by Boureima Hama
NIAMEY, March 5 (AFP)
Niger�s most influential animist sorcerers this week forecast another year of abundant rainfall and plentiful harvests for this drought-vulnerable sub-saharan country.
�The earth has spoken well,� was the unanimous verdict at the sorcerers� annual gathering at Massalata near Birni N�Konni, 340 kilometres (220 miles) east of the capital. Each year, animists from all over Niger converge on Massalata for a grand ceremony at the foot of the hill which overlooks the village. There, the sorcers hold an �arwa� in which a medium invokes the spirits and believers discuss the problems of their faith and the �future� of the country.
The chief sorcerers of Nigeria, Mali and Cameroon are also traditionally invited to the gathering which is televised.
Sitting on the ground under a big tree, with bared breasts and eyes red from too much �bourkoutou�, a traditional beer, the grand sorcerers �read� the future in geometric shapes they draw on the ground.
No disasters came out of the hat this year, at least in principle because, according to tradition, only the good predictions are made public, the bad ones being reserved only for the initiated few.
Last August, torrential rains killed several people and caused heavy damage in Niger.
This year to �calm the anger� of the �gods�, the believers sacrificed an oxe and a heifer.
Yet despite the good omens, the sorcerers are worried but for different reasons.
They say people are turning their backs on certain traditional cults and sacrificial rites and complain that too many mosques are being built, contributing to a �decline� in their own religion.
Years ago, rural people would turn to them to �make rain� or protect themselves from epidemics, but today, communal prayers are reserved for the mosques.
About 90 percent of the population of Niger are Moslems. Animists represent barely more than five percent, yet the �arnas� - the sorcerers - are widely feared for their supposed powers to cast evil spells.
Inspite of intensive Islamic proselytism and the rise of Islamic fundamentalism, the ceremony of the arnas is always a grand occasion marked by fastuous celebrations and demonstrations of �invulnerability�, initiation rites and baptisms of new believers.
The dance of the �Gardawas� (the invulnerable ones) is the highpoint of the ceremony. Dressed in huge skirts with clappers at their feet and wrists, they swirl to the rythm of the drums until they go into a transe.
Then, using knives or broken bottles, they slash like mad creatures at their bodies, supposedly protected by an assortment of amulets and magic potions.
Children and women also join in the dancing, sticking long nails into their noses, mouths, eyes, navels and ears.
ALMATY, April 11
On April 1, 1999, the map of Canada was changed with the birth of the new territory of Nunavut.
Nunavut means �our land� in Inuktitut, the Inuit language. It is a vast territory � stretching 1/9 million square kilometres (one fifth of Canada�s land mass). This is the first major change to the map of Canada since Newfoundland joined Canada 50 years ago, in 1949.
Nunavut�s lands are made up of the central and eastern portions of the Northwest Territories (NWT).
Despite its vast size, the land supports only 22 000 people concentrated into 28 far-flung communities. Approximately 85% of the population are Inuit, whose ancestors settled in the area thousands of years ago.
The idea of creating Nunavut and its self-government was articulated by Inuit leaders in the 1970s.
The Nunavut Land Claims Agreement gives title to Inuit-owned lands measuring 350 000 square kilometres, of which about 35 000 square kilometres include mineral rights.
The realization of this new entity marks a profound shift in how Canada relates to its Aboriginal people.
But the government of Nunavut faces enormous challenges, not the least of which is to re-establish self-sufficiency for future generations. About 56 percent of Nunavut�s residents are under the age of 25. The government will be called upon to create employment opportunities, increase education and income levels, and cope with a cost of living two to three times higher than southern Canadians.
By TheCourtesy of the Canada Embassy
By Alessandro RAIMONDI
Bolzano, April 9 (THE GLOBE)
A shameful replica of the disaster of Malpensa airport opening of last October has just gone on in Italy, with the opening of Bolzano airport, in the northern area that Italians are calling Alto Adige and that the German-speaking majority names Sued Tyrol.
Experience, in fact, seems having taught nothing to Italian airport authorities that keep granting concessions and operative permits to structures not completed yet.
