Afternoon Edition for Friday, August 14, 1998
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U.S. Front Page Stories
-----------------------
*** Clinton considering new admission - NYT
*** Albright to visit Kenya, Tanzania bombing sites
*** Gritz musters 'troops' to aid in fugitive search
*** Clinton gives $50 mln to cool down Southwest
*** U.S. balloonist making progress
*** U.S. nears 100 mln TV homes
The U.S. Political Scene
------------------------
*** U.S. shuts Albania embassy on Islamic threat
*** Clinton urges Yeltsin to take action on economy
*** U.S. discussed timing of UN inspections in Iraq
The Courts
----------
*** Clinton readies for Lewinsky testimony
*** Lawsuit over taped call appealed
U.S. Business and Financial News
--------------------------------
*** Stryker to buy Pfizer's Howmedica unit
*** Wall Street holds its gains
*** Conrail construction workers go on strike
*** Philip Morris revises earnings to include litigation charges
*** Delta, US Airways match fare hike
*** Producer prices rose 0.2% in July, pushed up again by drug costs
World Front Page Stories
------------------------
*** Africa probe steps up, U.S. lifts warnings
*** Yeltsin vows to back rouble, shares halt slide
*** Myanmar to deport American activists
*** UNSCOM denies receiving 'external direction'
*** Kinshasa revives after rebels cut power
The World Political Scene
-------------------------
*** Yeltsin, Clinton have long conversation
*** Holocaust deal bought access to U.S. - Swiss banks
*** Irish PM thanks Gingrich, U.S. for N. Irish support
*** S. Korea proposes new dialogue channel with North
*** Sudan slams Egypt for hosting opposition
The Americas
------------
*** Puerto Rico U.S. statehood vote moves closer
*** Peru's Fujimori sees lasting Ecuador peace pact soon
*** Returned baseball players leave Cuba again
*** Mexico's Chiapas moves closer to boiling point
*** Argentines protest court block on Dirty War probe
*** Suriname court convicts 14 of coup plot
Europe and Russia
-----------------
*** German SPD still ahead but race open
*** Lawyer targets German firms with slave labor suit
*** Turkish opposition says no election alliance
*** Catholic radicals set up more Auschwitz crosses
*** Slovak court says opposition body can contest poll
*** Bulgaria seizes cocaine worth $56 mln
Africa
------
*** New UN Angola mediator says peace vital
*** Sierra Leone troops take northern town from rebels
*** Floods destroy hundreds of homes in eastern Sudan
*** Tanzania USAID office evacuated in security scare
India and the Middle East
-------------------------
*** Indian government waits for word on its fate
*** Uzbekistan checks border as Taleban advance
*** S. Lanka says destroys hijacked cargo ship
*** Iran's Rafsanjani slams Taleban, warns Pakistan
*** Landslides claim 40 lives in northern India
*** Israeli soldiers disciplined for guerrilla's escape
The Far East
------------
*** Indonesia in tatters a year after rupiah float
*** Cambodia opposition says rival wooing its members
*** Japan Health Ministry loses track of HIV case tapes
*** Australia launches anti-racism campaign
*** China sings praises of cops killed by separatists
*** Emotion peaks at Vietnam Catholic festival
World Business and Financial News
---------------------------------
*** Hong Kong soars 8.5% as most of Asia gains
*** Hong Kong's 8.5% gain buoys European stocks
*** Japan official worries about deflation
*** IMF praises Thailand rescue plan
Science and Medicine
--------------------
*** Rare book by Copernicus stolen in Ukraine
*** Want to be blister-free? Try antiperspirant
*** Top British scientist backs genetically made food
Technology
----------
*** Delaying Microsoft trial under discussion - sources
*** Apple sets $100 mln ad campaign for iMac
*** Ross pulling the plug on 10-year RISC efforts
The Environment
---------------
*** China moves to curb deforestation
*** China floods threaten NE oilfields, power plants
*** S. Korea's 'guerrilla rains' cause more mayhem
*** Russia to cull 15,000 wolves
*** Floods destroy hundreds of homes in eastern Sudan
*** Early cold claims 1st Moscow victim
Human Interest
--------------
*** London club votes on Pooh and the pot of money
*** World War II reporter Seaghan Maynes dies
*** VW whets world's appetite for New Beetle
*** I'll miss you, Charles tells Spice Girl Geri
*** French boy has to polish boots after burning oats
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U.S. Front Page Stories
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Clinton considering new admission - NYT
President Clinton is considering admitting to some sexual encounter
with Monica Lewinsky but still maintain he was truthful in saying he
had no "sexual relations" with her, the New York Times reported
Friday. Quoting senior presidential advisers, the Times said Clinton
has made no final decision on what he will tell independent counsel
Kenneth Starr in sworn testimony Monday but the focus on a new
definition of sex was being discussed. A switch in his description of
his relationship with the former White House intern would be a
monumental change in the investigation of whether Clinton lied about
and tried to cover up what went on between him and Lewinsky. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555556460-211 ***
Sidebar: Excerpts from Clinton's past testimony on Lewinsky, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555554643-a10 ***
Related story: Mrs. Clinton a key player in Lewinsky defense, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555555116-7ab
*** Albright to visit Kenya, Tanzania bombing sites
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said Friday she would travel to
Kenya and Tanzania over the weekend to visit the sites of two massive
embassy bombings last week that killed more than 250 people. "I will
be traveling to Africa over the weekend to visit Kenya and Tanzania,"
Albright said. Officials said Albright was expected to leave
Washington Sunday and visit Tanzania first, Kenya second. The trip
was expected to be a quick one lasting only a few days and involving
one overnight in a third country that has not yet been arranged. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555556351-d90
*** Gritz musters 'troops' to aid in fugitive search
A leading figure in the right-wing militia movement Friday mustered a
group of volunteers seeking to negotiate a peaceful surrender for
abortion clinic bombing fugitive Eric Robert Rudolph. James "Bo"
Gritz, a former Green Beret colonel, will deploy a band of about 40
volunteers, including militia members from as far away as Missouri,
in the western North Carolina mountains where the FBI has been
searching for Rudolph. Rudolph, one of the FBI's Ten Most Wanted
fugitives, faces charges in connection with January's fatal bombing
of a Birmingham, Ala., abortion clinic. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555554953-307
*** Clinton gives $50 mln to cool down Southwest
President Clinton released $50 million in federal aid Friday to help
poor people suffering from the heat wave in the South and Southwest
buy air conditioners and pay their electricity bills. The money -
destined for Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, South Carolina, Oklahoma,
Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, North Carolina and Mississippi
- follows $100 million released to those states on July 23, the White
House said. Clinton ordered the Department of Health and Human
Services to disburse the money, which comes from the federal Low
Income Home Energy Assistance Program. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555555987-fdf
*** U.S. balloonist making progress
U.S. pilot Steve Fossett pushed his craft to a high altitude Friday,
picking up speed and clinging to an easterly wind toward Australia in
his bid to be the first balloonist to float around the world nonstop.
