Afternoon Edition for Wednesday, August 05, 1998
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U.S. Front Page Stories
-----------------------
*** Democrats hail Clinton; Lewinsky testimony Thursday
*** White House says it assessing Iraq situation
*** GM CEO says company to cut plants, models, workers
*** Police seek suspected murderer emulating Rudolph
*** An apology by Clinton? Don't count on it
The U.S. Political Scene
------------------------
*** W. House pledges not to bust balanced budget
*** Kevorkian lawyer wins primary for Mich. governor
*** China envoy misses rights meeting with U.S. Congress
The Courts
----------
*** Suspected mother-son con artists plead not guilty in N.Y.
*** 2nd man charged in Fla. tourist rape series
*** Internet confessor to plead guilty in N.D.
U.S. Business and Financial News
--------------------------------
*** Modest recovery on Wall Street
*** Disney offers $400 mln for NHL broadcast rights
*** Aetna posts 15% jump in earnings, beating estimates
*** Non-manufacturing business activity down in July
*** Focus: Gold benefiting from weak stock market
World Front Page Stories
------------------------
*** Butler says U.N., Iraq were nearing 'finish line'
*** Anti-Kabila revolt widens, minister defects
*** Serbs deny damaging report of massacre
*** Jailed N. Irish guerrillas may be free in weeks
*** Hooligan suspect in Cup beating back in jail
*** Bishops refuse to legitimize gay unions
The World Political Scene
-------------------------
*** Defiant Netanyahu blasts West Bank killings
*** Russian premier seeks special Duma session
*** Indonesia, Portugal agree to discuss E. Timor autonomy
*** African leaders to discuss widening Congo revolt
*** Germany's Schroeder, high in polls, meets Clinton
*** Havel takes solid food, Stones send flowers
The Americas
------------
*** Colombian rebels kill 30 in raid, adding to offensive
*** Cuban exile group repeats call for Times retraction
*** Argentine construction workers march over deaths
*** Chilean crime wave worries normally quiet Santiago
*** Italian priest leaves Guatemala after shooting
*** Feature: Mexican hackers declare electronic war
Europe and Russia
-----------------
*** Death toll reaches 5 in Berlin blast
*** Kohl rivals go on offensive for young vote
*** Italy sends 1,000 police to Sicily over immigrants
*** Latvian gov't edges close to majority as vote nears
*** Headscarved Islamist women may run for Turk polls
*** Feature: What's left? Europe's Socialists debate ideas
Africa
------
*** Rwanda leader regrets Congo war, denies involvement
*** Eritrean delegation satisfied with OAU meeting
*** Sudan peace talks show no sign of compromise
*** Algeria groups fight travel ban on massacre orphans
*** Crime, poverty, corruption key to S. African election
*** Lesotho's king urged to intervene in election row
India and the Middle East
-------------------------
*** Arafat expands cabinet, keeps most ministers
*** Palestinians doubt peace process will bring state
*** Afghan opposition said organizing new force
*** Turkish forces say killed 165 Kurdish rebels
*** Kashmir border clash death toll tops 100
The Far East
------------
*** Group says mass graves found in Indonesia's Aceh
*** China, Taiwan wrangle over politician's murder
*** Hun Sen wins Cambodia polls, opposition skeptical
*** HK activists urge Indonesia rape victims to speak
*** Hiroshima looks back in sorrow, forward in anger
World Business and Financial News
---------------------------------
*** Wall Street's stumble sinks Asian equities
*** European stocks fall on Wall Street slump
*** Japan's Cabinet OKs bank reform bills
*** IMF approves Thai budget plan
*** Mobil not pumped up about Thailand
Science and Medicine
--------------------
*** U.S. scientists say drug may help cocaine addicts
*** Blood substitute test in trauma patients a success
*** Virus causes AIDS-related skin cancer-researchers
*** Costa Rica gives Viagra green light
*** No signs of virus in pig-human cell transplants
Technology
----------
*** AlliedSignal seeks to buy AMP
*** Cisco takes top spot in Internet-dial up from 3Com
*** LSI Logic bullish on Asia despite crisis
The Environment
---------------
*** Japan gov't slapped with damages in pollution suit
*** McCartney to take up wife Linda's animal rights cause
*** South Europe heat closes industry, hits transport
*** Millions hit as Vietnam drought kills crops
*** Blame pollution, not Mother Nature, for wet weekends
*** Greek fire under control but critics slam gov't
Human Interest
--------------
*** Man strung up on meat hooks sets new world record
*** Man squirts paint on Rembrandt portrait in London
*** French language watchdog growls at U.S. feminists
*** Manila hurt by Greek definition of 'Filipina'
*** Crackdown on near-naked Australian outback barmaids
*** Feature: Touched by a Blue Angel, the Navy's PR weapon
----------------------------------------------------------------------
U.S. Front Page Stories
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Democrats hail Clinton; Lewinsky testimony Thursday
President Clinton got a warm welcome from Democrats in Congress
Wednesday as Monica Lewinsky prepared to testify to grand jurors -
probably Thursday - in the scandal engulfing Clinton's presidency.
Security at the courthouse where the grand jury meets was notably
heightened in preparation for the expected testimony of Lewinsky, the
former White House intern at the center of the sex and perjury
allegations. Lewinsky, who has been preparing for her testimony with
her own lawyers and members of independent counsel Kenneth Starr's
legal team, was to meet with prosecutors Wednesday. She will testify
under a grant of immunity from prosecution. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555409439-73d ***
Also: Scandal ignored as Clinton courts Democrats, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555409381-f1d
*** White House says it assessing Iraq situation
The White House said Wednesday it would continue to pressure Iraq to
comply with United Nations arms inspectors and was waiting to assess
their "actions, not their words." "We will watch Iraqi actions, not
their words," White House spokesman P.J. Crowley said. For part 2,
see http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555409898-cd5
*** GM CEO says company to cut plants, models, workers
General Motors Corp. Chairman Jack Smith said Wednesday the automaker
plans to close plants, cut workers and eliminate models in the U.S.
