Jockstrip: The World As We Know It

LOW TECH

"Call for the Mayor of New York" went the cry at the World Trade Organization summit. No, not Rudolph Giuliani but the new one, Michael Bloomberg.

The appeal came from his staff at Bloomberg's financial news agency, who found as they settled into the Qatar press center that with all the phone and computers they could not get Internet access.

They were not alone. Some 800 members of the world's media were reduced to lining up for access to a dozen personal computers in the media center, while two harassed telecommunications experts tried to reconfigure hundreds of laptops to let them connect through the local telephone system.

It took the Bloomberg staff a day to get on line. Until they did, they couldn't even ask their owner, the mayor-elect of New York City, for help.

(From UPI Hears)

THINGS WE DON'T UNDERSTAND

Is the United States looking for a few good Russian men to help fight its war in Afghanistan?

The unusual prospect has caused a mini sensation in Moscow ever since a journalist for Russia's NTV television network phoned the U.S. Embassy last month. The reporter, Anton Volzshky, called to inquire about an announcement he'd seen that suggested the embassy had jobs for veterans of the Soviet war in Afghanistan -- as mercenaries.

The supposed offer was sent via e-mail to an address used by the bulletin board section of a Web site (afganwar.spb.ru) based in St. Petersburg, Russia, run by and for veterans of that 1979-89 conflict.

Reportedly, the e-mail said: "The Embassy of the USA needs young people with experience in combat operations in the mountains. Requirements: Satisfactory health, physical training, English language -- minimum conversational level. High pay."

It went on to give a phone number, a fax number and an e-mail address.

A check by UPI found the phone and fax numbers, and at least one of the e-mail addresses, are real and do in fact belong to the U.S. Embassy in Moscow.

Just one thing, said spokesmen for the embassy and its overseer, the State Department in Washington: The offer is bogus.

"This is a false report; there's nothing to this story, and you would be advised not to take this story seriously," said Larry Schwartz, a spokesman for the State Department's European Affairs office. "It's completely false."

Retired Col. Dennis Lewis, a military affairs consultant for UPI, thinks it was a matter of a plan being discussed, and someone acted too quickly. "They hit the Send button too soon," he said.

NEWS OF OTHER LIFE FORMS

The American Humane Association's (AHA) Film and Television Unit says it has given "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" an acceptable rating --- the group's highest rating. The film will also carry AHA's well known "no animal was harmed" credit.

"'Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone' is one of this year's most high-profile films," said Karen Goschen, vice-president of AHA's Western Regional Office. "It also contains a great deal of animal action. I am very pleased to say that based on AHA's work with the production company on-set in England, the film has earned our 'no animal was harmed' credit. The film will also receive an acceptable rating, which is the highest we give. This rating is a true testament to the care shown to the animals by Warner Brothers and the professional trainers from Birds & Animals Unlimited, especially considering the film features owls, rats, snakes, and other animals not often used by Hollywood."

Among other critters, 16 owls played the magical companions and postage carriers for various Hogwart students.

(Web sites: ahafilm.org, americanhumane.org)

TODAY'S SIGN THE WORLD IS ENDING

The head of South Korea's World Cup organizing committee is complaining that soccer's international governing body is trying to stop alleged animal mistreatment -- namely the beating of dogs before using the meat for food -- in the Asian country.

Federation International de Football Association President Joseph S. Blatter recently called for South Korea to take "immediate and decisive measures to put an immediate end to the (animal) cruelty," saying it would harm South Korea's international image.

South Koreans beat dogs with bats to soften the flesh before slaughter for food. But handlers say they now kill "meat dogs" swiftly with electronic shock.

"I have told FIFA that it should not raise concerns about that," said Chung Mong-joon, the head of the Korean Organizing Committee for the 2002 FIFA World Cup and a FIFA vice president. "It is impossible to forcibly end people's dietary tradition due to a sports event."

Facing criticism from animal advocates, South Korea closed thousands of dog meat restaurants in the major cities during the 1998 Summer Olympics in Seoul, but the ban was lifted after the Olympics because of consumer demand.

"The International Olympic Committee did not raise the issue of dog eating in this country during the Olympics. I don't understand why FIFA raised the issue," Chung said.

South Korea is to co-host the 2002 FIFA soccer World Cup finals with Japan. The tournament opens in Seoul on May 31, and the final is June 30 in Yokohama, Japan.

AND FINALLY, TODAY'S UPLIFTING STORY

The global war against terrorism failed to weaken the international art auction market in its first major test since the tragic events of Sept. 11.

The test came late last week, when New York's three major art auction houses -- Christie's, Sotheby's, and Phillips -- held major sales of Impressionist and modern paintings and sculptures. The sales fetched a total of $242 million -- well above the houses' low pre-sale estimate of $216 million. This was good news for the $4 billion-a-year art market in general which had seen a severe reduction in sales by private dealers in the past two months as a result of terrorism's negative effect on an already shaky economy.

Although some paintings and sculpture failed to find bidders at all the sales, bidding was brisk on most lots, and in some cases sales prices rose above the houses' top estimates.

A world auction record was set for one of the major Impressionist painters, Camille Pissarro -- $6.6 million for his 1893 cityscape, "La Rue Saint-Lazare." It sold at Sotheby's for just above its high pre-sale estimate of $6.5 million.

(Thanks to UPI's Frederick M. Winship in New York)