At noon ET, Fossett was about 2,400 miles northwest of Australia. His
control center at Washington University in St. Louis, said the
balloon would likely turn slightly south and pass 300 miles north of
Perth sometime during the weekend. "Everybody is very optimistic,"
said Jerry Everding, a spokesman. Information on the flight is
available on the Internet at http://solospirit.wustl.edu. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555556245-6c2
*** U.S. nears 100 mln TV homes
The U.S. TV universe is on the verge of reaching the 100 million home
threshold, according to updated estimates issued by Nielsen Media
Research. Effective Aug. 31, a Nielsen rating point will represent
994,000 homes or 1% of the country's 99.4 million TV households.
That's a 1.4% increase over the 98.0 million Nielsen's been using for
the past year. Assuming the rate of increase is more or less
consistent over the coming year, the U.S. universe will have easily
topped 100 million homes by the next scheduled Nielsen update of its
estimates in the summer of 1999. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555552450-653
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The U.S. Political Scene
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** U.S. shuts Albania embassy on Islamic threat
The United States temporarily closed its embassy in Albania Friday, a
week after the twin bombings in Africa, citing a potential Islamic
terrorist threat. An embassy spokesman said the decision was taken
following declarations by Islamic militants against the U.S. and
press reports of U.S. involvement in the arrest of Islamic extremists
in Albania. He said the State Department had ordered home all
non-emergency personnel and the families of employees. It also issued
a warning to U.S. citizens on the dangers of traveling in Albania.
See http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555555169-e5e
*** Also from the region: Macedonia's ethnic Albanians warn of 2nd
Kosovo, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555556261-4a5 ***
Also: Kosovo peace doubts deepen, KLA names team. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555556582-dc4
*** Clinton urges Yeltsin to take action on economy
President Bill Clinton urged Russian President Boris Yeltsin in a
telephone conversation Friday to take "decisive steps" on the Russian
economy in the next few days, a U.S. official said. The official, who
asked not to be named, said Clinton encouraged Yeltsin to act sooner
rather than later, saying that further Russian action would send the
right signal to the financial markets and improve the climate for the
release of the next tranche of an International Monetary Fund loan.
Yeltsin vowed Friday not to devalue the ruble and called on the
parliament to hold a special session in the middle of a summer
recess. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555556346-504
*** Also: Japan promises U.S. it will act on economy, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555556845-aae
*** U.S. discussed timing of UN inspections in Iraq
The United States has discussed the timing of future United Nations
surprise arms inspections in Iraq but has not tried to order U.N.
inspectors to change their plans, the White House said Friday. Both
White House spokesman Mike McCurry and the U.N. Special Commission
(UNSCOM) in charge of disarming Iraq denied a report that Washington
had tried to delay surprise inspections in order to avoid a
confrontation with Baghdad. The Washington Post, quoting U.S. and
diplomatic sources, said Secretary of State Madeleine Albright urged
UNSCOM's chief inspector Richard Butler to rescind orders for the
team to mount "challenge inspections" at sites where intelligence
reports suggested there might be banned weapons components. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555555238-224
*** Also: U.S. would use force if threatened by Iraq - Albright. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555555874-c97
*AND*
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555556164-b53
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Courts
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Clinton readies for Lewinsky testimony
President Clinton prepared in secrecy Friday for his looming grand
jury testimony as signs emerged that he may change his story and
admit to a sexual relationship with Monica Lewinsky. A New York Times
story revealing extensive discussions within Clinton's inner circle
about such a strategy was seen in Washington as a trial balloon to
test the political waters to see whether it would take the heat off
him if he made such a revelation. White House Press Secretary Mike
McCurry would not feed the speculation, sticking to Clinton's last
words on the subject two weeks ago that he would testify "truthfully
and completely" Monday about the case involving the former White
House intern. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555556791-6b7 ***
Also: What is sex? Answer could be key for Clinton, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555557089-ea5
*** Lawsuit over taped call appealed
A House GOP leader appealed the dismissal of his lawsuit Friday
against a Democratic lawmaker charged with leaking the contents of an
illegally taped phone call among senior House Republicans. GOP
Conference Chairman John Boehner's invasion-of-privacy lawsuit
against Rep. James McDermott, D-Wash., was thrown out last month by a
U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Hogan, who dismissed the charges as
partisan politics. Boehner appealed the decision to the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the District of Columbia. "It's not about partisan
politics," said Boehner, R-Ohio, who heads the House GOP Conference.
"It's about someone who violated the law and should be brought to
justice." (AP)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
U.S. Business and Financial News
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Stryker to buy Pfizer's Howmedica unit
Stryker Corp. said it would buy U.S. drug giant Pfizer Inc's
Howmedica unit for $1.9 billion in cash. Stryker said net earnings
would be accretive beginning in 2000. Stryker said the transaction is
expected to be financed with a combination of cash and debt and it
expects to take a fourth quarter 1998 pre-tax charge of around $400
million to write off in-process research and development and
acquisition-related expenses. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555553334-21f
*** Wall Street holds its gains
U.S. blue chips maintained solid gains in midday trading Friday as
investors felt relieved by a steadier overnight performance in
overseas markets and a pledge by Russian President Boris Yeltsin not
to devalue the ruble. Hoping that stability Asian and Russian markets
would herald calmer times ahead for Wall Street, market players were
quick to jump back in, scooping up stocks that were beaten down in
several sell-offs earlier in the week. Shortly before 1:15 p.m. ET,
the Dow Jones industrial average was up 11 at 8,470. On the New York
Stock Exchange, gainers led losers 1,449 to 1,336 on trading volume
of 368 million shares. The Nasdaq Composite declined 8 to 1,794 and
the S&P 500 index fell 4 to 1,070. The benchmark 30-year Treasury
bond rose almost a point in price for a yield of 5.54%. (CNNfn)
*** Conrail construction workers go on strike
Consolidated Rail Corp.'s 3,400 construction workers went on strike,
citing the railroad's use of outside contractors as grounds for the
labor action, union representatives said. The Brotherhood of
Maintenance of Way Employees union said it declared the strike after
Conrail used outside contractors to build railroad track in
Marysville, Ohio. A BMWE spokesman said labor talks have yet to be
scheduled between the company and the union. He said the strike by
Conrail BMWE workers is the first in over four years. CSX Corp. and
Norfolk Southern bought Conrail for about $10 billion in May 1997.
