Afternoon Edition for Friday, January 22, 1999
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U.S. Front Page Stories
-----------------------
*** Senators pose questions at trial
*** 8 die in tornadoes in South
*** NATO split spurs defiant Milosevic
*** Clinton seeks anti-terrorism aid
*** Swiss banks, Jews come to terms
*** Hastert: HMO bills will move
The U.S. Political Scene
------------------------
*** Clinton seeks abortion clinic funds
*** Democratic fund-raiser fined by FEC
*** GOP to pick convention site
*** Gay discharges in Air Force climb
The Courts
----------
*** Feds want Fortier sentence upheld
*** Microsoft exec denies gov't claim
*** Campus radicals jailed for spying
*** Attorney charged in capital scam
*** Suspect's mental health in question
U.S. Business and Financial News
--------------------------------
*** DirecTV owner in deal for rival
*** IBM shakes down Dow
*** Tobacco companies OK trust fund
*** Nissan, DaimlerChrysler in talks
World Front Page Stories
------------------------
*** Serbs sought revenge with massacre
*** Miners' crisis averted in Romania
*** 43 dead in Indonesian rioting
*** Pope still enjoys traveling
The World Political Scene
-------------------------
*** Iraq to attend Arab League meeting
*** King Hussein zeroes in on successor
*** U.S., China, Koreas wrap up talks
*** Yeltsin's ulcer treatment ongoing
*** Africa leaders seek free trade zone
*** Antarctic treaty nations to meet
The Americas
------------
*** Update: Raul Salinas found guilty of murder
*** Ex-Argentine leaders indicted
*** Swissair pilots may have disagreed
*** Driver describes Guatemala rapes
Europe and Russia
-----------------
*** Jewish museum in Berlin opens Sat.
*** Russia's foreign trade down 16%
*** Belarus grants amnesty to 34,000
*** Mitchell to lead Belfast school
*** Russian army deserters captured
*** Bomber of Czar statue sentenced
Africa
------
*** Republic of Congo, militias clash
*** Tanzanian embassy may be ready soon
*** Zimbabwean arrested for coup story
*** Mandela returns anti-smoking bill
India and the Middle East
-------------------------
*** Turkey says Kurd rebel is in Russia
*** Israeli official may leave party
*** Hezbollah claims foiling Israelis
*** Update: Anti-cricket campaign called off
The Far East
------------
*** Hundreds reported jailed in Myanmar
*** Report: China dissident denied care
*** Suharto guarded as he visits grave
*** Execution date set in Philippines
*** U.S. apologizes for Japan jet crash
World Business and Financial News
---------------------------------
*** Asian markets lose ground
*** Brazil's woes pressure stocks in Europe
*** JIL wins battle for Sears PLC
*** Success gets harder to build for Lego
*** Argentina weighs currency options
Science and Medicine
--------------------
*** Patients' wait for organs differs
*** FDA issues warning on GBL chemical
*** CDC: Flu season mild so far
*** Chemotherapy pioneer Zubrod dies
*** Surgeon general backs tobacco suit
*** Russia plans 3 more years for Mir
Technology
----------
*** AT&T may sell WorldNet to AtHome - WSJ
*** IBM posts 12% rise in profit, stock falls
The Environment
---------------
*** Logging considered in Grand Canyon
*** Plutonium program may be dangerous
*** Geologists speculate on Noah's flood
*** Seedling shortage hits landowners
Human Interest
--------------
*** Utah bans anti-Olympic plates
*** Danish hacker picks wrong victim
*** Elvis lives - in Sumerian language
*** More cancer stamps to be printed
*** Girl's 'miracles' investigated
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U.S. Front Page Stories
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Senators pose questions at trial
WASHINGTON (AP) - After two weeks of looking on, senators posed their
first questions to lawyers in President Clinton's impeachment trial
Friday and gave House prosecutors an opportunity to contest some of
the White House claims made during their defense presentation. Rep.
Ed Bryant, R-Tenn., one of the prosecutors, seized the first question
and tried to rebut White House assertions that the perjury case
against Clinton was a "he said, she said" case. He responded to a
questions from four Republican senators, and read aloud by Chief
Justice William Rehnquist. Clinton's lawyers had left out evidence
that would have provided "ample corroboration," Bryant said, arguing
that Monica Lewinsky's testimony was verified by White House records,
phone logs and the testimony of her friends and Secret Service
agents. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558149812-7b0 ***
Also: Sen. Byrd wants charges dismissed, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558149959-8c4
*** 8 die in tornadoes in South
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Tornadoes ripped across the South for the
second time in less than a week, a punishing storm system that killed
eight people in two states and left thousands of people without power
early Friday. Wave after wave of twisters hit central Arkansas late
Thursday afternoon and evening, collapsing roofs, knocking down power
poles and leaving trees strewn about the grounds of the governor's
mansion. Seven people died. In Tennessee, a tornado touched down in
Clarksville this morning, ripping roofs off buildings. No deaths were
reported there but one woman died elsewhere in Tennessee. Just last
Sunday, tornadoes killed nine people in the state. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558149074-3a2
*** NATO split spurs defiant Milosevic
BELGRADE, Yugoslavia (AP) - Still very much in power after a week of
openly defying the West, Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic seems
unimpressed by threats of NATO airstrikes over the conflict in
Kosovo. Milosevic's challenges to NATO over Kosovo has won him
support from nationalists and hard-liners at home - and with
divisions among NATO's ranks, he apparently sees no reason to soften
his stance. Western countries say they are determined to stop
Milosevic's campaign against ethnic Albanian separatists and reimpose
an October cease-fire in Kosovo, a province of Yugoslavia's main
republic, Serbia. But with their experience with Iraq's Saddam
Hussein fresh in their minds, they have yet to settle on a way to do
it. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558149805-458
*** Clinton seeks anti-terrorism aid
WASHINGTON (AP) - Warning that terrorists are seeking new tools of
destruction, President Clinton said Friday he will ask Congress for
$2.8 billion to help the United States guard against attacks via
computers, viruses or chemicals. "The enemies of peace realize they
cannot defeat us with traditional means," Clinton said in a speech at
the National Academy of Sciences. He said the United States has to
guard against attacks on the nation's computer network, banking
systems, power grids and other essential services. Similarly, he said
the government must accelerate research and development into defenses
against germ warfare and chemical attacks. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558147823-619
*** Swiss banks, Jews come to terms
NEW YORK (AP) - Lawyers for Jewish groups, Holocaust survivors and
Swiss banks Friday worked out more details for an agreement to pay
$1.25 billion in compensation for wartime losses. The talks, which
included the Swiss banks UBS AG and Credit Suisse, began in federal
court in New York late Thursday and ended shortly after midnight,
said Elan Steinberg, executive director of the World Jewish Congress.
