Afternoon Edition for Friday, July 17, 1998
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U.S. Front Page Stories
-----------------------
*** Clinton guards told to testify in Lewinsky investigation
*** FBI undeterred as bombing fugitive eludes manhunt
*** Elderly suffer most from Southern heat wave
*** U.S. offering federal mediation in GM strike
*** TWA 800 relatives establish fund
*** Clinton seeks approval for anti-Saddam plan
The U.S. Political Scene
------------------------
*** Clinton denies declaring war on Kenneth Starr
*** Clinton urges Congress to hold off on tax cuts
*** Cohen says defense merger policies unchanged
*** U.S. House rejects curb on Treasury rescue fund
*** U.S. intensifies S. Asia effort with Talbott trip
*** Cohen backs troubled Air Force secretary nominee
The Courts
----------
*** Juror dismissed in Miami Cali lawyers' trial
U.S. Business and Financial News
--------------------------------
*** Lockheed Martin ends merger plan with Northrop
*** Nasdaq marches ahead
*** Triton won't sell company, sets deal with ARCO
*** U.S. trade gap hits monthly record in May
*** Broadcast.com shares quadruple
World Front Page Stories
------------------------
*** Russia buries last tsar killed 80 years ago
*** Jewish group adds to evidence against Swiss
*** NATO military options still open for Kosovo
*** U.S. offers key amendment on war crimes court
*** Thousands of inmates to go free for Mandela's birthday
*** HK's airport woes keep piling up
The World Political Scene
-------------------------
*** Israeli, Palestinian officials to meet Sunday
*** Assad sees nothing new in Chirac Mideast idea
*** Dalai Lama says indefinitely postpones Taiwan trip
*** 3 in race to run Japan
*** Nobel laureate backs Portugal-Indonesia ties
*** NATO turns to show business for 50th year summit
The Americas
------------
*** Colombian rightist squad condemns rebel peace bid
*** Cuba prints U.S. report on anti-Castro 'terrorism'
*** Peronists seek to overcome ban on Menem's candidacy
*** Swiss delay decision on Raul Salinas case
*** Cuban president Castro said to visit Jamaica
*** Argentina's Videla allowed to serve time at home
Europe and Russia
-----------------
*** Russia PM sees dark future, Yeltsin eyes past
*** Arrests made after arson deaths of N. Irish children
*** Dutch hunt Internet pedophiles amid criticism
*** 3 former French ministers charged in blood row
*** Bonn to publish child poverty report before poll
*** Gucci ex-wife says murder was worth every penny
Africa
------
*** Nigeria anxiously awaits new democracy plan
*** Portuguese-speaking states condemn Bissau conflict
*** IMF approves emergency loan for Congo Republic
*** Burundi peace talks to restart, boosted by ceasefire
*** S. Africa election fears mount as killings spread
*** MSF urges political cure as Sudan famine worsens
India and the Middle East
-------------------------
*** Pakistan PM dismisses economic collapse fears
*** Turkish Islamist urges recognition of Kurds
*** Iraq's Saddam says sanctions will crumble
*** Swiss indict Bhutto's husband for money-laudering
*** Grenade blast wounds 13 in Indian Kashmir
*** C. Asian security pact unsigned, Uzbek leader ill
The Far East
------------
*** Indonesian women demonstrate over rape attacks
*** Timor capital ends anniversary quietly
*** Strong earthquake rocks Taiwan, 4 dead
*** Myanmar sends observers for Cambodia elections
*** NZ calls in armed forces to help with floods
*** S. Koreans run with flag to country's 50th birthday
World Business and Financial News
---------------------------------
*** Asian markets lifted by stronger currencies
*** Wall Street's advance lifts European stocks
*** Russia to introduce austerity program
*** Indonesia to comply with oil cuts
*** China economy slows, doubts on growth goal
Science and Medicine
--------------------
*** If it helps thalidomide should be used - victims
*** Britain to purify blood to remove CJD risk
*** If it helps thalidomide should be used - victims
Technology
----------
*** Dell Internet, overseas sales up
*** FCC near decision on consumer Internet access - WSJ
*** Judge refuses to issue order against Xerox
*** 7th Level in Net Perceptions deal
The Environment
---------------
*** Vietnam-era napalm arrives in Texas for recycling
*** Heat in U.S. South blamed for 7 mln chicken deaths
*** Calif. activists raise stink for 'skunk safe' yogurt
*** Giraffe in Antwerp Zoo has baby
*** Tremor shakes western Mexico, scares tourists
Human Interest
--------------
*** James Bond 007 memorabilia to go under the hammer
*** Ind. deputy runs into James Dean's tombstone
*** 'Real' Santa Claus to miss world congress again
*** Rome's Spanish Steps dazzle at fashion event
*** Mission to lift 90-year bubbly from Baltic resumes
----------------------------------------------------------------------
U.S. Front Page Stories
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Clinton guards told to testify in Lewinsky investigation
Some of President Clinton's top Secret Service bodyguards prepared
Friday to testify in the Monica Lewinsky investigation, as the
Clinton administration lost an emergency Supreme Court bid to keep
them off the witness stand. Just minutes before the deadline set for
the guards to testify, Chief Justice William Rehnquist of the Supreme
Court issued a two-page order that cleared the way for them to go
before independent counsel Kenneth Starr's grand jury. In a major
defeat for the Clinton administration, Rehnquist ruled that it had
failed to show that "irreparable harm" would result if the officers
testify. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555119171-1b0 ***
Sidebar: Text of Rehnquist ruling on Secret Service, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555118340-2cd
*** FBI undeterred as bombing fugitive eludes manhunt
Federal agents, undeterred by fugitive Eric Rudolph's skill at
evading an intensive manhunt, continued Friday to comb the western
North Carolina mountains for the suspect bomber. The number of
federal agents and police searching mountain trails and jagged cliffs
has swelled to more than 200 since Rudolph briefly came out of hiding
last week to buy food before vanishing into the hills around
Nantahala Lake where he has spent much of his life. Rudolph faces
charges stemming from the Jan. 29 bombing of a Birmingham, Ala.
abortion clinic and three Atlanta-area bombings, including the 1996
Olympic Park blast. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555118666-7fd
*** Elderly suffer most from Southern heat wave
An intense heat wave tightened its grip on the southern United States
Thursday, as the Dallas area experienced its 10th straight day at or
above 100 degrees. State officials said two people living outside the
city died of heat-related causes overnight, raising the death toll in
Texas to at least 25. Most of those who have died in Texas, Louisiana
and Oklahoma were elderly, suffered from heart disease or other
serious illness, and did not have working air conditioners at home.
