European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 15, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 0 a the stars and stripes saturday february 15, 1992homelessness increases in Europe society creating itself on streets Paris apr Europe has a new underclass hundreds of thousands of homeless people victimized  hard economic times or social upheavals ranging from the breakdown of families to the collapse of communism. They Are increasingly visible in the Paris subways and Moscow train stations. They Camp in Chic Parks in London and rummage through garbage cans in Warsaw Poland. Cyril Vaugeois is one of them. At age 16, he had one argument too Many with his Stepfather and fled his Small town for the City of Light. He spent the next four years squatting in abandoned buildings or sleeping on sidewalks with cardboard for a mattress and newspapers for blankets. A Junior High school education did no to qualify Vaugeois for More than occasional work As an Auto Mechanic his chosen Trade so he Panhandle and stole to feed himself. He has gone hungry for three Days at a time and fought other homeless youths Over his meager possessions. Quot the Street is the Law of the strongest a Vaugeois said at a shelter for the today s homeless Are not the classic tramps with beards and bottles of wine the face of the homeless has grown much More varied and much younger a Pierre Levine homeless. A nobody wants to see you. If you stick your hand out for Money people think you re worse than a  increasing numbers of homeless people Are evident in both Rich and poor nations of Europe. A a there a a society creating itself on the streets a said maj. Bernard Chastagner of the salvation army. Chastagner runs a 300-bed shelter in Paris. Quot its happening in the East and the West. These Are ale who Lack a Job a Home and even of  exact figures on the homeless Are elusive but agencies that Deal with the problem say it has been getting worse in Europe since the mid-1980s. France for example says that 400,000 of its citizens Lack permanent lodging. But they include people who Are put up  friends As Well As those sleeping on Park benches. Germany has Europe a most powerful Economy along with 150,000 registered homeless people and about 250,000 foreigners who arrived last year seeking Asylum. Many of the foreigners Are in shelters waiting for their cases to  decided. A a today a homeless Are not the classic tramps with beards and bottles of wine a said Pierre Mcvene of the Relief Agency Secours cat Olique. Quot the face of the homeless has grown much More varied and much  among the homeless in wealthy Western Europe Are youths from troubled families like Vaugeois aids victims drug addicts battered women and their children and the Long term unemployed. Increasingly they include Middle class accountants or computer programmers whose lives were shattered when their marriages broke up or recession claimed their jobs Chastagner said. Large numbers of the homeless in some countries Are foreigners. In Britain Many Are Irish. In Rome North africans and sri lankan join italians at soup kitchens run  St. Egidio Community a roman Catholic Charity. Charity organizations operate most shelters but Britain a government created a three year $172 million program in 1990 to reduce the number of homeless in London. Critics claim its purpose is to remove an eyesore and that nothing is being done outside the capital. Poland a labor ministry estimates the country has up to 80,000 homeless but concedes the number is a guess. Some of Warsaw a homeless inhabit the Warren of tunnels at the main Railroad station. When one of them Dies there others place candles and Flowers on the  Tower of Pisa takes a deeper Bow Pisa Italy apr a worried scientist said thursday the Tower of Pisa slipped a Little farther and a Little faster away from the perpendicular last year. Michele Jamiolkowski head of a committee of 13 International experts working to save the Tower said instruments showed it leaned an additional 0.048 Inch during 1991. He said that was 20 percent More than the increase of 1990. A your very urgent approval of placing a counterweight. At the base of the Bell Tower on the Side opposite the lean could prevent further leaning very dangerous to the stability of the Tower he said after a meeting of the committee. Jamiolkowski said the proposed counterweight would  installed in two to three weeks if it was approved  the committee at a meeting in april. The Tower leans about 13 feel off the perpendicular. It started to lean almost immediately after construction began in 1174, because the ground shifted underneath. Increasing worries about its stability prompted City officials in january 1990 to ban tourists from the Tower. Last year the experts decided on a plan to gird the Tower with steel rings to slow the increase