The banks, which were accused of profiting from deposits and other
assets belonging to Holocaust victims, agreed last summer to pay the
money. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558149703-1d4
*** Hastert: HMO bills will move
WASHINGTON (AP) - Popular legislation regulating HMOs will reach the
House floor this year, Speaker Dennis Hastert says. Hastert, R-Ill.,
in a letter Thursday to House members, said a "patient protection"
bill will move through the committee process and reach the floor
before adjournment in the fall. "This year the House will address
many important issues," he wrote. "Key among them will be our
discussion on patient protections in health care." But Hastert warned
he is not likely to support legislation making it easier for patients
denied care to take health maintenance organizations and other
managed care companies to court. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558144731-c60
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The U.S. Political Scene
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Clinton seeks abortion clinic funds
WASHINGTON (AP) - Abortion clinics could use federal funds for alarm
systems, bulletproof windows and closed-circuit camera systems, under
a White House plan to counter clinic violence. The administration is
seeking $4.5 million to enable clinics to bolster security measures
and pay for security assessments to determine which clinics are most
at risk. First lady Hillary Rodham Clinton made the announcement
Friday in a speech to the National Abortion Rights Action League on
the 26th anniversary of the Supreme Court's landmark Roe vs. Wade
ruling that legalized abortion nationwide. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558149838-8ab
*** Democratic fund-raiser fined by FEC
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Federal Election Commission has fined
Democratic fund-raiser Howard Glicken $40,000 for soliciting campaign
donations from a foreigner and arranging a contribution in a phony
name. Glicken, a Miami business executive and friend of Vice
President Al Gore, agreed to the civil penalty in November. The FEC
fine was announced Thursday. He pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors
July 20 in a deal with the Justice Department's campaign finance task
force. U.S. District Judge Henry Kennedy fined him another $80,000,
put him on 18 months probation and ordered him to do 500 hours of
community service. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558144797-c12
*** GOP to pick convention site
WASHINGTON (AP) - Beachfront hotels and warm weather welcomed
Republicans to San Diego in 1996. Four years later, the Liberty Bell
and other historic sites will greet GOP activists headed to
Philadelphia. The 165 Republican National Committee members were to
vote Friday to choose Philadelphia as the site of their 2000
presidential nominating convention, marking their first return there
in 52 years. Although delegates to the RNC's winter meeting said they
enjoyed San Diego's resort offerings, they believe they will like
their visit to Philadelphia as well. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558143192-331 ***
And: Nicholson re-elected GOP chairman, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558148131-715
*** Gay discharges in Air Force climb
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Air Force said Friday it discharged 414 people
last year for being gay, a one-third increase over the previous year
and the highest yearly total since the Pentagon stopped requiring
service members to disclose their sexual orientation. Air Force
officials said most of those discharged had voluntarily acknowledged
they are gay and most were new recruits undergoing basic training at
Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. An Air Force spokeswoman said an Air
Force review of the situation at Lackland last year found that most
instructors and trainees there believed the acknowledgments of
homosexuality were made to escape the Air Force. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558148508-6da
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Courts
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Feds want Fortier sentence upheld
DENVER (AP) - Michael Fortier knew about the plan to bomb the federal
building in Oklahoma City and did nothing to prevent it, prosecutors
argued in urging a federal appeals court to uphold his 12-year
sentence. Fortier, the government's prime witness in the bombing
case, has asked for a reduction in his sentence and the $200,000
restitution he was ordered to pay. Fortier, who served in the Army
with Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, pleaded guilty to failing to
alert officials in advance about the 1995 plot to bomb the Alfred P.
Murrah Federal Building. The blast killed 168 people, and injured
hundreds. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558143891-683
*** Microsoft exec denies gov't claim
WASHINGTON (AP) - Within the hundreds of pages of legal documents
that make up the Microsoft antitrust case, a single allegation about
the company's aggression toward one rival carries enormous
consequence: that it once promised to "cut off Netscape's air
supply." Next week, the senior Microsoft executive alleged to have
made that threat, Paul Maritz, takes the witness stand to defend his
company. In 160 pages of written testimony made public Friday, Maritz
denied ever saying the "air supply" comment attributed to him during
a November 1995 meeting with Intel Corp. Throughout the 11 weeks of
trial, Maritz's name appears on nearly every controversial e-mail
used by the government as evidence, either as author or recipient.