in a bid to be more competitive. Coming off a crippling strike and
announcements of GM's intention to spin off its Delphi parts
subsidiary and restructure its North American operations, Smith said
the planned cuts will help the company grow by making it more
efficient and profitable. GM has cut more than 125,000 people from
its hourly work force since the end of 1990. The strikes at two
Flint, Mich., parts plants cost GM more than $2.5 billion and were
partly over concerns by the United Auto Workers union that GM wants
to cut jobs. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555409212-c45
*** Police seek suspected murderer emulating Rudolph
Police scoured the woods near a North Carolina national forest
Wednesday, searching for a suspected murderer believed to be
emulating alleged abortion clinic bomber Eric Robert Rudolph. James
Andrew Finley, an avid outdoorsman, has been charged with murdering
two campers in the western North Carolina mountains over the weekend
before escaping into a heavily wooded area south of Pekin, about 50
miles east of Charlotte. According to police, Finley, 21, has bragged
to family members that he could elude police like Rudolph, one of the
FBI's 10 Most Wanted fugitives and the target of an intense FBI
manhunt in western North Carolina more than 200 miles away. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555409181-311
*** An apology by Clinton? Don't count on it
President Clinton once saved his political career with a timely
public apology. Will he do it again? Members of Congress and
Clinton's supporters outside the White House have said a statement of
contrition by the president for any wrongs he may have committed
would let him put the messy Monica Lewinsky scandal behind him. But
the history of presidential confessions is very thin, and Clinton has
strenuously denied either having an affair with Lewinsky or
encouraging her to lie about it. This suggests if he were to go
public with a changed and contrite accounting of his relationship
with Lewinsky, it would be extraordinary. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555408057-91e
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The U.S. Political Scene
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** W. House pledges not to bust balanced budget
The White House told the Republican-led Congress Wednesday that
President Clinton wants "targeted investments" in key priorities but
will not let those priorities bust a balanced-budget agreement. White
House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles fired off a letter to House of
Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., after Gingrich
questioned whether Clinton's spending proposals would dip into an
expected budget surplus that the president insists should be
untouchable. A budget battle is brewing for the next several weeks.
Clinton has issued direct threats to veto seven of 13 appropriations
bills needed to fund the federal government when the 1998 budget year
ends Sept. 30. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555406870-84b
*** Kevorkian lawyer wins primary for Mich. governor
Geoffrey Fieger, a wealthy attorney best known as the legal defender
of suicide doctor Jack Kevorkian, narrowly captured the Democratic
nomination for Michigan governor in a tight three-way battle
Wednesday. Fieger, who had never run for public office, ended with
41% after a surge of support from Detroit voters. Rival Larry Owen,
who had the endorsement of organized labor and was the early favorite
to win, finished with 37%. The third candidate, Doug Ross, had 22%.
The 47-year-old Fieger, a wealthy, flamboyant attorney, successfully
defended Kevorkian during four trials and earned a reputation as
being outspoken and tenacious. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555406691-0f7
*** China envoy misses rights meeting with U.S. Congress
The Chinese ambassador to Washington refused to turn up Wednesday for
his first appearance before Congress to discuss human rights in China
in a dispute over whether the event would be called a hearing or a
meeting. Half an hour before the event was scheduled, a Chinese
diplomat arrived at Congress to tell a House of Representatives
subcommittee that envoy Li Zhao Xing would not come because ground
rules negotiated for his appearance had been broken. Rep. Christopher
Smith, chairman of the subcommittee on international operations and
human rights of the International Relations Committee, said he agreed
in advance with the Chinese embassy to use the term meeting and not
hearing, not to invite other witnesses, and to have members of the
subcommittee sit at a table with the ambassador and not on a dais.
See http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555408888-460
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Courts
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Suspected mother-son con artists plead not guilty in N.Y.
An alleged mother-and-son con artist team suspected in the
disappearance of a millionaire widow pleaded not guilty at their
arraignment Wednesday on unrelated credit card fraud charges. Sante
Kimes, 64, and her son, Kenneth, 23, were accused in a 17-count
indictment with multiple counts of forgery, charging that they used a
MasterCard registered to a Palm Beach, Fla., man for dinners,
cocktails and shopping at posh New York City hotels, restaurants and
shops. Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Herbert Adlerberg denied bail
for the two alleged swindlers because police had not submitted the
pair's latest fingerprints to the court. Lawyers for the pair will
make a new application for bail when they appear again on Friday. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555410215-1ab
*** 2nd man charged in Fla. tourist rape series
Police said Wednesday they had charged a second man with one of a
series of rapes and robberies of tourists in central Florida. Osceola
County sheriff's detectives charged Eugene Holston, who was already
in jail on charges of robbing two women in Orlando in July, with
robbing a Massachusetts couple and raping the woman at an area hotel
last month. Police said they had used DNA evidence to match Holston
with the crime. There have been 11 similar robbery and sexual assault
cases in the central Florida tourist zone. Police in July charged
Kenneth David Taylor, an Orlando construction worker, with
involvement in some of the rapes. Taylor was released on $10,000 bond
last week. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555408639-e6e
*** Internet confessor to plead guilty in N.D.
A man who confessed to his on-line chat group that he killed his
daughter three years ago by setting fire to their house will admit
his guilt and be sentenced this week, authorities said Wednesday.
Larry Froistad, jailed on murder charges since March, has reached a
plea agreement with authorities and will admit to the 1995 murder of
his 5-year-old daughter Amanda in court Friday, Bowman County
Prosecutor Steve Wild said. North Dakota does not have the death
penalty but Froistad could receive 50 years to life in prison.
Froistad was also expected to plead guilty to federal pornography
charges, based on materials found in a search of his computer that
also indicated he molested the little girl. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555409385-62e
----------------------------------------------------------------------
U.S. Business and Financial News
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Modest recovery on Wall Street
U.S. stocks moved steadily higher in midday trading Wednesday, with
bargain hunters helping the market recover from a bruising tumble the
day before. Around Noon ET, the Dow Jones industrial average traded
23 points higher at 8,510. Market breadth on the New York Stock
exchange was negative, with losers leading gainers 1,737 to 1,179 on
trading volume of 560 million shares. The Nasdaq Composite fell 4 to
1,781 while the S&P 500 index was up 2 to 1,074. The benchmark
30-year Treasury bond fell 19/32 of a point in price for a yield of
5.67%. (CNNfn)
*** Disney offers $400 mln for NHL broadcast rights
(AP) - Walt Disney Co. has offered to pay the National Hockey League
about $400 million for exclusive United States broadcast rights for
five years on ABC and ESPN, the Wall Street Journal reports. The
money is roughly double the combined annual rate now paid to the
league by ESPN and Fox Sports, the newspaper said. Fox has a week to
decide whether to counterbid for the NHL package. A Fox spokesman
said Tuesday that the network is evaluating its options after being
notified by the NHL that it has received "an offer for the
over-the-air and cable package." NHL ratings in the U.S. have been
disappointing for Fox, which introduced the "glowing puck" to help
pull in viewers unfamiliar with the game.