in the lean. Jamiolkowski said the committee gave that plan final approval thursday. The counterweight proposal would  a quicker Short term method to counter the additional lean. Joblessness repossessions cause Britain double trouble  the Baltimore Sun London a the people of great Britain got the message thursday that their Economy is sinking faster than they thought. In fact they got it twice. New figures published  the government showed that joblessness has reached 9.2 percent in great Britain the highest level in More than four years. Almost simultaneously with the latest unemployment figures came word that More than 204,000 men women and children a about 17,000 a month a lost their Homes last year through repossessions. In january 2.7 million britons were out of work. Since last March nearly a million additional people have begun collecting unemployment benefits. The figures released thursday did not reflect the massive layoffs announced this week in the automotive and aerospace industries that totalled nearly 5,000. The conservative governments employment Secretary Michael Howard described the new unemployment information As Quot clearly  the opposition labor party spokesman on employment Tony Blair called the figures  Jim Wallace who spoke for the third parliamentary party the Liberal democrats called the figures a Quot National  meanwhile the total of mortgages foreclosed and Homes seized  Banks in 1991 reached 75,540. This marked a 500 percent increase since 1989. The mortgage and rental repossessions Are inflating the ranks of the homeless with one in 10 evicted people winding up in a shelter or on the streets. There Are now in London some 30,000 a squatter households a As they were described in a recent British University study. These Are makeshift shelters of Wood tin and cardboard. Volcano Alert issued in Philippines Manila Philippines apr Strong earthquakes thursday around the Taal Volcano prompted officials to Issue an Alert that the Volcano could become the second to erupt near the capital in the past eight months. Scientists recorded 97 Rock fracturing quakes accompanied  rumbling sounds thursday afternoon near Taal which forms a Lake 35 Miles South of Manila. Some families left the Island in the Middle of the Lake. The philippine Institute of volcanology and seismology also reported a sudden increase in the tempera Ture of the water in the main Crater historically a sign that Taal May  nearing an eruption. Last june the mount Pinatubo Volcano erupted 60 Miles North of Manila in one of the major volcanic eruptions of this Century. More than 700 people died As a result of the eruptions which forced the . Air Force to close nearby Clark a. Several thousand people live on the Island in the Middle of the massive Taal Lake although the area has been declared a permanent danger zone. Ailing woman Dies in peace after Battle Over euthanasia Quebec a Quot Nancy b.,&Quot the 25-year-old paralysed woman who fought and won a Battle for the Legal right to end her life died thursday in quiet and privacy after being disconnected from a Respirator. She had fallen into despair after being stricken  a rare neurological disease Guillain barred syndrome that had left her paralysed from the neck Down for 2v years with no Hope of recovery. Nancy had been heavily Tranquili Zed since the beginning of the week and was Given a Large dose of tranquil Izer on wednesday. Her family doctor and Anes thetis were with her at the hotel Dieu Hospital when she died seven minutes after her Respirator was shut off. Nancy won the right to end her life when Quebec Superior court Justice Jacques Dufour ruled Jan. 6 that her doctor Dan Iele Marceau would not  committing a crime  disconnecting the Respirator. Her death came a week after the end of a mandatory 30-Day Appeal period. During the court hearing Nancy told Dufour from her intensive care unit bed that she did t want to continue a life that consisted of watching to and thinking. Toddler gets food poisoning from playing with pet Snak London a a 1-Vear-Nih Hopr tour hurl London apr a 1-year-old boy got food poisoning from playing with his pet Snake researchers say. Investigators discovered that he had Salmonella an infection usually linked to eating Chicken or eggs. In a letter in the feb. 15 Issue of the lancet a British medical journal investigators said they suspect the Snake swallowed Salmonella laced raw meat and excreted the bacteria onto its bed of Wood chips which the Tod Dler touched. A we feel this Case shows the potential health hazards associated with keeping a reptilian pet a said Samantha Basset a microbiologist at the University of Nottingham. She said the toddler had not eaten anything that May have harboured Salmonella. The same Type of Salmonella Typha Murium was detected in the boys fees and the snakes Wood hip bed