Lebanon's new President, Mr Rene Muawad, yesterday worked to weld old
militia foes into a cabinet to govern his divided country while fellow
Christians, demonstrating against him, shut half of Beirut.
<p no=1>
Supporters of General Michel Aoun, staged noisy street protests in the
Christian enclave.   About 1,000 marched on the French embassy to denounce
support for the Arab peace plan which brought Mr Muawad to power on
Sunday. 
<p no=2>
"France has deceived us," one poster said.   Another charged that
Lebanon's Christians had been let down by President Franois Mitterrand.
<p no=3>
Gen Aoun rejected the Arab peace pact for failing to ensure a clear, rapid
timetable for the withdrawal of Syria's 33,000 troops from Lebanon. 
<p no=4>
Mr Muawad, a pro-Syrian Maronite Christian, met deputies in the village of
Ehden in the Syrian-controlled north to consult them about forming a
cabinet, due to be announced this week. 
<p no=5>
Analysts said Mr Muawad faced the task of uniting militia leaders who have
been fighting each other for 14 years. 
<p no=6>
Mr Muawad has said nothing about the composition of his cabinet, but is
expected to include Mr Selim el-Hoss, Prime Minister in a rival
administration to Gen Aoun. 
<p no=7 segment_break>
Pentagon budget officials are contemplating cancellation of a hi-tech
joint Navy-Air Force electronic jamming system scheduled to be fitted in
more than 2,000 new fighter and attack planes.   They blame budgetary
pressures, persistent teething problems, and cost overruns. 
<p no=8>
The Airborne Self-Protection Jammer was described by the world's top
electronics experts in the 1988-89 edition of Jane's Avionics as possibly
the "most significant US electronic warfare system in the current decade." 
<p no=9>
But under intense congressional pressure the Defence Department says that
it will kill the programme next year unless the services manage to iron
out serious flaws.   The electronic jammer programme is at least four
years behind schedule and may cost at least $1 billion more than
estimated, according to one Pentagon report. 
<p no=10>
Still, the Pentagon has yet to bite the bullet and recently awarded$419
million in contracts to Westinghouse and ITT Avionics Division, which have
developed the system, to build the first 100 production models for
installation in the aircraft. 
<p no=11>
After 13 years of development the latest flight tests showed that the
system, which costs an estimated $9 billion, was " marginally
operationally effective and marginally operationally suitable," according
to a recent declassifed navy report. 
<p no=12>
Defence experts say the services in their perennial pursuit of hi-tech
gadgetry have once again dug a hole for themselves. 
<p no=13>
"These systems work well if they know the parameters of Soviet radar very
well.   On the other hand they can fail catastrophically.   Simpler
systems do n't attempt as much, but are not going to fail so badly," said
an analyst with the Centre for Defence Information, Mr Steve Kosiak. 
<p no=14>
Tests of the ASJP, to be installed on new models of the F-18, F-16, and
F-14 fighters and the AV-8B Harrier, have been disappointing.   They
reveal that the system has problems detecting, identifying, or jamming
some enemy radars already in existence for decades. 
<p no=15>
The jammers, at a cost of $3.5 million per plane, are designed to identify
radars, single out the most dangerous ones and then transmit electronic
signals to deceive or interfere with the radars of the hostile air defence
weapons. 
<p no=16 segment_break>
West German economists are optimistic about the country's ability to
absorb the hundreds of thousands of refugees from Eastern Europe this
year.   They say the refugees will enhance productivity and economic
growth. 
<p no=17>
This optimism, however, is not shared by many politicians and trade union
leaders. 
<p no=18>
An estimated 600,000 German immigrants - ethnic Germans from Poland and
the Soviet Union, and East Germans - are expected to settle in West
Germany this year, making a 1 per cent growth in the country's population. 
<p no=19>
According to Mr Dieter Brauninger, an economist at Deutsche Bank in
Frankfurt, the newcomers could not have arrived at a better time: a period
of dynamic growth, when gaps created by the fall in the birth rate in the
past two decades need to be filled.
<p no=20>
"In the medium and longer term, we are optimistic that both productivity
and consumption will rise, which in turn will have a beneficial effect on
investment," said Mr Brauninger.   Economists believe that the boost to
the labour force may be worth an additional 1 per cent a year in the early
1990s. 
