind: rugby teams in togas, football lads leading a bare-chested groom to be in a gimp mask by a leash. For the moment the city is tolerant of these new visitors, but for how long?

Revisiting D-Day Training Grounds

A Scottish village where troops trained for the D-day landings reflects on the events of sixty years ago, reports Euro-correspondent.com's Katharina Strobel for ZDF Online (in German).

Vor allem an die Kälte erinnert Cecil Newton sich, diese unerbittliche, schneidende Kälte: Rein in die eisige Nordsee und wieder raus, rennen, schießen, marschieren, Panzer fahren. Es ist der erste Monat des Jahres 1943. Zusammen mit Tausenden Kameraden bezieht der 20-jährige Brite Quartier in Fort George im Norden Schottlands. Nur eins gibt Cecil Newton Kraft. Die Tortur des Trainings dient einer großen Sache, einem der wichtigsten Angriffe auf Nazi-Deutschland: D-Day.

Revisting the Original U.S. Post-War Strategy in Iraq

At MERIA ...

Overthrowing Saddam Hussein's regime was relatively easy. Although the American-led coalition faced heavy resistance from fedayeen fighters in some southern Iraqi towns, the war aims were successfully accomplished.

The same cannot be said for the post-war strategy. Armed opposition against coalition troops, continued acts of sabotage, increasing economic problems, a deteriorated infrastructure, and an uncertain political environment have complicated the U.S. belief that it could transform Iraqi society in a relatively short amount of time. In fact, Jay Garner who directed the planning and the execution of post-war reconstruction efforts until mid-May, described the mission as "three months up and out."(1) Garner's Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Affairs (ORHA) aimed at quickly stabilizing Iraq and then transferring power to an Iraqi interim administration in this time period.

It is clear that the U.S.-led coalition will be in Iraq for the foreseeable future and its Coalition Provisional Administration (CPA) will directly govern Iraq until July 1, 2004 at least. The decision to establish the Iraqi Governing Council was aimed to increase the CPA's legitimacy. While this Council has increased its profile in post-war politics, its decisions have to be approved by L. Paul Bremer III, the CPA Administrator. Many Iraqis, though satisfied with Saddam Hussein's ouster and recent capture, have expressed their frustration with the CPA and its decisions. For instance, a survey published by the National Democratic Institute and others conducted by the Gallup organization document how many Iraqis feel that the CPA is not responsive to their needs, while some want the U.S.-led coalition to leave the country. Many Iraqis also feel cheated by the whole process. They do not see coalition troops and administrators as liberators, but as occupiers.(2)

Eastern Europe grateful to Ronald Reagan

From the Sofia News Agency ...

Leaders, former dissidents and ordinary citizens across Eastern Europe expressed gratitude to Ronald Reagan for helping to end decades of "evil empire" communism and Cold War-era oppression.

According to Petko Bocharov, a Bulgarian journalist, the fact that today Bulgaria is a member of NATO could happen only after the efforts of this great American president.

Most of the region threw off communist rule in 1989, the year Reagan retired from a presidency marked by determination to loosen the grip of the Soviet Union through diplomacy, an intimidating space-based nuclear missile defense system and unrelenting appeals to the masses via Radio Free Europe.

Small businesses touted as way forward for Roma

From Radio Free Europe - Radio Liberty ...

Setting up a small business is never easy. But for many of Central and Eastern Europe's Roma, poverty, lack of education, and discrimination make it all that much harder. Still, there are some success stories -- and experts at a forum in Prague this week were discussing how to promote Romany entrepreneurship further.

Prague, 4 June 2004 (RFE/RL) -- Milan Horvat got his first building contract a year after the fall of communism in Czechoslovakia.

"My brother gave me 20,000 crowns ($730 at the time), and I bought shovels and picks, and the rest I borrowed from the firm that hired me, Vojenske stavby," Horvat recalls. "Then I realized I would need my own tools and things, so I started to buy stuff. That was at the end of 1990, beginning of 1991. Then the head of the firm saw that he could depend on me and he began to give me [contracts for] more specialized work."

Horvat now owns a construction firm outside Prague employing some 35 people -- most of them, like him, Czech Roma.

Kundera, Klima, Havel, et al

At the Prague Post ...

On the occasion of the recent expansion of the European Union, the Guardian, a British newspaper, published a number of articles about Central and East European literature and the arts. This well-meaning gesture turned out to be disappointing.

Fifteen years after the fall of communism, the writers in the Guardian still go on about Milan Kundera, Ivan Klima and Vaclav Havel like they did in the 1980s. The idea of oppressive totalitarian power and the dissident intellectual fighting against it is neat, cozy and romantic. The problem is that the contemporary Czech Republic does not live its "dissident" past. A totally new culture and civilization has arisen in Central Europe. It is controversial, contradictory, interesting and stimulating. Judging by the Guardian, however, this seems to be invisible to the Western observer.

It is a measure of how much the Guardian stays in the past that the paper devoted as many as four pages to the profile of 72-year-old Prague writer Ivan Klima. The article by Maya Jaggi rehashed all the cliches about the "moving predicament of a 20th century Central European intellectual." It told us how Klima spent several years in a Nazi concentration camp; how he joined the Communist Party; how he realized communism was criminal and tried, with colleagues, to reform it; how he became a dissident after the 1968 Warsaw Pact invasion; and how he entered the fairy tale realm of freedom and democracy after 1989. This is all very well, but we have heard it all so many times before.

