On 22 October, two British fishing trawlers were sunk near the North Sea's Dogger sandbank in an unprovoked attack by a Russian fleet sailing for Japan when the Russians mistook the trawlers as Japanese warships.

Russia and Japan have been at war since February, when Japanese torpedo boats attacked the Russian fleet at Port Arthur in China and occupied Seoul. Sparked by conflict over Manchuria and Korea, the conflict was a disaster for Russia, whose forces were routed on land and at sea. The war finally ended in 1905 when the Russians signed the humiliating Treaty of Portsmouth.

A historic treaty was signed between Britain and Fance on 8 April to end all conflict between the two countries. The "Entente Cordiale" settles long-standing disputes and confirms the status of both nation's colonies. France has first call on Morocco, in exchange for respecting British claims in Egypt; French ships' fishing rights off Newfoundland are guaranteed, while France gives up its claims there.

The accord stems partly from King Edward VII's visit to Paris last year and foillow months of intense diplomatic negotiations.

A surge of immigration into the United States from Europe is changing the face of the nation.

By 1900 non-Anglo-Saxon immigrants made up most of the urban working class. Huge numbers of Italians have come over in recent years and now peasants from Russia, Poland and other eastern European coun tries are flooding into the factory towns of industrial America -- determined to make a better life for themselves and their children in the flourishing American economy. Hungry Hollow, for example, a steel town in Illanois, has become home to 15,000 Bulgarians; but the greatest impact is on New York City, where the majority of the Jews fleeing persecution in the Baltic and eastern Europe have taken up residence. It is predicted that this influx will soon amke New York City the world's leading Jewish city. The new citizens, many of them from artistic background, are already invigorating the cultural life and the diet of the metropolis.