See http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555551953-e35
*** Philip Morris revises earnings to include litigation charges
Philip Morris Cos. revised its second quarter earnings Friday to
include additional pretax charges of $103 million related to tobacco
litigation. The world's largest cigarette maker had previously booked
$96 million in pretax charges related to advances for plaintiff's
attorney fees in tobacco cases and a provision for a prior settlement
in cases in Texas and Mississippi. The charge will be booked in the
domestic tobacco operations, and are related to an agreement
regarding the attorney fees and the 1998 impact of a provision of a
prior litigation settlement with Texas. The company said the added
charge will reduce its reported earnings by $63 million, to $1.74
billion. The charges also cut earnings per share by three cents, to
71 cents a diluted share. Underlying net earnings remain unchanged at
$2 billion, or 82 cents a diluted share. (Dow Jones)
*** Delta, US Airways match fare hike
US Airways Group Inc. and Delta Air Lines Inc. have matched a 4% fare
hike by American Airlines, representing the sixth attempt this year
by U.S. carriers to raise air fares. The fare increase applies to
most domestic leisure travel, but excludes Northwest Airlines Corp.'s
major hubs in Detroit, Memphis and Minneapolis-St. Paul, airline
spokespersons said Friday. Northwest, the nation's fourth-largest
airline, is facing possible strikes by its pilots and machinists and
has blocked five attempts by other airlines to raise fares this year.
See http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555554454-381
*** Also: Miami Herald 'Clipper' edition flying away, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555557127-08f
*** Producer prices rose 0.2% in July, pushed up again by drug costs
Prices at the wholesale level rose 0.2% in July, pushed higher in
part by rising drug costs and an increase in vegetable prices.
Meanwhile, output at the nation's factories, utilities and mines
declined for the second month in a row, squeezed by strikes at
General Motors Corp. The Federal Reserve reported that industrial
production fell 0.6% in July after sliding a revised 1.1% in June.
But the figures were distorted by a crippling labor battle at GM, the
No. 1 auto maker. Motor vehicle output dropped from an annual rate of
12.4 million in May to 8.3 million in July. Excluding autos,
industrial production would have edged up in July after declining
0.4% in June, the Federal Reserve said. (Dow Jones)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
World Front Page Stories
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Africa probe steps up, U.S. lifts warnings
Investigators pursued potentially crucial leads Friday in the deadly
bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania as Washington
lifted travel warnings for both East African countries. U.S. Federal
Bureau of Investigation agents pored over the blast site in central
Nairobi, looking for clues to the Aug. 7 attack that killed at least
247 people, including 12 Americans, and wounded more than 5,000. The
area has been cordoned off by razor wire and guarded by Kenyan troops
since an Israeli-led rescue operation wrapped up Wednesday at a
bomb-flattened office building next to the U.S. embassy. U.S.
investigators are also combing the scene of a nearly simultaneous
blast at the U.S. mission in neighboring Tanzania in which 10 died.
See http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555555563-834
*** Also: Women gather to pray one week after Kenya bomb, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555552615-b31
*** Yeltsin vows to back rouble, shares halt slide
President Boris Yeltsin, blaming Russia's woes partly on global
problems, vowed Friday not to devalue the rouble and appealed to
parliament to hold a special mid-recess session to approve crisis
measures. Shares rose so sharply after a slump on what was dubbed
"Black Thursday" that trading was suspended. But dealers said trade
was so thin it did not signify a return of confidence in the
government's ability to fend off a financial collapse. Interrupting
his holiday to visit the medieval city of Novgorod, Yeltsin sought to
reassure markets and respond to blunt U.S. calls to put his house in
order. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555556122-475
*** Myanmar to deport American activists
A Myanmar court made a dramatic turnaround Friday when it freed 18
foreign activists, including six Americans, shortly after sentencing
them to five years in jail with hard labor. Witnesses said the court,
which had minutes earlier imposed the sentence on the activists for
distributing pro-democracy leaflets in Yangon, received a letter from
Myanmar's Ministry of Home Affairs instructing it to release the
prisoners. "The release was to promote good relations between Myanmar
and the countries involved in the case," one witness said. "The
sentences are suspended," he quoted a court statement as saying. The
statement said the suspension was conditional on the activists not
offending again. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555554387-629 ***
Also: Human rights federation protests Myanmar trial, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555556554-901
*** UNSCOM denies receiving 'external direction'
The U.N. Special Commission (UNSCOM) in charge of disarming Iraq
denied media reports Friday saying chief arms inspector Richard
Butler was given "external direction" regarding operational
activities. "These allegations are false," UNSCOM said after the
Washington Post newspaper reported that the United States tried to
delay surprise U.N. arms inspections to avoid a confrontation with
Baghdad. "Media reports have claimed that Richard Butler as executive
chairman of UNSCOM has been given and has accepted external direction
with respect to operational activities of the Special Commission,"
the statement said. "These allegations are false." See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555555471-b5e
*** Kinshasa revives after rebels cut power
Bustle returned to Kinshasa Friday after a huge overnight power cut
blamed on rebels trying to oust President Laurent Kabila in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo. Power returned before noon to most
of the city of 6 million people after an outage lasting more than 20
hours, restoring water supplies and providing a boost to residents
starved of information about what was happening. "The electricity has
been restored from our dam at Inga to the whole of Kinshasa," a news
reader announced on state TV. State radio returned to the airwaves
earlier in the day. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555554401-194 ***
Also: Congo rebels muster in west for assault on capital, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555556283-22e
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The World Political Scene
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Yeltsin, Clinton have long conversation
Russian President Boris Yeltsin had a long telephone conversation
with U.S. President Bill Clinton Friday, the Kremlin press service
said, giving no more details. The United States called on Russia
Thursday to stabilize its economy after sharp falls in Moscow's
financial markets and pressure on the rouble. Some analysts say
Russia may need more Western credits to help it through its crisis.