*** Aetna posts 15% jump in earnings, beating estimates
Aetna Inc. reported a 15% increase in second-quarter net income,
after recording a big capital gain on the sale of its stake in
Travelers Property Casualty Corp. Excluding that gain, operating
earnings fell short of year-ago results as the company continues to
suffer from system problems that caused it to underprice its
all-important January contracts. Still operating earnings easily
topped analysts' expectations. Analysts have said Aetna's earnings
from operations were lower in the latest quarter because the company
experienced information-systems problems that caused it to lose track
of a rise in its medical-cost trends last year, leading it to
underprice a large portion of its January renewals before it
discovered the error. (Dow Jones)
*** Non-manufacturing business activity down in July
The National Association of Purchasing Management said Wednesday its
index of Non-manufacturing business activity registered 57.5 in July,
compared to 61.5 in June. Wall Street economists were anticipating a
reading of 61.0. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555407157-c87
*** Focus: Gold benefiting from weak stock market
Gold prices may receive a short-term boost from the sharp decline in
stock prices this week, but it will take a more significant downturn
in world stock markets to encourage investors back into the gold
market, U.S. analysts said. "I think gold prices clearly benefitted
from the sharp fall in the U.S. stock market yesterday, but technical
trading strategies being worked by hedge funds to short gold have
overshadowed investor demand for the past year," said Ted Kempf, an
analyst with industry consultant CPM Group in New York. Since the
start of 1996, gold has shown a strong negative correlation to the
Dow Jones Industrial Average. When the DJIA has risen, the price of
gold has tended to drop. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555409769-5cf
----------------------------------------------------------------------
World Front Page Stories
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Butler says U.N., Iraq were nearing 'finish line'
U.N. arms sleuths were close to shutting the files on Iraq's missile
and chemical arms - but not on its biological weapons - when their
talks broke down this week, chief inspector Richard Butler said
Wednesday. Returning to New York to meet Secretary-General Kofi Annan
and the U.N. Security Council, he said inspectors were very close to
being able to declare that Iraq had complied with U.N. resolutions on
missile and chemical arms. The Iraqi parliament earlier voted for a
freeze in the U.N. inspections and called for an immediate end to the
oil embargo imposed on Iraq for its 1990 invasion of Kuwait. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555410343-8bd ***
Related story: Iraq and the UN - chronology of a crisis, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555407040-327
*** Anti-Kabila revolt widens, minister defects
A revolt against President Laurent Kabila widened in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo Wednesday with his foreign minister defecting
and rebels securing the eastern town of Bukavu. Government officials
acknowledged that Bukavu had fallen to a Tutsi-led dissident faction
of the new Congolese army after two days of heavy fighting but
accused troops from estranged ally Rwanda's Tutsi-dominated army of
taking part. The Voice of the People radio station in the eastern
town of Goma, where the revolt began on Sunday, introduced opposition
politician Arthur Z'Ahidi Ngoma as coordinator of the uprising. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555407539-1ba
*** Related: UN stops return of refugees to Congo from Tanzania, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555404328-a64
*** Serbs deny damaging report of massacre
Serbian authorities displayed what they said were the graves of 40
separatist guerrillas Wednesday and sharply denied reports of an
ethnic massacre. Reporters and western officials rushed to the
western Kosovo town of Orahovac after reports in Austrian, German and
Swedish newspapers of a mass grave of more than 500 ethnic Albanians,
mostly children. They were shown to a freshly ploughed area, putrid
with the smell of decaying bodies, and dotted with temporary markers
over what police said were remains of "terrorists," their name for
Kosovo Liberation Army fighters. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555408967-75e ***
Related story: Western observers investigate mass graves report, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555407227-c48 ***
Related story: Flow of Kosovo refugees to Albania increases, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555408423-63d
*** Jailed N. Irish guerrillas may be free in weeks
Some guerrilla prisoners could be freed from Northern Irish jails
within weeks under new legislation aimed at cementing peace in the
province, officials said Wednesday. Between 400 and 420 jailed
members of rival Protestant and Catholic guerrilla groups now
observing ceasefires are eligible for early release over the next two
years under the law, which came into force last week. The Sentence
Review Commissioners, appointed to implement the legislation, said
they would issue application forms to eligible prisoners on Thursday.
See http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555409869-49b
*** Hooligan suspect in Cup beating back in jail
A German suspect in a brutal attack on a policeman during the World
Cup soccer championships was returned to jail Wednesday by a French
appeals court, ending his freedom pending a possible trial. The court
in the northern city of Douai, France reversed an earlier decision to
release Karl-Heinz Elschner of Braunschweig on bail of 50,000 francs
(US$8,400). Elschner, 27, is under investigation for attempted murder
in connection with the savage beating of gendarme Daniel Nivel, 43,
who on Tuesday emerged from a six-week coma. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555409847-f3a
*** Bishops refuse to legitimize gay unions
Anglican bishops from around the world refused on Wednesday to ordain
gay priests or bless homosexual couples, handing a stunning defeat to
liberal clerics. After a divisive debate among Church leaders
attending the once-in-a-decade Lambeth conference, a compromise
resolution was toughened by conservative African bishops who said
that homosexuality was against biblical law. The final resolution was
resoundingly backed by 526 bishops and opposed by 70. Archbishop of
Canterbury George Carey welcomed the final resolution. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555409790-a83
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The World Political Scene
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Defiant Netanyahu blasts West Bank killings
Gunmen shot dead two Jewish settlers in the West Bank overnight and
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded Wednesday with
defiant backing for more construction on occupied land. Tuesday
night's ambush at Yitzhar settlement near Nablus put fresh strain on
faltering peace moves between Israel and the Palestinians, with
hardline Israeli politicians calling for a halt to the negotiations.