What if D-Day had failed?

From the BBC and the Centre for World War Two Studies at Edinburgh University via Obsidian Wings ...

D-Day success was no sure thing and failure would have meant military and political catastrophe. No-one knew this better than the Supreme Allied Commander, General Dwight D Eisenhower.

On the night of 5 June, after he'd given the final order for the Allied invasion to proceed, he took a scrap of paper from his pocket and wrote out the text of the press release he hoped he'd never have to give.

It read as follows: "Our landings have failed to gain a satisfactory foothold and I have withdrawn the troops.

"My decision to attack at this time and place was based on the best information available.

"The troops, the air and the Navy did all that bravery and devotion to duty could do.

"If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt it is mine alone."

Then he put it in his pocket and forgot about it. What if he'd had to use it?

He then proceeds to consider the consequences in more harrowing detail:

And then? With Allied forces in disarray, and the Wehrmacht on full alert, no repeat invasion could have been tried again that summer and the Allies would have had to wait another 12 months. Meanwhile, Hitler would have focused all his attention on the Russians in the East, although to no avail.

The Red Army by now was unstoppable and eventually Stalin's forces would have not just taken Berlin, as they did, but advanced further west to the Rhine, and perhaps even to the North Sea and English Channel.

The whole of Germany and western Europe would then have been behind the Iron Curtain, and communism would have been enforced on the end of bayonets.

In a repeat of 1940, Britain would have again stood alone, except for the United States and its overseas allies.

In these circumstances, the US might well have retreated across the Atlantic into isolation, and Britain forced into some disastrous compromise deal with Stalin. The whole post-war history of Britain, of Europe, and of the world, would have been radically different.

A Subtle National (German) Obsession

From Economic Principals ...

BERLIN -- Hidden in plain sight here is the splendor and vigor of die deutsche Sprache. It seems fair to say that the German language is a subtle national obsession.

Newspapers flourish, even when they are not profitable. Magazines thrive. The market for books is one of the most dense in the world. Television stations broadcast plenty of Hollywood movies, but always they are expertly dubbed -- Cary Grant, Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts speak flawless German. Friends monitor newcomers' progress in acquiring the language. Germany loves language, and the Germans actively want you to speak German, too.

Indeed, spoken and written German used to be a major export. Composer Samuel Adler recalls that, because Germany in the 19th century was the center of the musical world, German was the dominant language of every good orchestra in the United States well into the 20th century, except for the Boston Symphony, which spoke French. Scientific communities in many fields were the much same. Leipzig was a world scientific publishing center, on a par with Cambridge, England and New York.

British lad mags ...

From the London Review ...

Britain's news-stands are heaving with magazines devoted to the rough magic of being a bloke. On first sight you think they are what my friends used to call scud mags; the girls who adorn the covers - legs wide, breasts atumble, nipples fit for pegging a couple of wet dufflecoats on - tend to be among the nearly famous, a tribe of models admired by laddish editors for their friendly shagability and the hunger in their eyes. The market for male 'general interest' magazines has grown massively in the UK, as if young men suddenly needed to be celebrated and serviced in a new way, as if there were a new demand among them for reassurance about the wonders of male normalcy. They look for all this in the way people like Tony Parsons have taught them, in a spirit of soft-core irony and hard-core sentiment. But apart from reassurance and a sort of avenging pride, what are these magazines selling to their readers? With their grisly combinations of sensitivity and debasement - 'How to Bathe Your New Baby' v. 'Win the Chance to Pole-Dance with Pamela!' - it may be time to consider whether these men's magazines aren't just the latest enlargement on the old fantasy of men having everything they want to have and finding a way to call it their destiny.

Romania moves closer to accession

From the EU Commission ...

Romania provisionally closed two chapters of negotiations: 7 – “Agriculture” and 29 – “Financial and budgetary provisions”. This decision was taken within the Accession Conference Romania – the European Union, in Brussels, on Friday, 4 June 2004. The Romanian delegation was led by Mr. Vasile Puscas, Minister Delegate, Chief - Negotiator with the European Union.

At the end of the Accession Conference, Mr. Puscas declared: “The negotiations for these chapters, especially for Agriculture, were rather difficult and complex. We said many times that we will do our best in order to protect the interests of the Romanian farmers. The figures prove now that we obtained more than speculated at a certain time, regarding both the amount of money, totalling almost 4 milliard Euro for the period 2007 – 2009, and the negotiated quotas. If we take into consideration the fact that the budget allocated to the Ministry of Agriculture for 2004 is around 500 million Euro, we can notice that the money allocated to agriculture from Community funds will be at least double after accession.

Which was the accession strategy? We focused on obtaining the best results in five fields that are strategic for Romania: rural development, base are for cereals, animals, vine sector and agro – industry, fields where incentive national measures were taken as well.