Clinton is due in Moscow on Sept. 1-3 for a summit. For part 2, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555555193-97c
*** Holocaust deal bought access to U.S. - Swiss banks
Swiss bankers say they had to pay $1.25 billion to settle Holocaust
victims' claims for missing wealth to ensure their banks remained
major players in the lucrative and key U.S. market. Faced with
looming boycotts by U.S. states and cities and by what promised to be
drawn-out and damaging lawsuits by Holocaust victims, Switzerland's
two biggest banks agreed on Wednesday to pay up and bring the painful
three-year chapter to a close. But they insisted the move was not an
admission of guilt, but rather a careful business decision that
weighed what stood to be won and lost by taking a hard line and
fighting it out. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555553053-ea4 ***
Also: Swiss press urge gov't to lead Holocaust-era review, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555552599-02c
*** Irish PM thanks Gingrich, U.S. for N. Irish support
Ireland's Prime Minister Bertie Ahern Friday thanked Newt Gingrich,
speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, for U.S. support for
the Northern Irish peace process. "One of the most satisfying aspects
of the search for peace in Northern Ireland has been the huge support
and encouragement we have got from our friends abroad, but none more
so than from those in America," Ahern said in a statement. Ahern had
a personal note of thanks for Gingrich, who with a congressional
delegation met Ahern for lunch in Limerick in the southwest of
Ireland as part of his eight-day tour of the republic and Northern
Ireland. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555554769-66a
*** S. Korea proposes new dialogue channel with North
South Korean President Kim Dae-jung will extend a hand of friendship
to North Korea and propose a new channel for talks with the old foe,
according to an advance copy of a speech he is to deliver on
Saturday. Kim is also proposing a new deal for the country's growing
ranks of unemployed, guaranteeing they will receive minimum
requirements for food, clothing, medical care and school tuition. In
a wide-ranging speech, scheduled for delivery on Saturday, the 50th
anniversary of the founding of the Republic of Korea, Kim offers to
send a special envoy to Pyongyang to discuss a new vehicle for
inter-Korean dialogue. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555550441-1fc
*** Sudan slams Egypt for hosting opposition
Sudan has criticized Egypt for allowing Sudanese groups trying to
topple the Islamist government in Khartoum to meet in Cairo for the
first time. Egypt's move was "against the Sudanese people, its
constitutional institutions and legitimate setup," state-owned
al-Anbaa daily quoted a senior official as saying. Mohammad al-Hassan
al-Amin, secretary of the political secretariat of the National
Congress, the only legal political organization in Sudan, said Egypt
was aware that the opposition was bent on "escalating military
operations and subversion." See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555551805-53a
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Americas
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Puerto Rico U.S. statehood vote moves closer
Puerto Rican lawmakers sent a bill to Gov. Pedro Rossello Friday that
would allow residents of the Spanish-speaking U.S. territory to
decide in a referendum whether they want to become the 51st U.S.
state. The Puerto Rican Senate, which is controlled by Rossello's
pro-statehood New Progressive Party, approved the measure late
Thursday. The bill was approved by the island's House of
Representatives on Wednesday. Rossello, who proposed the non-binding
referendum plan last month, is expected to sign the measure. The
outcome of the plebiscite planned for Dec. 13 would not be binding
without the U.S. Congress' approval. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555555964-dc3
*** Peru's Fujimori sees lasting Ecuador peace pact soon
Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori, hours after agreeing to separate
troops from Peru and Ecuador to end their worst standoff since a 1995
war, said Friday he was confident of signing a lasting peace pact
very soon. "We will sign the definitive peace, the global and
definitive agreement on the Rio de Janeiro protocol, very soon,"
Fujimori told reporters in Buenos Aires. The peace process, he added,
"has advanced quite a bit." Fujimori was in Buenos Aires to discuss
the dispute with President Carlos Menem of Argentina, which - along
with the United States, Brazil and Chile - is brokering peace talks.
See http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555555476-a9d
*** Returned baseball players leave Cuba again
Seven Cuban nationals, including several baseball players who were
repatriated after sailing to the Bahamas earlier this year, have fled
to Nicaragua, a U.S. Cuban exile group said Friday. The Cuban
American National Foundation said the seven Cubans reached Nicaragua
Thursday night after escaping from Cuba. The Miami-based exile
organization said it confirmed at least four members of the group
were among Cubans repatriated from the Bahamas in May after leaving
Cuba by sea. The seven Cubans were named as Michael Jova, 17, Jorge
Diaz Olando, 23, Angel Lopez Berrido, 25, Osmani Garcia Santana, 23,
Alain Hernandez Cardenas, 21, Ernesto Gonzalez Nunez, 29, and Laura
Sanchez Gomez, 23. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555554067-57f ***
Also: Friends of Cuban ballplayers surprised at escape, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555556175-753
*** Mexico's Chiapas moves closer to boiling point
Two years after Zapatista guerrillas and Mexican government
negotiators broke off peace talks, there is no end in sight to the
simmering Chiapas state rebellion and it could cast a dark cloud over
presidential elections in 2000, analysts said this week. Violence in
the troubled southern state is claiming more and more victims, and
analysts see both sides as increasingly uninterested in finding a
settlement. "The government does not know how to finish off its
enemy, nor are its adversaries interested in negotiating, placing the
Chiapas war on the agenda for 2000 and raising tension there until
then," political commentator Ezra Shabot wrote in the daily Reforma.
See http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555555559-155
*** Argentines protest court block on Dirty War probe
Argentine human rights groups protested Friday a Supreme Court ruling
that blocks a woman from obtaining evidence of what happened to her
daughter, who disappeared in a "Dirty War" torture center in the
1970s. In a test case for requests by relatives of some of the
thousands who were kidnapped, tortured and killed by military death
squads, the court rejected Carmen Lapaco's petition for an ex-general
to give testimony on the girl's grim fate. Lapaco belongs to the
Mothers of Plaza de Mayo, Argentina's best-known rights group. The
Mothers have sought information on the fates of their kidnapped sons
and daughters since the start of the 1976-83 military dictatorship.