<p no=21>
Such optimistic forecasts are described as " dangerous" by the Federal
Labour Office. 
<p no=22>
It says economists are ignoring the difficulties of integration,
especially of ethnic Germans with large families and language problems. 
<p no=23>
However, the president of the labour office, Mr Egon Franke, said this
week that unemployment among refugees - which has risen sharply in October
- was still only a temporary phenomenon.   "The opportunities remain good,
  but miracles can not be expected overnight," he said. 
<p no=24>
The influx coincides with a boom in the building sector, which has been
spurred further by the need for housing for the refugees themselves.
Yesterday, the Bonn government announced a DM8billion (GBP2.7billion)
package for housing construction for East German refugees, whose number
has reached 190,000.   The number of ethnic Germans who have arrived so
far this year is put at 260,000.
<p no=25 segment_break>
Sir Leon Brittan, the senior British EC Commissioner, yesterday said that
the European Community should welcome East Germany into the EC providing
it was part of West Germany. 
<p no=26>
Sir Leon's intervention into the political minefield of intra-German
relations followed the call earlier this week by his West German
colleague, Mr Martin Bangemann, for a trade agreement between the EC and
East Germany. 
<p no=27>
Sir Leon, who was giving the Grenada annual address in London yesterday,
said that German reunification was becoming inevitable.   "It is natural
for some of the countries of Western Europe to view the prospects of
German reunification with anxiety," he said. 
<p no=28>
"But such anxiety will not stop it happening if the Soviet Union should
ever allow it to happen or be unable to stop it happening". 
<p no=29>
In a passage which is bound to be seen as highly controversial in the
present situation in East Germany, Sir Leon said: " If Germany's partners
give the impression of being opposed to reunification this will only
increase what is at present a small risk: that some in Germany may be
tempted to seek reunification on the basis of doing a unilateral deal with
the Soviet Union, involving the setting up of a new unified German state
outside the Community.   In other words, opposing reunification will make
it more likely to occur in the form which we would least want". 
<p no=30 segment_break>
Lebanon's newly elected President, Mr Rene Muawad, yesterday continued to
try to form a government of national unity, but the Christian leader
General Michel Aoun declared that a revolution had begun in his country. 
<p no=31>
Gen Aoun said Mr Muawad was no more than "a former deputy" of a parliament
which he had dissolved. 
<p no=32>
The whole Arab League peace plan, he said in effect, belonged to an
existing order that was going to be swept away. 
<p no=33>
Mr Muawad began his consultations in his own fief in the Syrian-controlled
northern part of the Maronite Christian heartland.   But he is expected to
move soon to predominantly Muslim West Beirut. 
<p no=34>
While the implacable opposition of Gen Aoun is the main obstacle in his
path, there are plenty of other difficulties.   The Druze leader, Mr Walid
Jumblatt - who, like others in the Syrian camp, is far from happy with the
Taif accord - accused the Arab League envoy, Mr Lakhear Ibrahimi, of
interfering in Lebanon's internal affairs, almost as if "he wants to
become prime minister himself". 
<p no=35>
At a press conference yesterday, an ebullient and seemingly confident Gen
Aoun reiterated that there was "no president" in Lebanon, only a "
dissolved parliament", and that he headed the "only legal, sovereign and
independent" administration. 
<p no=36 segment_break>
Moldavian nationalists fought police yesterday as growing unrest in the
Soviet republics wrecked regional celebrations of the 1917 Bolshevik
revolution. 
<p no=37>
Mr Yuri Roshka, a spokesman for the Moldavian Popular Front, said that
several thousand people clashed with police after clambering over tanks
and other military vehicles preparing to move into Lenin Square in
Kishinyev. 
<p no=38>
Several people were hurt in the melee, Mr Roshka said.   The military
parade was cancelled and members of the republic's leadership fled from
the raised viewing podium. 
<p no=39>
Separatists tried unsuccessfully to disrupt a military parade in
Lithuania.   Traditional celebrations in Georgia and Armenia were also
cancelled. 
