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FINANCIAL<	MEDICINEI	POLITICS⌡M1|SCIENCE╚LATIN AMERICA'EUROPE.CISn"ASIA#AFRICAU&MIDDLE EASTÄ*PACIFIC╖-1\.2l;3φH4δM5öR6 X7½]8Xg9w108Ç11▒╡12├├13┐╨14{╓15G≤16ü17+18'5198>201L21┐f22Xo23╥}241ò25e»26c╜27╘28δ▀29²√30:31¬32U33╚,34l635B>36¼X37╬]38ßk39┼v40Ç41ò42üá43⌐¡44τ╢45¼╧46▀┘47sΦ48Å±49≈250┌A51╪X52Öa53└y54÷ï55[₧56╤░57½╞58▒σ59K960¼P61⌠]62│h63⌡z64.å65│¥66âÑ67Æ│68ε┐69⌡─70,█71}π72φ73v²74╦75476P77Q'78B.796380┐;81ÑD82╕M83wV84╦^85h869q87┴x88)}89╩ç90÷É91≡ù92~í93Kª94╣┤95╓╜96B┼97e┘98╦∩99╝	100É101⌠ 102╩)10376104\N105La106i107│w108ü109Yè110.Ü111Bí112xª113½114~┤115╤116²╫117▌118çΦ119σ120ÿ	121e122÷!123^+124·5125Ñ>126PG127≥R128┴[129ïe130┐l131Tv132ⁿ}133+ë134û136╥£137≡¬138|Φ139Y÷140⌐141«142æ143∙*144ge145Éj146ü147εè148É149X┘150l⌡151B²152┤	153S	154g	155	156Γ'	157║,	158▐6	159ùA	160H	161ÅN	162█T	163ég	164óu	165╕Å	166°Ñ	167┼╢	SUBINFOY╞	9INTERNATIONAL NEWS E-WIRE SERVICE WEEKLY WEEK OF 8/12/959                INTERNATIONAL NEWS E-WIRE SERVICE WEEKLY-                              ISSN 1080-3149.                            DISTRIBUTE FREELY-                             WEEK OF 6/12/951INFO/GENERAL INFO ON INEWS DAILY - INEWS@AOL.COM5TO REACH EDITOR ------------------ INEWSEDIT@AOL.COM'CLICK THE \INDEX\\ BUTTON FOR THE MENUK\CLICK HERE FOR FREE TRIAL SUBSCRIPTION TO INEWS DAILY VIA E-MAIL\SUBINFO\.UNITED STATES,USA.LATIN AMERICA,LATIN AMERICA.EUROPE,EUROPE.RUSSIA  FORMER REPUBLICS,CIS.ASIA,ASIA.AFRICA,AFRICA.MIDDLE EAST,MIDDLE EAST.PACIFIC STATES,PACIFIC .INEWS DAILY FREE TRIAL,SUBINFO\UNITED STATES\\        \BOOKS\BOOKS\+        \FEATURES-CURRENT EVENTS\FEATURES\/        \FINANCIAL-ECONOMY-BUSINESS\FINANCIAL\        \MEDICINE\MEDICINE\        \POLITICS\POLITICS\%        \SCIENCE-TECHNOLOGY\SCIENCE\.           CLICK TRACK TO RETURN TO THIS MENU	\BOOKS\\E   \"CODE-NAME DOWNFALL", WHAT IF THE BOMB WAS NOT USED ON JAPAN\96\F   \"NEW PASSAGES: MAPPING YOUR LIFE ACROSS TIME," BY GAIL SHEEHY\97\>   \"CITIZEN TURNER, THE WILD RISE OF AN AMERICAN TYCOON"\98\.           CLICK TRACK TO RETURN TO THIS MENU\FEATURES-CURRENT EVENTS\\4   \U.N. STUDY ON THE IMPACT OF WAR ON CHILDREN\38\B   \THAI WORKERS HELD IN NEAR-SALVE CONDITIONS IN LOS ANGELES\39\    \THE BUSINESS OF HELPING\40\J   \HARVARD WON'T CENSOR PROFESSOR WHO WRITES OF UFO ALIEN ABDUCTIONS\41\-   \DRUGS BIGGEST PROBLEM FOR U.S. TEENS\42\(   \NEW YORK PUBLIC TV STATION SALE\43\2   \CHICAGO VOTING SYSTEM STUDIED BY RUSSIANS\44\L   \NY TERROR TRIAL DEFENDANT SAYS HE WAS TRYING TO HELP BOSNIA MUSLIMS\45\    \THREE MILE ISLAND TODAY\46\<   \THE FBI DISTRIBUTES 35,000 WORD UNABOMBER MANIFESTO\47\3   \50TH ANNIVERSARY OF HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI\48\%   \FCC ENCOURAGES CHILDREN'S TV\49\7   \THE RAMONES: WILL THE PIONEERS OF PUNK RETIRE?\50\=   \U.S. EMBASSIES TAKING PRECAUTIONS AFTER HAMAS THREAT\51\C   \TOM HANKS & JAMES LOVELL ON THE SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF SPACE\52\   \SCHOOL TO WORK CRISIS\53\<   \HISTORY'S WORST SERIAL KILLER: "THE BLOOD COUNTESS"\54\   \AMERICAN DIGEST\55\"   \U.S. AGRICULTURAL ROUNDUP\56\   \MUSIC NOTES\57\9   \GAO CONCERNED OVER SAFETY OF CUBAN NUCLEAR PLANT\58\.           CLICK TRACK TO RETURN TO THIS MENU1             \CLICK HERE FOR MORE SELECTIONS\M2\3   \KEITH LOCKHART: BOSTON POPS' NEW CONDUCTOR\59\+   \RE-LAUNCHING OF JEFFERSON STARSHIP\60\=   \LITTLE KNOWN PIONEERING JAZZ VETERAN: VALERIE CAPERS\61\<   \MARTINE VAN HAMEL: PRIMA BALLERINA TO MODERN DANCER\62\   \"MUSICAL EXPEDITIONS"\63\4   \LOUANNE JOHNSON: REACHING "DANGEROUS MINDS"\64\.           CLICK TRACK TO RETURN TO THIS MENU\FINANCIAL-ECONOMY-BUSINESS\\0   \U.S. UNEMPLOYMENT RATE EDGES UP IN JULY\99\   \AIRLINE NEWS\100\*   \JAPAN INTERVENTION TO WEAKEN YEN\101\)   \MEDIA AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY\102\   \DISNEY & TIMES SQUARE\103\(   \AFL, CIO LEADERSHIP TRANSITION\104\   \WESTINGHOUSE/CBS DEAL\105\"   \DETROIT NEWSPAPER STRIKE\106\   \DISNEY/ABC DEAL\107\?   \SEC ANNOUNCES ATTEMPT TO SIMPLIFY INVESTMENT LANGUAGE\108\F   \CLINTON ADVISERS SEE $160,000 MILLION BUDGET DEFICIT IN 1995\109\.           CLICK TRACK TO RETURN TO THIS MENU\MEDICINE\\*   \MALE INFERTILITY: GENETIC FACTOR\136\%   \THE PHYSIOLOGY OF MARIJUANA\137\6   \SCIENTIST FINALLY DISCOVER HOW ASPIRIN WORKS\138\6   \STUDY SAYS SOY REDUCES RISK OF HEART DISEASE\139\K   \RESEARCHER SAYS THE LIMITS OF STARVATION RECOVERY CAN BE EXTENDED\140\!   \REPRODUCTIVE RISK STUDY\141\1   \YET ANOTHER ALZHEIMER'S GENE DISCOVERED\142\   \MEDICAL BRIEFS\143\.           CLICK TRACK TO RETURN TO THIS MENU\POLITICS\\-   \CHICAGO CONGRESSMAN MEL REYNOLDS RIAL\1\,   \CHRISTOPHER CONCLUDES CAMBODIA VISIT\2\9   \CLINTON ACCUSES GINGRICH OF STALLING LOBBY REFORM\3\H   \CLINTON BANS DENYING SECURITY CLEARANCE BECAUSE OF HOMOSEXUALITY\4\0   \DOLE PUTS OFF BOSNIA EMBARGO VETO BATTLE\5\   \HOUSE ON SUMMER RECESS\6\*   \IMPENDING CONGRESS BUDGET SHOWDOWN\7\%   \HOUSE TELECOMMUNICATIONS VOTE\8\    \LAWYERS AND FLAG BURNERS\9\.   \INTERVIEW: RELIGION IN A FREE SOCIETY\10\   \SENATE/WELFARE REFORM\11\2   \HELEN THOMAS CELEBRATES HER 75TH BIRTHDAY\12\B   \IRAQ MUST COMPLY WITH ALL UNSC RESOLUTIONS, SAYS ALBRIGHT\13\:   \30TH ANNIVERSARY OF U.S. VOTING RIGHTS ACT HAILED\14\B   \U.S. VOTING RIGHTS DECISIONS FLUCTUATE THROUGHOUT HISTORY\15\$   \CLINTON ON TOBACCO INDUSTRY\16\>   \CLINTON REITERATES WISH FOR CROATIA TO SHOW RESTRAINT\17\A   \CONGRESS ADDRESS FRIENDLY FIRE ACCIDENT IN NORTHERN IRAQ\18\.   \HOUSE FOCUSES ON RELATIONS WITH CHINA\19\0   \CUBA/U.S.RELATIONS: A THAW IN THE NEWS?\20\&   \SENATE/MISSILE DEFENSE DEBATE\21\!   \SOCIAL SECURITY'S FUTURE\22\.           CLICK TRACK TO RETURN TO THIS MENU1             \CLICK HERE FOR MORE SELECTIONS\M1\   \THE B-2 BOMBER DEBATE\23\0   \U.S./CHINA RELATIONS - ANOTHER BLEMISH?\24\*   \VIETNAMESE RECEPTION OF AMERICANS\25\$   \HOUSE WACO HEARINGS WRAP-UP\26\:   \WIEDEMANN CAUTIONS AGAINST TAIWAN-U.N. RESOLUTION\27\0   \HILLARY CLINTON IN SEARCH OF A NEW ROLE\28\=   \SENATE REJECTS CALL TO MAKE PACKWOOD HEARINGS PUBLIC\29\?   \DASCHLE LESS OPTIMISTIC BOSNIA VETO WOULD BE SUSTAINED\30\,   \SENATE OPENS DEBATE ON DEFENSE BILL\31\@   \CONGRESS NOT DIVIDED ON OPPOSITION TO CUBAN POWER PLANT\32\E   \HOUSE PANEL POSTPONES ACTION ON FAST-TRACK TRADE LEGISLATION\33\I   \NAVY'S PLAN TO GIVE FRIGATES TO MIDEAST DRAWS FIRE FROM CONGRESS\34\?   \RECENT FILM REVEALS FLAWS OF CUBAN NUCLEAR POWER PLANT\35\G   \ADMINISTRATION SAYS IT IS WILLING AND READY TO WORK WITH HELMS\36\   \VIETNAM WAR OVER?\37\.           CLICK TRACK TO RETURN TO THIS MENU\SCIENCE-TECHNOLOGY\\%   \SPACE SHUTTLE STILL ON HOLD\161\4   \DRAMATIC FOSSIL FIND IN SOUTH AFRICAN CAVE\162\   \COMPUTER DIGEST\163\-   \HIGH TECH TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT SYSTEM\164\   \CYBERPORN HEARINGS\165\#   \FLYING CLIMATE LABORATORY\166\;   \SOUTH AMERICAN MOTH HORMONE USE IN INSECT CONTROL\167\.           CLICK TRACK TO RETURN TO THIS MENU\LATIN AMERICA\\   \PANAMA LABOR UNREST\127\-   \PARAGUAY RETURN TO DEMOCRACY REPORT\128\%   \TRINIDAD STATE OF EMERGENCY\129\N   \HONDURAN MILITARY CHIEF CRITICIZES PROSECUTION OF MILITARY OFFICIALS\130\H   \FORMER MEXICAN ATTORNEY GENERAL TESTIFY AT EXTRADITION HEARING\131\>   \COLOMBIAN DEFENSE MINISTER RESIGNS OVER DRUG SCANDAL\132\@   \GUATEMALAN REBEL LEADER DEATH INVESTIGATOR RESIGNATION\133\C   \CHILE GENERAL LOSES APPEAL TO STAY OUT OF CIVILIAN PRISON\134\.           CLICK TRACK TO RETURN TO THIS MENU
\EUROPE\\1   \EUROPEAN REACTION TO CROATIAN OFFENSIVE\110\   \CROATIA REFUGEES\111\   \EAST EUROPEAN STOCKS\112\-   \FRENCH SUBWAY BOMBING INVESTIGATION\113\0   \ANALYSTS ON GROWING WAR IN THE BALKANS\114\   \POLAND ECONOMY\115\5   \BOUTROS GHALI CRITICIZES CROATIAN OFFENSIVE\116\B   \U.N. WARNS OF REFUGEE FLOW FROM CROATIA'S KRAJINA REGION\117\L   \BEYOND BOSNIA: DIPLOMATS MAY NOT BE UNHAPPY WITH CROATIA OFFENSIVE\118\1   \EARLY RELEASE OF STASI CHIEF IN GERMANY\119\#   \TREATING BOSNIA'S WOUNDED\120\   \CZECH HOUSING\121\3   \FRENCH PUBLIC OPINION POL ON NUCLEAR TEST\122\-   \FRANCE RELEASE NUCLEAR TESTING DATA\123\A   \HUMAN RIGHTS GROUPS CALL FOR MILITARY ACTIONS IN BOSNIA\124\@   \LATVIA STOCKS RE-OPENS AFTER BEING CLOSED FOR 55 YEARS\125\   \ROMANIA ECONOMY\126\.           CLICK TRACK TO RETURN TO THIS MENU"\RUSSIA/FORMER SOVIET REPUBLICS\\/   \RUSSIAN REACTION TO CROATIA OFFENSIVE\159\    \RUSSIA/CHECHNYA UPDATE\160\.           CLICK TRACK TO RETURN TO THIS MENU\ASIA\\7   \PAKISTAN FOREIGN MINISTER VISIT TO AFGHANISTAN\83\(   \CHINESE ATTITUDES TOWARD JAPAN \84\J   \FALLOUT FROM INDIA REJECTION OF US-BUILT $3 BILLION POWER PROJECT\85\A   \SRI LANKAN PRESIDENT EXPECTS REBELS TO REJECT PEACE PLAN\86\K   \WORLD BANK CANCEL FINANCING FOR CONTROVERSIAL DAM IN THE HIMALAYAS\87\J   \JAPAN PARLIAMENT CALL ON CHINA AND FRANCE TO HALT NUCLEAR TESTING\88\   \KARACHI VIOLENCE\89\E   \AFGHANISTAN ACCUSES PAKISTAN OF SUPPORTING OPPOSITION GROUPS\90\K   \INDIA TO INVESTIGATE LINKS BETWEEN POLITICIANS AND ORGANIZED CRIME\91\E   \MILITANTS IN KASHMIR THREATEN AGAIN TO KILL WESTERN HOSTAGES\92\    \VIETNAM ECONOMIC REFORM\93\>   \CHINESE VICTIMS OF JAPANESE WAR ATROCITIES TRY TO SUE\94\C   \PHILIPPINE COURT FINDS SON OF MARCOS GUILTY OF TAX EVASION\95\.           CLICK TRACK TO RETURN TO THIS MENU
\AFRICA\\+   \EGYPTIAN GOVERNMENT-PRESS TENSIONS\65\8   \BBC MAY BAR KENYA FROM USES OF ITS NEWS PROGRAM\66\'   \KENYA OPPOSITION PARTY: SAFINA\67\F   \U.S. WARNS SOUTH AFRICA NOT TO TAKE IRANIAN TRADE OPPORTUNITY\68\?   \CHIEF TOM IKIMI AND RANDALL ROBINSON DEBATE ON U.S. TV\69\L   \SUDAN PLEASED EGYPTIANS IMPLICATED IN MUBARAK ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT\70\E   \NIGERIAN COURT ORDERS MILITARY NOT TO TRY DEMOCRACY ACTIVIST\71\&   \TANZANIA ELECTION CAMPAIGNING\72\+   \TRIAL OF PROMINENT NIGERIAN AUTHOR\73\5   \NIGERIA USES LETTER AS PRETEXT FOR CRACKDOWN\74\B   \SUDAN CALLS REPORT OF HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES, HALLUCINATIONS\75\'   \ZIMBABWE BOOK FAIR CONTROVERSY\76\@   \NIGERIAN OPPOSITION REPORTS MORE SECRET MILITARY TRIALS\77\>   \RWANDAN PRIEST CHARGED WITH PARTICIPATING IN GENOCIDE\78\E   \FORMER IVORY COAST PRIME MINISTER WILL NOT RUN FOR PRESIDENT\79\A   \KENYA CONTINUES TO CRITICIZE BRITAIN'S OVERSEAS MINISTER\80\1   \KENYA OPPOSITION PARTY ACTIVIST ARRESTED\81\;   \BRITAIN SAYS IT VALUES ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH KENYA\82\.           CLICK TRACK TO RETURN TO THIS MENU\MIDDLE EAST\\J   \HEAD OF UN COMMISSION OVERSEEING IRAQ WEAPONS LEAVES FOR BAGHDAD\144\.   \SYRIA'S LOOMING DOMINANCE OF LEBANON\145\B   \MIDEAST PEACE NEGOTIATIONS SCHEDULED TO RESUME NEXT WEEK\146\C   \ISRAELI/PALESTINIAN NEGOTIATORS END LATEST ROUND OF TALKS\147\)   \RELIGION AND POLITICS IN ISRAEL\148\7   \REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK: BEIRUT DIGS OUT FROM WAR\149\8   \IRAQ CELEBRATES ANNIVERSARY OF KUWAIT INVASION\150\8   \ISRAELI SECURITY FORCES FORCIBLE MOVE SETTLERS\151\   \SAUDI CABINET SHUFFLE\152\E   \SYRIAN RESPONSE TO RABIN ASSESSMENT OF STALLED NEGOTIATIONS\153\K   \HUMAN RIGHTS GROUPS DEMAND INFO FROM IRAQ ON 1000 MISSING KUWAITI\154\4   \IRAQ INVASION OF KUWAIT - FIVE YEARS LATER\155\:   \JORDAN MOVES CLOSER TO ENDING ITS ISRAEL BOYCOTT\156\.           CLICK TRACK TO RETURN TO THIS MENU\PACIFIC STATES\\$   \AUSTRALIA/FRANCE RELATIONS\157\?   \AUSTRALIA CONTINUES PROTEST OVER FRENCH NUCLEAR TESTS\158\.           CLICK TRACK TO RETURN TO THIS MENU   ---------------)   CHICAGO CONGRESSMAN MEL REYNOLDS RIAL   PAUL FRANCUCH   CHICAGO=   A criminal trial in a Chicago courtroom in which a United<States congressional representative faces charges of having>illicit sex with a teenaged girl faced a serious obstacle forAprosecutors when the person who made the allegations against theAcongressman refused to testify in court. But the accuser changed:her mind when confronted with the possibility of a prisonBsentence for contempt of court. Recent developments in the highly:publicized case against Chicago congressman Mel Reynolds.