"This (heat) is just something nobody planned for, especially the
elderly and disabled," said Zach Thompson of the Dallas County Health
Department. (Associated Press and Reuters)
*** U.S. offering federal mediation in GM strike
Labor Secretary Alexis Herman has offered to make available federal
mediation to help settle a strike between General Motors and the
United Auto Workers, the White House said Friday. "We are obviously
encouraging the parties to make progress in their discussions
and...federal mediation is available if they want to call in a
federal mediator," White House spokesman Mike McCurry told reporters.
The strike has shuttered 26 of GM's 29 plants and idled more than
184,000 employees as the nation's No. 1 automaker remains deadlocked
after six weeks in a fight with the United Auto Workers union. For
part 2, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555117669-d0b
*** TWA 800 relatives establish fund
(AP) - On the second anniversary of the explosion that killed the 230
people on TWA Flight 800, relatives established a fund today to help
victims of air crashes past and future. The Family Assistance
Foundation, which they hope will be bankrolled mostly by the airline
industry, would "protect the people who have become victims and who
we know in our hearts in the future will become victims," said Frank
Carven, who lost a sister and a nephew in the disaster. Carven, of
Belair, Md., said the fund could take care of such needs as a child's
education or a mortgage payment after a breadwinner is lost in a
plane crash. The Salvation Army and the National Transportation
Safety Board have agreed to serve with victims' relatives as
directors of the fund, and a Long Island Kiwanis group has made the
first donation, he said.
*** Clinton seeks approval for anti-Saddam plan
The Clinton administration is seeking approval from Congress for
covert operations to weaken and potentially oust Iraqi president
Saddam Hussein, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday. According to
the newspaper, the "broad" new authority "would go far beyond past
CIA efforts" to spawn internal resistance and to mount covert
operations inside Iraq. The administration has already sent Congress
a classified notice, asking it to sign-off on the use of secret
contingency funds within the defense and intelligence budget, the
paper said. Relations between the U.S. and Iraq remain chilly since
the 1991 Gulf War. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555118565-69f
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The U.S. Political Scene
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Clinton denies declaring war on Kenneth Starr
President Clinton denied Friday that his administration had declared
war on independent prosecutor Kenneth Starr and criticized the
Republican-appointed federal judge who made the claim. "You have to
consider the source," he said in his first comment on Starr's
attempts to get Clinton's top bodyguard to testify before a federal
grand jury investigating the Monica Lewinsky case. The president was
clearly angered by a legal opinion written by federal appeals court
judge Lawrence Silberman released Thursday that accused Attorney
General Janet Reno of "acting as the president's counsel under the
false guise of representing the United States." For part 2, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555116857-b42
*** Clinton urges Congress to hold off on tax cuts
President Clinton told House Republicans Friday to shelve major tax
cut plans until budget surpluses materialize and a long-term plan was
developed to shore up Social Security. "To be talking about spending
hundreds of billions of dollars on a tax cut based on projected
surpluses that may or may not materialize before we have spent the
first dollar to save social security...I think is a mistake," Clinton
said. Key House Republicans said Thursday they would aim for an even
larger tax cut after congressional budget analysts boosted estimates
for surpluses over the next decade. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555117731-c70
*** Cohen says defense merger policies unchanged
Defense Secretary William Cohen, commenting on the collapse of
Lockheed Martin Corp's bid to acquire Northrop Grumman Corp. said
Friday administration policies on defense industry mergers were
unchanged. The Pentagon and the Justice Department strongly opposed
this merger, which would have created the country's biggest defense
manufacturer, saying it would eliminate competition in a number of
areas in the rapidly consolidating industry. The Pentagon is the only
customer for many of the products of Lockheed and Northrop. For part
2, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555117248-f3f
*** U.S. House rejects curb on Treasury rescue fund
The House rejected legislation Thursday that would have curbed the
Clinton administration's use of a special Treasury Department fund to
cope with financial emergencies abroad. The amendment, by Rep.
Bernard Sanders, Ind.-Vt., failed on a 195-to-226 vote after a
lengthy and heated debate. U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin had
urged the House to reject the measure, which would have forced the
Clinton administration to get Congress' approval before offering
loans or credit lines worth $250 million or more to foreign
governments from the $40 billion Exchange Stabilization Fund. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555116158-dc8
*** U.S. intensifies S. Asia effort with Talbott trip
Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott intensifies U.S. efforts to
short-circuit a South Asia arms race when he visits India and
Pakistan next week for the first time since they tested nuclear
weapons. Since the tit-for-tat explosions stunned the world last May,
the United States has become the primary mediator trying to prod and
provoke the two countries into forsaking testing and deployment of a
destabilizing nuclear arsenal. Talbott, who leaves Washington on
Saturday, has previously held separate talks in the U.S. capital and
Germany on the nuclear issue with special envoys from both
governments. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555119483-5a1
*** Cohen backs troubled Air Force secretary nominee
Defense Secretary William Cohen repeated his support Friday for the
nominee for U.S. Air Force Secretary, whose approval is running into
trouble in Congress. "I'm still supporting Daryl Jones," Cohen told
reporters at a briefing after a meeting with visiting Romanian
President Emil Constantinescu. Jones, a Florida state senator who
would be the first black secretary in Air Force history, was closely
questioned at a Senate confirmation hearing on Thursday about
discrepancies in his flying record. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555117959-ccc
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Courts
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Juror dismissed in Miami Cali lawyers' trial
A juror deliberating in the retrial of two former U.S. prosecutors
charged with involvement in the Colombian drugs trade has been
excused from the panel, a spokesman for the Miami U.S. Attorney's
office said Friday. "He or she apparently refused to deliberate," he
said. The juror's departure reduced the size of the panel
deliberating in the complicated federal court case to 11 members,
which is allowed under law. Prosecutors charge that Miami attorney
William Moran, a former U.S. prosecutor, and Michael Abbell, former
director of the U.S. Justice Department's Office of International
Affairs, crossed the line from defending drug clients to
participating in the narcotics trade. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555117527-742
----------------------------------------------------------------------
U.S. Business and Financial News
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Lockheed Martin ends merger plan with Northrop
Lockheed Martin Corp. said late Thursday it ended its $10.7 billion
merger plan with Northrop after the defense companies failed to reach
an agreement with the government over antitrust issues. Talks with
the Pentagon broke down Wednesday and the government's antitrust case
was set to proceed to trial, one year after the merger deal was first
announced. The government had charged that the merger would eliminate
competition in a number of areas in the rapidly consolidating
industry. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555106923-6c6
*** Nasdaq marches ahead
Blue chip stocks remained nearly unchanged in afternoon trading
Friday, a day after enthusiastic investors took the Dow Industrials
above 9,300 for the first time. But technology stocks continued to
soar, led by strong earnings reported by sector leader Microsoft.