<p no=40>
Mr Roskha said of the trouble in Kishinyev: "Several thousand people from
the Popular Front and other groups broke through cordons of police and
climbed on to the tanks and armoured personnel carriers, waving banners
and chanting slogans. 
<p no=41>
"When they got through into Lenin Square, the leadership of the republic
climbed down from their viewing podium and ran off.  The main thing was
that the parade by the military vehicles did not take place." 
<p no=42>
Mr Roshka said that several members of the 30,000-strong crowd were
injured and several others detained by police. 
<p no=43 segment_break>
Soviet strikes point to crisis of morale that threatens future of
perestroika Broadcasts of parliament get more viewers than Agatha Christie
films It is the first November 7 since the revolution that coal miners
have been on strike.
<p no=44>
Some people believed that the Soviet Union had nothing in particular to
celebrate, observed Mr Boris Prokhorov, of the official Soviet news agency
Tass, yesterday. 
<p no=45>
Commenting on the 72nd anniversary of the Russian Revolution, in the
openly frank vein that is the hallmark of glasnost, Mr Prokhorov went on:
"Well, one may think so, looking at the industrial down-swing, inflation,
transport malfunctions, coal miners" strikes and semi-barren shelves of
shops.   Yes, all this exists.   These are the realities of the truly not
easy days of our perestroika." 
<p no=46>
But for Mr Prokhorov, there is another side to things.   "The first
genuinely free elections were held in the Soviet Union," he pointed out. 
<p no=47>
"The first Congress of People's Deputies was held and became a political
sensation.   The first "real" Supreme Soviet began to function." 
<p no=48>
And, he added, the broadcasts of parliamentary sessions attracted more
viewers than films based on Agatha Christie novels.   Besides that, Soviet
troops had withdrawn from Afghanistan and a whole range of nuclear
missiles had been destroyed. 
<p no=49>
Mr Prokhorov said that the answer to the contradiction between political
renewal and economic crisis lay in Marxism, which "teaches us that the
superstructure is more mobile than the base, and that it is the first to
react to a change of conditions." 
<p no=50>
He saw the political system as the superstructure and the economy as the
base, which would change more slowly. 
<p no=51>
While there may be some truth in this analysis - a revolution from above -
it fails to account for a far deeper malaise in Soviet society: a crisis
of morale. 
<p no=52>
The anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution, celebrated on
November 7 because the new Soviet state adopted the Western calendar, is
the country's greatest national holiday. 
<p no=53>
This year, however, there is something different in the air.  It is, as
far as can be remembered, the first November 7 since the revolution that
coal miners have been on strike - the very core of the working class who
made the revolution possible. 
<p no=54 segment_break>
Thousands of Namibians stood in long queues, stretching nearly a mile in
some cases, as they waited to vote on the first day of Namibia's five-day
pre-independence election yesterday. 
<p no=55>
The length of the queues in Windhoek and Katutura, two of the most densely
populated urban areas in Namibia, triggered conjecture that the poll might
have to be extended an extra day. 
<p no=56>
Namibia's more than 700,000 residents are voting for a 72-member
constituent assembly to draw up an independence constitution and prepare
the way for full independence next year, perhaps as early as April. 
<p no=57>
Voters left two dominant impressions as they queued in the hot sun - their
determination to cast their ballots in the first free election since
Germany began the European conquest of Namibia more than a century ago,
and their orderly, disciplined behaviour in the searing heat. 
<p no=58>
One of the first Namibians to cast his vote was the Swapo leader, Mr Sam
Nujoma, aged 60.   As he entered a polling booth in Katutura, a black
township outside Windhoek, he said: "Today, we are finally burying
apartheid colonialism."
<p no=59>
Mr Nujoma, wearing a pin-striped shirt and double-breasted jacket, was
accompanied by Mr Andimba Toivo ja Toivo, Swapo's secretary-general. 
<p no=60>
Asked for his thoughts on armed struggle now that he was voting, Mr Nujoma
said:"The colonialists imposed the war on us.   When we used the barrel of
the gun, it was to facilitate the end which was the ballot box." 
<p no=61>
Earlier, the director of the United Nations Transitional Assistance Group
(Untag), Irish-born Mr Cedric Thornberry, described the election as freer
than any poll that has been held in West Belfast. 
