HIGHLIGHTS OF OCTOBER 2005

Photo: Theodor Haensch, professor of physics, is cheered by students and coworkers at his office in Munich, Germany, Tuesday after he learned that he had been awarded the Nobel prize for physics 2005.

STOCKHOLM, Sweden- Americans John Hall and Roy Glauber and German Theodor Haensch won the 2005 Nobel Prize in physics Tuesday for their work in advancing the precision of optic technology, which could improve communication worldwide and help spacecraft navigate more accurately. The prize was given to the three for their work in applying modern quantum physics to the study of optics - a pursuit that has led to the improvement of lasers, optical clocks, Global Positioning System (GPS) technology and other instruments. Glauber, 80, of Harvard University, took half of this year's Nobel for showing in the 1960s how the particle nature of light affects its behaviour under certain circumstances. Although those conditions are rarely observed in nature, they are often relevant in sophisticated optical instruments. Hall, 71, of the University of Colorado, and Haensch, 63, of the Ludwig-Maximilian-Univrsitaet in Munich, won for their work in determining the colour of light at the atomic and molecular level. Haensch used evenly spaced laser pulses to determine the frequencies, and Hall refined the technique. "It's a huge surprise, a great pleasure," Hall said, noting that the work was a team effort. I believe that the subject of precise measurement is really the way of obtaining scientific maturity," he said. "Being able to observe more carefully is more useful. More awareness leads in a powerful way to the next round of questions." Sune Svanberg, chairman of the Nobel Committee for Physics, said Glauber can rightly be considered the father of quantum optics, and that his theories paved the way for the discoveries made by Hall and Haensch. Until Glauber published his theories in 1963, scientists had dismissed the idea that the quantum theory, originally developed by Albert Einstein, could be applied to the field of optics. "There were completely different ideas back then about how to view this," Svanberg said. "His results are fundamental for our modern understanding of the behaviour of light." Hall and Haensch will split the 10 million kronor ($1.5 million Cdn) prize with Glauber. Speaking from his office in Munich, Haensch called the award a high point of his career. "I was speechless but of course very happy, exuberant," he said. "Now, I am trying to get used to this." He said the trio's work could eventually be applied to making communication across the globe - and beyond Earth - more feasible and make the frequencies that carry radio waves, more precise. Glauber's theories helped explain the behaviour of light particles, while Hall and Haensch were able to determine the frequency of light with extreme precision, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said. "The important contributions by John Hall and Theodor Haensch have made it possible to measure frequencies with an accuracy of 15 digits," the academy said. "Lasers with extremely sharp colours can now be constructed, and with the frequency comb technique precise readings can be made of light of all colours. "This technique makes it possible to carry out studies of, for example, the stability of the constants of nature over time, and to develop extremely accurate clocks and improved GPS technology." Hall works for JILA, an institute run by the University of Colorado and the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Two other JILA physicists, Eric Cornell and Carl Wieman, won the Nobel Prize in physics in 2001. Alfred Nobel, the wealthy Swedish industrialist and inventor of dynamite who endowed the prizes, left only vague guidelines for the selection committee, saying in his will that the prize should be given to those who "shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind" and "shall have made the most important discovery or invention within the field of physics." The prize is the second Nobel to be announced this week. On Monday, Australians Barry Marshall and Robin Warren won the 2005 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for proving, partly by accident, that bacteria and not stress was the main cause of painful ulcers of the stomach and intestine. The awards for chemistry and peace will be announced through the end of the week, with the economics prize to be awarded Oct. 10. No date has been set for the literature prize. The prizes will be awarded by Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf at a ceremony in Stockholm on Dec. 10. By Mat More

France President Chirac say Turkey needs 'major cultural revolution' to join EU

Photo: lags of Turkey and the European Union are seen over the dome of a mosque in Istanbul, Turkey, Tuesday.