Shortly before 2:15 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones industrial average was 10
points lower at 9,318. On the New York Stock Exchange, advances
trailed declines 1,471 to 1,342 on trading volume of 435 million
shares. The Nasdaq Composite rose 7 to 2,008, inching up into record
territory after closing above 2,000 Thursday for the first time in
its 27-year history. The S&P 500 index rose 1 to 1,185, also trading
in record territory. The benchmark 30-year Treasury bond traded 3/32
of a point lower in price for a yield of 5.73%. (CNNfn)
*** Triton won't sell company, sets deal with ARCO
Ending weeks of speculation, Triton Oil Limited said Friday the
company will not be sold after reviewing potential buyers for its
assets in Asia and Latin America, and it also announced that its top
executive resigned. In a move that will likely shock investors who
were betting on a sale, the oil and gas company instead said it
signed an agreement with Atlantic Richfield Co. to develop Triton's
gas reserves in the Malaysia-Thailand Joint Development Area. Triton
said it was the best option to emerge from its review of strategic
alternatives. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555115627-94c
*** U.S. trade gap hits monthly record in May
The U.S. trade deficit swelled by 10.3% in May to a record $15.75
billion as the Asian financial crisis slashed exports while imports
of goods jumped, the U.S. Commerce Department said. The May gap
followed a record $14.27 billion deficit in April and was much bigger
than the $14.66 shortfall expected by Wall Street economists. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555115615-dbb
*** Broadcast.com shares quadruple
Broadcast.com, a broadcaster of sports, news, and music over the
Internet, quadrupled in its first day of public trading Friday,
reflecting investor enthusiasm for Internet-related IPOs. The
Dallas-based company, which has broadcast NFL Super Bowls and the
Stanley Cup Playoffs over the Internet, rose as much as 56 to 74 as
2.2 million shares changed hands on the Nasdaq Stock Market in midday
trading. (USA Today)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
World Front Page Stories
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Russia buries last tsar killed 80 years ago
Russia buried the remains of its last tsar and his family Friday,
exactly 80 years after they were shot dead by Bolshevik
revolutionaries in what President Boris Yeltsin called a "monstrous
crime." "The reprisal in Yekaterinburg was one of the most shameful
pages of our history," said Yeltsin, standing before nine small
coffins containing the bones of Nicholas II, his wife, three of their
children, three servants and the family doctor. The funeral of the
tsar and his family, whose remains were discovered in a forest grave
in 1991, has stirred fierce controversy among politicians and within
the Orthodox Church. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555117428-bd2
*** Jewish group adds to evidence against Swiss
The Swiss tried to mislead the Allies in negotiations on Nazi-era
gold purchases and later obstructed implementation of an agreement,
say documents released by the World Jewish Congress Friday. "The
Swiss lied to the Allies and cheated the victims. Negotiations were
entered into on the basis of fraud," WJC executive director Elan
Steinberg said. The WJC released the two U.S. documents in response
to the Swiss government's decision not to testify at a Senate Banking
Committee hearing next week on the possibility of renegotiating the
1946 Washington Agreement. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555118427-712
*** NATO military options still open for Kosovo
NATO said Friday there had been no let-up in its preparations for
possible military action in Serbia's troubled Kosovo province.
"Kosovo planning is in full swing. NATO is serious about using the
military option if it has to do so," an official of the military
alliance said, after the New York Times quoted U.S. sources as saying
planning had virtually ground to a halt. "Nothing has changed - we
still want to have a whole spectrum of options to fit the situation
as it may emerge," the official told reporters. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555118352-151 ***
Also: Kosovo 'parliament' no instant cure for disunity, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555115762-05a ***
Also: Kosovo toll said over 300, with 300 more missing, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555118763-823
*** U.S. offers key amendment on war crimes court
The United States made a last-ditch effort to exempt its soldiers
from a future world war crimes tribunal on Friday but delegates said
it had little support at a U.N. conference. A U.S. amendment, seeking
a key concession it failed to win in five weeks of negotiation, said
the court should not be able to prosecute officials or agents of a
government, acting on official duty, unless their state accepted its
jurisdiction. For part 2, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555118390-653 ***
Also: UN near historic pact on war crimes court, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555116549-839 ***
Sidebar: Guide to proposed International Criminal Court, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555118200-93f
*** Thousands of inmates to go free for Mandela's birthday
Thousands of South African prison inmates will be released early to
mark the 80th birthday of former political prisoner Nelson Mandela.
The government announced Friday all prisoners would benefit from a
six-month remission of sentence for the South African President's
birthday on Saturday. The birthday gift will see some 9,000 prisoners
with less than six months still to serve walk free next week,
according to South African radio. South Africans of every rank have
showered Mandela with praise and affection ahead of his last birthday
as president of the country he led from apartheid to democracy. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555116395-c2a
*** HK's airport woes keep piling up
Problems at Hong Kong's new $20 billion airport piled up Friday, with
officials urging curious local visitors to stay away and the city's
own carrier, Cathay Pacific, saying its cargo loads had fallen by
60%. Airport Authority investigators were still probing the first
minor accident at the showcase facility, which has been in chaos
since opening on July 6. The embattled airport was forced to shut
down its automated ground guidance system after a Cathay Pacific
airliner struck a passenger air-bridge on Wednesday. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555116523-77e
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The World Political Scene
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Israeli, Palestinian officials to meet Sunday
Israel said Friday it would hold its first high level meeting with
the Palestinians in months in the hope of breaking a 16-month-long
deadlock in Middle East peacemaking. Israel's Defense Minister
Yitzhak Mordechai will meet senior Palestinian negotiator Mahmoud
Abbas in Tel Aviv Sunday after the United States said last week the
two could only resolve their differences in face-to-face talks. "In
the wake of contacts between Israel, the Palestinians and the United
States it was agreed that there will be a meeting on Sunday between
Defense Minister Mordechai and Mahmoud Abbas," said a Defense
Ministry spokesman. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555118634-16a
*** Assad sees nothing new in Chirac Mideast idea
Syrian President Hafez al-Assad emerged from talks with President
Jacques Chirac Friday saying he saw nothing new in the French
leader's proposal for a fresh conference to seek Middle East peace.
Assad, visiting Paris for the first time in 22 years, said "France
and other countries" were making serious efforts to get the stalled
peace process back on track. But when asked about a call by Chirac
and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak for a new Middle East
conference, he told journalists: "As you know, until now there is
nothing." See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555113679-63e
*** Dalai Lama says indefinitely postpones Taiwan trip
Tibet's exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama said he would
indefinitely postpone a visit to Taiwan to avoid irking China and
jeopardizing the chance of opening talks with Beijing, a leading
Taipei newspaper said Friday. The Dalai Lama, regarded by Tibetan
Buddhists as a god-king, said it was more important for him to have
dialogue with Beijing than to re-visit the Nationalist-ruled Taiwan.