See http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558147020-486
*** Campus radicals jailed for spying
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) - Two former campus radicals held hands Friday
as they were sentenced to prison on conviction of spying for the
former East Germany. Theresa Maria Squillacote, 41, a former Pentagon
lawyer, was sentenced to 21 years and 10 months in prison. Her
husband, Kurt Alan Stand, 44, a former labor union representative,
was sentenced to 17 years and six months by U.S. District Judge
Claude M. Hilton. "These defendants made a choice to betray their
country," said federal prosecutor Randy Bellows. Squillacote
expressed her "profound regret at the conduct that has brought this
case to bear." See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558148859-13c
*** Attorney charged in capital scam
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) - A Georgia attorney faces up to 20 years in
prison after pleading guilty in what is believed to be the biggest
non-drug, money-laundering case ever investigated by the U.S. Customs
Service. At a hearing Thursday, Ronald A. Cohen, of Thomasville, Ga.,
changed his plea to guilty to a charge of money laundering and agreed
to cooperate with the government. Cohen, 55, is scheduled to be
sentenced April 16 by Senior U.S. District Judge Maurice Paul. His
cooperation will be a factor in his sentencing, prosecutors said. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558147187-83e
*** Suspect's mental health in question
VERO BEACH, Fla. (AP) - Jurors began deliberating Friday whether a
defendant was legally insane when he beat his elderly neighbor to
death after she criticized the vulgar lyrics of a rap song he was
singing. Victor Brancaccio, 21, concedes he beat and kicked
81-year-old Mollie Mae Frazier to death 5-1/2 years ago. But his
defense claims a mix of brain damage, depression and a psychiatric
drug rendered him involuntarily intoxicated - legally insane - at the
time of the slaying. Jurors began deliberating Friday in his second
murder trial. They are considering whether Brancaccio is guilty of
first-degree murder and kidnapping or, as his defense claims, was
insane. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558148327-4da
----------------------------------------------------------------------
U.S. Business and Financial News
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** DirecTV owner in deal for rival
NEW YORK (AP) - The owner of DirecTV, the nation's biggest satellite
television service, is buying the assets and subscribers of rival
Primestar Inc. for about $1.82 billion in cash and stock. The deal
announced Friday along with a pending deal by DirecTV's owner for a
movie channel service would leave DirecTV with more than 7 million
U.S. subscribers and more than 370 entertainment channels. Primestar,
which was initially created to reach mostly rural customers who were
unable to get cable TV, has about 2.3 million subscribers to a
160-channel TV service. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558146344-091
*** IBM shakes down Dow
(CNNfn) - Concerns that Brazil's problems with its economy and
currency could trigger a new wave of global jitters added to
disappointing revenue growth at IBM to keep blue chips depressed and
leave the rest of the market struggling in a narrow trading range
Friday. Shortly before 1:30 p.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average
was down 133.11 points at 9,130.97, weighed down largely by the
severe losses in IBM's stock. On the New York Stock Exchange,
declines trounced advances 1,837 to 1,005 on trading volume of 462
million shares. The Nasdaq Composite tested both sides of unchanged,
trading 4.08 points lower at 2,340.64. The S&P 500 index dropped 9.73
to 1,225.43. The benchmark 30-year Treasury bond rose 24/32 of a
point in price for a yield of 5.08%. ###
*** Tobacco companies OK trust fund
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) - Tobacco farmers struggling to survive in a
shrinking market will be able to tap into a $5.15 billion trust fund
approved by the nation's largest cigarette makers. Philip Morris Co.,
R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., Lorillard Tobacco Co. and Brown &
Williamson Tobacco Corp. agreed Thursday to pay into the fund for a
period of 12 years. Demand for tobacco is expected to be reduced by
recent settlements of claims by states that sued tobacco companies to
recover the costs of treating sick smokers. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558143328-466
*** Nissan, DaimlerChrysler in talks
TOKYO (AP) - Nissan Motor Co., Japan's second-largest automaker, and
DaimlerChrysler AG are discussing a possible alliance. The
announcement Friday came amid reports that DaimlerChrysler was ready
to provide an infusion of capital amounting to as much as a 30% stake
in the troubled Japanese automaker. But the company said that
although talks on possible "cooperation projects" with Nissan will
continue, no decision had been made on what such cooperation might
entail. In addition to DaimlerChrysler, Renault SA of France and Ford
Motor Co. also have been reported to be potential suitors. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558146909-019
----------------------------------------------------------------------
World Front Page Stories
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Serbs sought revenge with massacre
BELGRADE, Yugoslavia (AP) - Serbian forces apparently sought to
avenge the deaths of three police officers when they massacred 45
ethnic Albanian civilians, international monitors of the cease-fire
in Kosovo said in a report obtained Friday. The Jan. 15 massacre in
the village of Racak was the biggest blow yet to the October
cease-fire. It has given rise to a storm of international protest and
threats of NATO airstrikes against Yugoslavia for failure to comply
with the peace agreement. Serb forces said they were responding to a
rebel attack but deny killing civilians. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558148687-2a5
*** Miners' crisis averted in Romania
BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) - After hours of emergency talks in a
monastery, the government said a deal was reached Friday to avert a
state of emergency with striking coal miners who had injured hundreds
of riot police during days of street battles. Finance Minister Traian
Decebal Remes stepped out of talks with mining union leaders at a
monastery in Cozia, 110 miles northwest of Bucharest, to announce the
immediate crisis was over. "We will have social peace, but no winners
or losers," national radio quoted him as saying after four hours of
talks. But it was not immediately clear whether 10,000 miners
gathered in the central Romanian city of Ramnicu Valcea would go home
or press on with their drive toward the capital. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558148706-2e6
*** 43 dead in Indonesian rioting
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - Thousands of police and soldiers Friday
patrolled three remote Indonesian islands where religious rioting
this week claimed 43 lives and forced thousands of people to flee
their homes. A curfew was in place to prevent fighting between gangs
of Christians and Muslims that had ebbed on Ambon, Sanana and Seram
islands, known in Dutch colonial times as the Spice Islands. The
islands in eastern Maluku province are the latest site of rioting
that has plagued Indonesia in the past year. Fresh violence was
reported today in some neighborhoods. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558145386-fd4
*** Pope still enjoys traveling
ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE (AP) - Twenty years after beginning his
jet-age papacy, Pope John Paul II set out Friday for Mexico, hinting
in an airborne news conference that he would like to visit Russia and
China. Three-and-a-half hours into the 13-hour flight, the pope came
out of his compartment on the specially converted Alitalia jetliner
and walked to the rear to meet the media. The 78-year-old pontiff
greeted the media by holding up his wooden cane and donning a
sombrero given to him by a Mexican journalist. The visit is John
Paul's 85th foreign trip as pope. After five days in Mexico City, he
heads to St. Louis. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558147396-9ff
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The World Political Scene
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Iraq to attend Arab League meeting
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Iraq's foreign minister left for Egypt Friday to
attend an Arab League meeting that he says is being manipulating by
the United States to isolate Iraq. The Iraqi News Agency said
Mohammed Al-Sahhaf was traveling via Amman, Jordan, to attend
Sunday's meeting of foreign ministers from the 22 member states of
the Arab League. The group will attempt to work out a common strategy
on Iraq's standoff with the United Nations following the Dec. 16-19
U.S.-British airstrikes. On Thursday, al-Sahhaf accused the United
States of secretly trying to unite Arab countries against Baghdad to
ensure a continuation of U.N. trade sanctions imposed on Iraq after
its 1990 invasion of Kuwait. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558149131-c3c
*** King Hussein zeroes in on successor
AMMAN, Jordan (AP) - Jordan's King Hussein informed his brother
Friday that he was removing him as heir to the throne and moving his
sons in line for the crown, sources close to the king said. Hussein,
63, told Prince Hassan through aides that he will appoint him as his
deputy - a new post that appears to entail limited authority, the
sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity. It was not
immediately clear whether Hussein was ready to announce a new
successor to the throne of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, which he
inherited from his father Talal in 1953 at the age of 17. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558149133-d27
*** U.S., China, Koreas wrap up talks
GENEVA (AP) - Negotiators from the United States, China and the two
Koreas on Friday wrapped up their latest round of talks aimed at
ending almost five decades of cold war on the Korean peninsula. The
four delegations heard reports Friday from the chairmen of two
working groups, which during the week have been discussing ways to
reduce tensions and put in place a permanent peace. In a joint
statement, the delegations said they had "useful, productive
discussions" during their four days of talks and would meet again in
mid-April. The process of replacing the armistice that ended the
1950-53 Korean War with a formal peace treaty is expected to take
years. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558149161-3c7
*** Yeltsin's ulcer treatment ongoing
MOSCOW (AP) - Boris Yeltsin's treatment for a stomach ulcer continues
without incident, his spokesman said Friday. Yeltsin, 67, was
hospitalized Sunday for the fifth time since his re-election in 1996.