<p no=62>
Mr Thornberry, who comes from Belfast, expressed two anxieties about the
election: first, whether the technical arrangements made for the election
would proceed smoothly; second, whether the use of symbols on ballot
papers to enable illiterate voters to identify the party of their choice
would work satisfactorily. 
<p no=63>
On the first issue, he said: "We - and the South Africans - are stretched
alarmingly... stretched very thin." If something did go wrong, if tempers
flared and violence broke out, they could be hard put to control it." 
<p no=64>
The election is being administered by the South African-appointed
Administrator-General.   It is, however, being scrutinised by UN
officials.   Untag has 2,800 officials - including 1,100 policemen -
scattered throughout Namibia to keep an eye on proceedings at 358 polling
booths. 
<p no=65>
The symbol of each of the 10 contesting parties is printed on ballot
papers for the illiterate voters who account for 60 per cent of the
electorate. 
<p no=66>
One problem relates to a tactical blunder by Swapo.   It allowed a
splinter party, Swapo-Democrats, to appropriate and register the symbol
which Swapo used for nearly 30 years, a hand holding a flaming torch.
Swapo went into the election with a symbol which was only weeks old: a man
with a raised fist. 
<p no=67>
The dangers of confusion for illiterate voters is compounded by two
factors.   Firstly, the Swapo-Democrat emblem is placed just above the
Swapo emblem on the ballot paper, meaning that it will be seen first.
Secondly, the raised fist in the new Swapo emblem is inconspicuous in the
reduced size needed to squeeze Swapo's new symbol into the box on the
ballot paper. 
<p no=68>
For all that, observers are unanimous that Swapo will emerge with a clear
majority.   Its virtual monopoly on the allegiance of the Ovambo, who
account for more than half Namibia's population of 1.3 million, all but
guarantees Swapo more than half the voters. 
<p no=69 segment_break>
The rebel Coloured policeman, Mr Gregory Rockman, has formed South
Africa's first trade union for police and prison warders in a renewed
challenge to white authority. 
<p no=70>
"We are ready for any onslaught that the white authorities might try to
launch against us," Mr Rockman said after the first meeting in his home on
Monday of the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union. 
<p no=71>
Mr Rockman, a lieutenant in the segregated Coloured suburb of Mitchell's
Plain, announced the formation of the union days before a disciplinary
hearing that could end his career. 
<p no=72>
He said that he had been charged with 10 counts of breaking police
regulations by talking to reporters about police brutality. 
<p no=73>
A police spokesman said that Mr Rockman could face penalties ranging from
a verbal reprimand to demotion or dismissal for ignoring a written gag
order served on October 27.   He also has refused to halt publication of a
book, due in December about his struggle against discrimination within the
police force and by officers. 
<p no=74>
Mr Rockman became a folk hero in Cape Town's mixed-race suburbs after he
flouted police discipline on September 6 to tell reporters about the
alleged violence of white riot squad officers. 
<p no=75 segment_break>
The Communists of Poland and Hungary are refusing to lie down and die.
Having been rejected after holding sway for so long, they are now seeking
new ways of making friends and influencing people. 
<p no=76>
The leadership of the Polish Communist Party has this week approved
changes committing it to altering its name and participating in free
elections within a multi-party system. 
<p no=77>
It was not plain sailing and orthodox and "liberal" Communists will be at
each others' throats - at local level - until they hold a full congress
next January to determine new policies once and for all and to approve new
leaders. 
<p no=78>
Some party members are already disssatisfied with Mr Mieczyslaw Rakowski,
who became leader only in August, for the way he went immediately to
Moscow when the party was in trouble rather than work out a Polish
solution. 
<p no=79>
According to these members, Mr Aleksandar Kwiasnewski, a "liberal" who is
much younger than Mr Rakowski and had a rapid rise in the last phase of
the Communist government, could replace him. 
<p no=80>
The new party name is also a subject of debate.   At least 70 alternatives
have been submitted, with that of Polish Socialist Labour Party the
front-runner.   The new party would drop the old insistence on the
dictatorship of the proletariat. 