See http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555556501-c23
*** Suriname court convicts 14 of coup plot
Suriname's military court has convicted 14 men of plotting to
overthrow the government of the South American nation last October,
despite the fact that all were arrested unarmed. Judge John von
Niesewand on Thursday handed the men jail sentences ranging from a
year to three and a half years and said a 15th man would be sentenced
next week. According to prosecutors, security forces surprised the 15
men plotting to seize power in a car workshop on the outskirts of the
humid capital Paramaribo on the night of Oct. 25. The news was
initially greeted with skepticism in the former Dutch colony,
especially since the alleged coup plotters were captured unarmed. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555555690-cac
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Europe and Russia
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** German SPD still ahead but race open
Germany's opposition Social Democrats are still ahead in the polls
but many people have yet to decide how they will vote in next month's
general election, researchers said Friday. The latest weekly poll by
the Emnid institute showed the Social Democrats (SPD) on 41% and gave
Chancellor Helmut Kohl's ruling conservatives 38%. Those scores were
unchanged from last week. Emnid has put the gap between the two camps
at three points for several weeks. Other pollsters give the SPD a
larger lead of between five and 10 points. Emnid pollster Dieter Walz
said the result of the Sept. 27 general election was still open. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555551179-c70 ***
Also in German politics: Far-right DVU to rally in depressed east,
see http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555555499-110
*** Also: Ode to German unity sparks political row, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555554263-c9c
*** Lawyer targets German firms with slave labor suit
A German lawyer said Friday he would demand compensation for
Holocaust survivors from all German companies which used slave labor
during the Nazi era. Munich lawyer Michael Witti, already pursuing a
compensation claim on behalf of German banks for Nazi-era dealings,
said he would file requests for compensation with firms including
several well-known big companies. Witti said some of his clients were
people he already represented in the action against German banks. He
said he would send letters demanding compensation to "all companies
which used slave labor and still exist." See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555555555-2fd
*** Turkish opposition says no election alliance
Turkey's two main opposition parties denied reports they were
planning to forge a formal alliance to fight general elections in
April, Anatolian news agency said on Friday. "We neither have brought
an alliance proposal to anyone or received such a proposal. We are
against alliances," the agency quoted senior Islam-based Virtue party
MP, Salih Kapusuz, as saying. Right-wing opposition leader Tansu
Ciller also dismissed press reports that she planned forming an
election alliance with Virtue leader Recai Kutan and other right-wing
opposition figures. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555554345-e7e ***
Also: Bomb wounds 4 at Turkish university building, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555550901-037
*** Catholic radicals set up more Auschwitz crosses
Radical Roman Catholics defied Polish bishops and erected 10 more
large crosses Friday outside the former Nazi German death camp of
Auschwitz, witnesses said. There are now 111 crosses scattered across
a fenced-in field beside the red-brick walls of the camp, where 1.5
million people were murdered in World War II, most of them Jews.
Rightist trade-union and Polish-American bodies set up the newest
crosses Friday, despite a plea this week from Poland's leading
churchman Cardinal Jozef Glemp for the activists to stop. Nationalist
Catholic groups have pledged to defend the crosses, which Jewish
groups want removed, saying they commemorate the execution of 152
Poles by Nazi German firing squads. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555555196-ade
*** Slovak court says opposition body can contest poll
The Slovak Supreme Court rejected Friday an attempt by Prime Minister
Vladimir Meciar's ruling party to exclude the main opposition
grouping from next month's parliamentary election. Meciar's Movement
for a Democratic Slovakia (HZDS) contested Monday the right of the
largest opposition grouping, Slovak Democratic Coalition (SDK), to
register for the Sept. 25-26 vote. Slovak media quoted HZDS
representatives as saying that the SDK, which was formerly an
alliance of five parties, could not technically register as a single
party. But the court ruled that HZDS's objection was groundless and
accepted the registration of the SDK as a single party. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555552720-c79
*** Bulgaria seizes cocaine worth $56 mln
Bulgarian customs said Friday they had seized some 1,480 pounds of
cocaine with an approximate street value of $56 million at the Black
Sea port of Varna - their biggest single haul ever. The cocaine was
found hidden in a container during routine checks, customs spokesman
Ivan Kutevski said from Varna. He gave no further details. Bulgaria,
which lies on the so-called Balkan route for trafficking drugs from
the Middle East to Western Europe, seized a total of 14.4 tons of
drugs last year. (Reuters)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Africa
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** New UN Angola mediator says peace vital
New United Nations special envoy for Angola Issa Diallo said Friday
he recognized that helping to ensure the southern African country did
not return to bloody civil war would not be easy. But he said he
believed it was vital to press ahead rapidly to ensure the
consolidation of a peace that was vital to enable reconstruction
after almost four decades of war that had almost destroyed the
Angolan economy. "It won't be easy for anyone," said Diallo, a former
Guinean diplomat who joined the United Nations 20 years ago. He
served for a decade as top aide to then U.N. Secretary-General Javier
Perez de Cuellar and his adviser on African affairs. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555555376-d03
*** Sierra Leone troops take northern town from rebels
Soldiers from the former Sierra Leone army have captured a major town
in the north from rebels allied to the ousted military junta,
officers of the West African ECOMOG intervention force said Friday.