So once more, a country that for its beauty and rich cultural heritage and vestiges ought to have in recepting structures such as airports one of the most efficient characteristics, has proven to be far away from a real European integration.
The brand new airport of Bolzano (Bozen in German) whose maiden voyage, full of parliamentarians, was allowd to land on Sunday, March 28th, �99 has denied landing permit the following day to the first commercial flight coming from Rome of the Austrian carrier �Tyrolean Airways�, due in Bolzano at 10:20 PM.
So swiftly the regional and provincial authorities have acted in order to open the airport that they have missed ENAC�s authorization for night flights. In fact, the flight of the Dash, the maiden voyage airplane, has been forced to become an international one having to land on Austria�s Tyrol�s capital Innsbruck, some 120 kilometers to the north. From there the surprised passengers, who hadn�t been informed at the departure in Rome, had to reach Bolzano by bus.
The following night another replica was served so that �Tyrolean Airways� is accusing the Italian authorities of inefficient bureaucracy, while regional politicians minimize by claiming that �only 2 or 3 stamps are still missing�.
As usual the truth seems to stand in between: ENAC, Italy�s Civil Aviation National Authority, hasn�t issued its night flights OK because the airport runway lighting is not enough, specially for the landing phase.
Not to close the airport only two days after its official opening, a life preserver has been offered by �Tyrolean Airways� itself: the damaged airline has cancelled all night flights until ENAC casts its approval. Stories of ordinary madness...
A very special Dash 8/300, similar to those banned on Bolzano night route.
13/04/1940 - A record pole vault of 15 feet was made in Berkeley, CA by Cornelius Warmerdam. Sergei Bubka from the Ukraine doesn�t think much of this record. In 1994, he vaulted himself up and over at a height of 20 feet 1 3/4 inches. Wow!
14/04/1912 - The luxury liner �Titanic� struck an iceberg late this night in the North Atlantic, fatally wounding the �unsinkable� vessel.
14/04/1912 - Frederick Rodman Law was a stunt man and on this day, he became the first man to intentionally jump from the Brooklyn Bridge in New York without intending to take his own life. He was OK after the leap.
14/04/1956 - Ampex Corporation of Redwood City, CA demonstrated the first commercial magnetic tape record for sound and picture. The videotape machine had a price tag of $75,000. Today, similar units, complete with camera, can be purchased for under $500. The early Ampex units were too large to fit in a small room. That�s when big was better. Today, a camcorder fits in the palm of your hand.
15/04/1912 - The �unsinkable� luxury liner, �Titanic� sank off Newfoundland after striking an unseen iceberg on its maiden voyage from Southampton, England to New York City. A young David Sarnoff, later of RCA and NBC, relayed telegraph messages to advise relatives on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean of the 700+ survivors. A total of 1,517 passengers were lost at sea. One account claimed that lifeboats weren�t operable and those that were, quickly filled with men and even crew, instead of the traditional women and children first. Reports indicate that the captain, most of the crew and the ship�s orchestra remained on board as the huge luxury liner slid, stern first, into the icy Atlantic. Still another report, from a survivor, indicated that as the great ship was going down to a watery grave, the orchestra played �Nearer My God to Thee�.
15/04/1939 - Claudie Cardinale was born (actress: The Pink Panther, Once Upon a Time in the West, Jesus of Nazareth, Henry the IV, A Man in Love)
April, 15
The Kazakh Concert Hall. The ballet �Silfida� by Levenshold. 6.00 p.m.
From 4 th of March
Gallery of Modern Art �Orkhon�. Bouquet of Flowers Exhibition.
From 5.00 p.m. to 8.00 p.m.
From 25st of March to 14 of April
The Kosteyev State National Museum. �Modern drawing of 80th�. Rhine artists.
The Kosteyev State National Museum. Exhibition of the works of S. Kalmykov, I. Itkind, V. Eifert, and Rudolf Nuriev�s painting.
From 10.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. Closed on Monday.
All Over the Globe is published by IPA House.
© 1998 IPA House. All Rights Reserved.