@   It was just over a year ago when a young Chicago woman namedBbeverly heard went to police to say that congressman Reynolds had;a sexual affair with her when she was too young to legally@consent to the act. That led to phone taps which produced lurid;transcripts between her and the congressman, and then to aBmulti-count indictment against him, including charges of criminal6sexual assault and abuse, that he solicited for childApornography, and that he obstructed justice in trying to get her2to sign a false statement retracting the charges.?   For more than a week, Ms. Heard has appeared as a reluctantBwitness in the trial against Congressman Reynolds, but refused to@answer any questions on the grounds that her answers could have=led to criminal charges against her. That led prosecutors to?grant her immunity from any charges which could have come from:her testimony, but Ms. Heard still refused to testify. On?Thursday, the judge in the case reminded Ms. Heard that it wasAher charges which prompted the investigation against congressman<Reynolds, a two-term Democrat from Chicago's south side whoBearned a Rhodes scholarship to study at Oxford and later became acollege professor.>   After spending several nights in the local jail, Ms. Heard?said Friday morning she had changed her mind and will tell theBcourt what she knows about the allegations in testimony scheduledAfor Monday. One of Ms. Heard's lawyers, Eric Powell Dunham, told:reporters the judge's threat of a prison sentence is what$probably changed his client's mind:@   "I think when he said "penitentiary" right behind "you won't@be out of here until August 16th", like, you're not getting offAhere today at all ... No (bail) bond possible. I think all those>things got together and forced her to reconsider whatever herposition had been earlier.":   Mr. Reynolds maintains his innocence on all counts and@suggests he is being tried only because an ambitious RepublicanAprosecutor hopes to further his political career from the highly9publicized trial. Transcripts of tape recorded telephoneAconversations between Congressman Reynolds and Ms. Heard suggest?the two had sex when she was legally too young to consent, and=that the congressman asked Ms. Heard for lewd photographs ofanother young girl.;   Lawyers for Mr. Reynolds admit that while the telephone@conversations may have had strong sexual overtones, they do notAprove the two had a physical relationship. Congressman Reynolds';lawyers also point to the fact that Ms. Heard recanted her7charges, something prosecutors are trying to prove thecongressman forced her to do.A   The prosecution's case against Chicago Democratic Congressman=Mel Reynolds is expected to conclude within the coming week.   ---------------   ---------------(   CHRISTOPHER CONCLUDES CAMBODIA VISIT   PATRICIA FITZGERALD   PHNOM PENH<   U.S. secretary of State Warren Christopher concluded hisBone-day visit to Cambodia Friday by congratulating the Cambodians;and their government on their determination to establish a=democratic society. Mr. Christopher, who met with Cambodia'sAking, the two prime ministers and human rights groups during his?visit, said Cambodia had now put aside its tragic past and was!restoring its chattered economy.?   Mr. Christopher, the first U.S. secretary of state to visitBCambodia in over 40 years, told reporters on his arrival in PhnomBPenh he had come to salute the Cambodian people on the remarkable4progress they had made towards democracy and peace.?   He recalled the admiration of the world for the millions ofACambodians who he said had turned away from the violence of overBtwenty years of war and who had walked across mine fields to vote+in the 1993 U.N. supervised election here:;   "The spirit they've shown in this epic effort to try to<rebuild and reconstruct their country. There have been many?moving transformations in this world since the cold war ended,9but I think no new democracy has had to overcome greaterBdevastation, face greater problems than the new democracy here in
Cambodia.A   "In addition I think that it's all too apparent that few have@been burdened by such grim memories of genocide and terror. TheBUnited States has provided nearly one billion dollars in the last:decade to help Cambodia surmount its tragic past. The aidBagreements that I signed today represent part of our government's=37-million dollar pledge currently outstanding to Cambodia."B   Noting that most favored nation trading status with the United=States could be crucial to Cambodia's economic recovery, Mr.5Christopher said he would now work with even greater4determination to ensure that status was reinstated.;   Mr. Christopher said the success of the U.S. assistance=program in Cambodia would depend on the determination of theBCambodian people not just to rebuild democratic institutions, but$to rebuild their shattered economy.<   The Secretary of State visited the Cambodian Mine ActionBCenter which is attempting to clear close to ten million unmarkedAlandmines still scattered through Cambodian villages as a legacy<of the war. He reiterated U.S. policy to end the scourge ofBlandmines and said the United States would spearhead a resolution;at the United Nations to call for a global ban on landmine	exports.B   Cambodian government leaders declared the Secretary of State's8visit was a strong sign of support for the two-year oldgovernment.<   First prime minister Prince Norodom Ranariddh released aAstatement saying he had explained to the Secretary of State that@discipline and stability were more important to Cambodia at theApresent than democracy, as Cambodia was still facing a civil war against Khmer Rouge guerrillas.8   Cambodian human rights groups, who also met with Mr.BChristopher, said they had been blunt with the Secretary of StateAand had said that they did not want to wait for human rights and/democracy to be fully implemented in Cambodia.=   The human rights groups said they told Mr. Christopher of=difficulties with Cambodia's restrictive new press law, thatBthere had been a lack of progress on the establishment of rule of<law and there were no provisions for independent members ofparliament.   ---------------   ---------------5   CLINTON ACCUSES GINGRICH OF STALLING LOBBY REFORM   DEBORAH TATE   WHITE HOUSE>   President Clinton, accusing house speaker Newt Gingrich ofBstalling far too long on lobby reform, is taking matters into his>own hands. Mr. Clinton, rather than waiting for congressionalBaction on the issue, has decided to use his own authority through+an executive order to act on lobby reform.?   President Clinton, concluding a week in which he repeatedly;accused the Republican leadership in Congress of bowing toAspecial interests in crafting a range of recent legislation, hasAdecided to use an executive order to tighten the rules governinglobbyists.A   Mr. Clinton accused house speaker Newt Gingrich of failing toBfollow-up on an agreement the two men sealed with a handshake two>months ago to create a bipartisan commission on lobby reform.@   The president dismisses Mr. Gingrich's concerns about acting?too hastily on the issue, and is asking attorney General JanetBReno to draft an order to bar federal employees from meeting with7lobbyists unless they comply with tougher registrationrequirements.>   Under the order, lobbyists would have to disclose who they@represent, how much they are paid, and on which issues they are
lobbying.   ---------------   ---------------D   CLINTON BANS DENYING SECURITY CLEARANCE BECAUSE OF HOMOSEXUALITY   DEBORAH TATE   WHITE HOUSE@   President Clinton Friday signed an executive order that bans7discrimination against homosexuals in issuing security>clearances. The move is one long sought by gay rights groups.@   Under the executive order, which takes effect immediately, a<security clearance can not be denied solely on the basis ofsexual orientation.B   White House spokesman Mike McCurry says the order standardizes<criteria throughout the federal government for deciding who>should have access to state secrets. 0he notes that under theAprevious system, a person's sexual orientation was often grounds$for more intense background checks.:   The government, in fact, has a long history of denyingclearances to homosexuals.@   Gay rights activists, who backed Mr. Clinton when he ran for?president in 1992, and whose support would help Mr. Clinton inBhis re-election bid next year, have long urged the administration?to take action to end discrimination against gay people in thegranting of clearances.9   Gay rights groups, not surprisingly, are praising theexecutive order.   ---------------   ---------------,   DOLE PUTS OFF BOSNIA EMBARGO VETO BATTLE   JIM MALONE   CONGRESS;   U.S. Senate majority leader Bob Dole says congressionalBRepublicans and the Clinton Administration have agreed to put off;a veto fight until next month on congressional calls for a8lifting of the arms embargo against Bosnia-Herzegovina.>   Senator Dole says Republican congressional leaders and theBWhite House have agreed that the veto fight over lifting the arms)embargo will be put off until September.B   Senator Dole says he expects the president to veto the measure>in the coming week, while the senate is still in session, but?after the house adjourns for its August recess. Both houses of9Congress have voted to lift the embargo by more than the>two-thirds margins necessary to overturn a presidential veto.=   Meanwhile, Senator Dole had words of warning for CroatianBtroops Friday amid an offensive launched at ethnic Serb forces ina breakaway region of Croatia:?   "But certainly, I would warn the Croatians in the strongestApossible terms, let us treat the Serbs as you would expect to be;treated, with humane treatment, none of the things we have>witnessed the past couple of weeks around Sarajevo and around;Srebrenica where we are still missing five or six-thousand0Muslims. We do not know what happened to them."<   Senator Dole has led the effort to lift the arms embargoagainst Bosnia.   ---------------   ---------------   HOUSE ON SUMMER RECESS   PAULA WOLFSON   CONGRESS<   Members of the U.S. House of Representatives are leaving;Washington for a month long summer vacation. The senate is@remaining in town for at least one more week to work on pending
legislation.;   Lawmakers poured out of the house chamber like children(heading home on the last day of school.?   They looked tired, but eager to get away from the political?wars of Capitol Hill. Out of the chamber...Into the hot, humidBWashington air...And finally home to get some rest, and meet withtheir constituents.>   They will have a lot of legislation to discuss with voters@over the coming weeks. Just moments before the house adjourned,<members passed a bill to overhaul regulations governing the<telecommunications industry in the United States, affecting?telephone, television, and computer networking services acrossthe nation.@   The bill passed with wide bipartisan support, one of the few:measures to clear the house with strong backing from bothdemocrats and Republicans.@   Earlier in the week, the parties feuded over a bill that cut?funding for education, health and other social programs, a top8priority for House Republicans. And when they return in@September, they are expected to clash over tax reform, Pentagon=funding, and the fate of the massive government program that&provides health care for the elderly.   ---------------   ---------------&   IMPENDING CONGRESS BUDGET SHOWDOWN   JIM MALONE