The two men, aged 18 and 24, were on a security patrol at the
settlement when the gunmen opened fire on their car. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555408279-f52 ***
Also: West Bank killings overshadow peace talks, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555403605-486
*** Russian premier seeks special Duma session
Prime Minister Sergei Kiriyenko urged the Communist-dominated lower
house of parliament Wednesday to interrupt its summer recess to
debate more laws aimed at pulling Russia out of its deep economic
crisis. The Communist speaker of the State Duma, Gennady Seleznyov,
told reporters after his talks with Kiriyenko that the chamber would
probably reconvene Aug. 19 and 20. The Duma is not due to hold its
next regular session until Sept. 21 but Kiriyenko needs parliamentary
backing to push through income tax reforms, a new bankruptcy plan and
other changes to help keep his anti-crisis program on track. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555409481-e82 ***
Related story: Russia, IMF both being tested with new rescue deal,
see http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555407872-b12
*** Indonesia, Portugal agree to discuss E. Timor autonomy
Indonesia and Portugal took a big step Wednesday towards breaking a
long-standing deadlock over the disputed territory of East Timor by
agreeing to discuss Indonesian proposals for granting it a "special
status, based on a wide-ranging autonomy." A communique issued after
two-days of talks between Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas and
his Portuguese counterpart, Jaime Gama, said it was hoped an
agreement on this could be reached before the end of the year. The
two sides also agreed to establish interests sections in friendly
embassies in each other's capitals by the end of 1998 and relaxed
visa policies. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555409879-971 ***
Sidebar: Text of Indonesia-Portugal communique on East Timor, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555410028-7db
*** African leaders to discuss widening Congo revolt
African leaders will meet in Zimbabwe Friday to discuss the widening
conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, officials said on
Wednesday. Zambian, Zimbabwean and Rwandan government officials said
the talks would be attended by Congo's President Laurent Kabila, who
is battling rebels that have secured towns in the east of Africa's
third largest country. "It is a meeting to seriously analyze the
Congo crisis and what the region can do to help," said a Zambian
official, speaking by telephone from the capital Lusaka. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555409368-344
*** Germany's Schroeder, high in polls, meets Clinton
German opposition leader Gerhard Schroeder, ahead in polls for next
month's election, said Wednesday Germany would benefit from the kind
of enterprising risk-taking that has driven the U.S. economy.
Schroeder was speaking during a visit to Washington which included a
meeting of about 30 minutes with President Clinton and was seen as
helping round out his image before the Sept. 27 election. He told
reporters at the National Press Club that Germany had to bring more
flexibility and enterprise to its ailing economy. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555408980-22f
*** Havel takes solid food, Stones send flowers
Czech President Vaclav Havel, who suffered a life-threatening heart
problem on Monday following intestinal surgery, took solid food for
the first time Wednesday and is reading and writing notes, doctors
said. Rock stars The Rolling Stones, whom Havel has befriended since
leading the 1989 Velvet Revolution which overthrew Communism sent
flowers to the 61-year-old former playwright. Other well-wishers
included Czech film director Milos Forman and another rock legend,
Lou Reed. The lead Czech doctor on Havel's medical team, Ilja Kotik,
told a news conference the president had spent a quiet night. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555408477-d7a
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Americas
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Colombian rebels kill 30 in raid, adding to offensive
A 500-strong rebel force killed at least 30 security force members in
a raid on an anti-drug base in southeast Colombia, taking the death
toll in a nationwide guerrilla offensive to more than 100, police
said Wednesday. About 50 policemen and soldiers were wounded and
military sources fear more than 100 others may have been killed or
taken prisoner in the assault on the base in the town of Miraflores
that began late Monday and raged throughout Tuesday. The raid was the
worst of more than 40 guerrilla attacks in half of Colombia's 32
provinces. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555409120-a6a
*** Cuban exile group repeats call for Times retraction
A leading Cuban-American group reiterated its demand Wednesday that
the New York Times retract an article about a Cuban exile who claimed
the group's leaders had financed violent attacks against Cuba's
government. In mid-July, the New York Times quoted Cuban exile
commando Luis Posada Carriles as saying he had received money from
Jorge Mas Canosa, the late chairman of the Cuban American National
Foundation, and other CANF leaders. Posada has been linked to bombing
attacks on Havana hotels and violence against President Fidel Castro.
See http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555408420-a81
*** Argentine construction workers march over deaths
More than 10,000 Argentine construction workers marched on Congress
Wednesday to call for tougher safety laws to end building site
accidents they say kill 400 people a year. Building sites throughout
Buenos Aires stood empty as helmeted workers bearing banners calling
for "Work Without Death" marched to the square before Congress. They
listened to fiery speeches by union leaders calling for companies to
be forced to take more safeguards. The protest came a day after news
that a worker had fallen to his death through a hole left uncovered
in a shopping mall being built in downtown Buenos Aires. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555409273-401
*** Chilean crime wave worries normally quiet Santiago
A rising wave of violent crime is spreading fear among residents of
Chile's capital, normally lauded for its tranquility and security,
police and local media reported Wednesday. "The wave of robberies is
becoming a tidal wave," a presenter on Radio Agricultura said
Wednesday after giving details of the latest armed bank robbery,
carried out in broad daylight in downtown Santiago. Chile enjoys a
reputation of being relatively free of crime in comparison to other
Latin American nations where violent crime is much more common. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555409455-892
*** Italian priest leaves Guatemala after shooting
An Italian-born priest who was shot four times by unidentified gunmen
in Guatemala in July has returned to Italy for continued medical
treatment, the Italian embassy said Wednesday. "His family took him
back to Italy for medical treatment," an official at the Italian
embassy in Guatemala said. The official said the priest, Sebastiano
Crestani, left the country Tuesday evening. Crestani was shot in his
legs, abdomen and face on July 20 in the parking lot of the San Juan
de Borromeo Church in a neighborhood of Guatemala City. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555409272-09d ***
Related story: Pope prays for murdered Haitian priest, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555407126-de8
*** Feature: Mexican hackers declare electronic war
They have plastered the face of revolutionary hero Emiliano Zapata on
the Finance Ministry's Web site and claim to have monitored visits by
senators to X-rated Internet salons. They also have vowed to mine
official data bases for incriminating numbers and publicize
government bank accounts, cellular phone conversations and e-mail
addresses. A small group of computer hackers have declared electronic
war on the Mexican state. So far the cyber pirates appear to be more
a nuisance than a serious threat, but they are serving as a wake-up
call for computer security in Mexico, experts said. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555407625-641
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Europe and Russia