Why did we opt for these strategic fields? Rural development in order to progressively reduce the disparities between the rural and urban areas, to create new jobs such as to absorb the unemployed workforce in off-farm sectors (services, industrialisation of agricultural products, agrotourism, etc), in order to develop rural infrastructure, to insure a proper life level for the inhabitants of the rural areas and reasonable pensions for farmers, etc. Furthermore, the new Common Agricultural Policy is oriented towards rural development. The reform in this field at the EU level envisages the progressive elimination of production quotas (until 2013), the reduction of direct payments and the transfer of money to rural development, the decrease of subventions as well as the establishment of an important link between the financial aid and the observance of the food safety, environmental protection and animal welfare norms. In this field we obtained approximately 2.3 milliard Euro plus around 0,8 milliard Euro for projects financed from structural funds (FEOGA Guidance).

Regarding the cereals, we have obtained within the negotiations a base area of 7 million hectares, eligible for payments, which represents almost 102% of the initial estimation. Our hope is that Romania will retake its place among the most important producers of cereals in Europe.

The third field of maximum importance is the animal sector. We negotiated with the European Union a considerable number of animals for which the Romanian farmers will receive important financial aid. Therefore, between 80% and 100% of our requests were accepted in this field.

In what concerns the vine sector, we obtained an 8 years transition period after the accession for the replacement of the hybrid vine plantations with Vitis Vinifera species, as well as the recognition of our vine area (only 30.000 hectares of forbidden hybrids must be replaced out of 130.000 hectares that was initially estimated). I would like to give insurances to our farmers that they will be allowed to produce for the own consumption “zaibar” and “capsunica”, since the hybrid vine grown on areas of less than 0,1 hectares are not subject to compulsory replacement. On the other hand, it is in our interest to produce for trading quality wine, obtained from Vitis vinifera species.

Concerning the sugar sector, I must say that the negotiations were extremely tough, taking into account the low production obtained in Romania during the last years (the average production during 1998 – 2002 is 99 000 tons, with 55 000 tons in 2000) and the considering that Romania is net sugar importer country. In these circumstances we succeeded in obtaining a total sugar quota (quota for sugar beat plus processing quota), which together with the quota obtained for isoglucose covers entirely the domestic consumption in Romania. This quota is about four times as much as the quota presented by the mass media as being the Commission proposal. We have chosen this strategy in order to support the sugar industry. I must underline the fact that we obtained the best results in comparison with all the other sugar importer countries that acceded to the European Union in May 2004.

In the milk sector the negotiations were tough because barely 40% of the milk produced in the reference period, in Romania, is in line with the Community quality parameters (germs, somatic cells, etc). In this sector we negotiated a quota of over 3 million tons, out of which more than 1 million for deliveries to processing units and almost 2 million for direct sales to consumers as well as a restructuring quota (own consumption in households) of 188.400 tons. I must draw the attention of the producers from both sugar and milk industry that they have to focus on productivity in order to be competitive. In the case when in two consecutive years they do not produce at the level of the negotiated quotas, they risk to loose these quotas.

Moreover, we have obtained certain transition periods and arrangements within the negotiations. We consider that a part of them will offer additional time for milk, meat, etc producers to fulfil the Community standards. Furthermore, we obtained the recognition on the European market of several products of origin such as “tuica”, “palinca”, “vinars”, several types of cheese, milk and sausages. The requests for the recognition and protection of other products mz be transmitted to the European Union until the date of accession, and therefore, the producers should take advantage of that.

Chapter 29 – financial and budgetary provisions

The acquis in the field of financial and budgetary provisions effectively covers the rules concerning the organisation, the establishment and the implementation of the EU Budget.

The provisional closure of the chapter was possible due to the progrss registered on other relevant chapters for the calculation of the Own Resources contribution:

- the ability to adequately establish the Traditional Own Resources (customs and agricultural duties) is linked by the Customs and Agriculture chapters;

- the basis for the correct calculation of the GNP-based contribution to the EU budget is covered by the Statistics chapter;

- the VAT-based contribution is linked by the Taxation chapter,

- the measures needed to ensure adequate protection of the Community's financial interests are mainly covered by the financial control chapter.

In 2002, the 'Own Resource Unit' was set up – the main is the main area of preparatory action directly requested to the candidate countries .

One of the most important results of the negotiations on Chapter 29 – “Financial and budgetary provisions”, is that Romania will be net beneficiary in relation with the EU budget.

In 2007, Romania’s contribution to the EU budget will be approx. 800 mil. euro. During 2007-2009, Romania will receive approx. 11 billion euro in commitments and approx. 6 billion euro in payments, so a yearly average of approx. 2 000 mil. Euro, in payments. Even from now, we have to be properly prepared to efficiently spend this money.

Romania opened the negotiations on this chapters in 2002”.

Kaplan case fuels fresh doubts over German immigration law

From FAZ Weekly ...

Cologne police officers pulling the overnight shift had a visitor shortly after midnight Sunday - Metin Kaplan, the head of a banned Islamic organization who is the focal point of a closely watched deportation case in Germany.

Kaplan showed up at the station about 12:55 a.m. because officials required him to report his whereabouts to authorities each Monday. The routine visit stood in marked contrast to the feverish and futile search for the 51-year-old man that police launched last week after a court ruled on May 26 that he could be deported after a long legal fight.

