From: Taner Edis Subject: World News Message-ID: <9211050432.AA20918@lll-winken.llnl.gov> Date: Wed, 4 Nov 1992 23:29:41 EST Here are two short items from the World Press Review: The government-owned *Herald* of Harare reports that "Zambia's ruling party, the Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD), will exclude [candidates] from contesting local government elections if they continue threatening others with witchcraft. Acting Kasempa District Chairman Joshua Mukena [has] told party members that witchcraft is out." His warning came after one candidate reportedly threatened "to bewitch those daring to stand against him" in November's election. THe MMD came to power a year ago in the country's first multi-party national elections. Mukena said that the party must field "clean candidates." Well, somebody is doing something about the weather, according to *Komsomolskaya Pravda*. The Russian Agriculture Ministry, desperate to improve crop yields, recently invited "the capital's leading psychics, magicians, and representatives of small enterprises that deal with weather control" to a conference. The good news is that a rainmaking machine that was patented in 1989 -- and is still shrouded in secrecy -- has apparently produced rain several times where it was requested. The bad news: Agriculture Minister Viktor Khlystun has "expressed dissatisfaction that the psychics, magicians, and weather controllers are acting in an uncoordinated manner, causing thunderstorms and rain at random sites." Taner Edis