<p no=81>
Whatever the changes, the new party could have a difficult birth.   It has
been confirmed this week that political parties will no longer get
financial subsidies, and the party urgently needs new sources of money. 
<p no=82>
Its newspaper, Trybuna Ludu, lost 1.7billion zloties (GBP382,500) last
year; this year it is expected to lose nearly five times as much. 
<p no=83>
In Hungary, Mr Karoly Grosz, general secretary until last month of the now
defunct Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party (HSWP), wants to reorganise the
party and start a new Communist newspaper. 
<p no=84>
Mr Grosz, seen by many Hungarians as a discredited hardliner, added that
there was a need to propagate Communist ideas in Hungary.   He seems to be
cashing in on the goodwill of those who regret the party's "new start"
last month when it renamed itself the Hungarian Socialist Party (HSP). 
<p no=85>
One objective of Mr Grosz is to see that the HSWP holds its party
congress, as in "normal" times, early next year.   The HSP leadership
says, however, that since there is no HSWP, there can be no HSWP congress. 
<p no=86 segment_break>
Hungary's Parliament is asking for tenders to remove a giant Communist
star from the dome of the building as the country returns to multi-party
democracy. 
<p no=87>
The Hungarian news agency MTI said yesterday that the 1.6 tonne steel star
would be replaced by a weather vane. 
<p no=88>
Two months ago the government ordered the removal of all red stars from
public buildings.   Since then the Communist Party has disbanded itself
and all Stalinist elements have been removed from the Hungarian
constitution. 
<p no=89>
MTI said church restorers had shown an interest in winning the contract. 
<p no=90 segment_break>
The new South African administration of President F.W. de Klerk is holding
talks across a wide spectrum of political opinion in what appears to be a
fresh effort towards constitutional reform. 
<p no=91>
President De Klerk is expected to meet the neo-Nazi leader, Mr Eugene
Terrebanche, while his Foreign Minister, Mr Pik Botha, is to hold talks in
Umtata with the rebellious leader of the Transkei homeland, Maj-General
Bantu Holomisa. 
<p no=92>
The meeting with Mr Terreblanche - " ET" as he is popularly known - is
seen more as a public relations gesture than a meaningful initiative.
<p no=93>
The leader of the Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging ( Afrikaner Resistance
Movement) has been largely discredited in far-right circles by the recent
scandal over his relations with a glamorous English-language newspaper
columnist.   He asked President De Klerk for a meeting after the National
Party leader's recent talks with prominent anti-apartheid activists. 
<p no=94 segment_break>
President Bush suggested yesterday that a US decision to return millions
of dollars in frozen assets to Iran could help secure the eventual release
of US hostages held in Lebanon. 
<p no=95>
At a White House press conference, Mr Bush said: " I carry the fate of the
hostages with me every single day.   So of course I hope that Iran will
use what influence it has to get those hostages released." 
<p no=96>
Asked whether the US return to the Bank of Iran of $567million held since
the 1979-1980 Tehran embassy siege could become a catalyst for the freeing
of the eight Americans, the President added: "They owe money... and vice
versa.   I'd like to get this underbrush cleaned out now.   I think they
have made some positive statements but I do n't know whether it will work
that way or not." 
<p no=97>
Mr Bush's remarks followed talks last week in The Hague between the State
Department's legal adviser, Mr Abraham Sofaer, and Iranian officials, at
which the return of funds was agreed.   The US still holds$243million to
cover unresolved claims against the Iranians by North American banks. 
<p no=98>
Billions of dollars of Iranian assets remain frozen under former President
Carter's 1979 edict.  A tribunal in The Hague is slowly resolving each
country's claims against the other, including Tehran's demand for the
return of $12billion in military equipment and spare parts which the
regime says were paid for but never delivered. 
<p no=99>
State Department officials denied on Monday that the Iranian funds issue
and that of the hostages held in Lebanon were linked. 
<p no=100>
But Mr Bush's remarks yesterday clearly indicated that the unfreezing of
some of the assets was a gesture which certainly would not harm the
hostages' prospects. 
<p no=101>
The Bush Administration has been extremely cautious in its relations with
Iran, which has consistently denied that it controls the hostages' fate. 