BRUSSELS, Belgium- French President Jacques Chirac said Tuesday that Turkey would need to undergo a "major cultural revolution" before entering the European Union, and he reiterated that France would hold a referendum on admitting Ankara to the bloc. The comments by Chirac represented the tough road ahead in Turkey's membership in the 25-member EU. It took last-minute wrangling after two days of arduous talks between EU foreign ministers to overcome Austrian objections to start the negotiations. The entry talks are expected to last for at least 10 years before the EU can absorb Turkey and stretch its borders to the Middle East. There is broad opposition among Europeans to admitting the poor, predominantly Muslim country of 70 million. "Will it succeed? I cannot say. I hope so. But I am not at all sure," Chirac said at a news conference in Paris. It will be "a considerable effort" for Turkey," he said. "It is a major cultural revolution," that will take "at minimum 10 to 15 years." He reiterated that Turkey's membership would need to be approved by the French in a referendum. Austria also plans such a vote, and other countries may also decide to hold one. "The French will have the last word, as it should be in a democracy," he said. "We will see when the time comes." In Turkey, there was no immediate reaction to Chirac's comments, which were reported by Turkish television, but Culture Minister Atilla Koc's office said he was reviewing them. Akif Beki, spokesman for Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was not immediately available for comment. British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who currently holds the EU presidency, also said negotiations would take a long time, and would mean a "very big change" for the Europe and for Turkey. "It will be an issue of controversy for years to come," he told reporters in London. European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said Turkey's entry is "neither guaranteed nor automatic." "Turkey must win the hearts and minds of European citizens," he said. "They are the ones who at the end of the day will decide about Turkey's membership." Although the EU held a middle-of the night ceremony in Luxembourg to formally start the talks with Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, it will take nearly a year before the real technical negotiations get under way. On Oct. 20, the EU experts will start a broad "screening" of Turkey's rule policies to see whether they meet minimum requirements to start specific talks in 35 areas - everything from food safety rules to minority rights. Turkey then faces a final review from all EU governments who have to unanimously approve talks to begin in these policy areas. The negotiating mandate says that if the EU finds "a serious and persistent breach . . . of the principles of liberty, democracy, respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms and the rule of law," the EU may suspend the negotiations.

One significant political issue that remains unresolved is Cyprus. Turkey does not recognize EU member Cyprus, and is the only country to recognize a breakaway Turkish Cypriot state in the north of the divided Mediterranean island. Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi, appearing at the Paris news conference with Chirac, said shutting the door to Turkey would have been unpardonable - like rejecting a suitor. In such a situation, he warned, "love can turn to hate or something close to hate." Opening EU membership talks with Turkey offered an "unmissable" opportunity to build links between the West and the Muslim world, he said. The prospect of the mainly Christian EU absorbing Turkey will benefit the region, officials insisted. "I'm in absolutely no doubt that the benefits will follow from this enlargement and bring a strong secular state which happens to have a Muslim majority into the European Union," British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said. The agreement was a rare point of light in a gloomy year for the EU. A proposed EU constitution was shot down in French and Dutch referendums in May. An ill-tempered mid-June summit left the EU without a budget for 2007-13 and last month's German elections cast doubt on the political direction of the bloc's biggest economy. Although Turkey belongs to NATO, the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development and the Organization for Co-operation and Security in Europe, its shaky human rights record and poor economic past have kept it from becoming a full EU member. Ankara recently has introduced key political and economic reforms, and now wants the EU to make good on its promise to bring it into the bloc. By Constand Brend.

Turkey rejects any changes to EU agreement: Turkish official

Photo: Pakistani and Indian Foreign Secretaries, Riaz Mohammad Khan, left, and Shyam Saran, right, shake hands as Pakistani and Indian Foreign Ministers, in centre, Khursheed Kasuri, left, and Natwar Singh, right, look on during an agreements signing ceremony in Islamabad, Pakistan.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan- India and Pakistan on Monday signed a deal requiring them to notify each other of plans for ballistic missile tests, a key step in the peace process between the two nuclear-armed rivals. Indian External Affairs Minister Natwar Singh and his Pakistani counterpart, Khursheed Kasuri, announced the agreement after talks that they described as cordial and constructive. Groundwork for the deal was laid in talks in the Indian capital of New Delhi last month. "The agreement entails that both countries provide each other advance notification of flight tests that it intends to undertake of any surface-to-surface ballistic missile," the Indian side said in a statement. "India has now handed over a draft memorandum of understanding on measures to reduce the risks of accidental or unauthorized use of nuclear weapons under the control of both countries," the statement said. India did not elaborate on the draft document, but officials have said they plan to set up a hotline to reduce the possibility of a misunderstanding that could lead to nuclear conflict. India and Pakistan already operate one hotline between senior army commanders. India also said the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding that would establish a hotline between their coast guards. Such a communication link could speed up the repatriation of fishermen from both countries who often stray across the border in the Arabian Sea. Last week, Canada agreed to supply India with nuclear material for its civilian facilities - the first time since India set off a nuclear device with Canadian material in 1974. After meeting with Singh, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew said the two men agreed on nuclear safety co-operation, scientific and technical contacts on civilian atomic issues, and the supply of "dual-use items" to civilian nuclear facilities. Pettigrew said the federal government was "impressed" by India's progress on nuclear issues, and that he hoped the country would sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. India voted with Canada, the United States and the Europeans in condemning Iran for its nuclear activities, and in July, it took a number of steps in changing its own nuclear policies. They included making a commitment to put the civilian nuclear facilities under international safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency and signing up to an additional protocol of the IAEA that commits India to greater transparency on civilian nuclear operations. On Monday, Singh and Kasuri did not sign the missile test agreement, leaving that task to top officials in their ministries. Instead, they discussed ways to strengthen the fledgling peace process between India and Pakistan, which have fought three wars since independence from British rule in 1947. "The talks went off in a very cordial atmosphere," Kasuri said. Singh said the talks were "good." The two countries have often staged tit-for-tat missile tests that raise regional tensions. Singh was likely to meet Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf and Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz on Tuesday, and revive a joint commission for promoting economic co-operation and other contacts. Singh will also travel to the southern port city of Karachi to meet business leaders. He returns to India on Wednesday. India and Pakistan began peace talks in January last year, but have made little headway in resolving a bitter dispute over the Himalayan region of Kashmir. The two neighbouring countries control parts of the territory, but each claims it in its entirety. However, the rivals have resumed some severed transportation links, restored normal diplomatic ties and made it easier for people from either side to travel to the other country. By Sadikat Jan