But he was able to walk out of the station a free man because another court ruled on May 27 that he could not be deported yet.

Even though the case has lost its significance for police at the moment, it continues to generate political turbulence that is rocking the delicate political compromise on a proposed immigration law reached the day before Kaplan disappeared. Now that the broad framework has been worked out, German Interior Minister Otto Schily is charged with nailing down the final language.

Holiday Guilt

From the Wall Street Journal, (former or current, I'm not sure which) Brussels correspondent Matthew Kaminski ...

LA CADIÈRE D'AZUR, France--In America, it is said, people let work consume their lives, to the point of feeling guilty about taking a vacation. But France suffers from the opposite problem: holiday inflation, and it has serious consequences, I can attest.

The vacation season here is now under way. The mistral blows furiously through southern France. Drying on the balcony, my bathing trunks just flew into a tree. The waters of the Mediterranean, and the pool, are chilly. Clouds obstruct the view of the sea. These are just some of the drawbacks of starting summer in spring.

I'm not asking for sympathy. But surely an American expatriate, shaped by the Protestant work ethic with a pinch of Catholic guilt thrown in, deserves a little understanding. Life in France between May 1 and Sept. 1 revolves around leisure. It isn't proving to be an easy cultural adjustment.

The Bird Man of Annecy

From the London Telegraph ...

It is summer in the French Alps. Everywhere along the edge of Lake Annecy, bodies are basking in the sun or plunging into the cool water. But Al, the driver of the Mercedes minibus in which we are travelling, remains immune to the lake's charms. Instead, he turns off on to a road that winds up into the mountains. In the back seats, his six passengers are craning their necks and staring at the sky as if mesmerised by some invisible force.

Hunger strike in Belarus

From Radio Free Europe - Radio Liberty's End Note ...

Three deputies of Belarus's 110-seat Chamber of Representatives, Uladzimir Parfyanovich, Syarhey Skrabets, and Valery Fralou, went on a hunger strike in the parliamentary building in Minsk on 3 June to protest the blockade by the parliamentary leadership of their initiative to put on the agenda a draft bill
providing for changes to the Election Code. Their move followed the parliamentary session earlier the same day where parliamentary speaker Vadzim Papou switched off the microphone in the session hall when Fralou was trying to persuade other deputies to put the issue on the agenda.

Rural Areas in Azerbaijan Get Support from World Bank

From Washington File ...

WASHINGTON, June 3, 2004 - The World Bank today approved a US$15 million Rural Investment Project for Azerbaijan. This project will complement the Government's State Program on Socio-Economic Development of the Regions by supporting the rural infrastructure development.

Agriculture plays a central role in Azerbaijan's economy and remains the second largest sector. In the early 1990s, rural Azerbaijan used to have high levels of access to infrastructure. However, after the state and
collective farms -- once responsible for operating agricultural supply chains and maintaining infrastructure in rural areas -- disintegrated, rural services and infrastructure started to rapidly decline. This contributed to a decrease in the living standards of about 4 million people (50% of the population). The Rural Investment Project addresses these challenges by providing micro-project investments to households in rural communities to improve their living standards and increase the use of infrastructure services.

UNEP launches international photo competition for the environment

From World Wire and the Environmental News Service ...

BARCELONA/NAIROBI, June 3, 2004 --/WORLD-WIRE/-- Professionals and amateurs alike are today being urged to unclip their dust caps and load up their cameras for the world's biggest environmental photo competition.

As part of the annual World Environment Day celebrations in Barcelona, Spain, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is launching its fourth International Photographic Competition on the Environment, sponsored once again by Canon Inc.

Nineteen parallel launches in addition to Barcelona are planned in key cities and centres around the globe including Beirut, Buenos Aires, Dakar, Berlin, New York and Tokyo.

International Cooperation and Exchange in the Field of Literature and Translation

From UNESCO, via Translation eXchange ...

The undersigned, meeting to consider international co-operation in literature and translation, recognise:

- that literature in the native language of the reader is essential to the transmission of ideas around the world;

- that translation is an irreplaceable tool for ensuring cultural diversity;

- that it is through translation that people share their literary culture ;

- that every language is part of humanity’s essential cultural environment and must be sustained;

- that solidarity between the developed and developing world is essential to the promotion of cultural diversity.

Therefore, following the adoption of the Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity by UNESCO,

And, to note the 2004 enlargement of the European Union, the intention to agree a constitutional framework for Europe, and the first meeting of the World Culture Forum,

We resolve to:

1. share information about the field of literary translation and exchange;

2. work together to create projects and initiatives to improve the circulation of literature between languages;

3. develop research into the qualitative and quantitative aspects of translation;

4. develop partnerships with appropriate bodies, whether at the global, regional or local level;

5. press for an increase in public funding as well as private contributions in furtherance of these aims.

And, under the umbrella of UNESCO’s Clearing House for Literary Translation, appoint a Steering Committee to develop an interim Network for Literary Exchange - its guiding principles, objectives, institutional relationships and programme.

France gets ready to relive D-Day

Sixty years after the allied forces set foot on the Normandy beaches, France is gearing up for what could be the largest commemoration of the D-day landings to date, writes Euro-correspondent.com's Emilie Boyer King. A version of this article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post.