"As you know our contacts with China have been increasing over the
past months and we have some expectation for China, which is why I
decided to indefinitely postpone my Taiwan visit," the Dalai Lama
told the Taipei-based China Times in an interview. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555112610-ed8
*** 3 in race to run Japan
Two political heavyweights battling to become Japan's next prime
minister unveiled their plans to revive the sickly economy Friday,
and a maverick rival got backing by a key party faction to enter the
race. Foreign Minister Keizo Obuchi, considered the most conventional
of the candidates, said he would make his "utmost efforts" to create
a strong Japanese economy and rebuild the troubled Asian region.
Conservative Seiroku Kajiyama - a 72-year-old veteran who has gained
favor with financial markets - confirmed his intention to run and
unveiled a drastic plan to clean up the banking system. Later, ruling
Liberal Democratic Party members said Health Minister Junichiro
Koizumi, a 56-year-old political maverick, won his party's backing.
See http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555115122-b34
*** Nobel laureate backs Portugal-Indonesia ties
Timorese Nobel peace laureate Jose Ramos-Horta urged Portugal and
Indonesia Friday to renew diplomatic links after jailed resistance
leader Xanana Gusmao said he backed the resumption of ties. "I urge
Portugal and Indonesia to proceed as expediently as possible to
establish diplomatic interests sections in Lisbon and Jakarta,"
Ramos-Horta said from the Cape Verde islands. Earlier, Gusmao said
from jail in Jakarta that Indonesia and Portugal could establish a
form of diplomatic relations previously blocked by Lisbon's demands
for his release from prison. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555114192-04a
*** NATO turns to show business for 50th year summit
NATO is planning a cocktail of politics, defense and show business
for its 50th birthday summit in Washington next April, an official at
the military alliance said Friday. The official, who asked not to be
named, said NATO wanted to use the event to sell its modern role to
the public at large, and in particular young people. "Of course show
business should not replace substance, but we need some choreography
or show business to pass the message to the general public and to
young people," the official told reporters. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555117037-3aa ***
Also: Belgium approves NATO enlargement to east, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555113482-4d7 ***
And: UK's Cook defends NATO enlargement pace, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555114123-eb6
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Americas
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Colombian rightist squad condemns rebel peace bid
Colombia's most-feared death squad condemned Friday the recent peace
proposal of its Marxist rebel enemies as a recipe for the break-up of
the state and tantamount to an open declaration of war. The
ultra-right Peasant Self-Defense Force of Cordoba and Uraba said it
would continue to attack the guerrillas even inside those areas set
to be demilitarized for full-fledged peace talks later this year. The
National Liberation Army, Colombia's second largest rebel group,
hosted a three-day meeting this week in which it lay the foundations
for a negotiated solution to the country's civil conflict. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555118678-be7
*** Cuba prints U.S. report on anti-Castro 'terrorism'
Cuba's Communist Party published Friday extracts of reports in The
New York Times alleging 1997 bombs and other violence aimed at Fidel
Castro's government were backed by Cuban exiles in the United States.
The lengthy excerpts, translated into Spanish, covered the front of
the party's newspaper Granma - Cuba's only nationwide daily
publication - and carried over to an inside page. The Granma article
was also headline news on Cuba's state-controlled broadcast media and
news wires. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555117328-c53 ***
Also from Cuba: Deported Cuban baseball players allege harassment.
See http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555116117-baa
*** Peronists seek to overcome ban on Menem's candidacy
Argentine Peronists loyal to President Carlos Menem gathered Friday
to debate how to get around a constitutional ban on Menem seeking a
third consecutive term in office in 1999. Party vice-chairman Ruben
Marin said before the congress, specially convened to boost a "Menem
'99" campaign that has sparked a constitutional dispute, that they
would "try all ways of enabling Menem to be a candidate in 1999."
"Peronism can offer Menem all these roads to re-election:
constitutional reform, a national referendum or legal action," said
Marin. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555118113-bc2
*** Swiss delay decision on Raul Salinas case
Switzerland will delay a decision until at least the end of this
month on whether to bring money laundering charges against the
brother of former Mexican President Carlos Salinas, the public
prosecutor's office said Friday. Swiss authorities are investigating
Raul Salinas for alleged drug trafficking in a case which involves
more than $130 million deposited in banks in Switzerland. The
government froze the accounts in 1995. Swiss police said they had
completed their investigation of Raul Salinas several weeks ago and
passed their findings to public prosecutor Carla del Ponte. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555117166-711
*** Cuban president Castro said to visit Jamaica
Cuban President Fidel Castro will make an official three-day visit to
Jamaica, later this month, a Jamaican government source said Friday.
The Cuban leader is scheduled to arrive in the tourist city of
Montego Bay July 29th. During his visit, he is scheduled to meet with
Gov. Gen. Sir Howard Cooke, Prime Minister P.J. Patterson, and other
government officials. Patterson has made clear Jamaica does not agree
with Washington's policy of seeking to isolate the communist-ruled
island. Castro also will hold a series of meetings with business and
civic leaders in Jamaica, including tourism interests in Montego Bay.
See http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555117133-865
*** Argentina's Videla allowed to serve time at home
Argentina's human rights group Mothers of Plaza de Mayo marched on
the house of former dictator Jorge Videla Friday, protesting his
transfer to house arrest from prison pending trial for alleged baby
theft. The 73-year-old ex-general was taken home late Thursday
following a favorable federal court ruling, in line with a law
benefiting prisoners over the age of 70 or terminally ill. "The
judges are bigger murderers than Videla himself because they murder
our chances of justice," Hebe de Bonafini said outside Videla's house
where she and 20 others staged the protest. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555116972-9f4
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Europe and Russia
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Russia PM sees dark future, Yeltsin eyes past
Russian Prime Minister Sergei Kiriyenko warned Friday of tough times
ahead after parliament failed to approve key parts of a rescue
package aimed at averting financial chaos and winning big foreign
loans. Kiriyenko said deputies' rejection of several new taxes had
left Russia in economic limbo and appealed to the State Duma, the
Communist-dominated lower house, to convene another emergency session
early next month during its summer recess. As Kiriyenko urged
deputies to set politics aside and think of Russia's economic future,
President Boris Yeltsin was trying to atone for the sins of the past
by attending the funeral of the country's last tsar, Nicholas II. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555118184-6b7 ***
Sidebar: Scorecard of Russian reform bills, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555118229-a68
*** Arrests made after arson deaths of N. Irish children
Police hunting the killers of three boys who burned to death in an
arson attack on their Catholic mother's home in Northern Ireland five
days ago said they had made several arrests on Friday. The boys'
mother meanwhile said she had believed her family was safe, because
they had received no warnings to get out of the predominantly
Protestant housing estate where they lived before they were attacked.