He has yet to visit the Kremlin this year. "The president's
temperature and blood pressure are within the norms, the treatment is
continuing, everything is going according to plan," spokesman Dmitry
Yakushkin said, according to the Interfax news agency. Doctors have
said Yeltsin would not require surgery because the medicinal
treatment of his ulcer appeared to be working. But they say he will
need to stay up to three weeks in the hospital. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558147755-1a1
*** Africa leaders seek free trade zone
ARUSHA, Tanzania (AP) - The presidents of Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda
renewed efforts Friday to establish a free trade zone in East Africa
and decided to let Rwanda join later this year. Snow-capped Mount
Kilimanjaro provided a dramatic backdrop to a summit aimed at
renewing economic integration among the former British colonies. A
similar trade group established after independence in the 1960s
collapsed in 1977. Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa acknowledged
that his nation, Uganda and Kenya are "basically very poor and
underdeveloped countries," but said East Africans should not "waste
time discussing how to share our poverty." See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558148243-35e
*** Antarctic treaty nations to meet
SYDNEY, Australia (AP) - For the first time, delegates from nations
involved in determining the future of Antarctica plan to meet on the
frozen continent, a sign of how Antarctica is becoming more
accessible - and more vulnerable - to the rest of the world.
Delegates and ministers from most of the 26 nations that have signed
the Antarctic Treaty are due to fly Monday to New Zealand's Scott
Base, a clutch of mint-green, one-story buildings huddled on the Ross
Sea coast. There, they will spend two days discussing environmental
problems, fishing disputes and the boom in tourism. The most pressing
and dramatic issue is not on the mainland, however, but in the
Southern Ocean, where at least 70 illegal fishing ships are
plundering the toothfish catch. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558149418-8b6
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Americas
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Update: Raul Salinas found guilty of murder
TOLUCA, Mexico (AP) - The brother of an ex-president has been
convicted of masterminding a rival's murder and sentenced to 50 years
in prison in the highest-profile murder case in modern Mexican
history. A judge sentenced Raul Salinas de Gortari on Thursday
following a blockbuster criminal trial that lasted four years. The
trial broke Mexico's long-standing taboo against prosecuting the
relatives of powerful politicians. Shortly after his brother's
arrest, former President Carlos Salinas de Gortari left the country
and now lives in self-imposed exile in Ireland. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558144556-7ad
*** Ex-Argentine leaders indicted
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) - A federal judge indicted seven former
military officers from Argentina's 1976-83 dictatorship on Friday as
part of a deepening investigation into the disappearances of at least
200 babies during the country's "dirty war." Judge Adolfo Bagnasco
formally charged the junta leaders, already under arrest following
previous questioning in the case, with child kidnapping and forgery
of identity documents. A total of nine officers have been detained in
recent months as officials try to determine if a systematic plan
existed to illegally adopt children born to jailed dissidents during
the "dirty war" campaign against suspected leftists and opponents of
the military regime. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558149608-5b9
*** Swissair pilots may have disagreed
NEW YORK (AP) - The co-pilot of Swissair Flight 111 suggested
ignoring the rules and landing swiftly in the minutes before the
plane crashed, but the pilot wanted to follow standard procedure for
dumping fuel, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. Canadian
investigators and Swissair officials refused comment on the report
that crew members disagreed over emergency tactics before their jumbo
jet crashed. The Journal, citing what it described as a preliminary
summary of the cockpit voice recording, said the reported
disagreement occurred as smoke filled the cockpit of Flight 111 as
flew from New York toward Geneva on Sept. 2. The plane crashed off
Nova Scotia, killing all 229 people on board. Canadian law prohibits
the public disclosure of cockpit voice recordings. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558135955-721
*** Driver describes Guatemala rapes
GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala (AP) - A driver on Thursday described how
gunmen robbed a group of female American college students on his bus
then raped five of them in a nearby sugarcane field. The bus driver,
34-year-old Victor Anibal Lopez Arias, was one of seven witnesses who
testified Thursday about the attack a year ago in southern Guatemala,
Judge Blanca Otilia Alfaro said. But the judge provided very few
details of the second day of the trial in Escuintla, 35 miles
southwest of Guatemala City, with much of the proceedings closed to
the public to protect the victims, students from St. Mary's College
in Maryland. The five college girls in the Jan. 16, 1998, attack took
part in the opening day Wednesday, but were not expected to stay for
the rest of the trial. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558141126-d48
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Europe and Russia
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Jewish museum in Berlin opens Sat.
