Adam LeBor has been tear-gassed, shelled and arrested as a spy during his 10 years as a journalist in Eastern Europe. Here, he recalls some extraordinary adventures in a fast-changing region

A BRITISH ARMS company has given pounds 4m to a South African trade union after enlisting its support for a controversial arms deal.

RAYTHEON, THE giant US defence contractor, yesterday offered to supply a pounds 1bn missile order to the RAF for half price and guarantee the UK a 50 per cent share of all US contracts for the weapons system if selected by the Ministry of Defence.

WHEN A hard-nosed American defence contractor offers to fulfill an order for half the contract price, you can be sure there are catches. In the case of Raytheon's bargain-basement bid to arm the Eurofighter with its latest whizz-bang missile, these fall into two categories.

BRITISH AEROSPACE yesterday confirmed it is in talks to acquire a minority stake in Embraer, the Brazilian commercial and military aircraft manufacturer, as part of its attempts to create a global aerospace company.

BUT FOR the colour snapshots of girlfriends, the human litter covering the ground around Eritrea's trenches must be identical to that which surrounded soldiers in the battle of the Somme: hats, buttons, belts, bullets and boots.

THE HIGH JUMPER Ben Challenger, with a personal best 2.30- metre leap, was flying high last night as he delivered Britain's only gold medal of the World Student Games. Challenger was greeted with a fly-past of Spanish fighter jets as he received his medal at the Son Moix Stadium.

LAST YEAR I learned that I had developed tiny cataracts, and ever since I have been collaring opthalmologists and asking them what I should do. Some suggested that I sit tight and wait to see if my eyesight deteriorates further, while others said that I should have a routine operation that will give me perfectly clear sight again. One opthalmologist pointed out that the operation in question was the result of a serendipitous observation.

Paris Air Show: UK fights for contract, while ministers raise the pressure on Airbus

AT 3AM ON 18 December, guerrillas of the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (Unita) attacked the village of Nunda in Huambo Province, central Angola. They ran through the village, looting and shooting. Woken from their sleep the villagers scrambled to escape into the dense undergrowth. Three men, one woman and a boy were killed. The woman was Joao Samba's wife, Maria.

Air War

The Airmen

Monday, March 22:

A RUSSIAN cargo plane has been held in Azerbaijan for five days amid official allegations that it was carrying fighter jets to Yugoslavia, violating an international arms embargo.