   SENATE;   Majority Republicans and minority Democrats in the U.S.=congress appear on a collision course over how deeply to cutAgovernment spending. The two sides seemed to drift further apart8Friday, with Democrats urging President Clinton to vetoRepublican budget cuts.=   Republicans say the budget cuts contained in the spending>bills now making their way through Congress show that the new=majority party is making good on its promise to reign in thepower of government.>   Senate majority leader Bob Dole, who hopes to build on theARepublican revolution in Congress in his bid for the White House?next year, urged President Clinton not to carry through on his?threats to veto Republican spending bills which Democrats findtoo severe::   "Misguided presidential vetoes dressed up as political>statements would be an unfortunate and regrettable failure of?leadership. President Clinton should put away his veto pen andBjoin us in writing the next chapter in this historic revolution."=   But a veto fight is exactly what many Democrats now want.>Senate democratic leader Tom Daschle lashed out at Republican;spending priorities Friday, blasting Senate approval of an:expensive missile defense program while House Republicans$continued to cut domestic programs:@   "These are the bad days revisited and it is a disaster. I doBnot know what they (the Republicans) are thinking. I for the lifeAof me cannot understand where Republican priorities are when, on>one hand in the same night that we continue to fund more starAwars (missile defense systems), more ABM (anti-ballistic missile@systems), more weapons systems, more defense pork (spending and=government contracts), four-billion dollars in new items the>Pentagon has not even asked for, we cut Medicaid, we cut head;start, we cut goals 2000 (education reform), we eviscerate9programs for people. What kinds of priorities are that?"=   Senator Daschle says he will urge that the president vetoAnumerous Republican bills. But that in turn would likely lead to@what some observers are calling a budget train wreck later this=year, in which the government is shutdown indefinitely while0congress remains deadlocked over spending cuts.@   For the moment, it seems, both the Republican and democratic@trains are on the tracks headed right for each other. The train>whistles are blowing, but nobody seems to be changing course.   ---------------   ---------------!   HOUSE TELECOMMUNICATIONS VOTE   ANDREW BAIRD   WASHINGTONA   The U.S. House of Representatives votes Friday on its version=of the most sweeping legislation to de-regulate the nation'sBtelecommunication industry since 1934. Reports on the legislation6and groups certain to be affected by liberalizing thecommunications' marketplace.@   Friday's vote by the U.S. house on telecommunications reform:could mark the first step toward enormous upheaval in the?industry, although the Senate still has to pass its version ofBthe legislation, and President Clinton has to approve or veto thereconciliation measure.@   Many experts expect a presidential veto if the final measure>leans closely to the House version. That is because a host of?powerful consumer groups has lined up against House resolution@1555, claiming it will significantly boost consumers' cable and@phone bills while intensifying, not loosening, concentration inthese industries.A   Deborah Berlin, director of the National Association of StateAUtility consumer advocates, says the bill eliminates fundamentalBprice protection, sets the stage for increases in basic services,>pre-empts state authorities, and favors established companiesBwhich will be able to enter new fields using profits from ongoingoperations:A   "I've heard talk that this HR 1555 and the Senate bill may be>signed into law, and we may have communications law somewhere@around halloween. I think it's an appropriate timing, because IBthink that HR 1555 holds for consumers the tricks. The treats are@for the industry, and I believe this legislation will come backto haunt us."9   The scope of the House bill is breathtaking. It wouldAeliminate any cap, or limit, on the ownership of radio stations.9In national television, it permits one company to own an?unlimited number of stations covering 50 percent of U.S. homesBafter one year. In local television, the measure would permit one?company to own two TV stations in the same market. These could@include two more valuable VHF, or very high frequency stations,6if approved by the Federal Communications Commission.A   HR 1555 will also allow a higher degree of cross-ownership so=that a company in a given market can own both television and>radio stations, as well as one other media property such as a@local telephone company, a cable firm, or a newspaper. It would>also eliminate rate regulation for all cable systems after 15months.>   The bill also includes a provision that would permit phoneAcompanies to own cable systems. In a reciprocal action, it would=pre-empt state and local barriers to permit other companies,Bincluding cable and long-distance firms, to offer local telephone	service.@   Jim Wholey (hool'ee), a communications lawyer in Washington,Bsays that a surprisingly broad segment of U.S. industry, not just$giant firms, supports deregulation:B   "It's important to remember that there are other groups trying>desperately to have a say in this because they know that theyBdon't have the size and financing and legions of well-paid, or in>my case moderately well-paid, lawyers to represent them, that@this legislation is very important to their customers and their9own businesses, and they think to the country's future."8   The House version of the bill would also give to the>telecommunications giant "Bell company."   The Bell operatingAcompanies would be let into the long distance market, subject to@review by the Federal Communication Commission. The bells would@also get the right to manufacture telecommunications equipment.@Finally, HR 1555 proposes the creation of a federal-state board;to recommend ways to preserve universal telephone service.;   Experts note that the Senate version of the legislation<weakens many of these measures. But they add that given the;stakes involved, it is far from certain whether changes in@reconciliation will be significant enough to persuade PresidentBClinton to approve the final bill once it reaches his desk at the
White House.   ---------------   ---------------   LAWYERS AND FLAG BURNERS   PAUL FRANCUCH   CHICAGO;   The largest professional group of lawyers in the UnitedBStates, the American Bar Association, holds its annual meeting in>Chicago through next Wednesday. One of the issues the lawyers=have taken a strong stand on is a proposal to amend the U.S.<constitution which makes desecration of the American flag a;federal crime. The lawyers oppose the change, calling it a%challenge to free speech guarantees.@   Detroit lawyer and American Bar Association president George;Bushnell ('bush-nul) says his organization has steadfastly>opposed efforts to amend the U.S. constitution to punish flag=burners since the issue started gaining political prominence=about seven years ago. The U.S. House of Representatives has>already approved the amendment. It awaits a decision from theAU.S.senate. If both houses of Congress approve it, the amendment@must win approval from legislatures at the state level. Opinion8polls show many Americans favor the proposed amendment.A   But the bar association believes the proposed amendment would4erode the right to free speech as guaranteed in theAconstitution's cherished "Bill of Rights." Speaking to reportersAin Chicago, bar association President Bushnell said as a citizen@and a war veteran, he finds it personally offensive that anyone<would desecrate the flag. But there he draws a distinction:<   "But I did not serve my country in order to protect that>physical symbol of our great country. I served to protect the>ideals it represents, including the right of free speech, and=especially wrong-headed, ill-considered, offensive political;speech. While my feelings about the flag remain strong, my@feelings about the principles of freedom and democracy the flagrepresents are even stronger."?   Mr. Bushnell says a public opinion poll commissioned by the>American Bar Association shows that while a clear majority of?those surveyed favor the so-called "flag burning amendment" to@the U.S. constitution, more than half later oppose it after, asAMr. Bushnell puts it, they "begin to understand the implicationsof such an amendment.">   The bar association president says his group will strongly?lobby undecided members of the U.S. Senate to vote against the.amendment when it comes up for consideration.   ---------------   ---------------)   INTERVIEW: RELIGION IN A FREE SOCIETY   ROBERT REILLY   WASHINGTONB   With the collapse of Soviet communism, religion has once again;become an open part of life in countries where it was long<suppressed. The revival of religious freedom has raised old9questions about the place of religion in society and its@relationship to the state. These questions are also being asked@in the west, where today many wonder whether free societies can/be maintained without strong religious values.>   George Weigel is president of the Ethics and Public Policy<Center and Walter Berns is resident scholar at the AmericanEnterprise Institute.>   Reilly:  Mr. Weigel, let me begin with you, if I may. WhatArole do you think religion should play in the reestablishment of,free societies in the former Soviet empire?>   Weigel: Free societies, if by that we mean democracies and?market economies, are not machines that run of themselves. The@democratic political system and the free market economy need toAbe based on a moral and cultural system which teaches people the=habits or the virtues as we'd say in an older language, thatAallow them to participate in a democracy or the market. For many@of the people of central and Eastern Europe the source of thoseAhabits, the source of those virtues is going to be the Christian7faith, in its orthodox, Roman Catholic or increasinglyBevangelical Protestant form. So it's not quite the same as public<religion as we understand it in America. It's a deeper more<culture forming task that is being asked of the churches of"eastern and Central Europe today.8   Reilly: Mr. Berns do you agree with that assessment??   Berns: Yes, I would point out that Tocqueville wrote a book@that everybody regards as the greatest statement about AmericanBdemocracy. This was a hundred and sixty years ago. Tocqueville in=that book democracy in America made the point, in fact I can?almost quote him exactly, "despotism can govern without faith,Ademocracy cannot." What he meant by that I think is largely what>George said here in some detail. The interesting thing is the;American constitution itself separates church and state of;course. It does this in two places. In the first place, in;article six of the constitution it makes the point that no@religious test shall be asked, that anyone holding office under@the United States which means that anybody of whatever faith orAno faith can be president of the United States or hold any other<office. And then in the famous first amendment it says that:Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of?religion. So they separated church and state but they did thatBfor two reasons I think and Tocqueville makes this point, too. In?the first place, they wanted to keep religion out of politics.:They wanted to avoid the sort of political civil wars andArevolutions that they knew about in seventeenth century Britain.>   Reilly: Let me ask you Mr. Berns, though, since you quotedBfrom De Tocqueville, so will I. He said that religion in America,Awhile not exercising a direct influence on its laws, nonetheless@is the first political institution of America. What did he mean	by that??   Berns: I think he meant by that, in the first place I thinkBthat statement has to do with the beginning of the United States.:The United States was fortunate in so far as there was noAhostility between church and state of the sort that there was inAFrance. So, for example, no American would say, as voltaire took?great satisfaction in saying, he was quoting the last will and>testament of a friend of his, "my greatest wish is to see the;last kings strangled by the guts of the last priest." That>hostility between church and state didn't exist in the UnitedAStates. So we separated [them] as I say, to keep religion out ofBpolitics and also because it was argued, I think successfully and@correctly, that religion would prosper best if it were to existBin the private sphere, unlike in France where it was the official@church. And I suppose one can compare the history of France and>the United States, since their revolutions were almost at the?same time, what has happened to the church, what's happened to@religion in France as opposed to what's happened to religion in;this country. It's prospering here, and it's certainly notprospering in France.