BERLIN (AP) - City officials turned over the keys for the new Jewish
Museum in Berlin on Friday to its director, former U.S. Treasury
Secretary W. Michael Blumenthal. The building, based on the form of a
Star of David and designed by U.S. architect Daniel Libeskind, will
open to the public for the first time Saturday, with Chancellor
Gerhard Schroeder expected to attend. After that, visitors will be
allowed in only occasionally before the museum officially opens in
2000 with exhibitions on Jewish life in Berlin and the rest of
Germany over the centuries. Years of heated arguments about the
museum's scope and concept caused it to be completed before exhibits
could be put in place. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558148047-cea
*** Russia's foreign trade down 16%
MOSCOW (AP) - One of the crucial props for Russia's moribund economy
_ the country's foreign trade - dropped 16% for the first 11 months
of last year, officials said Friday. Foreign trade had been growing
steadily until the latest economic crisis hit last summer, with the
collapse of the Russian ruble and financial markets and the
government's default on some debt. Russia's exports consist largely
of natural resources such as oil, gas, minerals and diamonds. But oil
is by far the largest single export, bringing in one-quarter of all
Russia's export revenues, and the fall of world oil prices was a
major factor in the foreign trade decline. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558148949-ed6
*** Belarus grants amnesty to 34,000
MINSK, Belarus (AP) - President Alexander Lukashenko has signed into
law a bill that would set free or slash the prison terms of about
34,000 inmates in Belarus. The move should ease the overcrowding in
the former Soviet republic's disease-ridden prisons, where 60,000
people are held in spaces designed for just 39,000, according to
Interior Ministry figures. The new law grants amnesty to World War II
veterans, minors, pregnant women, pensioners, single parents with
children under the age of 18, victims of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear
accident, and people suffering from tuberculosis or cancer,
Lukashenko's press service said Friday. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558148697-847
*** Mitchell to lead Belfast school
BELFAST, Northern Ireland (AP) - George Mitchell, the former Senate
majority leader who shepherded Northern Ireland's peace talks to
success, will become chancellor of Queen's University in Belfast. The
chancellorship is an honorary post that will not require Mitchell to
be in Belfast full time. His main duties will be to make speeches and
confer degrees at commencement ceremonies, the university said
Friday. "I am particularly pleased that this appointment will enable
me to maintain my close contact with the people of Northern Ireland,"
Mitchell said in a statement. Professor George Bain, the university's
vice chancellor responsible for day-to-day operations, said Mitchell
would be formally elected on March 4 and installed in early May. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558147996-96d
*** Russian army deserters captured
MOSCOW (AP) - Russian officials have detained 626 deserters from the
nation's tattered armed forces during a three-day nationwide sweep,
military prosecutors said Friday. The sweep, which ended Thursday,
targeted 46 of Russia's 89 regions, the military prosecutor's office
told the ITAR-Tass news agency. Most of the deserters were detained
in the Volga region, the Urals and Moscow, it said. A similar sweep
is planned for next month. Morale in Russia's underfunded military is
very low. Widespread, vicious hazing of young conscripts by older
soldiers, abysmal conditions and bad food have prompted many soldiers
to flee their units. ###
*** Bomber of Czar statue sentenced
MOSCOW (AP) - A Moscow court has found a young man guilty of
terrorism for bombing a monument to Russia's last czar, a news report
said Friday. After a closed door hearing on Thursday, the court
sentenced 19-year-old Andrei Sokolov to four years in prison for
detonating a small bomb at the base of a statue to Czar Nicholas II
in the summer of 1997, the ITAR-Tass news agency said. No one was
hurt in the blast, but the monument in the Vagankovo Cemetery was
seriously damaged and windows of a nearby chapel were blown out.
Sokolov, a member of a communist splinter group, confessed to the
bombing when he was arrested several months later by the Federal
Security Service, news reports said. ###
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Africa
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Republic of Congo, militias clash
BRAZZAVILLE, Republic of Congo (AP) - Government troops clashed with
members of an outlawed rebel militia on the outskirts of the capital
on Thursday, military officials said. Two children were reportedly
killed. The children were killed in crossfire during the "four-hour
torrent of shooting," state radio in neighboring Congo reported,
citing witnesses and military officers. The deaths could not be
independently confirmed, although at least four government soldiers
were hospitalized with gunshot wounds, a senior Republic of Congo
military official told The Associated Press on condition of
anonymity. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558140696-e26
*** Tanzanian embassy may be ready soon
DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania (AP) - A new U.S. Embassy complex in the
Tanzanian capital of Dar es Salaam will be ready next month to
replace the one devastated by a terrorist bomb last August, a
newspaper reported Friday. The new embassy is under construction in
the capital's Kinondoni district, not far from the neighborhood where
the damaged embassy is located. It should be ready by mid-February,
an unidentified senior embassy official told the independent Daily
Mail. Some embassy operations in Tanzania, including the issuance of
visas, were suspended after the Aug. 7 bombing killed 11 people and
injured 80 others. A nearly simultaneous bombing at the U.S. Embassy
in Nairobi in neighboring Kenya killed 213 people, including 12
Americans, and injured more than 5,000 people. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558147846-b24
*** Zimbabwean arrested for coup story
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) - The publisher of a Zimbabwe newspaper that
reported on a suspected coup attempt was arrested Friday in an
escalation of the government's campaign against the paper. Clive
Wilson, 62, was arrested from his downtown office at The Standard in
the capital, Harare, said a colleague, Iden Wetherell. He has been
charged under state security laws, his son said. The arrest came a
day after the editor and a reporter for the weekly newspaper were
released bearing signs of torture. Police tried to force them to
reveal the sources of their Jan. 10 report, they said. The Standard
had reported that 23 soldiers were arrested Dec. 17 for allegedly
inciting fellow soldiers to overthrow President Robert Mugabe over
economic mismanagement and the country's involvement in the Congo
civil war. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558148232-474
*** Mandela returns anti-smoking bill
PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) - President Nelson Mandela on Thursday
returned a controversial anti-smoking bill to Parliament for more
work, citing concerns about its constitutionality. Mandela said he
was concerned the bill could be misinterpreted as banning smoking in
private dwellings, which was not its intention, and that it could be
used to infringe on freedom of association. The president said he
agreed that smoking should be prohibited in most public places and
smoking-related advertising should be banned. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558140473-0c1
----------------------------------------------------------------------
India and the Middle East
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Turkey says Kurd rebel is in Russia
MOSCOW (AP) - The Foreign Ministry said Thursday it had no
information about reports that a Kurdish rebel sought by Turkey was
hiding in Russia, but security services were investigating the claim.