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Death toll reaches 5 in Berlin blast
The bodies of five people, including a 13-year-old boy, were
recovered on Wednesday from the rubble of a collapsed Berlin
apartment block. Emergency workers had searched through the night
hoping to find residents alive in the debris of the building, reduced
to a pile of rubble after a suspected gas explosion on Tuesday. They
found the bodies of two women and the teenager in the morning and
discovered two mens' bodies later in the day. Two grown-up daughters
of one of the women are still missing. Rescuers said there was little
hope of finding them alive if they had been in the four-story
building. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555408564-f19
*** Kohl rivals go on offensive for young vote
Germany's opposition Social Democrats paraded their rising stars to
attract young voters Wednesday, as an opinion poll showed a narrowing
of their lead over Chancellor Helmut Kohl's conservatives. The SPD,
whose chancellor candidate Gerhard Schroeder is 14 years younger than
the 68-year-old Kohl, is fielding candidates under 35 in 29
constituencies for the Sept. 27 election. Seven of its candidates,
aged 22 to 34, held a news conference to promote policies including a
tax on firms to fund training schemes for young people. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555407278-f04
*** Related story: Kohl's CDU cuts poll gap to 3 points, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555404156-b17
*** Italy sends 1,000 police to Sicily over immigrants
Italy said Wednesday it had sent 1,000 extra security forces to
Sicily and set aside more than a billion lire (US$573,000) to help
deal with an influx of illegal immigrants in recent weeks. "One
thousand reinforcements and funds for more than a billion lire have
been set out to help the Sicilian authorities," an interior ministry
spokeswoman said. The government said last month it was giving Sicily
funds to run the so-called "welcome centers" where immigrants are put
up temporarily before being repatriated. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555406449-608
*** Latvian gov't edges close to majority as vote nears
The six-party ruling coalition of Latvian Prime Minister Guntar
Krasts has edged closer to a majority, gaining two seats in
parliament amid pre-election jockeying by smaller members of the
alliance. A spokesman for the prime minister said the minority
government now holds 49 seats in Latvia's parliament but can muster
the support of over 55 MPs - including independents - in the 100-seat
chamber. The changes came after junior partners, the Christian
Democrats and the Greens, formed a new alliance with the Labor Party
ahead of an Oct. 3 election. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555408565-4f7 ***
Related story: Latvia to set up ballot stations in 27 countries, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555408374-d2c
*** Headscarved Islamist women may run for Turk polls
Turkey's main opposition Islamist party said Wednesday it may field
women election candidates who wear Islamic-style headscarves, in a
challenge to strict secularist dress rules. Turkish parliamentary
dress regulations are interpreted as banning women deputies from
working in the national assembly while wearing headscarves. The
wearing of Islamic-style dress in public life is one of the main
bones of contention in a fight between religious activists and the
secularist elite which forced Islamist former prime minister
Necmettin Erbakan from office last year. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555406721-e47
*** Also: Key Turk party slams Islamist minister appointment, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555405837-71c
*** Feature: What's left? Europe's Socialists debate ideas
A struggle for the soul of the European left is under way as
socialist and social democratic parties extend their grip on
government to most of the European Union. Left-of-center parties now
rule alone or in coalition in 12 of the 15 EU states. And after 16
years in opposition, the prize of power in Germany, Western Europe's
most populous and wealthiest nation, seems within reach in September
elections. The debate, dubbed the War of the Roses by left-wing
French daily Liberation, pits supporters of traditional social
democracy, with its pillars of a mixed economy, welfare state and
powerful labor unions, against advocates of a much more
market-oriented social liberalism. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555407962-6e7
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Africa
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Rwanda leader regrets Congo war, denies involvement
Rwandan President Pasteur Bizimungu Wednesday denied that Rwanda was
fomenting unrest in the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo,
saying his country regretted the conflict there. "It is a regrettable
development. We do not know what the outcome will be," he told
Zambian President Frederick Chiluba at the start of a three-day visit
to Zambia. "There is no particular reason for Rwanda to be involved
in an internal situation of the Congo." Rwandan and Zambian
government officials in Lusaka said the rebellion would dominate
talks. For part 2, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555405579-3b0
*** Eritrean delegation satisfied with OAU meeting
Eritrea said Wednesday it was satisfied with the result of a weekend
Organization of African Unity meeting to discuss its border conflict
with Eritrea. Tesfamariam Tekeste, a senior official in the Eritrean
foreign ministry, said he was also pleased with a report by OAU
ambassadors presented at the meeting held in Burkina Faso. Hundreds
died when a simmering border dispute between the two Horn of Africa
neighbors flared into violence in May and June. Ethiopia said Tuesday
the OAU meeting supported its claims to disputed border territory at
Badme and Sheraro. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555409183-238
*** Sudan peace talks show no sign of compromise
The Sudanese government and rebels are unlikely to reach agreement on
the main issues at peace talks aimed at ending their 15-year civil
war, African diplomats said Wednesday. The diplomats, who declined to
be identified, said the sides were deadlocked over what constituted
south Sudan. Talks resumed on Tuesday and should run until Thursday.
At the last round in Nairobi, Kenya, in May, the government said it
would only accept a referendum of self-determination for the south in
the three provinces of Bahr el Ghazal, Equatoria and Upper Nile. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555406136-35c
*** Also: Rains dampen relief effort for Sudan's hungry, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555407685-f33
*** Algeria groups fight travel ban on massacre orphans
Algerian aid groups have started a legal campaign against a
government decision banning children who lost their parents in
massacres, from traveling to Europe. According to the groups, around
1,100 orphans, all aged under 12 years, have been affected by the ban
since it was imposed by the government last month to protect them
against what it called "manipulation by hostile powers." Djazairouna
(Our Algeria) humanitarian group, is one of five women's associations
in the Moslem country involved in a rehabilitation program, to help
the children overcome psychological problems. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555407554-685
*** Crime, poverty, corruption key to S. African election
Crime, poverty and corruption emerged Wednesday as the issues likely
to dominate next year's national election in South Africa, only the
second all race poll in the country's history. The subjects came to
the fore during a series of briefings to reporters by leaders of the
main opposition parties in the South African parliament which is
dominated by the ruling African National Congress. Democratic Party
leader Tony Leon said, "People feel more insecure than at any time in
the past four years." See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555406210-3fb
*** Lesotho's king urged to intervene in election row
More than 1,000 demonstrators in the tiny southern African kingdom of
Lesotho camped in front of the monarch's palace Wednesday after an
all-day, all-night vigil protesting against recent election results.