@   Reilly: Is that a model, this separation of church and state?at the founding of the United States, for these countries that=are emerging from totalitarianism? I mean after all, they'reAdealing with a situation where religion was not simply separated/from politics but abolished from private life.A   Weigel: Let me just add one note on Tocqueville and then come?to that if I may. I think the third thing Tocqueville meant byAreligion as the first of American political institutions is that9you can't have a self-governing people, you can't have aBself-governing nation without self-governing individuals, without@self-governing persons who are governed from within by a set of?moral understandings that allow them to behave themselves in aBcertain way publicly. And Tocqueville believed that the source ofAthose moral understandings and ultimately those public behaviors@was religious conviction. In that sense, religion was the firstof political institutions.?   Berns: George, let me interrupt you and add something aboutATocqueville on that precise point. He argued at some length that@this self-governing people must consist of people who have some>concern for others. The alternative is simply to be concerned7with oneself, and a democracy cannot exist with simply=self-interested individuals. We have to have some concern...'   Reilly: For the basis of community.>   Berns: Yes, and religion provides that basis of community.<   Weigel: I think that's exactly right and is particularlyAimportant in post-communist societies where the tissues of civil?society have been so at tenuated and wounded by forty years ofBcommunist atomization. On the question of does the American model?work all over the place, I think no. I mean I think we have to=say that the American experience is a particular one and theBinstitutional arrangements that we've evolved are peculiar to ourAsituation. I think the two things you want to avoid at all costs7in arranging your constitutional life, in terms of theBrelationship of religion and public life, are one, you don't want>the church to have the coercive power of the state behind it;>that's bad for the church. It's also bad for the state, but I?think from a theological point of view, the basic problem with@established churches is that it damages the evangelical messageAof the church. The second thing you don't want is a naked publicAsquare in which the religious values of the people are ruled out'of bounds and out of the conversation.<   Reilly: Now let me ask you two questions on the level of>principle. First of all, do democratic institutions in and of'themselves presuppose a supreme being?A   Weigel: They certainly presuppose a sense of moral order that>transcends both the individual and the immediate community. IBthink this is what Walter was referring to in terms of a sense of>obligation that transcends immediate self-interest and indeedBcommunity self-interest. I mean the community is accountable to aset of moral norms.=   Reilly: Can this attempt to resuscitate free societies in?Eastern Europe, and the former Soviet Union succeed without anunderlying religious revival?A   Berns: One could say that there's great hope for democracy in<Poland, I suppose, because of the continued vitality of the=church there. How true that is in other countries in eastern!Europe, I'm not prepared to say.A   Weigel: I think the really intriguing and quite open questionBis whether orthodox Christianity, eastern Christianity as that is?lived in Russia, in Ukraine, in Belarus, in other parts if the@former Soviet Union, can bring itself to provide the legitimacy9for democracy that it once provided to monarchy. WesternAChristianity has learned how to do this in various ways over theAlast two hundred years. Orthodoxy has virtually no experience of&legitimizing democratic institutions.?   Reilly: That raises an even broader question if we say that?religious values are fundamental to democratic life. Does that;mean any religion? And if not, how do you make a judgment?=   Weigel: No, it certainly doesn't mean a body of religious=thought that tells you that everyone who is not part of thatAcommunity is an infidel and is to be slaughtered on sight unlessthey convert.?   Reilly: In other words, religion itself then can hamper thespread of democracy.>   Weigel: Sure, I don't think that's much in dispute. I meanAthere are certain religious systems in the world which have very=little historical experience of supporting free societies ordemocratic societies.B   Berns: For example, if democracy really does depend upon, as IAthink it does, a separation of church and state, for the reasonsBthat we both have been discussing here, then one looks around the>world to see whether there are bodies of faith that refuse toAacknowledge the possibility of a separation of church and state.?A body of faith that holds that the head of the church is also>the head of the state, in that situation you're not likely to@find democratic rule. To be precise, I'm referring of course toIslam.&   Reilly: You do have modern Turkey.A   Weigel: You do, and I think the question of Islam is terriblyBimportant for the future of the twenty-first century and somewhatBopen, although the historical record is, as Walter suggested, notAone that lends itself to a high degree of optimism. The question@is not so much whether Islam or orthodox Christianity in Russia?can accommodate itself to a democratic system that's out there:somewhere. The question is whether it has the theologicalBresources within itself to legitimate those institutions. I thinkAthat is possible in orthodoxy. I think it's very, very difficult<in Islam because of the monism, the complete unification of=society, religion, economy, polity and what-not, that has at=least for the first thirteen hundred years of Islam been the#dominant model of Islamic society.@   Reilly: This would seem to me to have a major impact on thatBaspect of American foreign policy which is really bipartisan, the>export of democracy. And I'm wondering, do you think American>foreign policy takes sufficient cognizance of these realitiesthat you're addressing?=   Weigel: I don't think we did during the 1980s. I think in?retrospect it's very clear that what we call the revolution of=1989 in central and eastern Europe was brewing from the late9seventies on through the eighties and in several places,Aespecially Poland but not simply there, it was brewing primarilyAin religious communities. Our tendency in U.S. foreign policy is?to consider religion something in the private sphere with veryBlittle public, culture forming or politics forming impact. That's@a mistake. I think we're beginning to repair that, but it's notBsomething we're terribly good at, because we're not used to doingit here at home.A   Reilly: So that's a reflection in a way of domestic politicallife here.>   Berns: I'd like to say something else about Islam. Much of<their quarrel with the west as they say, has to do with the&vulgarity of the west as they see it.   Reilly: Materialism.>   Berns: To be more precise, the materialism of the west. OfBcourse, that reminds me again of Tocqueville who pointed out that:religion was important for democracy not simply for thoseApolitical reasons we're talking about but also because religion,@to use his term, sublimated the passions. It overcomes or worksBagainst that concern for material things and raises one's eyes to?heaven. To be more precise, Tocqueville preferred to live in aAsociety that featured performances of Bach's B minor mass rather>than some of the music one now hears in the United States and4unfortunately is being exported all over the world.A   Weigel: Because that music created a certain social ethos and?a certain cultural spirit. Now, you can't run a democracy, you>can't have a democracy with your head lowered, with your eyes>strictly fixed on the ground, on the main chance, on material	success.    Reilly: You have to look up.*   Weigel: Democracy requires looking up.B   Reilly: Our founders were very clear, unanimous one would say,?as Madison made clear, that democracy is the most demanding in=terms of the virtue it requires of its citizenry. Of course,BGeorge Washington in his famous farewell address said that publicBmorality cannot be maintained absent the religious principle. But:Mr. Berns, do you then have a tenion if the health of the@republic requires a religious people yet religion is officiallyBseparated from the state. How does the state express its interest.in cultivating those virtues in its citizens?@   Berns: That's a great question that this country, the United;States, has been living with. To some extent, the apparent>neglect of the federal government is deceptive here because I=would argue that to a large extent the founders expected the:states to perform some of that function. Not by promoting=religion directly but by supporting institutions such as the@family and certain aspects of the common law which they adopted6and adapted to some extent, but brought from Britain.;   Reilly: And by making the public square friendly to theexercise of religion.7   Berns: Absolutely. That's a good way of putting it.   ===============>   George Weigel from the Ethics and Public Policy Center and8   Walter Berns from the American Enterprise Institute.   ---------------   ---------------   SENATE/WELFARE REFORM   JIM MALONE
   SENATE=   The U.S. Senate begins a debate in the next few days on aBsweeping reform of the nation's welfare system. Welfare reform is>a key component of the Republican legislative agenda but many6Democrats want changes in the welfare system as well.A   Both political parties believe that changes are needed in the>welfare system but as usual they differ on approach. The main>Republican plan in the Senate, offered by majority leader BobBDole, would require welfare recipients to work and would turn theAresponsibility for welfare programs over to the individual fiftystates. According to Dole:8   "When all the talking is done I believe we will passAlegislation that will transform the welfare system from a failed<system into one that succeeds in providing work, and let me=underscore work, hope and opportunity to Americans in need."9   But Republicans are divided on welfare and that could-jeopardize passage of any bill this session.<   Senator Phil Gramm, one of Senator Dole's rivals for theARepublican presidential nomination, wants a tougher welfare bill<like one approved by the House of Representatives in March:?   "I think if there is one principle that the American people?are committed to in welfare reform, it is that able-bodied men>and women riding in the welfare wagon ought to get out of the%wagon and help the rest of us pull."A   Senator Phil Gramm and other conservatives are concerned that>the Dole bill does not go far enough to reduce out-of-wedlockAbirths. Conservatives are upset that the Dole proposal would notAmandate a cutoff of cash benefits to unwed mothers on welfare if/they continue to have children out of wedlock.?   North Carolina Republican Lauch Faircloth says he and other@conservatives want to use the welfare bill as an opportunity to=reduce the growing number of births among unwed teenagers inAmerica's inner cities:A   "We need to say that (if) an 18-year old has a child she doesAnot receive a stipend (payment from the government), food stamps@and an apartment. That she needs the discipline of a group home2or family or whatever, but not a direct subsidy."B   Democrats are already promising to fight Republican efforts to>cut welfare benefits too deeply, warning that blindly turning;welfare programs over to the states could create even more?problems. Senate Democratic leader, Senator Tom Daschle, says::   "I have got some reservations about it if it penalizes>children, if it does not provide for child care, if it really>does not give the states any more than a big black box (blockAgrants from the federal government) from which they are supposed@to draw these magical new policies and create new opportunitiesfor work. That does not work."