In Turkey, however, Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said his
intelligence agency was certain Abdullah Ocalan was in Russia, but
said his exact whereabouts in the country weren't clear. Russian
Foreign Ministry spokesman Vladimir Rakhmanin said no trace of the
Kurdish leader had been found. The Russian response followed Turkish
media reports Wednesday that Ocalan was hiding at an airbase in
central Russia. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558136424-8a4
*** Israeli official may leave party
JERUSALEM (AP) - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's popular defense
minister failed to register for primaries in the ruling Likud Party
by Friday's deadline, fueling speculation that he will leave Likud
and join a new centrist party. A defection by the defense minister,
Yitzhak Mordechai, would be a severe blow to Netanyahu's chances to
get re-elected May 17. Mordechai, of Kurdish ancestry, appeals to
voters with family origins in the Arabic-speaking world, who are a
mainstay of Likud support. The former career army officer could also
undermine Netanyahu's claim that he is the only one tough enough to
protect Israel's security in the face of Arab demands. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558147145-d93 ***
Also: Polls weigh heavily in Israel, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558149150-7e9
*** Hezbollah claims foiling Israelis
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) - Lebanese guerrillas said Friday they had
driven back an overnight attempt by Israeli troops to infiltrate a
village north of an Israeli-occupied enclave. The Iranian-backed
Hezbollah group said its guerrillas detonated a roadside bomb as
Israeli soldiers were attempting to sneak into the village of Shaqra.
Guerrillas opened fire as Israeli reinforcements arrived, forcing the
soldiers to retreat in clashes that lasted until early Friday
morning, Hezbollah said. In Jerusalem, an Israeli army statement said
Israeli troops "acted last night against a cell that plants bombs
near hostile villages" north of the Israeli-occupied zone. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558148138-25f
*** Update: Anti-cricket campaign called off
BOMBAY, India (AP) - Cricket players from Pakistan flew into New
Delhi amid heavy security Thursday only hours after Hindu militants
called off a violent campaign that had tried to stop their tour.
Authorities exerted heavy pressure on the militants to cancel
demonstrations against Pakistan's team, employing such security
measures as posting guards to check anyone who entered the team's
hotel. Political tensions have prevented cricket teams from Pakistan
and neighboring India from playing in one another's countries since
Pakistan toured India in 1987, although they have met outside the
subcontinent. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558142088-967
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Far East
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Hundreds reported jailed in Myanmar
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) - At least 270 people were sentenced to long
prison terms in Myanmar this month for demanding that a parliament
elected in 1990 finally be convened, a dissident group reported
Friday. Myanmar's government started detaining about 1,000 supporters
of the National League for Democracy in September, but there had
previously been little word of prison sentences. Nobel Peace
Prize-winner Aung San Suu Kyi is the leader of the NLD. Suu Kyi's
party won parliamentary elections allowed by the military in 1990.
But the ruling council of generals never allowed the parliament to
meet. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558147885-ce2
*** Report: China dissident denied care
BEIJING (AP) - A dissident jailed for publicizing a blacklist of
activists' names kept by Chinese authorities is severely ill with
cirrhosis but has been refused medical parole, a human rights group
said Friday. Chen Meng, 37, contracted chronic hepatitis soon after
he was jailed in 1995, but authorities prohibited him from receiving
any medicine for more than four years, according to the Information
Center for Human Rights and Democratic Movement in China. His family
has been denied visitation rights, their applications for medical
parole have been refused, and only this Tuesday was Chen allowed to
receive medicine, the Hong Kong-based group said. It said that by
then, his illness had progressed to cirrhosis and his life was in
danger. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558148299-fef
*** Suharto guarded as he visits grave
SOLO, Indonesia (AP) - Former President Suharto and his family
visited the grave of his wife Friday under heavy security for fear of
protests by students who want him tried for corruption. But there
were no demonstrations against the authoritarian leader, despite
pledges by activists that they would protest the visit near Solo, on
Indonesia's main island of Java. On Thursday, about 150 dispossessed
villagers demonstrated in Solo against Suharto, saying his government
seized their homes a decade ago and flooded their village so
officials could build a dam. Suharto, 77, quit in May after riots and
protests against his 32-year rule and has been living at his Jakarta
home. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558147575-702
*** Execution date set in Philippines
MANILA, Philippines (AP) - The Philippines has taken a step toward
executing its first death-row inmate in 23 years, setting Feb. 5 as
the execution date for a child rapist, the Justice Department head
said Friday. Justice Secretary Serafin Cuevas said he was given a
copy of the writ of execution ordering Leo Echegaray, who was
convicted of raping his 10-year-old stepdaughter, to die by lethal
injection. On Thursday, Echegaray's lawyers asked the Supreme Court
to reconsider a ruling clearing the way for his execution, arguing
that a repeal of the death penalty law is still possible despite an
overwhelming vote by the House of Representatives earlier this week
not to review it. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558145098-673
*** U.S. apologizes for Japan jet crash
TOKYO (AP) - A senior U.S. Air Force officer apologized Friday to the
mayor of a town in northern Japan where a fighter jet crashed earlier
this week. Japanese officials demanded an investigation. David
Pulliam, 35th Support Group commander, told Kamaishi Mayor Takeyoshi
Noda that he regretted the accident and the trouble it caused to the
residents in the area, a city spokesman said. An Air Force F-16 on
Thursday slammed into a forest in the town of Kamaishi, south of the
city of Misawa, 350 miles northeast of Tokyo, in the second crash in
as many days involving U.S. military jets. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558145777-5c5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
World Business and Financial News
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Asian markets lose ground
(WSJ) - Hong Kong and South Korean stocks plunged again Friday on
renewed concern over Brazil's financial crisis. Other Asian-Pacific
stock markets were mostly lower on lingering fears over Brazil and
Thursday's losses on Wall Street. The Hang Seng Index dropped 3.1% as
investors in dumped local stocks on expectations that Wall Street
would continue to slide on Brazilian concerns. Shares in China
followed Hong Kong's losses. Tokyo's stock market lost steam as
investors slowed down their short covering of bank shares and unwound
positions ahead of the weekend. Philippine, Singapore and Taiwan
shares followed Wall Street lower. ###
*** Brazil's woes pressure stocks in Europe
(WSJ) - European stocks fell sharply in midday trading Friday,
pressured by a selloff in the international markets triggered by
anxiety about Brazil's financial turmoil and worries about the