The deaths of the Quinn children, Richard, 11, Mark, 10 and Jason, 8,
moved U.S. President Bill Clinton to promise their mother he would
step up his efforts to bring peace to the British-ruled province. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555115326-dad
*** Dutch hunt Internet pedophiles amid criticism
Dutch police sifted thousands of computer images Friday in a bid to
determine the scale of a suspected Internet child abuse ring, amid
criticism of the inquiry to date and calls for a clampdown on the
worldwide web. Fifteen officers have been deployed in the pornography
hunt, which looks certain to spread from a flat in the popular Dutch
seaside town of Zandvoort far beyond the Netherlands' borders. Police
suspect pedophiles abused toddlers as young as 2 then distributed
their pictures internationally by Internet. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555117120-998 ***
Related: Austria urges Europe action against Internet porn, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555115927-863
*** 3 former French ministers charged in blood row
A former French prime minister and two of his ministers were sent to
trial on Friday charged with manslaughter in connection with a 1980s
distribution of AIDS-tainted blood which killed hundreds of
hemophiliacs. The three charged are former Socialist Prime Minister
and current National Assembly speaker Laurent Fabius, and former
Health and Social Affairs Ministers Edmond Herve and Georgina Dufoix,
a court statement said. The three politicians were in office in 1985
when France's worst public health scandal took place. Some 1,250
hemophiliacs were infected by blood products supplied by the state.
More than 400 have since died. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555118868-663
*** Bonn to publish child poverty report before poll
German Chancellor Helmut Kohl's government said Friday it aimed to
release a report on child welfare before the September general
election following allegations the document was being held up for
party political reasons. Family Minister Claudia Nolte said in a
statement she hoped to present the report at the beginning of
September. Nolte's ministry had previously said it would not be able
to publish before the Sept. 27 election because the report's authors
had delivered it six months later than planned. Opposition
politicians said they suspected the report's findings painted a bleak
picture of child poverty and were being suppressed to minimize damage
to Kohl's re-election campaign. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555117709-ee9
*** Gucci ex-wife says murder was worth every penny
The ex-wife of slain fashion mogul Maurizio Gucci said Friday she was
blackmailed to pay 500 million lire (US$280,000) for the murder of
her former husband but it was worth every penny. Patrizia Reggiani
Gucci, dubbed the "Black Widow," told a Milan court her fortune
teller friend Pina Auriemma had organized the 1995 murder knowing how
badly she wanted Gucci dead and presented her with the bill
afterwards. Reggiani, 50, is accused of ordering the murder of her
millionaire ex-husband after the acrimonious breakup of their
marriage and to protect her children's inheritance as Gucci appeared
close to marrying a blonde interior designer. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555117493-fda
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Africa
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Nigeria anxiously awaits new democracy plan
Nigerians anxiously awaited Friday military ruler Gen. Abdulsalam
Abubakar's new plan to restore democracy and presidency officials
said it could emerge very soon. Oil-producing Nigeria, Africa's most
populous nation, was thrown into political confusion by the deaths of
former strongman Sani Abacha and detained opposition presidential
claimant Moshood Abiola, presumed to have won 1993 polls annulled by
the military. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555117829-66d ***
Nigeria's Abiola lacked proper care - U.S. doctors. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555113537-a13 ***
Also: Nigeria's Babangida calls for early elections, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555115048-114 ***
And: Nigeria's Obasanjo urges support for new leader, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555117553-14a
*** Portuguese-speaking states condemn Bissau conflict
A summit of the Commonwealth of Portuguese-speaking Countries (CPLP)
condemned Friday the civil war in Guinea-Bissau and appealed for
democratic rule to be respected, officials said. The CPLP issued a
declaration which said that a new contact group, comprising Portugal,
Angola, Brazil, Mozambique and Sao Tome, would "use diplomatic means
to try to end the fighting." The so-called "Praia declaration" said
the CPLP condemned unequivocally the military revolt in the former
Portuguese colony. The CPLP comprises Portugal, Brazil, Angola,
Mozambique, Cape Verde, Sao Tome and Principe and Guinea-Bissau. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555117403-e45
*** IMF approves emergency loan for Congo Republic
The International Monetary Fund approved an emergency $10 million
loan Friday for the Congo Republic to help Brazzaville rebuild its
economy. The IMF said the money would support the government's
economic program for 1998, and help authorities to shore up the
central administration and begin to restore the country's battered
infrastructure. Relations between the IMF and Brazzaville were
interrupted by the outbreak of a civil war in June 1997 that ended in
October with Denis Sassou Nguesso seizing power from the elected
president, Pascal Lissouba. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555117219-ab2
*** Burundi peace talks to restart, boosted by ceasefire
Peace talks between Burundi's main political parties and rebel groups
restart on Monday in Arusha, northern Tanzania, boosted by the first
ceasefire in almost five years of conflict. The negotiations should
start to address core issues such as security and human rights,
according to an aide to mediator Julius Nyerere and the main Burundi
pro-Hutu party, Frodebu. The Burundi government said the same team
that attended the June peace talks would join the next round. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555116132-c3a
*** S. Africa election fears mount as killings spread
The political temperature in South Africa continued to rise Friday as
police reported another death in the troubled KwaZulu-Natal province,
where at least 32 people have been killed in the past two weeks.
Police spokesman Vish Naidoo said Bulelani Xolo, a prominent member
of the opposition Inkatha Freedom Party, was gunned down Thursday in
the Nkotaneni area of KwaZulu-Natal. Police, political parties and
independent violence monitors believe the killings could signal the
start of a new round of political violence in the province ahead of a
general election planned for May 1999. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555115168-9c3
*** MSF urges political cure as Sudan famine worsens
Aid workers back from southern Sudan said Friday relief organizations
were running out of time to stem the deepening famine there. Without
a political solution, civilians faced at least another year of
hunger, Medecins Sans Frontieres head Eric Goemaere, who returned
from the Bahr el Ghazal region on Thursday, told a news conference.
He said the number of malnourished people had leapt to about 1.2
million from a few hundred at the start of the year. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555117719-362
----------------------------------------------------------------------
India and the Middle East
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Pakistan PM dismisses economic collapse fears
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif dismissed fears Friday of an economic
collapse in Pakistan due to sanctions for its nuclear tests and said
his nation was prepared to pay the price. Sharif said in a speech in
Islamabad that "people predicting the country's economic collapse
must talk sense," the official Associated Press of Pakistan reported.
Pakistan is in the grip of an economic crisis because of
international sanctions for the nuclear tests it conducted in May.