=   Democrats have their own welfare proposal, one which alsoAemphasizes work for those who receive benefits but which, unlike?the Republican plan, guarantees child care for welfare parentsBwho are obliged to work. Senator Daschle also says the democratic>plan continues a federal guarantee to care for poor children:A   "It puts work first, it protects children, it gives the stateAflexibility and it provides for opportunities for people to stayBoff welfare once they are off of it the first time. So it has allthe ingredients."@   The welfare debate in the Senate is expected to last severalAdays. Both Senator Dole and house speaker Newt Gingrich consider>welfare reform one of the most important goals in meeting the:public's demand for political change as exhibited in last$November's congressional elections.   ---------------   ----------------   HELEN THOMAS CELEBRATES HER 75TH BIRTHDAY   DAVID BORGIDA   WHITE HOUSE?   The senior member of the White House press corps celebratedAher 75th birthday Friday in style, enjoying a chat and a special=visit with President Clinton, the latest in a long string of8presidents she has questioned, some might say harassed.A   The day's news was committed, reporters were winding up their?work, and some were lounging in the White House briefing room,@where Helen Thomas has roamed and lately ruled with the passionand energy of a youngster.;   The woman known by American presidents and even RussianBpresident Boris Yeltsin simply as "Helen" was celebrating anotherBbirthday. Colleagues were singing, honoring her and three decades?of reporting that began when women were seldom seen and rarely%heard covering the White House beat.=   And in came a special guest, this latest president of the.United States, who had a question of his own:?   "Now, Miss Thomas, I want to ask you a question. How do you>stand doing this year in and year out, all these politicians,ARepublicans and Democrats, nothing but hacks, moved by money and@special interests groups, craven, dishonest, deceptive. . . HowAdo you stand dealing with these people? Aren't you sick of this?>What is your answer to that? Thomas: You said it all and then$some. I say it's nice to be alive."<   But it didn't take long for the roles to revert to form.9President Clinton was asked what it is like to be on the>receiving end of one of her stinging questions, the kind that9come from thirty years of seeing others cower, dodge, or!otherwise deflect her inquiries.<   The president who likes to jog early in the morning withBreporters trailing in a motorcade did his best imitation of Helen2in what he called her "wonderful piercing" voice.@   Maybe she does not enjoy watching the president jog early in9the morning but she has enjoyed thirty years of watching?presidents. It is her relentless pursuit of information, often?tightly-held and sometimes even hidden away in the bowels of a=bureaucracy, that has made her the figure she is, commanding6considerable sums of money now to speak to groups andBorganizations around the country. She acknowledges she earns more>money in speaking fees than she gets in salary as a reporter.@   And she deserves it. Friday, while other reporters were busy=gulping cake and beer, helen held the president's attention,=probing, searching for some news. She asked the president if<first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton has recently been treated7unfairly in a congressional probe of the circumstances<surrounding the suicide of a White House lawyer and Clinton8friend, Vince Foster. It prompted witty commentary from=colleagues, but as she hoped, a response from the president:A   "Is she a pro, or is she a pro? She wants her cake and eat it?too. President Clinton: I think she didn't do anything wrong."9   It went along like this, Helen jabbing, the president?counter-punching, rhetorically, of course, until the president!said it was time to say goodbye.?   Helen stood alone for a moment, just a meter or so from theBseat she has occupied for so long. And just in case you think sheBwas considering retirement, you're wrong. "The first seventy-five&years, " she said, "are the hardest."   ---------------   ---------------=   IRAQ MUST COMPLY WITH ALL UNSC RESOLUTIONS, SAYS ALBRIGHT   WASHINGTON?   "Only when Iraq proves its peaceful intentions, through its@compliance with U.N. Security Council resolutions -- will there@be grounds for modifying the sanctions regime," U.S. Ambassador;Madeleine K. Albright told the Senate Committee on ForeignRelations on August 3.>   "Iraq must comply not only with its obligations concerning8weapons of mass destruction, but with other obligations@established under council resolutions. These include the return@of stolen property, accounting for those missing in action, and>ending support for terrorism and repression against the Iraqi=people," said Albright, U.S. Permanent Representative to theUnited Nations.=   Iraq's compliance with the terms of the relevant Security;Council resolutions has been "grudging, slow, sporadic andinsufficient," she noted.A   Responding to a question from Senator Hank Brown of Colorado,;Albright suggested that were the United States to lift the=embargo on Bosnia unilaterally, it would be more likely that8other nations would want to lift the sanctions on Iraq.@   Albright stressed that "America's position on Iraq sanctions@has been consistent, principled and grounded in a realistic and>hard-won understanding of the nature of the Iraqi regime. OurApolicy will not change until and unless Iraq does everything the4U.N. Security Council says it must," she concluded.   ---------------   ---------------5   30TH ANNIVERSARY OF U.S. VOTING RIGHTS ACT HAILED   DAVID PITTS   WASHINGTONA   The U.S. Voting Rights Act, signed into law 30 years ago thisBweekend, has engendered "more positive changes in more areas than;any other civil rights legislation," says Taylor Branch, a leading civil rights historian.@   In an August 4 interview, Branch, the author of "Parting the@Waters," a best-selling history of the Civil Rights Movement inAthe United States, said the Voting Rights Act, together with theBCivil Rights Act that became law a year earlier in 1964, "are the=two most important pieces of civil rights legislation passedduring the twentieth century.";   Although the Voting Rights Act protected all minorities=against discrimination at the voting booth, it was primarily@passed "to protect African Americans who had suffered most fromdiscrimination," Branch noted.<   "The right to vote is the first right of every citizen,">Branch remarked. "Once African Americans achieved this right,(many other changes followed from that."4   The Voting Rights Act was passed by the House of@Representatives on August 3, 1965. It passed the Senate one day?later and was signed by President Johnson on August 6. When he:left office in 1968, the president called the measure hisgreatest accomplishment.=   Constitutionally, minority voters won specific protection?against discrimination in the voting booth as long ago as 18709when the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution barring@discrimination against voters of any race or color was adopted.<The amendment reads, in part: "The right of citizens of the=United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the<United States or by any state on account of race, color, or"previous condition of servitude."A   But despite the protection afforded by the Constitution, most<blacks in the South effectively were barred from voting for>almost another century until the 1965 law was enacted. Branch7said the American experience shows "that even when the@Constitution is clear, there will be further tests of character?on issues that are divisive." Racial and ethnic divisions "are&democracy's biggest trial," he added.B   The Voting Rights Act did what the 15th Amendment "did not do.-It provided enforcement," Branch emphasized.9   The major enforcement provisions of the act included:=   -- Suspending use of literacy tests or other unreasonable"voter qualification requirements.A   -- Authorizing the appointment of federal voting examiners to?ensure minority citizens were able to register to vote free of
impediments.>   -- Providing for federal initiation of court action to bardiscriminatory poll taxes.;   -- Requiring state officials to submit any election law9changes to the U.S. attorney general, who could veto any-alterations determined to be discriminatory.A   The law applied to all states and counties in which less thanB50 percent of the voting age population was registered in 1964 --!primarily seven Southern states.?   In a highly symbolic gesture, President Johnson went to the9rotunda of the U.S. Capitol and spoke before a statue of;President Abraham Lincoln. "Today, the Negro story and the=American story fuse and blend," he said. "This good Congress>acted swiftly in passing this act. I intend to act with equaldispatch in enforcing it.@   "If any county anywhere in this nation does not want federal@intervention, it need only open up its polling places to all of>its people," Johnson continued. "Let me say to every Negro in@this country. You must register. You must vote. You must learn,>so your choice advances your interest and the interest of ourbeloved nation."@   After his address, Johnson went to the "President's Room" inAthe Senate and signed the bill -- the same room where, 104 years>before, Lincoln signed a bill freeing slaves conscripted into%military service by the Confederacy.=   Among those invited to the ceremony was Dr. Martin LutherAKing, Jr., the leader of the civil rights movement in the United@States, whose nonviolent campaign for equal justice for African@Americans played a major role in enabling the Voting Rights Actto be passed.@   Johnson kept his promise and acted speedily. Within 24 hours=after the bill was signed, the Justice Department filed suitAagainst the state of Mississippi's $2 poll tax. Soon thereafter,:federal court suits were filed against Texas, Alabama and>Virginia, the only other states levying poll taxes enacted to*discourage poor black people from voting.B   The act's suspension of literacy and other voter qualification9tests applied to seven states: Alabama, Alaska, Georgia,;Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Virginia; to 26Bcounties in North Carolina; and to one county in Arizona in which8large numbers of Apache Native Americans lived. FederalAregistration offices began opening as soon as August 10 in areasBwhere black voter registration was low and where state and county(officials had not moved to increase it.A   The 1965 Voting Rights Act was extended and expanded in 1970,@1975 and 1982. The 1970 act extended the law for five years and=protected the right of 18-year olds to vote. It also limited?state residency requirements for voting. The 1975 act extended@the law for seven years, permanently barred literacy tests, and=extended coverage to language minorities, including HispanicBAmericans, Asian Americans, Native Americans and Alaskan Natives.>The 1982 act extended the law for an additional 25 years, but:allowed states covered by it to graduate from the list by=demonstrating a record of no discrimination for at least tenyears.A   According to Justice Department statistics, the Voting Rights@Act was almost an overnight success. Between the signing of theAbill in August and the end of the year, more than 200,000 blacks@were added to the voting rolls. During the first five months of@enforcement, black voter registration in the South increased by/more than 40 percent, the statistics indicate.?   The data on the increase of elected black officeholders are?even more telling. When the act was passed in 1965, there wereBjust six black members of Congress. By 1995, there were 39 blacksBin the House of Representatives and one black Senator. The number@of local, elected black officeholders soared from less than 100Bin 1965 in the seven originally targeted states to 3,265 in 1989.@The statistics on the increase in minority voting is proof that<the Voting Rights Act achieved the intended purpose, Branch