possibility of a devaluation of China's currency. Worries about
Brazil, and fears that the turmoil might spread to other emerging
markets, especially China, pressured markets across Europe. French,
British Belgian, Swiss, Dutch, South African, Italian, and Spanish
shares all posted sharp losses. ###
*** JIL wins battle for Sears PLC
LONDON (WSJ) - Sears PLC succumbed to a hostile takeover bid by
Philip Green after the retailing entrepreneur increased his offer to
548 million pounds (US$901.9 million). The agreement came after
Green, and his bidding vehicle, January Investments Ltd., or JIL,
raised its cash offer to 359 pence a share from 340 pence, in an
attempt to break strong opposition to the takeover by Sears
management. Sears, a famous retailing name in the U.K., sells mostly
women's and children's clothing. The company had fought to keep the
company out of Green's hands. But after years of restructuring,
management changes and shedding large portions of its business the
company was still underperforming its rivals, and investors were
clamoring for change. ###
*** Success gets harder to build for Lego
(WSJ) - It's time to pick up the pieces at Lego. Lego Group AG said
it expects to report its first loss since its earliest days, in the
1930s. The celebrated Danish toy company plans to cut 10% of its work
force and revamp its businesses world-wide to reduce costs. While its
bright plastic bricks are famous around the globe, Lego is rapidly
losing market share to flashier computer and video games. ###
*** Argentina weighs currency options
BUENOS AIRES (WSJ) - Argentina's central bank announced it is
formally studying at least three options to eliminate or reduce the
use of its own currency, the peso, and use dollars instead. Central
Bank of Argentina President Pedro Pou said the U.S. and Argentina are
now preparing working papers on the topic and will convene in the
next few weeks to discuss their conclusions. A U.S. Treasury
spokeswoman said Thursday that there is "no formal working group or
treaty process underway, however Treasury officials are always
prepared to discuss monetary questions with other countries and we
are aware of Argentina's interests." ###
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Science and Medicine
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Patients' wait for organs differs
WASHINGTON (AP) - In Nebraska, patients wait for nearly a year and
eight months for a liver transplant. In neighboring Iowa, the wait is
just 46 days. Disparities like this stretch across the country,
according to a sweeping, seven-volume government report being
released Friday and obtained Thursday by The Associated Press. The
differences in waiting times were found among all types of
transplants. Federal officials said it was fresh evidence of how
arbitrary geographic barriers make for an unfair system. Why the gap?
In some communities, people are more likely to donate organs,
creating a larger supply there. Also, the best transplant programs
tend to attract large numbers of patients, creating longer waits in
those areas. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558145497-eb7 ***
Sidebar: Waiting times for organs, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558142711-851
*** FDA issues warning on GBL chemical
WASHINGTON (AP) - Americans should not consume a chemical widely sold
in health food stores and over the Internet that has been linked to
one death and 54 cases of severe reactions including seizures and
comatose-like states, the government warned Thursday. The chemical -
sold in the guise of a dietary supplement and under half a dozen
names including GBL and Blue Nitro - claims to have such effects as
building muscle, enhancing sexual performance and reducing stress.
Instead, GBL can act on the central nervous system to cause
life-threatening reactions, the Food and Drug Administration said.
See http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558142728-208
*** And: FDA announces salted fish recall, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558137620-4de
*** CDC: Flu season mild so far
ATLANTA (AP) - New York is the only state reporting a widespread flu
outbreak in what so far has been a relatively mild flu season across
the country, federal officials say. Since October, 40 other states
have reported some flu cases, the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention said Thursday. "Influenza is unpredictable. We can't
predict whether it will be a mild flu season for the entire year or
if it's going to peak later than usual," said Dr. Tim Uyeki of the
CDC's Center for Infectious Diseases. The season's peak usually runs
from December to early March. Flu usually kills about 20,000
Americans a year. ###
*** Chemotherapy pioneer Zubrod dies
WASHINGTON (AP) - Charles Gordon Zubrod, a retired physician who was
a pioneer in the use of chemotherapy to treat cancer, died of
respiratory failure Tuesday. Zubrod, 84, had spinal meningitis and
pneumonia. Zubrod was clinical director of the National Institutes of
Health from 1954 to 1961. From 1961 to 1974, he was scientific
director of the National Cancer Institute. It was during this time
that he began using drugs to treat cancer, starting with acute
leukemia in children. The treatment proved successful and led to the
establishment of chemotherapy as a standard treatment for cancers.
See http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558141948-eb7
*** Surgeon general backs tobacco suit
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Placing tobacco in the same category as crack
cocaine, Surgeon General David Satcher said Thursday that regulations
on smoking are necessary to protect children and encourage overall
good health. "Children don't decide in utero whether they're going to
be exposed to tobacco, alcohol, or crack cocaine," he told 200 people
attending a summit on children's health hosted by the city's
Department of Health Services. "We need in this country a system that
actually promotes healthy lifestyles, and that includes avoiding
toxins like tobacco, excessive use of alcohol and illicit drugs." See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558139197-479
*** Russia plans 3 more years for Mir
MOSCOW (AP) - Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov signed a decree
Friday to keep the Mir space station in orbit for three more years,
officials said. The move is almost certain to disappoint U.S. space
officials, who want Russia to abandon the Mir in coming months so
Moscow can spend its limited resources on building the new
International Space Station. Primakov's decree was announced by the
government press service. No additional details were immediately
available. The Mir has been in orbit for almost 13 years, far longer
than any other space station. It suffered several serious breakdowns
in 1997, but has been running smoothly for more than a year now. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558146688-443
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Technology
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** AT&T may sell WorldNet to AtHome - WSJ
NEW YORK (Reuters) - AT&T Corp. is considering selling its
Internet-access business, including its WorldNet dial-up service, to
AtHome Corp. in exchange for $1 billion in AtHome stock, the Wall
Street Journal reported Friday. Under the terms of the deal being
discussed, AT&T would retain control of WorldNet under its pending
$40.9 billion takeover of Tele-Communications Inc. TCI holds about
28% of AtHome's common shares, and if warrants and options are
exercised, TCI will control 58% of AtHome's voting stock. ###
*** IBM posts 12% rise in profit, stock falls
NEW YORK (AP) - IBM stock was down as much as 8% in morning trading
Friday, after the world's largest maker of computers reported
fourth-quarter sales that fell short of Wall Street expectations.