Islamabad has said it could resort to a moratorium on its foreign
debts, worth $30 billion, if loan flows were stopped. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555114356-c10
*** Turkish Islamist urges recognition of Kurds
The leader of Turkey's main Islamist opposition said Friday the state
should officially recognize the ethnic identity of its 10 million
Kurds. "We see ethnic differences as a richness for this country.
Consequently, the Kurdish identity must be recognized," Anatolian
news agency quoted Virtue Party leader Recai Kutan as saying. Turkish
governments have long refused to grant separate rights to the Kurds,
arguing that the country is a single unit. Kutan said he opposed
Kurdish separatism. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555117022-9dd ***
Turkey's Ciller says regrets Kurdish party ban, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555114692-eee ***
Related: U.S. officials head to Iraq to boost Kurd peace, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555114808-6ce
*** Iraq's Saddam says sanctions will crumble
Iraqi President Saddam Hussein said Friday sanctions imposed after
the Gulf War would gradually crumble, rather than be lifted by the
United Nations Security Council. But at the same time he warned he
would take new measures if the sanctions remained. Speaking in a
televised speech marking the 30th anniversary of the country's 1968
revolution, Saddam predicted an early end to the measures imposed
after Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555113322-b13 ***
Also: Iraq complains against UN inspection of post office, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555113872-eea ***
And: Saddam calls for Arab summit on Mideast, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555113701-bd1
*** Swiss indict Bhutto's husband for money-laudering
A Geneva judge has formally indicted former Pakistan Prime Minister
Benazir Bhutto's husband for alleged money-laundering, Swiss
officials said Friday. The judicial officials, who asked not to be
named, said the judge, Daniel Devaud, was planning similar procedures
against Bhutto as well and finalizing details before issuing charges
against her. Devaud could not be reached immediately but he already
said early in June he planned to indict Bhutto and her husband Asif
Ali Zardari, who is in jail in Pakistan. The officials said the
indictment on Zardari had been sent to Pakistani authorities a few
days ago. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555118546-ba0
*** Grenade blast wounds 13 in Indian Kashmir
Thirteen people were wounded Friday when a grenade thrown by
unidentified militants exploded in a crowded street in Srinagar, the
summer capital of India's troubled Jammu and Kashmir state. Police
said the grenade was aimed at a paramilitary post, but missed and
landed in the street instead. "Militants lobbed a grenade on a BSF
(Border Security Force) picket at Jehangir Chowk which missed the
target and exploded on the road injuring thirteen pedestrians," a
police official said. Jehangir Chowk is a crowded intersection in
downtown Srinagar. No militant group has claimed responsibility for
the attack so far. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555112752-1cb ***
Also: 6 said killed by Indian firing in Azad Kashmir, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555118694-295
*** C. Asian security pact unsigned, Uzbek leader ill
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan failed to adopt an
expected joint declaration on regional security Friday, postponing
the signing until their next summit in October. The declaration by
the ex-Soviet Central Asian states had been expected to focus on
measures to consolidate regional security in view of chronic
instability in neighboring Afghanistan and its possible negative
impact on the four states. Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev said
after the summit the important document had not been adopted, because
Uzbek President Islam Karimov could not attend the meeting due to
health problems. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555116671-ed0
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Far East
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Indonesian women demonstrate over rape attacks
Scores of Indonesian women, including Moslems, Catholic nuns and
students, demonstrated at the Defense Ministry Friday in protest
against widespread rapes during riots that swept parts of the country
in May. Watched by police and troops, they carried banners with such
slogans as "Rape is a whole life of terror," and "Indonesia! Republic
of Fear, Republic of Terror, Republic of Rape." The demonstrators
passed out leaflets from the Indonesian Women's Coalition for Justice
and Democracy. They said since the riots that helped bring down
former president Suharto, 168 women had been the victims of sexual
violence. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555114058-b66 ***
Also: Indonesia rights groups sue govt over May riots, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555114679-117 ***
Also from Indonesia: Fresh Chinese exodus from Indonesia's East Java,
see http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555114710-358
*** Timor capital ends anniversary quietly
Hundreds of troops patrolling the capital of East Timor on the
anniversary of Indonesia's annexation of the territory, began to
return to barracks Friday night with the streets empty and residents
indoors. Trucks carrying troops through the streets and groups of
soldiers and riot police guarding strategic points, helped forestall
tension in the small sea-front city of Dili. Residents kept a low
profile fearing protests or clashes with security forces. Earlier,
the territory's Jakarta-appointed governor Abilio Soares presided
over a ceremony marking the 1976 integration of East Timor into
Indonesia as its 27th province. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555115103-d16
*** Strong earthquake rocks Taiwan, 4 dead
A powerful earthquake struck a mountainous region in Taiwan Friday,
killing at least four people and causing serious damage. Authorities
said four people were killed by falling rocks in landslides in
central Chiayi county, and that 22 people were reported injured. The
Central Weather Bureau put the tremor's magnitude at 6.2 on the
Richter scale with its epicenter 8.5 miles west of Alishan, a
sparsely populated mountainous area. Officials said landslides
damaged buildings, roads and bridges in the mountains around Chiayi,
while electricity and telephone service to some villages had been cut
off. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555115376-b55
*** Myanmar sends observers for Cambodia elections
Two representatives from military-ruled Myanmar will take part in a
U.N.-organized team observing Cambodia's July 26 general elections.
"There will be two of us, my leader is coming soon," the first of the
Myanmar pair to arrive in Cambodia, Tin Han, said Friday. Tin Han
said he and his colleague were being sent by the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs to help the international observer team in Cambodia. The
military has ruled Myanmar since overthrowing the country's last
elected government in 1962. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555114812-817 ***
Related: Cambodian King promises to stay for elections, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555113304-d58 ***
Also: Cambodia's Hun Sen in hospital for appendix, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555116497-092
*** NZ calls in armed forces to help with floods
New Zealand called in the military Friday to bolster flood relief
efforts in the central North Island as overflowing rivers swamped
farmland, but authorities stopped short of declaring a state of
emergency. About 40 air force personnel would help the small town of
Huntly, where the island's worst floods in 100 years have done the
most damage, fend off the rising Waikato river with sandbags and
provide welfare relief, said Waikato District Council chief executive
Warwick Bennett. The move came as rains eased but the community
prepared for the level of the Waikato, New Zealand's longest river,
to rise again after the release of water from Lake Taupo at its head.
See http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555111701-b40
*** Also from NZ: Sympathy for killer of autistic daughter, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555111897-924
*** S. Koreans run with flag to country's 50th birthday
South Korea's national flag began a month-long journey across the
country Friday, Constitution Day, and will arrive at a royal palace
in central Seoul on the 50th anniversary of the republic next month.