The Nigerian-led ECOMOG, which expelled the junta from Freetown in
February, had been trying for three months to take Kurubonla, a rebel
base close to the border with Guinea. "Our warplanes have been
bombing it, but the thick forest and the mountains around it had made
the task difficult," one senior officer said. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555555750-35c
*** Floods destroy hundreds of homes in eastern Sudan
The governor of Sudan's eastern state of Kassala has declared a state
of emergency after floods destroyed hundreds of homes, mostly in the
Suki area, a Khartoum newspaper reported Friday. The privately owned
Akbar al-Youm daily quoted the governor, Ibrahim Mohammad Hamid, as
saying the Gash river running through the state had risen to three
yards above ground level. He said an emergency committee had been
formed and civil servants, conscripts and other forces had been
mobilized to deal with the emergency. He appealed to the central
government in Khartoum to send sacks to shore up embankments and
tents. There were no immediate reports of casualties. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555553482-b1e
*** Tanzania USAID office evacuated in security scare
A building housing a U.S. government office in the Tanzanian capital
was evacuated Friday in a security scare, one week after a bomb
explosion outside the U.S. embassy killed 10, witnesses said. The
building in the city center was evacuated early on Friday after
officials at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)
found themselves unable to enter. "When they reported this morning
(Friday) they could not enter the office because the electronic locks
jammed...only for the USAID office," said a security official who
declined to be named. "It aroused suspicion and they had to
evacuate." See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555551502-da5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
India and the Middle East
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Indian government waits for word on its fate
The survival of India's minority coalition government hung by a
thread Friday after a key partner reserved its decision on whether to
quit or stay. There was no word from Jayaram Jayalalitha, the testy
leader of a regional party whose colleagues and allies Thursday gave
her a free hand to decide whether and when to make a move which would
almost certainly bring the government down. Vazhapadi Ramamurthy,
petroleum minister and the leader of a group allied to Jayalalitha's
Tamil Nadu state-based All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, kept
up the suspense. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555556389-86d
*** Uzbekistan checks border as Taleban advance
Uzbekistan said Friday it has sent its defense minister to the
country's border with Afghanistan, where military gains this week by
Islamic Taleban forces have raised alarm across Central Asia. Defense
Minister Khikmatulla Tursunov is in the southern border town of
Termez, a spokesman said. He declined to comment on the situation at
the border, where the Taleban claimed this week to have seized the
river port of Hairatan. Russian President Boris Yeltsin said Russia,
Tajikistan and Uzbekistan had to set up a joint barrier to resist the
Taleban as fighting approached the ex-Soviet border. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555554477-b1e
*** S. Lanka says destroys hijacked cargo ship
Sri Lankan Air Force planes bombed and destroyed a merchant ship
suspected of transporting supplies to Tamil Tiger rebels Friday, the
government said. A government statement said the "Princess Kash" was
anchored too close to the coast of Mullaitivu, the main base of the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam rebels, and it was ordered to move
away when communications were established after some difficulty.
"When it failed to move away from the coast, the navy...then fired
warning shots in the direction of the ship," the government said. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555554733-458
*** Iran's Rafsanjani slams Taleban, warns Pakistan
Iran's former president Friday added his voice to a growing chorus of
criticism against the Afghan Taleban, calling them irresponsible and
demanding that they free 11 Iranian diplomats he said they held
hostage. "This is an irresponsible group that is doing tremendous
damage to the image of Islam around the world," former Iranian
President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said. Rafsanjani, who is still an
influential figure in Iran, warned the Taleban and their "backers"
that the Islamic republic would not tolerate the detention of its
diplomats. Iran has accused Pakistan of backing the Taleban. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555553989-837
*** Landslides claim 40 lives in northern India
At least 40 people have died in the past four days in landslides
caused by incessant rains in the northern Indian state of Uttar
Pradesh, state government officials said Friday. Earlier, the Star
Television, quoting state officials, had said that at least 58 people
had died due to landslides in the Himalayan region. State officials
said the army had been called to assist state authorities in relief
operations in the Garhwal Hills, about 469 miles northwest of the
state capital, Lucknow. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555551012-1cf
*** Israeli soldiers disciplined for guerrilla's escape
Israel's army disciplined officers and soldiers Friday for letting an
Arab guerrilla penetrate their position in Lebanon and get out alive.
Army chief Lt. Gen. Shaul Mofaz, who investigated Sunday's
embarrassing infiltration of the Sojod forward base in
Israeli-occupied south Lebanon, concluded: "From the moment the
terrorist penetrated the post, there was a need to make contact with
him and kill him." An army communique said the guerrilla fired at one
soldier and struggled with another before fleeing, leaving behind his
weapon and ammunition belt. Mofaz called the incident "a very serious
operational blunder." See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555553041-a9e
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Far East
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Indonesia in tatters a year after rupiah float
One year ago, Indonesia succumbed to weeks of speculative attacks and
floated the rupiah. Twelve months on, the beleaguered currency has
plunged 79% and the stock market 37%t, after a descent into economic
and political turmoil which broke the 32-year rule of former
president Suharto and transformed a booming tiger economy into a
financial disaster. "No country in recent history, let alone one the
size of Indonesia, has ever suffered such a dramatic reversal of
fortune," the World Bank said in its latest report on Indonesia. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555551096-481 ***
Also: Chinese Indonesians arrive in HK, fear violence. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555553855-cce
*** Cambodia opposition says rival wooing its members
Cambodian opposition parties said Friday election winner Hun Sen's
ruling party was trying to lure opposition politicians to its ranks
with financial rewards to secure a working majority in the new
parliament. Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party won the July 26
election and is expected to end up with 64 of the 122 National
Assembly seats, but it failed to win the two-thirds of assembly seats
necessary to approve a new government. The FUNCINPEC party of deposed
co-premier Prince Norodom Ranariddh and the Sam Rainsy Party are
expected to end up with 43 and 15 seats respectively and have
threatened to boycott the new parliament, blocking formation of a
government, if allegations of electoral fraud are not investigated.
See http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555552177-c5c
*** Japan Health Ministry loses track of HIV case tapes
A decade-long Japanese scandal over HIV-tainted blood products took a
new turn as the Health Ministry said Friday all tapes but one of
early government AIDS panel meetings apparently went missing years
ago. A report issued Wednesday by the ministry also showed in an
internal probe it carried out in 1996, nobody could recall a 1983
tape of the first panel meeting, at which the possible dangers of
unheated blood products were discussed. That tape was among materials
seized by prosecutors in a search in 1996, and was included in
testimony this July about Akihito Matsumura, who headed the
ministry's Biologics and Antibiotics Division from 1984 to 1986, the
report said. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555550603-8a1 ***
Also from Japan: Police find dead boy at garbage dump, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555551699-a02
*** Australia launches anti-racism campaign
Australia's conservative government, reacting to a jump in complaints
of racist abuse, launched a "Living in Harmony" anti-racism campaign
Friday. The campaign, which follows a strong showing by
anti-immigration politician Pauline Hanson in the recent Queensland
state election, was announced amid speculation of an early national
election, widely expected in October. The first phase of the campaign
will cost A$2.5 million (US$1.5 million) and involves grants to
schools, churches and community groups to promote racial harmony. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555549527-5a9
*** China sings praises of cops killed by separatists
China's propaganda machine eulogized three policemen killed in
shootouts with Muslim separatists in the restive northwestern region
of Xinjiang and "The three martyrs gallantly gave up their lives to
safeguard stability and prosperity in the western frontier of the
motherland," the Press Digest said in an edition Friday. The Press
Digest, published by the official Shanghai-based Liberation Daily,
called on the people to "learn from and salute the heroes." See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555550425-486 ***
Also: China coal mine blasts kill 32, injures 6, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555549305-df4
*** Emotion peaks at Vietnam Catholic festival
Vietnam's largest ever Catholic festival peaked Friday amid high
hopes that tough times were over for the country's believers,
although clergymen indicated some problems remained. More than
100,000 emotional Catholics have flooded La Vang in central Quang Tri
province to mark the 200th anniversary of the Virgin Mary - an event
that has attracted close scrutiny from the ruling Communist Party.