International Business Machines Corp.'s computer sales slipped in the
recent quarter even though its profit rose 12% on strength from two
other businesses, computer services and software products. While the
profit exceeded forecasts, market players focused on IBM's unexpected
decline in revenue from large business computers. ###
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Environment
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Logging considered in Grand Canyon
GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, Ariz. (AP) - An experimental plan to log
parts of Grand Canyon National Park is being considered by park
officials seeking to prevent catastrophic forest fires. If approved
following public meetings next month, the proposal announced Thursday
would mark the first time logging is permitted in any of the
country's 52 national parks. Park officials said two 80-acre
"restoration blocks" have been established for the research project,
one about 10 miles east of Grand Canyon Village, the main visitor
site, and one on the north. A third would be located within the
Kaibab National Forest south of the park. Within the blocks, logging
would be one of four approaches being tested as a means to prevent
fires. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558147508-233
*** Plutonium program may be dangerous
WASHINGTON (AP) - A plan to use civilian reactors to get rid of
plutonium from old nuclear weapons has been controversial from the
start. Now critics are rallying around a report suggesting thousands
of additional deaths could result if a major reactor accident
occurred using such fuel. A private nuclear watchdog group, the
Nuclear Control Institute, produced a study Thursday saying the
Energy Department severely underestimates the safety risks of using
civilian power reactors to dispose of plutonium that the government
no longer needs because of post-Cold War arms reductions. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558142976-b4f
*** Geologists speculate on Noah's flood
NEW YORK (AP) - What?! New scientific proof demonstrating that the
great biblical Flood really did occur thousands of years ago? Such is
the sensational but speculative implication in the new book "Noah's
Flood: The New Scientific Discoveries About the Event That Changed
History" by William Ryan and Walter Pitman. The authors are adjunct
geology professors at Columbia University and senior scientists at
the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. Geological research does find
reason to believe there was indeed a vast, sudden and deadly flood
around 5,600 B.C., close enough to the possible time of Noah to
fascinate biblical literalists and liberals alike. Till now the best
stab at modern scientific corroboration of the Flood was the work of
British archeologist Charles Leonard Woolley published in 1929. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558148188-e9d
*** Seedling shortage hits landowners
TRENTON, S.C. (AP) - Steve Cantrell's minivan idles along row after
row of raised topsoil beds containing millions of tree seedlings,
each poking about a foot high to make the beds stretch like strips of
plush green carpet to the horizon. As he drives along, however, the
supervisor of the state-run Taylor Forest Tree Nursery near Trenton
notes where the beds are marred by splotches of brown dirt. Last
winter it was floods. This summer and fall it was drought. The result
is dead pine seedlings, just as a strong economy and soaring timber
prices have landowners demanding more young trees to plant. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558142602-e18
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Human Interest
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Utah bans anti-Olympic plates
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Car owners in Utah can get vanity license
plates to express their views about Salt Lake City playing host to
the 2002 Winter Games _ as long as the expressions are positive. Bill
Velmer wanted plates that said "2002NOT." Officials at the Department
of Motor Vehicles said no, saying the personalized plate is "not a
public forum." The bidding process for the Games has become the
biggest corruption scandal in Olympics history. The state prohibits
personalized license-plate messages that are profane, obscene or
derogatory or refer to sex acts, excretory functions or sex organs.
See http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558142734-6c5
*** Danish hacker picks wrong victim
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) - A 19-year-old Danish student picked the
wrong victim when he hacked his way into a home computer. He was
arrested Thursday by the machine's owner - the head of the Copenhagen
police's special computer crime unit. Detective Arne Gammelgaard had
installed an anti-virus program in his computer at home. On Sunday,
it warned him about an intruder and enabled him to gather information
about the visitor. Gammelgaard investigated and an Internet provider
helped track the hacker. The student, whose name was not released,
confessed to hacking and said he randomly picked the cyber-cop. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558137206-5c0
*** Elvis lives - in Sumerian language
HELSINKI, Finland (AP) - Elvis lives - even in the long-dead language
of Sumerian. A Finnish professor who has recorded two albums of Elvis
Presley songs translated into Latin now plans to record some of them
in Sumerian, a language that died out about 4,000 years ago. Jukka
Ammondt said Friday that the first track he plans to record is "Blue
Suede Shoes." In that Sumerians had neither suede nor shoes, per se,
the title translates into "Esir Kus Za-gin," literally "sandals of
leather of the color of a blue gem." Unlike many rockers who don't
care if their singing is comprehensible, Ammondt is concerned about
enunciation. Sumerian, used in the lower Euphrates River valley in
what is now Iraq, died out as a spoken language in about 2000 BC. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558147951-72a
*** More cancer stamps to be printed
WASHINGTON (AP) - The special postage stamp designed to raise money
for breast cancer research has become so popular that an additional
80 million are being printed, the post office announced Thursday.
Since it went on sale last summer some 61 million of the stamps have
been sold, raising up to $4.9 million for research the agency said.
The stamp sells for 40 cents and is valid for the current 33-cent
first-class postage, with most of the difference designated for
research at the National Institutes of Health and Defense Department.
See http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558136983-c16
*** Girl's 'miracles' investigated
WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) - Roman Catholic investigators haven't been
able to establish whether wondrous happenings attributed to a
disabled girl are definitely miracles. They are satisfied the
peculiar events are no flimsy hoax. "I don't know," Bishop Daniel P.
Reilly said Thursday. "These are things you have to live with, even
though we don't like to do that in this day and age." Reilly,
supervising the investigation, formed a team of two psychologists and
a theologian 14 months ago to investigate claims of miracles at the
home of Audrey Santo, 15, of Worcester. The girl has been comatose
since she nearly drowned at age 3. Visitors to her Worcester home say
statues of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary appear to weep as they
inexplicably ooze oil. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2558147668-3bf
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