Seventeen heads of state are expected to attend the official celebrations in Normandy on June 6 -- the day allied forces first landed on the beaches sixty years ago -- along with twenty thousand visitors.

British prime minister Tony Blair, Queen Elisabeth and US President George Bush will be among the heads of state present. German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder will also attend the ceremonies as the first German official to be invited to France's D-day commemorations.

"This 60th anniversary will be the most important and the most memorable," said Philippe Metzger, spokesman for the official organising committee of the D-day anniversary. "The German presence is a look towards the future. We are closing a chapter of history and turning over a new leaf."

Helping developing countries

From The Economist ...

IN RECENT weeks The Economist has been following and supporting the Copenhagen Consensus project—an unusual, ambitious and, some have argued, misguided attempt to set priorities among a range of ideas for improving the lives of people living in developing countries. Starting on April 17th, we began publishing, both in print and on our website*, reviews of essays commissioned by the organisers from leading economic researchers. Each of the papers addressed one of ten global challenges, and proposed possible responses. During May 24th-28th, a panel of distinguished economists assembled in Copenhagen. Their task was to review these papers alongside critical commentaries commissioned from other researchers, to question the various authors, and to decide what to make of it all.

Europe reacts to Tenet resignation

From the Boston Herald ...

British Prime Minister Tony Blair says CIA Director George Tenet's resignation has nothing to do with intelligence failures linked to the Nine-Eleven attacks or the Iraq war. President Bush's strongest ally during the war tells the BBC he thinks Tenet resigned for personal reasons -- as Tenet himself has said. But reaction elsewhere in Europe has been more skeptical.

Rome on high alert as Bush visit begins

From Ireland Online ...

Thousands of police today patrolled the streets of Rome as George Bush begins the first leg of a three-day European trip.

Mr Bush will meet Silvio Berlusconi and members of his Government, while he will also be meeting the Pope, who was vehemently opposed to a war in Iraq.

Entire neighbourhoods were closed off to traffic by police. An anti-war demonstration is expected to draw thousands of people later today.

Editor's murder raises tensions in Montenegro

At the Institute for War and Peace Reporting ...

The arrest of two suspects for the murder of a prominent journalist has failed to quell a war of words between Milo Djukanovic’s government and the opposition over the shooting.

The murder of Dusko Jovanovic on May 27 has fuelled an atmosphere of fear and insecurity in the republic, widening the chasm between opposition parties and the government.

Damir Mandic, a well known martial arts sportsman, and his brother Almir were arrested last night in connection with the investigation.

Taleban kill Belgian aid worker

At Expatica.com ...

BRUSSELS – A Belgian woman was among five aid workers killed when Taleban loyalists attacked their convoy in north-western Afghanistan, it was reported on Thursday.

The five victims – the Belgian woman, a Dutch man, a Norwegian man and two Afghans - all worked for the medical charity Medecins sans Frontiers (Doctors without borders), which has since suspended its operations in Afghanistan.

Afghan officials blamed the country's former rulers, the Taleban, for the attack.

German library opens in North Korea

From the BBC via the North Korea Zone, the place for all things pertaining to North Korea ...

Under the deal, Pyongyang is required to guarantee free access for its citizens to uncensored German-language books, videos, CDs and newspapers.

Goethe Institute president Jutta Limbach hailed the move as "a major success in cultural politics".

Until now, Western media and literature have been banned in North Korea.

Evil and Its Discontents

At Nthposition ...

At the end of human time - and the human world - beasts would appear in the heavens and wage war on God and His angels. The Biblical book of Revelation uses striking imagery to illustrate a final battle between Good and Evil. Whoever wins - and Revelation has Good winning - the human apparatus of self-government and self-control will be lost. Either God's kingdom will rule over earth - or Gog and Magog, Satan's great lieutenants, will subsume the kings of the world into their own victorious rule. More than any other book in the Bible, a Manichean vision is apparent. There would be no battle if God had been all-powerful from the outset. God has to win this battle to prove Himself supreme. If the Great Dragon, Satan, and the bestial Gog and Magog offered no chance of a close battle, it would be unimportant - a sideshow in heaven. But they range powerful forces against God, and they think they can win. The apostle John, watching all this on his island, has to be constantly reassured by visions of heaven's splendour, by angels blowing trumpets, because - as he describes it - the baddies are pretty colourful dudes and pretty damn strong. They can unleash their own mass destruction. And, in the vision of a female Babylon, they have the babe of all time on their side as well.

This is to take the Apocalyptic vision on its own terms of grandeur, and then degenerate it. What was a Manichean and titanic struggle between Good and Evil becomes carnival - not quite burlesque, but theatrically perverse.

Punk Threat Raised to Burnt Orange

From The Guardian ...

A Special Branch officer questioned a punk rock musician as a terror suspect after he sent a text message containing lyrics from a Clash song to the wrong person, it was reported today.

Band member Mike Devine, from Bristol, said he had been approached by the officer and shown a copy of a text he had sent in April, which contained the words "gun" and "jet airliner".

The 35-year-old, who plays bass in a Clash tribute group called London Calling, had intended to text the lyrics - from the Clash song Tommy Gun - to singer Reg Shaw. Instead, he sent the message to the wrong number.