The protesters are supporters of three opposition parties that hardly
made a showing in the May 23 general election, won in a landslide by
the ruling Lesotho Congress for Democracy. The Basotholand Congress
Party, the Basotho National Party and the Marematlou Freedom Party
have taken their allegations of vote-fixing to Lesotho's High Court
in an attempt to have the results declared null and void. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555403433-9c1
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India and the Middle East
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Arafat expands cabinet, keeps most ministers
Palestinian President Yasser Arafat announced a long-awaited cabinet
reshuffle on Wednesday but stunned legislators by keeping ministers
they had wanted sacked for alleged corruption and mismanagement. "The
old ministries will remain the same," Arafat said before naming 10
additional ministers to an expanded cabinet amid catcalls from
members of the 88-seat Legislative Council. Arafat accepted the
resignation of his 18-seat cabinet in June, when lawmakers agreed to
hold off a no-confidence vote to give him more time to appoint a new
team. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555405938-963
*** Palestinians doubt peace process will bring state
A majority of Palestinians doubt the peace process with Israel will
lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state over the next few
years, an opinion poll showed Wednesday. The poll by the Center for
Palestine Research and Studies showed the number of those who support
violence against Israel had fallen to 44% from 50% a month ago, but a
majority distrust the Israeli government and Israelis. On the
domestic front, 56% of those questioned said they believed
Palestinian political institutions were corrupt while the number of
people who would re-elect President Yasser Arafat fell to 48% last
month. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555407953-381
*** Afghan opposition said organizing new force
Afghanistan's opposition alliance said Wednesday it was organizing a
fresh 9,000-strong force to block the Taleban's onslaught in the
north. Opposition spokesman Dr. Abdullah denied a Taleban report that
their forces had captured the northern province of Sar-i-Pul on
Tuesday. A Taleban spokesman, Abdul Hai Mutmaen, said that the
province was under Taleban control. The purist Islamic Taleban have
made stunning advances in the north since the weekend with the
support of local commanders, but there were conflicting reports
Wednesday. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555407442-0c8 ***
Related story: Uzbeks, Russians urge Taleban to stop advance. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555405249-e42
*** Turkish forces say killed 165 Kurdish rebels
Turkish troops have killed 165 Kurdish guerrillas in fighting that
has spread into neighboring northern Iraq, security officials said
Wednesday. Five rebels were captured alive and another two
surrendered in the clashes that broke out at the weekend. Most of the
deaths were in an operation launched against Kurdistan Workers Party
(PKK) guerrillas following a rebel rocket attack on army positions
near Beytussebap Monday. Fighting often spills over into the
Kurdish-held enclave of northern Iraq, outside Baghdad's control
since the 1991 Gulf War. Turkish troops have established a
semi-permanent presence in the area to combat the PKK. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555406572-061
*** Kashmir border clash death toll tops 100
Cross-border firing continued along the disputed Kashmir border on
Wednesday and the death toll from seven days of clashes between
Indian and Pakistani troops climbed above 100. Both sides reported
more deaths. Artillery attacks were reported from several sectors of
the Himalayan region, but the intensity of the firing had lessened,
Indian defense officials said. Indian authorities have reported 35
deaths since firing began last Thursday and Pakistani officials have
put the toll on their side at 69. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555407725-fce
*** Related story: Pakistan says 11 killed by Indian firing, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555408850-59a
*** Related story: Pakistan says Kashmir getting out of hand, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555406966-a34
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Far East
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Group says mass graves found in Indonesia's Aceh
A legal aid group in Indonesia's Aceh province said Wednesday 10 mass
graves had been found at three sites in the north Sumatran region,
with victims apparently killed by troops suppressing an insurgency in
the early 1990s. An official said one site was near the town of Pidi,
46 miles southeast of Banda Aceh, the provincial capital, and the
other two sites were located in east and north Aceh. A long-running
insurgency against Indonesian rule in Aceh, which has about 170,000
people, reached a peak in the early 1990s before the army suppressed
it with strong-arm tactics and dispersed its leaders. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555404453-318
*** China, Taiwan wrangle over politician's murder
China has denied allegations by Taipei that police in the country's
northeast forced the family of a Taiwan politician kidnapped and
murdered there to agree to an autopsy on the body, local media said
Wednesday. Lin, 33, a member of Taiwan's main opposition Democratic
Progressive Party, was kidnapped and murdered in Haicheng city in
Liaoning province last week. The murder threatened new frictions just
as the long-time foes were preparing to resume semi-official talks
suspended in 1995 after Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui made a
landmark,
private visit to the United States. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555403387-f1b
*** Hun Sen wins Cambodia polls, opposition skeptical
Government leader Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party won the
country's July 26 election according to preliminary results issued
Wednesday, but officials from opposition parties contesting the
result remained skeptical. The results show the ruling CPP won more
than 41%, or 2,030,802 of the valid votes cast, compared with around
32%, or 1,554,374 votes, for the FUNCINPEC party of Prince Norodom
Ranariddh, whom Hun Sen toppled last year. The Sam Rainsy Party came
third, winning 699,653 of the 4,902,488 valid votes cast, according
to the official results issued by the National Election Committee.
See http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555406009-b73
*** HK activists urge Indonesia rape victims to speak
A Hong Kong-based human rights group Wednesday urged ethnic Chinese
women raped during riots in Indonesia in May to testify at a U.N.
discrimination forum. Their testimony would form the basis for the
United Nations to send experts to the southeast Asian country to
investigate the atrocities, said Law Yuk-kai, director of the Hong
Kong Human Rights Monitor. The U.N. Human Rights Sub-Commission on
Race Discrimination has convened a month-long meeting in Geneva.
Indonesia's ethnic Chinese, resented for their perceived wealth, were
especially targeted during the May riots. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555403531-99e
*** Hiroshima looks back in sorrow, forward in anger
On the eve of the 53rd anniversary of the world's first atomic
bombing, survivors looked back Wednesday in sorrow and forward in
anger at what they see as a global drift back to nuclear weapons.
Under a scorching sun in Peace Park, center of the city where the
bomb was dropped on Aug. 6, 1945, an always somber mood was this week
more grim than usual because of Indian and Pakistani nuclear testing
in May. Buddhist monks chanted sutras, families of the dead offered
flowers, incense and thousands of folded paper cranes - symbols of
peace in what was 53 years ago a city of the dead and damned. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555404462-b31
----------------------------------------------------------------------
World Business and Financial News
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Wall Street's stumble sinks Asian equities
Most Asian-Pacific stock markets sank Wednesday, pushed lower by
sharp losses on Wall Street Tuesday, but strength in the Japanese yen
helped to narrow the losses in Tokyo. Some of the region's biggest
losses were suffered in South Korea and Indonesia, where markets
dropped 3.1% and 4.2%, respectively. Indonesia's main stock index
fell 4.2%, and Hong Kong shares lost 2% in midsession trading, before
recovering a bit to end down just 1.5%. Investors were unnerved by
the heavy selling that hit stocks in New York on Tuesday. In Tokyo,
though, the blue-chip Nikkei-225 average ended the day with a loss of
just 31.42, or 0.2%, to 15992.16. The selling pressure was limited by
optimism about strength in the yen, and amid optimism that Tokyo is
finally coming to grips with the country's deep economic troubles.