The national flag, a swirl of red and blue on white, will be carried
by 6,214 South Koreans and returned to Seoul on Aug. 15 - Korea's
53rd anniversary of independence from Japanese colonial rule as well
as the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Republic of Korea
which replaced the U.S. military government. The United States, which
still has 37,500 troops in South Korea, governed the South after the
Japanese left, while the communist North was ruled by the USSR. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555114512-56e
----------------------------------------------------------------------
World Business and Financial News
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Asian markets lifted by stronger currencies
Shares closed mostly higher in the Asian-Pacific region Friday on the
back of rebounding Asian currencies and local news. Tokyo stocks
slipped after four days of gains as investors locked in profits on
bank and construction shares on concerns that the next prime minister
might become more aggressive about dealing with the bad loan problem,
which could lead to more corporate failures. Meanwhile, Hong Kong
shares closed slightly higher, despite lingering uncertainty over
Japan's economic and political outlook. Shares in Malaysia and
Singapore surged on strength in regional currencies. Malaysia's Kuala
Lumpur Stock Exchange composite index jumped 3.6%. In Taiwan, shares
ended higher with the key index hitting a seven-week high, as record
closes on U.S. stock markets overnight buoyed trade and pushed the
main index above the key 8000 level. (WSJ)
*** Wall Street's advance lifts European stocks
European stocks were higher at midsession Friday, in line with Wall
Street's overnight 1% gain. U.K. shares rose following Hong Kong's
advance in Asian trading. In Italy, share prices were led higher by
bank stocks, and the Swiss Market Index was lifted by the
pharmaceutical sector. Swedish, Belgian and Dutch shares advanced,
tracking the U.S., while Spanish stocks rose sharply, led by
Telefonica de Espana and Bankinter. In South Africa, stocks rose in
early trading, lifted by strength in the commodities sector. (WSJ)
*** Russia to introduce austerity program
Russian Prime Minister Sergei Kiriyenko told lawmakers Friday that
the government would override parliament and introduce an austerity
program by decree to satisfy international lenders. The program,
intended to boost the government's cash resources amid financial
crisis, included a series of bills that would bring additional
revenues totaling $16.5 billion. The International Monetary Fund and
the World Bank have made it clear they want the government austerity
program passed before they start delivering $17 billion in new loans.
(USA Today)
*** Indonesia to comply with oil cuts
Indonesia will respect its pledge to the Organization of Petroleum
Exporting Countries to cut oil production to 1.28 million barrels a
day, Mines and Energy Minister Kuntoro Mangkusubroto said Friday.
Indonesia's revised budget for the year ending March 31, 1999,
released Thursday, is based on a daily crude output of 1.52 million
barrels, however. Kuntoro told reporters that was because the budget
was drawn up prior to a June OPEC meeting at which further production
cuts were agreed. (USA Today)
*** China economy slows, doubts on growth goal
China said Friday its economic growth target of 8.0% for the year was
still within reach despite a slower first-half performance, but
economists cast doubt on such hopes. China's economic growth slowed
to a year-on-year 7.0% in the first half as the nation was battered
by Asia's financial crisis and heavy summer rains, the State
Statistical Bureau said. China posted annual growth of 7.2% in the
first quarter, well off the 8.8% for all of last year. Beijing says
it needs to meet the 8.0% growth target to create new jobs for
millions of workers to be laid off in a painful overhaul of state
industry, long used to the comfortable cushion of central planning.
Despite the gloomy first-half performance, the bureau's chief
economist Qiu Xiaohua said the pace of expansion would pick up in the
second half as measures to spur domestic demand kicked in. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555114844-d86
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Science and Medicine
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** If it helps thalidomide should be used - victims
British thalidomide victims said Friday that if the drug that had
caused their deformities could benefit others, it should be used. But
they emphasized that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's decision
to approve thalidomide to treat a painful side effect of leprosy must
be enforced with stringent controls. "The feeling of many of our
members is that if it can relieve suffering in people with severe
illnesses it should be used. But we would like to be assured that it
is strictly controlled," Simone Baker, a member of The Thalidomide
Society, said in a telephone interview. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555116788-d00
*** Britain to purify blood to remove CJD risk
Britain said Friday it would purify its blood supply to protect the
public against the "theoretical risk" of getting the human form of
mad cow disease through blood transfusions. Health Secretary Frank
Dobson said the government had been planning the move for months and
was now ready to start leucodepletion - the removal of the white
blood cells from donated blood. If any blood is infected with new
variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, the brain-wasting disease that has
killed 26 people in Britain, it would most likely be in the white
cells. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555115805-dc2
*** If it helps thalidomide should be used - victims
British thalidomide victims said Friday that if the drug that had
caused their deformities could benefit others, it should be used. But
they emphasised that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's decision
to approve thalidomide to treat a painful side effect of leprosy must
be enforced with stringent controls. "The feeling of many of our
members is that if it can relieve suffering in people with severe
illnesses it should be used. But we would like to be assured that it
is strictly controlled," Simone Baker, a member of The Thalidomide
Society, said in a telephone interview. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555116788-d00
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Technology
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Dell Internet, overseas sales up
Dell Computer Corp. Chief Executive Michael Dell said that the
company's sales through the Internet had risen to $6 million a day.
He also said he expected overall sales outside the United States to
rise to $6 billion this year. "A year ago our sales on the Internet
were about $1 million a day. We are now selling about $6 million a
day on the Internet," Dell said at the annual shareholders meeting.
"And this is not just a U.S. phenomenon. Our business in Europe is
selling about $1 million a day," he said. Dell also said the company
continued to grow its overall overseas business and was expanding
into new areas, such as China and South America. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555117391-1ea
*** FCC near decision on consumer Internet access - WSJ
The Federal Communications Commission, moving to accelerate the
delivery of high-speed Internet access to American consumers, is
close to recommending big local telephone companies be allowed to
build data systems without having to resell their use to competitors,
the Wall Street Journal reported. The recommendation could come as
soon as Friday, FCC officials told the newspaper Thursday. If
adopted, the plan would represent the FCC's biggest move in favor of
the Bell local telephone companies since the telecommunications laws
were overhauled in 1996. William Kennard, the FCC chairman, supports
the plan, which is likely to draw waves of protest from the nation's
big long-distance carriers and from new local phone companies, the
newspaper said. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555113811-459
*** Judge refuses to issue order against Xerox
A federal judge has refused to stop Xerox Corp. from selling toner
cartridges in packaging that Hewlett-Packard Co. objects to, Xerox
said. Hewlett-Packard had sought a preliminary injunction against
Xerox, but U.S. District Judge Susan Illston, in a decision late
Wednesday, refused. At issue is the packaging of Xerox toner
cartridges that can be used in Hewlett-Packard laser printers.