Media Advisory: Journalists need 'I' Visa to Enter U.S.

From the U.S. Mission to the EU ...

JOURNALISTS NEED "I" VISAS TO ENTER THE U.S. (June 3,
2004)_

The Office of Public Affairs at the U.S. Mission to the EU would like to remind all journalists who travel to the United States as representatives of foreign press, radio, film, or other information media, in order to work in that vocation, that the US requires you to possess an "I" visa. Holding an "I" visa allows a working journalist to enter the United States to work on an assignment.

You can find more information and the application forms for the "I" visa on the link below:
_<http://www.usembassy.be/consul/nonimmi/english.jourvis.htm>_
This information is subject to change, so please check the Consular Section's website regularly!

*The Non-Immigrant Visa Section* is located at:
Regentlaan 25 Boulevard du Régent, B-1000 Brussels

Dial-in Visa Information and Non-Immigrant Visa Appointment Service:
0032-(0)2-788.12.00 (from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday - Friday); Cost
: 15 euros per call.
email:_ usvisabrussels@state.gov _
Opening Hours:* Monday through Friday 9:00 to 12 a.m.
*Closed on U.S. and Belgian holidays:_
<http://www.usembassy.be/consul/holidays.htm>_

La Batarde

From Context ...

La Bâtarde (1964) is a harsh title for an autobiography that is full of animals and children and plants and food and weather and girls falling in love with girls. It’s true that Violette Leduc was the illegitimate daughter of a domestic servant who was seduced by the consumptive son of her employer, but to choose such a melodramatic and reductive title, “The Bastard,” tells us how hard it was for Leduc to escape from the way her mother described her, and in that description gave her daughter an internal crucifix on which to nail her life’s story.

It’s not surprising, then, that the furnace at the center of Leduc’s autobiography, and indeed all her writing, is stoked by her ambivalent steely-eyed mother, of whom she writes, “You live in me as I lived in you.” Yet if the young Violette’s tears spill from eyes that are open to the sun, the older Violette’s words spill from the same place too. She is not blinded by her tears, nor are her eyes shut to the pleasures of being alive. Which is to say Leduc was a writer very much in the world despite the distress she suffered all her life. What’s more, she was a writer who was going to give maximum attention to the cause of her distress and create the kind of visceral language that often irritates men and makes women nervous.

Glenn Gould

From The Independent ...

Like Elvis and Princess Diana, Glenn Gould enjoys ever-increasing posthumous fame. Since he spent his last two decades as a recluse, the pianist's premature physical death barely registered in the public mind. So it makes sense that Kevin Bazzana should begin his book with the afterlife - the homage by composers, novelists, and film-makers, the trade in relics - and an explanation of why this egregious musician should still seem prophetic today.

"Pianist" was in Gould's vocabulary a pejorative term; even "musician" was too limited for his philosophical stance. This was underpinned by contradictory convictions: music existed primarily in the mind, yet clarity of sound was paramount; the interpreter should be the ultimate authority, and at the same time recede into quasi-medieval anonymity. Bazzana has shown elsewhere how these "inconsistencies" fuelled a radical assault on the classical status quo. In an age where -"fidelity" is the highest virtue, "romantic" interpretations are needed as never before.

Transatlantic ties - A Creaking Partnership

At The Economist ...

THE commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the D-Day landings, on Sunday June 6th, will have an elegiac tone, and not just because of the memory of the soldiers who died that day. There is a growing sense in both the United States and Europe that the western alliance that was born out of the second world war, and triumphed in the cold war, is failing to recover from the cruel strains of the past three years.

June was supposed to be hatchet-burying time on both sides of the Atlantic. During the month, the paths of the western leaders will cross no fewer than four times. First, on June 6th, George Bush visits France for the commemoration ceremonies. The G8 summit of the world's richest countries takes place in America from the 8th to the 10th. An American-European Union meeting in Ireland will follow on June 25th-26th, and a NATO summit in Istanbul two days later.

Was Michaelangelo autistic?

From The Independent ...

The ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome, the Pietà, the statue of David - Michelangelo's works have long been recognised as the creations of a true genius. But two medical experts now claim the renowned Renaissance artist could have suffered from a form of autism.

Dr Muhammad Arshad, staff psychiatrist at Whiston Hospital in Prescot, Merseyside, and Professor Michael Fitzgerald, from Trinity College Dublin, have concluded that the Italian artist may have suffered from Asperger's syndrome. The claims, however, have been rubbished by art historians.

Putin Calls the Tune

At Radio Free Europe - Radio Liberty ... Endnote.

One of the few controversial moments in President Vladimir
Putin's unsurprising 26 May annual address to the Federal Assembly
came when he turned his attention to the country's nascent civil
society. "There are thousands of citizens' associations and unions
working constructively in our country, but far from all of them are
geared toward defending people's real interests," Putin said toward
the end of his speech. "For some of these organizations, the priority
is rather different -- obtaining funding from influential foreign or
domestic foundations. For others it is servicing dubious groups and
commercial interests."