<p no=102>
Last month, Iran's new leader, President Hashemi Rafsanjani, offered to
work for the release of the American hostages held by Islamic extremists
in Lebanon along with 10 other foreigners.   In return, Mr Rafsanjani
sought the return of assets and/or help in locating three Iranians
kidnapped in Lebanon. 
<p no=103>
Us analysts speculated yesterday that Mr Bush's unscripted remarks
reflected hope within the Administration that the election of the
reputedly " moderate" Mr Rafsanjani signalled a change of mood in Iran. 
<p no=104 segment_break>
President Ben Ali of Tunisia has ruled out legalising the main opposition
force in the country, the Islamic Fundamentalists. 
<p no=105>
The announcement came as a shock because they and other political
observers had expected Mr Ben Ali to announce moves towards liberalisation
in a speech he gave yesterday marking the second anniversary of his coming
to power. 
<p no=106>
Mr Ben Ali had indicated some softening of his position towards the
fundamentalists in an interview with visiting Arab journalists on Monday,
saying that they had been offered the chance to open their own newspaper. 
<p no=107>
The President's announcement is bound to anger the fundamentalists.   Even
standing as independents in April's elections, their candidates won about
13 per cent of the vote. 
<p no=108>
Only one other opposition party managed to break the 1 per cent barrier. 
<p no=109>
Embarrassingly for Mr Ben Ali, who likes to trumpet the virtues of
Tunisian democracy, all the seats went to his own RCD party. 
<p no=110>
Since then, the fundamentalists have been waging a steady war on the
government, at one point demanding the resignation of the Education
Minister because of his plans for reforming the teaching of Islam in
schools. 
<p no=111>
There was no comfort either in Mr Ben Ali's speech for the other
opposition parties which, after their poor results in the elections, had
been looking for government help. 
<p no=112>
There have been suggestions that they might be given state funding, or
that some RCD members in the Chamber of Deputies might resign to allow the
other parties a look in.  But Mr Ben Ali said he had already done enough
for them.   He also told them to stop complaining about the electoral
system. 
<p no=113 segment_break>
With a swing in its step and pop music to match, the French army paraded
its new uniform yesterday in traditional fashion-show style that hinted at
love rather than war. 
<p no=114>
The uniform, designed more for seduction than aggression, was created by
Mr Pierre Balmain who won a pre-podium skirmish with designers Lacroix,
Lapidus and Cacherel. 
<p no=115>
Nearly 200,000 khaki uniforms will be traded in before 1991 for the
Balmain number in a colour known as terre de France, a wordplay on the
army's role in protecting French soil.   The exact shade was kept secret
until yesterday's parade at the equivalent of the Army and Navy Club, but
there was nothing in camouflage manuals to describe the exact tint. 
<p no=116>
"Perhaps it would be best described as pearly-grey with a hint of bronze,"
an army spokesman said.   "I think it's the nicest colour in any European
army." 
<p no=117>
The relaxed style was less of a surprise because Pierre Balmain also
designed the new national police uniform.   This replaced the jacket with
a windcheater and the kepi with a Chicago-style police cap.   Much of the
same inspiration could be seen in the army uniform, although soldiers will
be allowed to choose between the kepi and a beret. 
<p no=118 segment_break>
Up in the desolate Arctic region of Vorkuta, site of perhaps Stalin's most
infamous Gulag camp, miners in nine of the area's 13 pits have been on
strike for more than a week against dismal living conditions, and the
bureaucracy of the Communist Party and Soviet government. 
<p no=119>
Among their complaints are not only that government promises to improve
their conditions, after last July's pit strikes, have not been met.   They
also have political demands - notably concerning article six of the
constitution, which entrenches the Communist Party's monopoly of power. 
<p no=120>
In this the miners are at one with the demonstrators who set up another
first in Moscow yesterday - the first rival march to the parade in Red
Square which officially salutes the revolution.   Most of these
demonstrators appeared to be intellectual, or at least what might be
called middle class. 
<p no=121>
But the loss of faith in the Communist Party is now so nationwide that
workers and intellectuals can be making the same demand to deprive it of
absolute power. 