Vietnam's top Catholic, Cardinal Phaolo-Giuse Phan Dinh Tung,
officially arrived at La Vang under a scorching afternoon sun to a
hero's welcome. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555554075-3af
----------------------------------------------------------------------
World Business and Financial News
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Hong Kong soars 8.5% as most of Asia gains
An 8.5% surge on Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index boosted stock-market
activity Friday, leading the Asia-Pacific region mostly higher.
However, Tokyo shares eased 1.7% following Thursday's gains. The Hang
Seng Index shot up 564.72, or 8.5%, to 7224.69 Friday, as massive
short-covering activity, easing interest rates and a stable yen
helped to erase some of the market's sharp recent losses. Tokyo
stocks resumed their slide Friday amid jitters about the health of
the Japanese economy and the spreading Asian economic crisis after
edging up Thursday to end eight-straight sessions of declines. Shares
on the Korea Stock Exchange rose on the relative stability of the
Japanese yen against the U.S. dollar as well as on
better-than-expected first-half earnings reports from blue-chip
companies. Malaysian share prices finished mixed. (WSJ)
*** Hong Kong's 8.5% gain buoys European stocks
A relief rally swept the European markets Friday, amid some signs of
recovery in battered Asian and Russian stocks. Investors cheered as
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rocketed 8.5%, while Russia's key stock
index posted moderate gains. British, Belgian, South African and
Dutch shares were boosted by Hong Kong's gains. French and Swiss
stocks rose as the yen rose sharply against the dollar in Asian
trading. In Italy, shares were sharply higher as the Russian Trading
System gained 4% in early trading. Spanish shares advanced after the
central bank kept its benchmark interest rate at 4.25%. Meanwhile,
German stocks advanced, led by chemical shares. (WSJ)
*** Japan official worries about deflation
An influential Japanese economic official says he is worried that
Japan's recession-plagued economy may fall into a deflationary
spiral. Taichi Sakaiya, the head of Japan's Economic Planning Agency,
predicts there will be no growth in Japan's gross domestic product
for the fiscal year that began April 1. Sakaiya also says the
Japanese economy will likely worsen before it recovers. Japanese
businesses are under pressure to lower prices amid a slump in
consumption. But economists worry that falling prices will cut into
corporate profits and trigger rising unemployment. (USA Today)
*** IMF praises Thailand rescue plan
The International Monetary Fund is welcoming Thailand's comprehensive
package to rescue the country's financial system. The package
includes a takeover of two debt-ridden banks and five finance
companies. The IMF's acting managing director, Shigemitsu Sugisaki,
says the measures are aimed at ensuring "the solvency and credibility
of the core banking system" and strengthening "the basis for the
recovery of the economy." Thailand's financial sector all but
collapsed last year after a slowdown in the economy exposed
insolvency in companies in many sectors of business. (USA Today)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Science and Medicine
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Rare book by Copernicus stolen in Ukraine
A rare book by the Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus published in
1543 has been stolen from Ukraine's National Vernadsky Library, the
director said Friday. "There are only eight or 10 known copies of
this work in the world," said Alexei Onishenko, director of the
library. The work, "On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres," was
written in Latin and published in Nuremburg, Germany in 1543, the
year of the astronomer's death. In it, Copernicus put forward the
controversial idea that the sun was the center of the universe and
not the earth, defying Christian doctrine at the time. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555551228-01d
*** Want to be blister-free? Try antiperspirant
Antiperspirants may help keep feet dry and fragrant, but they can
also prevent blisters, U.S. Army medical researchers said Friday.
They tested their theory in a tough, real-world laboratory - 600
cadets at the U.S. Military Academy, sent on daily 13-mile hikes.
Writing in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, the
researchers said the cadets who put antiperspirant on their feet
every night had fewer than half as many blisters as the cadets who
put a placebo solution on their feet. They said the rubbing of a boot
or shoe against moist skin produces more friction that against dry
skin. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555554669-d6b
*** Top British scientist backs genetically made food
A leading British scientist on Friday dismissed fears over
genetically modified food as irrational and said engineering new
crops was no different from the selective breeding farmers had
carried out for centuries. Oxford University professor Richard
Dawkins, an award-winning science author, said in a letter to the
Independent newspaper that many types of food eaten today would not
exist without changes introduced by humans. A fierce debate is raging
in Britain over the merits of genetically modified (GM) crops. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555552136-0b7
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Technology
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** Delaying Microsoft trial under discussion - sources
Microsoft Corp. and government lawyers have discussed delaying the
antitrust trial against the world's leading software company by up to
two weeks, sources familiar with the case said Thursday. The
possibility of delaying the Sept. 8 trial was discussed in a
conference call with U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson, the
sources said. The judge has not yet issued a decision on a change of
date. One source said the government had approached Microsoft with
the proposal. Trial preparations have been disrupted by a bid by
media organizations to be present at pre-trial interviews of
witnesses and subsequent appeals against that access by Microsoft.
See http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555545556-6e9
*** Apple sets $100 mln ad campaign for iMac
Apple Computer Inc. said Thursday it would launch its largest ever
advertising campaign for its new iMac computer, spending more than
$100 million through the end of 1998. Apple's new consumer computer,
goes on sale nationwide Saturday, and new iMac television commercials
will premier Aug. 16, the company said. Apple did not disclose many
details about the advertising campaign, except to say the ads will
focus on the iMac's key features - easy Internet access, simplicity
and speed. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555541260-3b2
*** Ross pulling the plug on 10-year RISC efforts
RISC processor supplier Ross Technology Inc. said it is continuing
its plans to shut down operations at the end of 1998 after struggling
for more than a year to revive its slumping sales. Backed by Fujitsu
Ltd., the company was launched 10 years ago to aggressively sell
Sparc processors, based on the RISC architecture from Sun
Microsystems Inc. In July, the company announced it was proceeding
with an orderly shutdown of its operations after it began looking to
sell off its assets. (CMP Techweb)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Environment
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** China moves to curb deforestation
China's cabinet has issued a circular calling for greater protection
of its forests after environmentalists linked deforestation to the
country's devastating floods this summer, state media said Friday.