This statement, which seems to imply that only the state's
agenda is "constructive" and seems to resent the "influence" of
nonstate groups, points directly to a key paradox that has bedeviled
Putin's entire term in office -- building a vibrant society with the
active participation of the public at all levels without giving up
control of where that society is going. Putin concluded his speech by
noting: "I believe that the creation of a free society of free people
in Russia is our most important task, as well as the most complex
one. It is the most important because an individual who is not free
and not independent is incapable of taking care of himself, his
family or his motherland. It is complex because freedom is not always
valued, and even rarer is the ability to use it."

McCain urges support for ICRC, Geneva Convention

From the Wall Street Journal via Washington File ...

In Praise of Do-Gooders

By John McCain

The Wall Street Journal, June 1, 2004

Since the abuses at Abu Ghraib have come to light, American leaders at all
levels have rightly expressed outrage and contrition. Yet there also
exists an undercurrent of sentiment that seeks to fault America's strict
adherence to international humanitarian law, and to blame the
organizations that monitor its implementation.

In recent days, some have labeled Red Cross personnel as "humanitarian
do-gooders" whose presence in coalition-run detention centers is
inappropriate while American soldiers are fighting and dying. Others have
warned that the ICRC is on the path toward becoming a left-wing advocacy
group, and portrayed the Geneva Conventions as a hindrance to our ability
to extract intelligence from prisoners that might save U.S. lives.

It is critical to realize that the Red Cross and the Geneva Conventions do
not endanger American soldiers, they protect them. Our soldiers enter
battle with the knowledge that should they be taken prisoner, there are
laws intended to protect them and impartial international observers to
inquire after them.

Four Sectors Focus of Albanian Prime Minister's Criticism

From Albania News ...

TIRANA - After criticism of Prime Minister Fatos Nano on four important sectors such as education, health, transport and energy for delays in public investments, the respective ministers reacted Tuesday saying those institutions had done everything possible to do. These sectors resulted to be the most problematic sectors as regards the public investments, an administrative group concluded.

Darfur's agony is world's shame

Originally from the Financial Times ...

There are no more villages to burn," a United Nations relief officer said when describing the situation in western Sudan last week. Forced displacement of people had stopped to an extent, he added, and after more than a year of war, an unsettling calm had fallen across much of the region of Darfur.

But just because Darfur's villages have been razed to the ground, that does not mean the horror is over for the brutalised civilians of the area. The "Janjaweed" government-backed Arab militia continues its campaign of mass murder and rape against black African tribes in Darfur. The government of Sudan not only aids the Janjaweed with money and guns but also supports the fighters tactically with aerial bombardment of villages immediately before militia raids.

The Janjaweed have corralled civilians into camps - what some rightly call "concentration camps" - where many are dying slowly from disease and malnutrition. This year's planting season has been missed, grain reserves have been deliberately targeted and destroyed and the government continues to block humanitarian aid from reaching most displaced Darfurians. Those who were not slaughtered outright are clearly being left to starve. Since early last year, this vicious campaign has claimed an estimated 30,000 civilian lives; international aid agencies say that over 1.2m people have been displaced within Sudan and at least 120,000 have fled to neighbouring Chad, making Khartoum's conduct a grave threat to regional as well as internal stability. USAID estimates that another 350,000 could die due to the desperate situation in Darfur.

In short, the government of Sudan is conducting a scorched-earth, near-genocidal war against its own citizens. Again.

Germany praises revised Iraq resolution

At Xinhuanet ...

A senior German official on Wednesday praised the revised UN draft resolution on Iraq distributed by the United States and Britain, saying it goes "in the right direction".

In an interview with Suedwestrundfunk radio, Karsten Voigt, German Foreign Ministry's top official for relations with the United States, said "The development should make us optimistic," and the revised draft resolution is a sign that "the Americans aremoving."

The new draft resolution would give Iraq's interim government control of the army and police and also would end the mandate for a multinational force by January 2006.

Belgium wants vote on EU constitution

From Turkish Daily News ...

Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt said on Tuesday he favored holding a referendum on any future European Union constitution.

A new constitution for the EU is seen as vital for the smooth operation of the bloc, which expanded to 25 members from 15 on May 1.

"Just like in many other countries our population has the right, at a certain time once the constitution is approved, to present its views," Verhofstadt told VRT radio in an interview.

The Tampere agenda

From Amnesty International ... full text at their site.

The first stage of the so-called “Tampere” agenda is now over. The agenda, agreed at the Tampere EU Summit of 1999, set out the basis for the EU’s goal of constructing an “Area of Freedom, Security and Justice” across the Union. Five years on, Amnesty International answers the question: is the EU is now more free, secure and just as a result of five years of negotiations and legislation?

Amnesty International’s assessment of Tampere focuses on the two dominant elements: asylum and immigration; and judicial cooperation in criminal matters. However, evaluating the achievements of the Tampere agenda also requires an assessment of the overall picture of human rights observance and protection within the EU, as exemplified by both legislative measures and actual compliance. Unfortunately, from a human rights perspective, the picture is not positive.

The Tampere commitment to "full and inclusive application of the Geneva Convention" has evaporated. The determination to provide security is as yet neither matched by effective cooperation nor balanced with essential safeguards. The Charter of Fundamental Rights has prompted complacency rather than accountability. The vision of the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice has turned out to be a parallel universe to the daily reality experienced by asylum seekers, illegal immigrants, suspects in police stations and defendants in courts.