(WSJ)
*** European stocks fall on Wall Street slump
Stocks fell sharply Wednesday, joining a global market slump as
investors reacted to Tuesday's tumble on Wall Street. The Dow fell
299.43, or 3.4%, to 8487.31, the year's biggest decline on both a
point and percentage basis, amid program trading and a leading
analyst's prediction of a market correction. British shares sank to
their lowest levels since February on losses in U.S. blue chips
Tuesday and fears that the economic recession in Asia will continue
to cut into corporate profits. Commodities, banking, technology and
consumer stocks were the greatest decliners. French, Swiss, Italian,
Belgian, Dutch, Swedish and Spanish stocks also fell on the U.S.
losses. In Germany, the DAX, which measures floor trading, dropped
3.63%. South African industrial shares eased in line with global
markets, but Anglogold led the All Gold Index higher. (WSJ)
*** Japan's Cabinet OKs bank reform bills
Japan's Cabinet has approved two bills designed to clean up bad loans
in the country's debt-ridden banking system. One measure would allow
the government to take over insolvent banks and keep them running for
up to five years while bad loans and remaining assets are sold. The
so-called "bridge bank" plan would be funded by up to 11 trillion yen
(US$76 billion) in public funds. The second bill would create a
special mediator to resolve conflicting claims on properties used as
collateral for bad loans. The difficulty of untangling such claims
has been a major obstacle to resolving the bad debt problem. (USA
Today)
*** IMF approves Thai budget plan
The International Monetary Fund has agreed to allow Thailand's
government and state enterprises to run limited budget deficits in
the next fiscal year as a means to stimulate economic recovery. The
Thai government announced this week it intends to run a budget
deficit equal to 3.5% of gross domestic product. IMF targets had
called for a 1% surplus, but that was before the depth of the
country's economic crisis became apparent. Thailand is the recipient
of a $17.2 billion bailout package from the IMF. (USA Today)
*** Mobil not pumped up about Thailand
With Thai demand for fuel shrinking because of the country's economic
crisis, U.S.-based Mobil says it will not build any more service
stations in Thailand and predicts many already open will close. Mobil
Oil Thailand President Duke Keiser says the 200 or so stations slated
to open this year were the result of plans made by several oil
companies before Thailand's economic crisis hit in July 1997. Nearly
7,000 businesses have failed this year in Thailand. (USA Today)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Science and Medicine
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** U.S. scientists say drug may help cocaine addicts
An epilepsy drug shows promise as the first pharmaceutical treatment
for cocaine addiction and possibly other dependencies such as
nicotine and morphine, U.S. scientists announced Wednesday. The
scientists said experiments on rats and baboons indicated that the
drug prevented the "high" and other effects of cocaine in much the
same way it prevents an epileptic seizure, by altering the way brain
cells communicate with each other. The drug, Vigabatrin, has been
available in Europe for more than a decade for treating epilepsy, but
approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was not expected
until October. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555410324-189
*** Blood substitute test in trauma patients a success
A blood substitute was found to be just as effective as donated blood
in providing life-sustaining oxygen to organs and tissues in the
first direct comparison of seriously injured, bleeding trauma
patients, according to a study reported on Wednesday. The August
issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons reported
that 44 trauma patients received either the blood substitute known as
PolyHeme or donated red blood cells to replace the blood they were
losing. PolyHeme, made from the hemoglobin in unused human donor
blood, was developed by Northfield Laboratories Inc., of Evanston,
Ill. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555407305-37f
*** Virus causes AIDS-related skin cancer-researchers
American researchers said Wednesday they have proof that a herpes
virus causes Kaposi sarcoma, an-AIDS related cancer. Scientists knew
that the human herpes virus 8 (HHV8) was present in the tumors
produced by the disease and had suspected it was the cause, but until
now they could not prove it. "This (finding) means we can start
understanding how the virus causes the disease and we can apply that
knowledge to better prevention and better treatment strategies," Dr.
Ethel Cesarman said. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555408965-979
*** Costa Rica gives Viagra green light
Costa Rica has added itself to the small but growing list of
countries outside the United States to authorize the legal sale of
the anti-impotence pill Viagra, officials said Wednesday. After weeks
of sometimes heated discussions, health officials approved the sale
late on Tuesday, Health Minister Rogelio Pardo told reporters
Wednesday. He said the pill would be available in several days.
Viagra, made by U.S. drugs firm Pfizer, is already sold in the U.S.,
Switzerland, Canada, Mexico, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Malaysia,
Thailand and Brazil. Pardo said the pill could benefit up to 40% of
the male Costa Rican population. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555409466-d44 ***
Also: Estonia clamors for Viagra drug. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555408758-048
*** No signs of virus in pig-human cell transplants
People who received cells from pigs for pancreatic disorders and
Parkinson's disease have not shown any signs of being infected with a
pig virus, New Scientist magazine said Wednesday. Fears that pig
retroviruses could be transferred to humans who receive pig organs,
tissue or cells is one of the main concerns and stumbling blocks in
xenotransplantation - animal-to-human transplants. But the weekly
magazine said the results of studies presented to the United Kingdom
Xenotransplantation Interim Regulation Authority during a closed
workshop last week showed the concerns may be fading. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555408869-43b
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Technology
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** AlliedSignal seeks to buy AMP
AlliedSignal Inc. said Tuesday it offered to buy AMP Inc. for $44.50
per share or $9.8 billion cash in a hostile takeover bid. The
AlliedSignal Board of Directors has unanimously approved the offer.
AlliedSignal Chairman and CEO Larry Bossidy said, "We are announcing
this offer after our requests for discussions were ignored by AMP
management. We are confident the combination of the two companies can
achieve substantial benefits for all concerned, and we have made an
effort to meet with AMP management in order to outline these benefits
in friendly discussions." The tender offer will be subject to
customary terms and conditions. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555396979-c77 ***
Also: Allied Signal, AMP stocks drop on takeover concern, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555409506-001
*** Cisco takes top spot in Internet-dial up from 3Com
Cisco Systems Inc. said it has outpaced arch-rival 3Com Corp. to
become the No. 1 supplier of dial-up Internet access equipment,
overcoming its late entry into the fast-growing market. Dial-up
access products are sold to phone companies and Internet service
providers who install them in switching centers to connect customers
dialing in over phone lines to the Internet. In general, Cisco said
that during the latest quarter the company remained No. 1 or No. 2 in
each of the major market segments in which it competes. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555397358-4ce
*** LSI Logic bullish on Asia despite crisis
Chip maker LSI Logic Corp, which on Wednesday launched its first
major foray in China, sees Asia as a major market for its
high-technology products despite the region's current financial
upheaval, a senior official said. "Our business in Asia will grow
substantially in 1998 over 1997," said Rick Marz, executive
vice-president for geographic markets at the Silicon Valley-based
firm. Despite Asia's financial turmoil, he expects demand for LSI
Logic's system-on-a-chip products to soar as the region leapfrogs
analog technology and goes digital in the fast-growing communications
and home entertainment fields. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555404987-814
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The Environment
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Japan gov't slapped with damages in pollution suit
A group of Japanese residents who sued the government after suffering
respiratory diseases blamed on fumes from a local highway were
awarded 149 million yen (US$1.03 million) in damages Wednesday, court
officials said. he 48 residents from Kawasaki, an industrial city
just south of Tokyo, suffered problems including asthma caused by
nitrogen oxide emissions from automobiles on the national highway,
the court officials said. The Kawasaki branch of the Yokohama
District Court ruled in their favor and against the Japanese
government and the governmental Metropolitan Expressway Public Corp.