The State Council issued an emergency circular recently calling for
greater protection of forest resources and forbidding the opening up
of new lands at the expense of forests, the official Xinhua news
agency and newspapers said. The amount of forest resources would be
increased, they said, adding that all forest land used by
construction projects was to be frozen for one year effective
immediately. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555551618-e69
*** China floods threaten NE oilfields, power plants
Record water levels in northeastern China have left more than 400,000
people homeless and threatened power stations and oilfields, state
media and officials said Friday. A surging torrent on the Nen River
in Heilongjiang province pushed water levels in Qiqihaer city to new
highs early Friday before bursting a dyke near Daqing oilfield,
China's largest, the official Xinhua news agency said. In central
Jiangxi province, residents of Jiujiang city had begun to return to
their waterlogged homes after flood workers blocked a 200-foot breach
in a key dyke on the Yangtze River, Xinhua said. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555552750-38d
*** S. Korea's 'guerrilla rains' cause more mayhem
South Korea's "guerrilla rains" returned Friday, dumping up to 7.2
inches and wreaking more havoc across flood-ravaged areas, officials
said. Weather forecasters said a break in the weather was unlikely
before Monday and issued a heavy rain alert for the capital, Seoul,
late Friday. The National Disaster Prevention Countermeasures
Headquarters renewed flood warnings along the Nakdong River in
central and southern areas of the country. South Korean media have
dubbed the storm fronts "the guerrilla rains" because they have
struck when least expected - during what should be the height of the
dry season. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555553322-4e3
*** Russia to cull 15,000 wolves
Russia will kill some 15,000 wolves this year as part of a cull to
regulate the predators' population, the agriculture ministry said on
Friday following media criticism of the killings. Alexander Tikhonov,
head of wildlife conservation, said the wolf, largely hunted to
extinction in western Europe, was a serious pest across Russia and
killed both people and livestock. In a sign of growing popular
sentiment in favor of animal protection, however, the Noviye Izvestia
newspaper criticized the cull, describing the practice of leaving out
poisoned food as butchery, that also kills other animals and birds.
See http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555554839-a85
*** Floods destroy hundreds of homes in eastern Sudan
The governor of Sudan's eastern state of Kassala has declared a state
of emergency after floods destroyed hundreds of homes, mostly in the
Suki area, a Khartoum newspaper reported Friday. The privately owned
Akbar al-Youm daily quoted the governor, Ibrahim Mohammad Hamid, as
saying the Gash river running through the state had risen to three
metres above ground level. He said an emergency committee had been
formed and civil servants, conscripts and other forces had been
mobilized to deal with the emergency. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555553482-b1e
*** Early cold claims 1st Moscow victim
An unseasonal August foretaste of Moscow's bitter winter has claimed
its first victim, Interfax news agency reported Friday. An
unidentified 50-year-old man found dead in southwestern Moscow was
registered as the first of the 1998-99 season killed by exposure to
cold, the agency said. Russia is known for its long and deadly
winters. Often dozens of Muscovites freeze to death each night in
December and January. First frost sometimes arrives in late September
or October. The past year has seen unusual weather in European
Russia. Moscow has had an unusually hot summer, but the past few days
have been unseasonably cold. (Reuters)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Human Interest
----------------------------------------------------------------------
*** London club votes on Pooh and the pot of money
For an exclusive London gentlemen's club, Winnie the Pooh is not so
much a bear of very little brain as a bear likely to provide it with
a very large pot of money. When Pooh author A.A. Milne died in 1956,
the Garrick Club was one of the beneficiaries of his will. Now it has
had to decide what to do with what could turn into a windfall big
enough to keep the little bear in honey for a very, very long time
indeed. The mighty Disney Corporation, which holds film, TV and
licensing rights for Pooh and his friends Piglet, Eeyore, Tigger and
the rest, wants to extend its copyright. That could mean fees of
about 200 million pounds (US$325 million) divided equally between the
Garrick, of which Milne was a member, and three other beneficiaries.
See http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555553606-6f3
*** World War II reporter Seaghan Maynes dies
Seaghan Maynes, a former Reuters correspondent who covered the D-Day
landings, the liberation of Paris and the Nuremberg war crimes
trials, died in hospital Thursday after a heart attack at his home.
He was 82. In a long career with Reuters, Maynes also covered the
White House in Washington and reported from the Middle East on the
Suez crisis and the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls. He served at
various times as correspondent for Commonwealth affairs, defense, and
his native Northern Ireland. Maynes, who lived in New Malden near
London, is survived by his wife, Maura, five children and six
grandchildren. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555554757-a1d
*** VW whets world's appetite for New Beetle
Volkswagen AG is whetting the world's appetite for its New Beetle,
sending to at least nine countries small numbers of the updated
version of the carmaker's classic convex-profiled car. About 43,000
New Beetles - safer, better equipped and more powerful than its
bare-bones predecessor - are on the streets of just three countries:
the United States, Canada and Mexico. In the U.S., the car sparked a
consumer nostalgia craze even before its introduction and there have
been widespread reports of speculators buying up the cars and
reselling them for thousands more than their sticker prices. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555553932-725
*** I'll miss you, Charles tells Spice Girl Geri
Britain's Prince Charles wrote to Spice Girl Geri Halliwell when she
quit the all-girl group, saying he would miss her "wonderfully
friendly greeting," the Mirror newspaper reported Friday. Ginger
Spice Geri, who quit the chart-topping five-some May 31, made a habit
of giving strait-laced Charles a big kiss and even pinching his
bottom when they met at charity concerts. "Dear Geri, I wanted to
drop you a line to say how sorry I was to discover you had decided to
leave the rest of the Spice Girls...The group certainly will not be
the same without your wonderfully friendly greeting in the future,"
he wrote. See
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555550642-fe0
*** French boy has to polish boots after burning oats
A 12-year-old French boy was ordered to polish 20 pairs of firemen's
boots for starting a fire in a field of oats, the newspaper
Liberation said Friday. The boy deliberately set fire to a bunch of
straw in the field because he wanted to see what would happen, the
paper said. The fire spread to the whole field in Gommlersdorf, in
northeastern France. The boy's parents and the local mayor approved
the punishment, Liberation said. (Reuters)
*** Also: Axe-wielding Russian woman hacks off lover's nose, see
http://www.infobeat.com/stories/cgi/story.cgi?id=2555556770-16d
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