Miscellaneous Unification Church related news

United Press International announced Friday that Arnaud de
Borchgrave is leaving the position of chief executive officer
and president at the end of this year to become the global news
agency's editor-at-large.

December 29, 2000, Friday

WASHINGTON, Dec. 29 (UPI) - I am anxious to get back to writing and reporting, unencumbered by executive responsibilities, de Borchgrave said. For the time being, the responsibilities of CEO and president will be assumed by Douglas D.M. Joo, president of News World Communications, UPI's parent company.

We deeply appreciate Arnaud's contribution to the management of UPI during the past three years as well as his invaluable contribution to the rebuilding of UPI's editorial strength, Joo said. Due to his efforts, UPI has become a news service ready to meet the information needs of the consumer of the 21st century.

During his career spanning more than 50 years, Arnaud de Borchgrave has garnered a reputation as one of the world's legendary journalists. He began his career by succeeding Walter Cronkite as the bureau chief for United Press in Belgium in 1949.

Joining Newsweek magazine in 1950, de Borchgrave covered many of the world's major stories, including 17 wars, and interviewed the world's principal political and military leaders. His reporting as chief foreign correspondent of Newsweek earned 10 major international journalism awards.

Most recently, de Borchgrave obtained an exclusive interview with Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic in April 1999 during the crisis in the former Yugoslavia.

Resigning from Newsweek in 1980, de Borchgrave became a senior associate at the Georgetown University Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. In 1985, he was named editor-in-chief of the Washington Times. In 1991, while moving to editor-at-large of the Washington Times, he was appointed senior adviser at CSIS, where he directed the project on Global Organized Crime.

De Borchgrave, who has also co-authored two international best-selling books, was appointed CEO and president of UPI in late 1998, while continuing his affiliation with CSIS and the Washington Times.

We are very happy to be able to have the benefit of his considerable talent and experience in his new capacity as editor-at-large, Joo said. Arnaud is an acknowledged authority in issues relating to the new economy and will continue to be an invaluable journalistic resource to UPI and our clients and readers.

News World Communications, which also owns and operates publications established by Unification Church founder the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, purchased UPI from a group of Saudi investors last May.

Joo is chairman of the board of directors of UPI and president of the Washington Times. He is also president of Noticias Panamerica Corp., publishing the Tiempos del Mundo newspapers in 17 cities in 16 countries through the Americas. In addition, he serves as president of Crown Communications, owners of Potomac Television News and Pyramid News Port in the National Press Building in Washington.

United Press International was founded as United Press in 1907 by E.W. Scripps as a worldwide news service. It merged with International News Service in 1958 to form UPI.

The company provides news and analysis, and photographic content, primarily to clients on the Internet, with a particular focus on depth coverage of major issues in science and technology, politics, international affairs, business, and cultural trends.

Copyright 2000 British Broadcasting Corporation
BBC Monitoring Former Soviet Union - Political
Supplied by BBC Worldwide Monitoring

December 31, 2000, Sunday

Russia registers 9,000 religious groups

ITAR-TASS news agency, Moscow, in Russian 2051 GMT 30 Dec 00

Text of report by Russian news agency ITAR-TASS

Moscow, 30 December: Russia has completed the re-registration of religious associations. According to preliminary data of the Ministry of Justice, more than 9,000 organizations have been registered in the three years since the law on freedom of conscience was adopted. This is around 60 per cent of the number of groups that proclaimed themselves as religious in the democratic process of the 1990s. The head of the religious associations section of the Ministry of Justice, Viktor Korolev, told the ITAR-TASS correspondent in an interview today that most of those have either broken up or have failed to present sufficient information to get themselves re-registered.

As regards the classification of faiths, there are now about 60 confessions in Russia (there were 40 a decade ago). In addition to the traditional Christian, Muslim, Judaic and Buddhist organizations, as well as Protestants, some completely new faiths have appeared. These include the Last Testament Church, Baha'i, the Salvation Army and the neopagan organization (Ashmari Chemari). Some organizations which have been the subject of litigation in recent years, including the so-called Unification Church established around 50 years ago by the Korean Sun Myung Moon, have been registered.

Detailed statistics on the number of religious organization in Russia will be published in February after data from all Russian regions has been processed.

Copyright 2000 Central News Agency
Central News Agency

December 23, 2000, Saturday

INTER-RELIGIOUS AND INT'L FEDERATION CONVENES MEETING IN TAIPEI

By Elisa Kao

Taipei, Dec. 23 - The Inter-Religious and International Federation for World Peace (IIFWP) and other world organizations convened a meeting in Taipei Saturday for leaders of the new age aimed at promoting world peace and prosperity.

Some 200 Republic of China leaders in various sectors of society participated in the meeting jointly organized by the U.S.-based IIFWP, the World Association of Non-Governmental Organizations, and several local organizations.

Participants in the meeting discussed issues related to the world's religions, the reconstruction of the United Nations, world peace, culture, environmental protection, family ethics, character education, and measures taken by Taiwan to resolve problems in these fields.

Kuo Ting-huan, chairman of the IIFWP, also urged the participants to offer their ideas and suggestions about the future of the United Nations.

Kuo said that they have pushed more than 100 countries to organize such meetings before the end of this year with an attempt to bring together global leaders in all walks of life for the pursuit of a new world order based on the principles of liberty, peace, and prosperity.

COPYRIGHT 2000 XINHUA NEWS AGENCY
XINHUA GENERAL NEWS SERVICE

December 23, 2000, Saturday

Regional Peace Conference Kicks Off in Nepal

KATHMANDU, December 23 - The Asian Conference on World Peace kicked off here Saturday with the theme of morality and ideal family as the foundation for harmony, prosperity and peace.

Speaking at the inaugural ceremony, Christopher Kim, Asian Chairman of the Interreligious and International Federation for World Peace (IIFWP), said the culture of peace has its foundation in a variety of internal dimensions of human experience, such as moral character, family life, patterns of social relationships, and religious beliefs and practices.

There is now a critical need for political, religious, and educational institutions and individuals to work together to reverse the decline in the socially nourishing functions of families, and to promote moral values, character, harmony, greater understanding, mutual respect and collaboration among people, thereby contributing to the world peace, Kim said.

Kim said IIFWP, the co-organizer of the conference, is developing an educational program to raise the public awareness for such a need and encourage the development of a worldwide movement of persons dedicated to international public service for world peace.

We hope that through this conference, you will see the value of developing such a program and will join us by offering your wisdom, experience and suggestions to push the program throughout the world, he said.

Participating in the two-day conference are about 360 people from Nepal, Philippines, South Korea and Thailand, including personalities from religious, political, intellectual and civic sectors.

The conference is co-organized by IIFWP and the World Association of Nongovernmental Organization. IIFWP was established in 1998 with the aim to promote world peace through education programs, workshops, conferences and publications.

About 2,000 people attended the inaugural ceremony.