The ruling drew the curtain on a series of air pollution lawsuits
filed in the 1980s. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555402797-58d
*** McCartney to take up wife Linda's animal rights cause
Former Beatle Paul McCartney was quoted Wednesday as saying that he
would pick up the torch for animal rights from his late wife, Linda.
McCartney told Animal Times magazine he wanted to underscore his
wife's work for animal rights by giving his first interview since her
death in April to the quarterly magazine. "Animal rights is too good
an idea for the next century to be suppressed," McCartney said. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555404609-5c5
*** South Europe heat closes industry, hits transport
Southeastern Europe remained in the grip of a heat wave on Wednesday,
with temperatures up to 104 degrees disrupting transport, forcing
industry onto short hours and emptying city centers. In Romania, nine
deaths linked to the stifling heat were recorded in 24 hours, most of
them from heart attacks. That brought to 24 the death toll in three
weeks of temperatures unseen for more than four decades. Sofia, the
Bulgarian capital, registered a record 96 degrees and city bars
launched a new service selling ice cubes for the equivalent of 12
U.S. cents each. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555408502-5ef
*** Millions hit as Vietnam drought kills crops
A heatwave and drought hitting parts of central Vietnam have frazzled
subsistence rice crops and dried up water supplies, an aid offical
said Wednesday. Millions of people in six provinces stretching 250
miles north from the central city of Hue were short of water, he
said, adding that there had been a spread of diseases like malaria
and dengue fever. "We are trying to monitor the situation because
it's a very exceptional situation with the weather at the moment and
we know that a lot of crops have been destroyed," the official from
the International Federation of Red Cross said. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555404213-fea
*** Blame pollution, not Mother Nature, for wet weekends
Pollution, not Mother Nature, is to blame for all those wet weekends
and sunny Mondays, climatologists said Wednesday. They discovered
that the daily accumulation of carbon monoxide and ozone over the
East Coast of the United States is affecting regional weather, and
even hurricane strength, as much as the El Nino weather phenomenon.
Reporting in the science journal Nature, Randall Cerveny and Robert
Balling Jr., of Arizona State University, said they examined records
on pollution and rainfall along the eastern seaboard and found proof
that weather patterns follow a seven-day cycle. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555409814-0a6
*** Greek fire under control but critics slam gov't
Greek firefighters brought a 4-day-old forest blaze under control
near Athens on Wednesday but the government came under savage attack
for failing to prevent the destruction of scores of homes. lames that
had raged unchecked since Sunday ruined about 100 homes, damaged
hundreds of others, burned three factories and a school and razed
thousands of acres of precious pine forest on Mount Pendeli,
according to initial estimates. Most newspapers Wednesday accused the
state's fire-fighting apparatus of incompetence. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555405862-2ea
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Human Interest
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Man strung up on meat hooks sets new world record
John Kamakaze, Scotland's self-styled "Prince of Pain," set a
stomach-churning world record Wednesday when he spent 15 minutes
suspended in mid-air by meat hooks imbedded in his back. A smiling
Kamakaze, with eight meat hooks stuck in his back, and one in each
leg, said pain was all in the mind. "It didn't hurt a bit. It's just
a case of mind over matter," Kamakaze said afterwards. "I'm perfectly
happy. The only thing that hurts is a blister on my foot from walking
about too much yesterday." Unsurprisingly, the stunt has never before
been attempted. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555409538-f1f
*** Man squirts paint on Rembrandt portrait in London
A man squirted yellow paint over a Rembrandt self-portrait at
London's National Gallery this week but the work has been cleaned up
and is now back on show, a gallery spokeswoman said Wednesday. The
attack on the picture of the artist at the age of 63 happened on
Tuesday. "It hasn't sustained any permanent damage," the spokeswoman
said. A 26-year-old unemployed man has been charged with criminal
damage over the attack, for which the motive was unclear. "This
happens about once every 10 years," the spokeswoman said. "We
normally nip these things in the bud." (Reuters)
*** French language watchdog growls at U.S. feminists
One of the staunchest defenders of the French language has found a
new ememy in his never-ending battle against linguistic pollution -
American feminists. Maurice Druon, secretary of the hallowed Academie
Francaise that guards the language as a national treasure, grumbled
on Wednesday about a recent fashion for "feminizing" titles which he
said was an American aberration infiltrating French via Quebec. "Do
we know where this fashion of feminizing titles was born? Certainly
not in Canada, but in the United States. Canada was only contaminated
through geographical proximity." See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555404916-1ac
*** Manila hurt by Greek definition of 'Filipina'
The Philippines has protested to Greece over the definition of
"Filipina" in a Greek dictionary as "housemaid," the Foreign Office
said Wednesday. Philippine Ambassador Norberto Basilio, in a formal
protest to the Greek foreign ministry, said the description was "an
affront to the dignity" of Philippine women and demanded a
correction. The Philippines has more than 4 million nationals working
overseas, including Greece, many of them as domestic help. Manila has
called them its "modern day heroes" for helping prop up the economy
with their dollar remittances, worth more than $7 billion in 1997.
See http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555404333-811
*** Crackdown on near-naked Australian outback barmaids
The long-running tradition of near-naked young women tending bar in
the rough outback mining towns of Western Australia state may be
coming to an end. Kalgoorlie has been known as much for its relaxed
attitude to prostitution and drinking as for being the heart of the
Australian gold mining industry. But police are cracking down on
female bartenders, known to locals as "skimpies" who work in their
underwear and give patrons a peek of their breasts and buttocks for a
small fee. One hotel owner said the crackdown was probably aimed at
presenting a cleaner image of Kalgoorlie during this week's annual
mining conference, which attracts many overseas visitors. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555403984-a48
*** Feature: Touched by a Blue Angel, the Navy's PR weapon
The Navy Blue Angel jet devours the runway and, in a high performance
climb, rockets to 10,000 feet. Ferrari may boast about how fast its
cars can go from zero to 60 mph but this $35 million F/A-18 Hornet,
with twin engines each providing 22,000 pounds of thrust, leaps from
120 mph to 700 mph, just under the speed of sound, in less than eight
seconds. The famed flying team is in the middle of its annual 8-month
tour of the United States and Canada. Each weekend from late March to
early November the precision pilots leave their home base in
Pensacola, Fla., to perform maneuvers that cause ordinary mortals to
lose their eyesight and their lunch. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555407048-bc2
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