remarked.7   The act is significant also in a broader sense. The?constitutional amendments adopted in the early years after the@Civil War and voting rights legislation passed before 1965 were;largely ineffective, according to civil rights historians.@   The 1965 Voting Rights Act is evidence that rights enshrined?in constitutions are not enough, Branch said. "Much effort and>struggle" are required in any nation to ensure that civil and>human rights become a universal reality in fact as well as onpaper, he added.=   Experts say the U.S. experience with voting rights may beAinstructive to other ethnically diverse nations and to countries=-- for example, in Africa, specifically South Africa, and in<Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union -- in process of>implementing new constitutions and passing additional laws toensure fundamental rights.   ---------------   ---------------=   U.S. VOTING RIGHTS DECISIONS FLUCTUATE THROUGHOUT HISTORY   DEBORAH M.S. BROWN   WASHINGTON<   The 30th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 onAAugust 6 reflects an often turbulent history of voting rights in1the United States that is by no means at an end.>   The most recent Supreme Court decision upheld earlier this:year affirms a lower court's ruling that a black majority;congressional district in the state of Georgia formed justBbecause of race, is unconstitutional, thereby negating its voting@rights. When the court begins its next term in October, it will>hear similar cases on redistricting from both Texas and NorthACarolina. Such controversy over voting rights has been a part of&the U.S. fabric since colonial times.B   The most significant piece of legislation on voters' rights in?the United States was the passage in 1965 of the Voting Rights@Act, which prevented the states from imposing literacy or otherA"tests" as voter qualifications in "covered jurisdictions," that@is, those counties in states where fewer than 50 percent of the;population was registered to vote or had voted in the 1964?presidential election. If covered jurisdictions wanted to make>any changes in voting practices, they were required to submit<proposals to the federal government. Federal registrars and>election observers were sent to covered jurisdictions to make:sure the tenets of the act were carried out. The act also@provided that no one who qualified would be denied the right to:vote, even though the native language may not be English.>   Amendments to the act followed in 1970, 1975 and 1982. TheA1970 amendment included suspending literacy tests for five yearsAfor all jurisdictions, rather than just those where less than 50=percent of the population was qualified to vote. No citizens@would be denied the right to register to vote in a presidentialAelection as long as they applied within 30 days of the election.>The act also set the stage for passage of the 26th Amendment,;which gave voting rights in all elections to 18-year-olds.?   The 1975 amendment made permanent the ban on literacy tests:and required the availability of foreign-language ballots>whenever a language minority of more than five percent of the8population was present. This added a dramatic number of;minorities to the voting rolls and increased the number of@minority elected officials. The 1982 amendment released coveredBjurisdictions from getting permission from the federal government?to make changes in voting rights as long as they met a tougher@self-imposed standard. The Voting Rights Act amendments as they+now stand will be looked at again in 2007.?   One of the first references to voters' rights came from the=Declaration and Resolves in 1774, when the First Continental>Congress asserted that "the foundation of liberty, and of allBfree government, is a right in the people to participate in their@legislative council...they are entitled to a free and exclusive=power of legislation in their provincial legislatures, where7their right of representation can alone be preserved."@   The U.S. Constitution set basic rules for enfranchisement in>federal elections, allowing voters within the states to elect7members of the House of Representatives, and the state<legislatures to elect members of the U.S. Senate. (The 17th;Amendment in 1913 changed the election of U.S. Senators to7popular vote.) During presidential elections, a set ofApresidential electors appointed by each state legislature cast avote for candidates.>   The Constitution never outlined what comprised an eligible:voter, yet over time, lawmakers used the document and its=amendments -- for more than any other issue -- to define theright to vote.>   Enfranchisement in the 18th and 19th centuries was limited>almost exclusively to white males over 21 who owned property,?because it was thought that owning real estate was a given for=more responsible behavior, and thus an electorate that wouldchoose wisely.A   Women's advocates such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia@Mott maintained close association with abolitionists throughout>the Civil War, hoping that the drive for black suffrage would;carry the drive for women's suffrage, also. Their goal was?defeated by a majority of Republican national leaders, who, in;passing the 14th and 15th Amendments, saw only the need in?creating black male voters to counteract the resurgence of theAwhite Democratic Party's stranglehold on the South. And althoughATheodore Roosevelt's Progressive Party endorsed women's suffrageAduring the presidential election of 1912, women did not gain the<vote until passage of the 19th Amendment eight years later.B   In the 15th Amendment in 1870, Congress directly addressed theBquestion of voting regardless of race, which in turn, would allow=the states to come up with three important blocks to voters'9rights: the poll tax, literacy tests and the creation of@whites-only primaries. These three impediments would become theAlitmus well into the 20th century for case after case before the?Supreme Court and subsequent passage of various Constitutionalamendments.=   As early as 1787, New Hampshire imposed a poll tax on itsBvoters. By the early 19th century, most of the states had adopted=such a tax for voter rights, dropping the previous landownerAstatus. Since there were those who could not afford property, itBwas reasoned that instead, they could afford a small fee in orderAto cast a vote. Over the years, the Supreme Court heard numerousBcases involving the unconstitutionality of the poll tax. The 24th@Amendment in 1964 outlawed the payment of any poll or other tax7for the right to vote in any federal election. But theBambiguities attached to the amendment allowed further speculation@until the Supreme Court's ruling in Harper v. Virginia Board of=Elections in 1966. The Court declared that poll taxes were a@violation of the 14th Amendment, because voters should not feel?that the right to vote hinged on their ability to pay for thatright.:   The next springboard for states' resistance to voters'>enfranchisement were literacy tests. Although most states had?various types of literacy requirements in the 19th century, noAsouthern state had such requirements until 1890, in an effort toAkeep African-Americans from voting. One such requirement was theA"grandfather clause," which exempted from literacy tests all newBvoters whose grandfathers had voted before African-Americans were>legally entitled to do so. Although Guinn v. United States inB1915 declared the "grandfather clause" unconstitutional, literacy@tests and other exemptions continued. The passage of the Voting<Rights Act in 1965 was the first such act that specifically>suspended literacy, educational and character tests for voterqualifications.>   The use of predominantly white primaries to keep out black8candidates and voters was a third method to limit voterAparticipation. In Newberry v. United States in 1921, the Supreme=Court suggested that primary election processes were private@matters and not subject to federal authority. This decision led?many southern states to pass laws which prohibited blacks from?voting in Democratic Party primaries. Although the Court heard@several cases challenging the laws, no effective decisions wereBmade, and in some instances, the Court sided with the defendants.<It was not until 1944 in Smith v. Allwright, when the Court>concluded that the role of the primary was a formal and vitalApart of the outcome of the election, thus making it an essential>part of the voting process, and therefore subject to the 15thAmendment.5   In the second half of the 20th century, boundary,@reapportionment, residency and minority requirements have often4overlapped in the interpretation of voters' rights.<   In 1957, for example, the Alabama legislature redrew the7boundaries of the city of Tuskegee in order to exclude>African-American voters from participating in city elections.?When challenged, the city did not deny that race was an issue,9but asserted that the federal government had no right in>determining how a city drew its boundaries. The Supreme Court@decision in Gomillion v. Lightfoot in 1960 declared that when a@federally protected right such as voting is circumvented, it is9in violation of the 15th Amendment. This decision set an>important precedent with respect to racial gerrymandering, or*redrawing boundary lines because of race.B   Although the 1975 amendment to the Voting Rights Act supportedAstricter monitoring of reapportionment changes in districts with?a history of racial discrimination, some states simply ignoredBthe rule. Sometimes the Court upheld the 1975 mandate, such as in=United Jewish Organizations v. Carey in 1977, when the CourtBruled that New York had redrawn lines to split a group of HasidicAJews so that they could not vote. In City of Mobile v. Bolden in61980, however, the Court ruled no discrimination when<African-American voters challenged that the city of Mobile,<Alabama, in allowing commissioners to run for election fromBdistricts rather than at-large prevented minority candidates from?being elected. The Court reversed itself in Rogers v. Lodge in<1982, when it found that Burke County, Georgia, in allowing?at-large elections, denied voters the right to be divided into<districts for the purpose of electing county commissioners.B   Traditionally, the states had the authority to restrict voting:rights to those individuals who had lived in the state orBcommunity for a specified period of time, in the belief that only@those residents were entitled to make decisions on the state or:community's behalf. The state of Texas took this one step?further, however, in denying the right to vote to all military<personnel who lived in the state, fearing that because such@personnel are frequently transferred, their influence in voting=could be detrimental to those residents who did not move. In>Carrington v. Rush in 1965, the Supreme Court struck down theBTexas law, stipulating that in not allowing military personnel to:vote, Texas was placing an entire class of individuals in:jeopardy. In the 1970 amendment to the Voting Rights Act,=Congress further clarified the Court's decision by outlawing9residency requirements longer than 30 days for voting inApresidential elections only. The Court included all elections in81972, when it upheld a district court ruling in Dunn v.@Blumstein, where a university professor was denied the right to;register for primary and general elections in the state of=Tennessee because he had not met the residency requirements.A   Over the years, voters' rights in the United States have beenAupheld, denied, trod upon, expanded and finally deemed essential@in preserving the spirit of a free and democratic society. "TheAright to vote freely for the candidate of one's choice is of theBessence of a democratic society," wrote Chief Justice Earl WarrenAin 1964, "and any restrictions on that right strike at the heartof representative government."   ---------------   ---------------   CLINTON ON TOBACCO INDUSTRY   DEBORAH TATE   WHITE HOUSE@   President Clinton, concerned about an increase in the numberAof American teenagers who smoke cigarettes, says he is trying to<find the best way to reduce smoking among young people. TheBpresident is considering whether the government should impose new>regulations to block the sale of cigarettes to minors, a move3that could be politically risky for the president.:   For the last several weeks, President Clinton has beenBconsidering a number of proposals to curb teenage smoking, and he9says he is close to announcing a decision on the matter.?   Studies indicate the number of American teenagers who smokeBhas been growing in recent years, despite aggressive anti-smokingBcampaigns. It is an issue Mr. Clinton says he is concerned about:B   "I think it is a terrible problem. We have got to do something@about it. It is going up when it ought to be going down. If you>want to lower health care costs, increase life expectancy andAbroaden the quality of life for people, reducing teenage smoking@is one good way to start. There is hardly anything else you cando to have a bigger impact."B   News reports Thursday quote administration officials, speaking@on condition of anonymity, saying that the president is leaning>toward tighter federal regulation of cigarette sales to youngpeople.=   Although White House spokesman Mike McCurry would neither;confirm nor deny the report, Mr. Clinton, in an address toBteachers last Friday, suggested he is thinking in that direction:?   "Most people who have serious problems with smoking started<when they were children. It is now illegal to sell children@cigarettes, but it happens all the time. And we have to do more