Hewlett-Packard alleges the packaging may mislead consumers into
thinking the Xerox product is endorsed or sponsored by
Hewlett-Packard. Hewlett-Packard, which sells its own toner
cartridges, wanted a court order forcing Xerox to stop sales of the
product in the packaging at issue. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555103582-8f4
*** 7th Level in Net Perceptions deal
7th Level Inc. said it had agreed to use software by Net Perceptions,
a company backed by Microsoft Corp. co-founder Paul Allen, to allow
7th Level's animated Internet characters to respond specifically to
user-preferences. 7th Level creates animation for Internet sites,
including the magazine Rolling Stone and Southwest Securities, that
creates an animated character which speaks to Internet users when
they access the Internet page. The software is known as "Agent 7"
character animation. Net Perception creates a software which analyzes
what the individual Internet user is looking at and suggests, in
print form, other sites the computer-user might like. The agreement
would link the two, so that 7th Level's characters would tell the
user what he or she might want to look at next. (Reuters)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Environment
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Vietnam-era napalm arrives in Texas for recycling
A first shipment of Vietnam-era napalm, which has been causing
headaches for the U.S. Navy, arrived in Texas late Thursday for
recycling into industrial fuel. Four containers carrying 22,000
gallons of the flammable jelly arrived at a railyard in Houston after
a four-day journey from California. Napalm was developed in the first
half of this century for use in flame throwers, but is linked by many
to a disturbing image of Vietnamese children running in terror as the
burning chemicals, dropped by U.S. warplanes, clung to their flesh.
See http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555112366-ca1
*** Heat in U.S. South blamed for 7 mln chicken deaths
Stifling heat plaguing the U.S. South has killed nearly 7 million
chickens in the past four weeks and is shrinking the weights of
survivors, U.S. Agriculture Department officials estimated this week.
But shoppers will probably not have to pay much more for chicken at
the grocery store, experts said. Two-thirds of U.S. chickens are
raised in the deep South, or the "broiler belt" as some call it,
where high temperatures, often in triple digits, have lingered for
weeks. The USDA estimated chicken deaths are up more than 5% since
the heat wave began. Normally, about 2% of chickens die before
reaching the slaughterhouse. (Reuters)
*** Calif. activists raise stink for 'skunk safe' yogurt
Your tuna sandwich may not be hurting the dolphins, but is your
yogurt skunk safe? In a new campaign to bring political correctness
to the pantry, a California animal rights group has declared that
Yoplait brand yogurt containers are leading to the agonizing deaths
of skunks across the country. "Thousands of skunks and other wildlife
are dying in yogurt containers," Camilla Fox of the Sacramento,
Calif.-based Animal Protection Institute said Friday. "They jam their
heads in looking for yogurt and then get trapped," Fox said. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555119447-300
*** Giraffe in Antwerp Zoo has baby
Antwerp Zoo has a new inmate, a baby giraffe. The calf, born Thursday
night after a gestation period of 15 months, is already a whopping 5
feet 11 inches tall. The giraffe's ancestors come from the Khartoum
region of Sudan, and are extinct in the wild. Almost all giraffes of
the same species found in European zoos were born in Antwerp. The
baby giraffe will be called Z, like all animals born in the zoo this
year, until a proper name is found for it. (Reuters)
*** Tremor shakes western Mexico, scares tourists
An earthquake measuring 5.2 on the Richter scale rattled the tourist
resort of Acapulco Friday, frightening residents and visitors but
causing no apparent injuries or damage. The quake struck at about
7:20 a.m. ET and was centered just off the Pacific coast, some 140
miles southwest of Mexico City, according to the National Earthquake
Center. The tremor woke up frightened tourists, and set off an
earthquake emergency alarm in Mexico City, broadcast on radio. A
series of powerful quakes in 1985 killed thousands in Mexico City.
See http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555116259-1da
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Human Interest
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*** James Bond 007 memorabilia to go under the hammer
Auctioneers Christie's said Friday they were planning the first
auction of memorabilia of Britain's best known film secret agent
James Bond 007. Included in items to go under the hammer are villain
Oddjob's steel-rimmed bowler hat and four of the cars in which Bonds
have chased villains and seduced women. Christie's expects to raise
up to US$328,000 at the sale in September. Christie's film and
entertainment specialist Carey Wallace, said Oddjob's hat from
"Goldfinger," (1964) was expected to fetch around 20,000 pounds. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555116386-2dd
*** Ind. deputy runs into James Dean's tombstone
Actor James Dean's stolen tombstone was returned to his grave Friday
a little the worse for wear after a sheriff's deputy ran over it with
his car on a central Indiana highway and nearly crashed. Tippecanoe
County Deputy Sheriff Aaron Gilman, 25, said he was driving his squad
car home with his wife and brother as passengers when what looked
like a box loomed in front of them on a highway. Upon inspection, the
object turned out to be Dean's scratched tombstone. Unknown vandals
stole it earlier this week from the grave in Fairmount, Ind. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555117821-d5a
*** 'Real' Santa Claus to miss world congress again
More than 100 Father Christmases hold their annual get-together in
Copenhagen next week - but Finland's "one and only, real Santa Claus"
says he is too busy welcoming visitors to leave his Arctic home. "I
have so many guests here every day, people from all over the world. I
cannot let them down," Santa said by telephone Friday from his home
in Lapland, northern Finland. The Finnish Santa, who says children
round the world know him as the real Father Christmas, said he
received up to 4,000 visitors a day, adding up to several hundred
thousand a year. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555118386-136
*** Rome's Spanish Steps dazzle at fashion event
Beauty, glamour and dazzle suffused Rome's Spanish Steps Thursday
night, as Italian fashion designers showed off their latest creations
in an annual summer gala. A nostalgic return to the 1940s and 1950s
kicked off the spectacle, with models parading gowns recalling the
famous women who wore them, from Princess Grace to Jacqueline Kennedy
to Sofia Loren. Some two dozen other designers, mostly representing
Rome's "Alta Moda" (Haute Couture) styles, then took over the show,
sending more than 200 models gingerly down the steps to the cue of
Italian TV personality Pippo Baudo. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555112303-530
*** Mission to lift 90-year bubbly from Baltic resumes
A mission to salvage a champagne-laden ship that sank in the Baltic
Sea in 1916 resumed Friday after a three-day delay caused by heavy
winds, the head of the expedition said. Swedish treasure hunter Claes
Bergvall said the salvage team aboard a floating crane had set out
from the Finnish port of Rauma to return to the wreck, lying in 210
feet of water, 25 nautical miles off the Finnish west coast. The
wooden ketch Jonkoping was carrying 5,000 bottles of 1907 Heidsieck &
Co. champagne and several dozen casks of cognac and wine for the
Russian army stationed in Finland when it was sunk during World War
I. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555117101-10e
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