Photo: Pope Benedict XVI in St. Peter's Basilica at The Vatican.

BERLIN, Germany- The former East German secret service considered Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict, one of the most dangerous critics of communism and spied on him starting in 1974, a leading weekly reported Sunday. The Bild am Sonntag released excerpts of vast files showing that the secret police, or Stasi, closely watched Ratzinger for years, collecting biographical details, information from spies and expectations of his next moves. Ratzinger's close friendship with Polish-born former pope John Paul - who Poles today largely credit with giving them the courage to challenge communism - was viewed by the Stasi as particularly dangerous. "Since the mid-70s, Ratzinger has been a close friend of the former Cardinal Wojtyla, for whose papacy he worked very hard and who tapped him in 1980 to organize the church's support in West Germany for the revolutionary developments in Poland," read one of the files, referring to Solidarity protests against the communists. The East Germans feared Ratzinger would "increasingly have influence over the anti-communist bias of the Roman Catholic Church, particularly in Latin America," according to excerpts printed by the paper. Bild am Sonntag said Benedict had personally granted it the right to reproduce parts of the files. The Vatican press office declined Sunday to comment on the report. Ratzinger was so closely followed that the Stasi was able to predict his being named prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith - the post he held before being named pope - two years before it happened in 1981. In addition, one agent noted something about the Ratzinger's personality that has been revealed to the public since he became pope: "He has a certain charm, although he may seem somewhat shy initially."

Photo: Hindu priests perform a cleansing ceremony for the victims of the bombings near one of the site where the explosions went off in Kuta, Bali

BALI, Indonesia- Indonesia said Sunday it suspected two fugitives linked to al-Qaida had masterminded the suicide bombings of crowded restaurants in tourist resorts on the Indonesian island of Bali which killed at least 26 people and injured more than 100. Maj.-Gen. Ansyaad Mbai, a top Indonesian anti-terror official, identified the two suspected masterminds as Malaysians alleged to be key members of the al-Qaida-linked Jemaah Islamiyah terror group. They are also accused of orchestrating the 2002 Bali nightclub bombings, as well as two other attacks in the Indonesian capital in 2003 and 2004. The nightclub bombings, which also struck venues crowded with tourists on a Saturday night, killed 202 people, most of them foreigners. Two of them were Canadians. In the latest attacks, three suicide bombers wearing explosive vests set off near-simultaneous explosions that devastated three restaurants crowded with diners on Saturday night. "The modus operandi of Saturday's attacks is the same as the earlier ones," said Mbai, who identified the two suspected masterminds as Azahari bin Husin and Noordin Mohamed Top. He said the two were not believed to be among the three suicide attackers. The assailants' remains were found at the bombing scenes but they have not yet been identified, he said. "I have seen them. All that is left is their head and feet," he told The Associated Press. "By the evidence we can conclude the bombers were carrying the explosives around their waists." Video footage of one of the blasts showed groups of tourists, many of them apparently Westerners, seated at candlelit tables talking and sipping drinks in the seconds before the explosion. The footage, obtained by Associated Press Television News, then shows a bright flash accompanied by a loud bang and gusts of black smoke. It was not immediately clear whether the three suicide bombers were included in the death toll which climbed to 26 on Sunday, according to Sanglah Hospital spokesman Putu Putra Wisada. Six Americans were among the injured. Long lines formed at checkout counters at Bali's international airport with a steady stream of taxis dropping off passengers. "We were up all night trying to change our ticket," said Veli-Matti Enqvist, 51, who had been scheduled to leave Bali with his wife on Wednesday. The couple was walking on the beach when they heard the blasts. "We finally found something ... we're going." After the 2002 bombings, there was an immediate and massive evacuation of foreign visitors which devastated the island's tourist industry. The latest bombings struck two seafood cafes in the Jimbaran beach resort and a three-storey noodle and steakhouse in downtown Kuta. Kuta is the bustling tourist centre of Bali where the two nightclubs were bombed three years ago. The latest attacks came a month after Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono warned of possible terrorist attacks. On Saturday, he blamed terrorists and warned that more attacks were possible. The president was in Bali on Sunday to see the devastation firsthand.