to stop it."@   While all states prohibit cigarette sales to minors, most dolittle to enforce the law.@   Reports say the administration is considering proposals that>would ban cigarette vending machines from areas frequented by?young people, further restrict tobacco advertising and require)proof of age for the sale of cigarettes.;   But the tobacco industry, which says it opposes sellingAcigarettes to minors, is concerned that the proposed regulations>would lead to broader government controls on tobacco, and has?vowed to fight in court any move toward increased regulations.?   Lawmakers from tobacco-growing states in the south are also=worried about greater government control of tobacco. It is aBconcern Mr. Clinton likely will take into consideration in makinghis decision.A   As he prepares to campaign for his re-election bid next year,<he does not want to lose crucial votes from southerners who(depend on tobacco for their livelihood.@   Still, administration officials are quoted as saying that if@the president does take a stand against tobacco, he could scoreBpolitical points by saying he is doing so to further the cause ofchildrens' health.9   With that in mind, spokesman McCurry, noting that theBpresident will visit a key tobacco-growing state, North Carolina,;next week, says Mr. Clinton will not formally announce hisAdecision on tobacco then, but will likely have more to say about$the health affects of teen smoking.   ---------------   ---------------9   CLINTON REITERATES WISH FOR CROATIA TO SHOW RESTRAINT   DAVID BORGIDA   WHITE HOUSE=   President Clinton says he understands Croatia's desire toAblunt Croatian Serb and Bosnian Serb advances against the Muslim@enclave of Bihac, on the Croatian border with Bosnia. But he is@repeating his call on the Croatian government to show restraint"to prevent a widening of the war.>   With Croatian government and Croatian Serb troops reported=fully mobilized for a battle around Bihac in western Bosnia,:President Clinton Thursday appealed to Croatian troops to@exercise restraint. But he did not specifically warn against anattack:?   "What we have cautioned the Croatians about is widening the?war. We don't want to see a widening of the war. We understand>their desire to relieve the pressure on Bihac, and of course,;that is a commitment the United Nations has made as well."8   He was reaffirming the carefully-worded statement onAadministration policy on the situation around Bihac as expressed@a day earlier by his spokesman, Mike McCurry. Earlier Thursday,@the spokesman publicly denied reports the administration, whichBhas worked to maintain good relations with Croatia, was giving it-tacit approval to attack the Croatian Serbs.?   At the same time, he predicted the president could uphold a@veto of a resolution approved by both the Senate and House that>would end U.S. participation in the U.N. arms embargo if U.N.>forces withdraw from Bosnia or if the Bosnian government asksthem to leave.9   That resolution has now been sent to the White House.BSpokesman McCurry told reporters the president would not issue anBexpected veto this month, while Congress is on its August recess.B   It takes a two-thirds majority in both the Senate and House toAoverride, or reverse, a veto. The Senate and House voted by more6than a two-thirds majority to approve the resolution.>   But Thursday spokesman McCurry, a day after describing any?veto clash as an uphill battle, predicted if the allied policy:continues to prevent any major Bosnian Serb attacks, some@lawmakers would reverse themselves, allowing the veto to stand:@   "With the assumption that it continues to work to deter that=aggression, if an override attempt occurred for example whenBCongress comes back in September, we feel confident that we would&have the votes to sustain that veto."B   The administration has argued lifting the embargo will lead to=the immediate pull-out of allied peacekeepers, worsening the;conflict and leading to a more direct U.S. role in Bosnia.   ---------------   ---------------<   CONGRESS ADDRESS FRIENDLY FIRE ACCIDENT IN NORTHERN IRAQ   DAVID SWAN   PENTAGONB   The U.S. Defense Department is under renewed criticism for the?accidental shootdown of two American helicopters in the no-fly;zone over northern Iraq last year. Members of Congress and?relatives of victims say the responsible parties have not been-held to account, especially senior officers.?   The air force and army are reexamining the actions of thoseAinvolved in the downing and the discipline they received. But to=some witnesses at a congressional hearing on the affair, the9evidence of injustice and incompetence is already clear.A   Retired Air Force Captain Cleon Bass, whose son was killed in2the incident, accused the Pentagon of a cover-up:;   "The Air Force has now completed the investigation, the?hearings and their one court-martial. The result is 26 victimsBare dead and no one was held accountable. No one was responsible,no one was punished."B   Though some personnel were reprimanded or reassigned, the onlyAman court-martialed was a junior officer from a radar plane that>was watching the skies that day, and he was found not guilty.?Critics say the air force sought to protect the fighter pilots@who brought down the helicopters after mistaking them for Iraqi
aircraft.?   Republican Congressman Bob Dornan, who used to fly fightersAhimself, says these two pilots were in too big a hurry to shoot:=   "We were not at war. There was no threat to themselves orAother friendly forces and those slow-moving helicopters were notabout to escape."@   Investigators also blame the radar plane crew and leaders of3the allied mission for the Kurds in northern Iraq.=   The commander, General Jeffrey Pilkington, was accused of-negligence but is now defending his actions:B   "It is my firm conviction that there were rules and procedures@in place which should have and would have prevented the tragedy/had those rules and procedures been followed."B   General Pilkington was relieved of his post in the wake of the@shootdown but remains in the service. One of the fighter pilotsAis now an instructor for others. And despite the Pentagon review=and the congressional hearings, no more criminal charges are@likely in the worst case in years of what troops call "friendlyfire."   ---------------   ---------------)   HOUSE FOCUSES ON RELATIONS WITH CHINA   PAULA WOLFSON   CONGRESS>   The International Relations Committee of the U.S. House ofBRepresentatives is focusing on issues affecting the United States>relationship with China. One day after members met to discuss?American participation in the Beijing women's conference, they>reconvened to talk about efforts to get Taiwan into the U.N..B   Before the end of the year, the House is expected to vote on aAresolution urging the Clinton Administration to do all it can to-win a seat for Taiwan in the United Nations.B   The resolution says Taiwan deserves a place in the world body.BIt does not specify full membership, leaving open the possibility2of some sort of special status for the Taiwanese.@   Republican Gerald Solomon of New York is the primary sponsorof the bill, said:;   "American foreign policy has always been, regardless of;politics, Republican or Democrat, to promote and encourageAdemocracy and human rights for all people throughout this world.>The people on Taiwan have been such an integral part of that.BThey have stopped communism dead in its tracks. They helped us do@it. We owe it to these people to let them be a democracy and to-give them their rightful place in the U.N.."B   His resolution is one of the few bipartisan bills to emerge in@the new U.S. Congress. Democrat Robert Torricelli of New Jersey!is one of the co-sponsors, said:8   "For the United Nations to allow in its councils theArepresentatives of Libya, Vietnam, Cuba, North Korea but exclude@the legal elected representatives of one of the most prosperous:and now freer nations on earth, would be to undermine the)credibility of the entire organization.">   But while support for the measure among the members of the@International Relations Committee is deep, it is not unanimous.<The Republican chairman of the subcommittee on Asia and the7Pacific, Doug Bereuter of Nebraska, is urging caution:=   "This resolution will only aggravate, in my judgment, the;downward spiral in U.S. chinese relations, with no hope ofachieving its espoused goal.">   Mr. Bereuter says a campaign to get Taiwan into the United@Nations would be doomed to failure, because China has the power>to block it in the Security Council. He argues that while the>resolution is well intentioned, it will ultimately lead to anAincrease in strains not only between Washington and Beijing, but#across the Taiwan straits as well:?   "In their heart of hearts, I am convinced the leadership of?the Taiwanese government does not want to see this legislation?enacted, at least not at this time. In fact, I am convinced at8least in retrospect, they would not even want to see it%considered at this particular time."9   Doug Bereuter is seldom in agreement with the ClintonAdministration.=   But his arguments against the resolution mirror those put9forward by Kent Wiedemann, a top official with the State7Department's office of East Asian and Pacific affairs:>   "The U.S. could accept any solution to this issue which isBconsistent with the U.N. charter and is agreed upon by the peopleBon both sides of the straits. Until Taiwan and the PRC reach suchBan agreement, however, we believe no good, and considerable harm,>could come from U.S. support of Taiwan's participation in theU.N.."@   The resolution introduced by Mr. Solomon, Mr. Torricelli and@several other members of the House, would not be binding on theApresident. It is a "sense of the congress" resolution, a measure4designed to express the opinion of the legislature.   ---------------   ---------------+   CUBA/U.S.RELATIONS: A THAW IN THE NEWS?   BARBARA SCHOETZAU   NEW YORK?   U.S. and Cuban news organizations have been prohibited from=operating on a permanent basis in each others' country sinceA1969, when the Castro government expelled an American journalist:and the United States retaliated in kind. Now the Clinton<Administration is seriously considering ending the ban. The>proposed policy reversal has elicited a surprising, and rare,>consensus from different factions of the Cuban American exile7community. Still the matter has generated considerable