<p no=122 segment_break>
Curtains and blinds can form a focal point in a room, and should not only
harmonize with the overall interior decor but also enhance it.  The success of
your scheme will ultimately depend on the harmony and proportion of your
colours and furnishings in relation to the size of your room.
<p no=123>
Style and colour are a matter of personal taste.  Colours, textures and
patterns affect everyone differently so there are no hard and fast rules, but
there are some guidelines that will help you with your choice.
<p no=124>
Colour can affect mood and create atmosphere.  Blues and greens, for example,
are considered to be cool and restful; yellow is thought of as sunny and gay;
while red, orange and tans are associated with warmth, as are peach and
apricot.
<p no=125>
At the outset, think about the type of feeling you want to create in the room
- whether formal or informal, restful, lively, elegant or cottagey.  The room
itself may suggest a character, particularly if it is in an old period house.
The main colour in your scheme should reflect this mood.  Restrict this colour
to large areas such as walls, carpet or curtaining and build up from here,
introducing one or two further colours or tones of one shade, and adding
interest with patterns and texture.
<p no=126>
Texture affects colour.  A colour will seem brighter on a smooth, hard surface
and more muted and darker on a rough, softer surface.  Texture provides
contrast in a room, and adds further interest and another dimension.
<p no=127 segment_break>
Mr Endara was moved to distance himself from proposals in Washington to
support anti-Noriega parties with CIA funds, describing the scheme as
"insulting".   The opposition also denied US news reports that Washington
had contributed$10 million to his election campaign. 
<p no=128>
Mr Endara also rejected the use of force by the US as a means of resolving
the situation, urging that solutions be sought through the Organisation of
American States and the United Nations. 
<p no=129>
President Endara's first task will be to appoint a cabinet and dissolve
the absurd, rubber-stamp National Assembly which last week issued the
fateful declaration of war against the US.  He will be assisted by the
lifting of US sanctions and the unfreezing of Panamanian assets held in
the US.   But obvious problems will centre on the security situation, and
the reconstruction of the defence forces and the economy. 
<p no=130>
Mr Endara, like it or not, is likely to be leaning fairly heavily on the
US for some time to come. 
<p no=131 segment_break>
Mr Abalkin rejected this as too slow; instead of giving the old system
time to adjust, it would allow "opposing forces time to consolidate". 
<p no=132>
His second " radical" option called for far-reaching cuts in state
investment and price subsidies, transformation of state-run enterprises
into joint-stock companies, co-operatives and private companies.   Mr
Abalkin rejected this also, saying that the distortions in the economy are
too great to allow it to work properly.   Many companies would go bankrupt
and others would prosper unfairly by raising prices rather than output.
Social tension would reach explosion point, making it easier for
conservatives to restore administrative methods. 
<p no=133>
The third and favoured "radical-moderate" option is an eight-point plan
calling for a consistent denationalisation of property; reliance on new
tax and credit levers to curb excess profits, encourage resource
conservation, and direct investment for consumer goods production; a
system of fixed, floating, and free prices; and creation of a financial
market. 
<p no=134>
Mr Ryzhkov's plan, which the conservative-dominated parliament has
accepted, is striking in its moderation.   Sixty-five per cent of the
economy will remain in state hands in six years' time and workers will no
longer elect managers.
<p no=135>
While the Abalkin plan had tight deadlines for closing down or leasing
unprofitable state enterprises, (industry by the beginning of 1991, state
and collective farms by 1992), Mr Ryzhkov gave no cut-off date.   Instead,
he protected less profitable state farms by writing off their debts and
delaying the implementation of a new procurement pricing system.
<p no=136>
The Ryzhkov plan is also cautious on foreign loans and investment.   While
Mr Abalkin spoke eagerly of bringing the Soviet economy more in line with
the international market, Mr Ryzhkov warned that increasing loans could
increase economic and political dependence.   Instead, he promised a
halving of imports of rolled steel products, chemicals, pipes and paper,
which the Soviet Union could produce itself.
<p no=137>
It is no surprise that parliament should have approved a conservative
plan.   Most of its members represent the old party and management
apparatus.   Even if they were willing to see their own power reduced,
radical reform is a jump into the unknown.  However bad the situation, the
majority is unwilling to risk change.