The events of 11 September 2001 have had a far reaching and negative impact across the main policy areas. The fight against "illegal immigration" has become closely linked to counter-terrorism. Measures towards harmonising the treatment of asylum seekers arriving in the EU have become confused with issues of security. The whole complex of judicial cooperation has been cast in the counter-terrorist mould, creating greater momentum for the creation of the European Arrest Warrant but neglecting the human rights dimension.

Sadat, Nixon and the Soviet Presence in Egypt, 1970-1971

From MERIA ...

The decision by Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat to remove the Soviet military presence from his country during the summer of 1972 has often been viewed as the first step on the road to the October War the following year. By removing the Soviet presence, it has been argued, Sadat was also removing the major obstacle preventing him from engaging in another war with Israel.(1) Though Sadat insisted at the time that the expulsion of the Soviets was simply a result of the growing differences between Moscow and Cairo,(2) and while others have argued that their removal was a direct result of the Soviet-American détente,(3) it seemed clear that since Moscow was opposed to risking its new relationship with the United States by supporting Egypt in another war with Israel, Sadat had no choice but to ask for their departure.

In Washington, American officials were reportedly "shocked" to learn of Sadat's announcement. Henry Kissinger later recalled that Sadat's decision came as a "complete surprise to Washington," and he quickly met with the Soviet ambassador to dispel any notion that the United States had colluded with the Egyptians in reaching this end.(4) President Nixon, similarly, hurried a letter to Leonid Brezhnev, claiming the United States had "no advanced knowledge of the recent events in Egypt," and assured the Soviet Premier that the United States would "take no unilateral actions in the Middle East" as a result of the recent developments.(5)

Early scholarly treatment of Sadat's decision to remove the Soviet military presence has generally fallen in line with this official account. William B. Quandt, for example, argued that the expulsion of the Soviet advisors came at "curious" time in Washington since Nixon was preoccupied with an election campaign and would not risk his lead in the polls "by embarking on a controversial policy in the Middle East."(6) In his study of the Soviet-Egyptian relationship, Alvin Z. Rubinstein also concluded that "as far as can be determined Sadat consulted no one; his decision was his own."(7)

Mr. Bush goes to Europe ...

From Washington File ...

President Bush will host the G8 summit June 8-10 at Sea Island, Georgia.
The G8 nations are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the
United Kingdom, and the United States. The European Union also attends the
G8 Summit, represented by the president of the European Commission. The
leaders of the G8 nations will discuss a wide range of international
economic, political, and security issues.

Following is the president's schedule for June 2-6 and his schedule for
the G8 summit:

Wednesday, June 2: President Bush will deliver remarks at graduation
ceremonies at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs,
Colorado.

Thursday, June 3: The president and Prime Minister John Howard of
Australia meet at the White House, then hold a joint press availability in
the Rose Garden. In the evening, the president and Mrs. Bush will depart
for Rome.

Friday, June 4: The president will meet with Italian President Carlo
Ciampi. Mrs. Bush will then join the president to call upon His Holiness
Pope John Paul II, following which the president and Mrs. Bush will lay a
wreath at the Fasse Ardetina memorial. Friday evening, the president and
Mrs. Bush will join Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi for dinner.

Saturday, June 5: The president will meet with Prime Minister Berlusconi.
The president and Mrs. Bush will depart for Paris, where the president
will meet with President Jacques Chirac of France, followed by a joint
press availability and working dinner.

Sunday, June 6: The president and Mrs. Bush will travel to Normandy,
France, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the D-Day landings. They
will visit and pay their respects at the American cemetery, where the
president will also deliver remarks. The president and Mrs. Bush will then
participate with other world leaders in a multinational lunch and
ceremony. At the conclusion of that ceremony, the president and Mrs. Bush
will depart for Sea Island, Georgia, where they will host the 2004 G8
summit.

Tuesday, June 8: The president will host a working lunch with Prime
Minister Junichiro Koizumi of Japan, followed by a meeting with Canadian
Prime Minister Paul Martin. The president will also host bilateral
meetings with Germany's Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and Russian President
Vladimir Putin. In the evening, the president and Mrs. Bush will host a
social dinner for G8 leaders and spouses.

Wednesday, June 9: The president will begin his morning with a working
breakfast with Great Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair and will open the
G8 summit with a morning plenary session. During lunch, the G8 leaders
will be joined by the leaders of Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Jordan,
Turkey and Yemen. The afternoon will include a plenary session on the
pre-eminent security issues of weapons of mass destruction, nuclear
proliferation and global terrorism.

Thursday, June 10: The president will meet with Prime Minister Berlusconi
and then with President Chirac. Following the bilateral meetings, the
president will participate in a wrap-up session of the G8. The G8 leaders
will then have lunch with the leaders of Algeria, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal,
South Africa and Uganda. This lunch is an opportunity for the G8 and
African leaders to discuss how they can cooperate to accelerate
private-sector-led growth and development in Africa. HIV/AIDS and polio
will also be discussed, as well as peacekeeping and support for peace
operations on the continent.