controversy.<   Ironically, the 1992 Cuban Democracy Act, which actually?tightened the 33-year-old U.S. trade embargo against Cuba, mayAalso open the way to lifting the ban against an exchange of news?organizations. The legislation is two-tiered, imposing greater?economic sanctions against Cuba at the same time that it calls:for increased communication between the people of the twoAnations. Both supporters and opponents of the U.S. trade embargo@and the subsequent moves to tighten it are backing the proposal%to reestablish news media exchanges.B   Marifeli Perez-Stable left Cuba with her family in 1960. TodayAshe is a sociology professor at the state University of New YorkAand a member of the Cuban Committee for Democracy, which opposesBtightening the embargo and seeks to exempt food and medicine from:sanctions. The group has campaigned for an easing of U.S.Bpolicies toward Cuba and wants more communication between the two adversaries. Perez-Stable says:?   "This opening of the news bureaus in both countries is very<much within what has been called the track two of the CubanBDemocracy Act, better known as the Torricelli bill of 1992, which;promotes greater communication and contact between the two?countries. So I think that in part, that is one of the reasons?why there is broad agreement by the full spectrum of the CubanBAmerican community that this is a good idea because it is part of@the Torricelli bill, which the more conservative opinion groups;in the Cuban American community wholeheartedly supported."@   Ninoska Perez also fled Cuba with her family in 1960. Today,=she directs shortwave broadcasts into Cuba for the staunchly?anti-castro Cuban American National Foundation, which supportsBefforts to tighten U.S. sanctions even further. Missus Perez says;the Miami-based foundation favors the opening of U.S. news$organizations in Cuba in principle:>   "I think this protects the Cuban people. I think this putsBsort of a barrier between the Cuban people and the government. In?other words, it is not easy to sink boats in the middle of theAbay or to beat people on the streets when there is a press thereto report it.";   But Ninoska Perez expresses great trepidation about theAability of U.S. reporters to do their job unimpeded in Cuba. Too7often, she says, western journalists accept the Castro?government's version of events rather than trying to ascertainBthe facts and risk harassment or being thrown out of the country:A   "You see the Mexican news bureaus and the Spanish bureau. AllAthey report is about economic change and economic progress as if?something big was happening. Well, let me tell you this, for aAcountry to allow people to work grooming dogs, believe me, it is?not an advance., especially in a country where the people have>had to eat the dogs and the children do not have any toys. To;write and say that that is progress is really an insult toanyone's intelligence."A   Professor Perez-Stable responds that she has greater faith in>U.S. journalists. Additionally, she says, the opening of news@bureaus in Cuba would be a significant step toward breaking theBCastro government's control over information and would enable the:American public to receive more news about what is reallyhappening in Cuba:A   "For example, just recently there were so-called elections inBCuba for the municipal delegates of popular power. The governmentBreported an 11 percent abstention rate which could be interpretedBas an opposition to the government, people who in some way either@abstained or annulled the ballot. News organizations from other=countries reported these rates to be something like 20 to 25Apercent. I think it is in the interest of U.S. public opinion to5have those types of estimates directly from Americanjournalists."=   The solution, according to Ninoska Perez, is for the U.S.:government to make it clear from the outset that AmericanAjournalists can report freely and without threat. Moreover, Miss<Perez says the Cuban government should not be permitted any;control over which U.S. news organizations open bureaus inHavana.?   This is the point of contention which eventually may renderBthe discussion fruitless. Hardliners in the U.S. Congress and the4Cuban American National Foundation want the ClintonBadministration to insist that the U.S. government-sponsored Radio8Marti be allowed to open an office in Havana. The CubanAgovernment has already indicated that Radio Marti reporters will=not be welcome. But Fidel Castro's critics point out that an<exchange of news organizations would mean permitting Cuba'sAgovernment-run media in the United States. Ninoska Perez says if>Mr. Castro's critics are not allowed in Cuba, there is littlepoint in opening news bureaus:B   "We are all for it. The thing is this: Castro will allow those=that he chooses. Again, this cannot be constituted as a step?toward what we are looking for, which is freedom of the press,Bbecause if I am going to allow only certain people and people who<are going to criticize me will not be allowed in, then I am<setting the standard and you will know that you will not be-allowed in if you criticize the government."A   Marifeli Perez-Stable disagrees. She suggests hardliners have=created the controversy over Radio Marti as a way to prevent;aspects of the Cuban Democracy Act from being carried out:<   "It is sort of a catch-22 (no easy way out) for the most:hardline supporters of the embargo. If they supported the9Torricelli bill, the Cuban Democracy Act, then they alsoAsupported the so-called track two, all the sections dealing withBimproving communications with Cuba, telecommunications, exchanges@of information etc., So they are sort of caught in a bind. That>is why they are saying that the condition of this, of opening@these bureaus, would be the recognition of the Cuban government<of Radio and TV Marti because that is basically dooming the"prospect of opening the bureaus."<   As with everything else that involves the United States'>policy toward Cuba, the question of permitting an exchange of6news media with the Castro government is fraught with@controversy. At the moment, how, or whether, the matter will beresolved is unclear.   ---------------   ---------------!   SENATE/MISSILE DEFENSE DEBATE   JIM MALONE
   SENATE>   The Republican-led U.S. Senate has turned aside democraticAattempts to block an extensive missile defense system as part of?a bill authorizing 265-billion dollars in defense spending fornext year.>   Republicans narrowly rejected democratic attempts to scaleAback Republican plans for an ambitious missile defense system toBmeet post cold war threats. Republicans want a multi-site missile@defense system in place by the year 2003 which would defend the?United States from a variety of missile threats from countries=now developing the capability to launch nuclear, chemical orbiological weapons.B   Republican John Warner says the idea is to prevent a repeat ofBthe Iraqi scud attacks against coalition forces and Israel duringthe Persian Gulf War:?   "And here we are, some several years later, still wrestling@with the fundamental question, are we going to unleash the full;magnitude of the brains of this nation, working with other=nations and in particular Israel, to devise the finest, most=technically capable system to defend against the short-range*missile? That is what this is all about."B   But Democrats argue that building a multi-site missile defenseBsystem would violate the terms of the 1972 anti-ballistic missile>treaty which permits only a single site deployment. They warnAthat could provoke another arms race with Russia and a return to4cold-war type tensions. Democrat Joseph Biden said:?   "And we concluded that we should not have an anti-ballisticAmissile system when the Soviet Union had over 12,000 nuclear warAheads all aimed at the United States or things of vital interest;of us, why in the devil do we need it so badly now? And as?Senator Nunn explained, such a system is not the thing that is?going to prevent a Khadafi (Libyan leader) or some third worldBscrewball from detonating a nuclear weapon in the United States.">   Democratic moves to strike funding for the missile defense>system and to remove language from the bill violating the ABM>Treaty were narrowly defeated on procedural votes. The Senate8hopes to complete action on the defense bill by Friday.   ---------------   ---------------   SOCIAL SECURITY'S FUTURE
   DON HENRY   WASHINGTON>   The federal pension plan known as social security has come8under renewed attack Thursday as it approaches its 60th=anniversary.  A coalition of nine citizen activist groups is@urging significant changes in the pension formula that now pays?about 44 million recipients an average of 680 dollars a month.A   The coalition ranges from a new senior citizens group calling@for less government to a variety of taxpayer watchdog alliances;of citizens of all ages. It was coordinated by a baby boom;generation group of people born after 1960, known as thirdmillennium.=   Though differing widely in age, they all had one thing inAcommon. At a news conference in Washington, they said the social9security system faces bankruptcy in the lifetime of many=Americans, and must be dramatically reformed in the next fewyears.?   Actually, the national pension plan created in 1935 to help>retirees avoid poverty now has a surplus of about 500 billion?dollars. But as retirees live longer and the post World War II>baby boom generation reaches retirement age early in the nextBcentury, the reserves will be drawn down rapidly. Sometime around=the year 2030, experts predict social security will go brokeunless changes are made.@   Martha Phillips of the Concorde Coalition, a group dedicated=to building a sound economy for coming generations, says one8solution would be to make social security benefits more<progressive by scaling back payments to wealthier retirees:?   "The Congressional Budget Office, reported in 1990, and theBnumbers would be higher today if they were to update their study,Athat 54 billion dollars a year is paid to people with incomes ofB40 thousand dollars a year or more. Eight billion of that goes toAfamilies, individuals and families, with incomes of 100 thousand%dollars or more annually, retirees!"<   The system pays out benefits using a complicated formula@linked in part to how much social security tax each wage earnerApaid before retirement. Congress in recent years has raised bothAthe tax rate and the maximum amount of earnings taxed for socialAsecurity. In 1980, it was about six per cent of the first 23,000=dollars earned. Now it is nearly eight per cent of the first!61,000 dollars earned each year.B   Still, those who earn more and thus pay more in, get more out,Aand critics say many senior citizens do not need social securityto live comfortably.:   Jim Martin of a new retirees group know as the 60-plusAassociation says the social security plan should die a quiet buthonorable death:?   "It's served America's seniors very well, but it's outlived=its usefulness, simply because the number of workers (paying<taxes) no longer are sufficient to support the ever-growingretirement community."A   Pointing to successes in Europe and Latin America, especially8in Chile, Mr. Martin says the American system should be8privatized, allowing all workers to invest in their ownretirement plan.@   The third millennium organization backs privatization as one?option. It also calls for scaling payouts so that lower-income:retirees get more and wealthier seniors get less than the?average. The baby boomer group also would raise the retirement;age five years to 70, to ease the drain on social securityreserve fund payouts.A   Congress is probing the issue. One Senate committee has begun?looking into a partial privatization plan. But calls to change>social security dramatically, indeed, perhaps even to end it,;meet powerful resistance among the nation's well-organizedAelderly citizens, and little progress is expected before general(elections late next year, if even then.   ---------------   ---------------   THE B-2 BOMBER DEBATE   MAXIM KNIAZKOV   WASHINGTON>   A heated debate is underway in Washington about the future>shape of America's strategic military forces. The B-2 bomber,Bheralded for its capacity to evade enemy radars, is at the center=of the controversy. Twenty B-2s are now in production, and aBgroup of Republican lawmakers in Congress is pushing for funds toAbuy even more. But opponents argue such largess for the PentagonAis hardly justified when the Congress is determined to make deep$cuts in the overall federal budget.@   Current military procurement plans call for the air force to;have 20 B-2 stealth bombers by the year 1998. And the U.S.?Department of Defense sees no need for additional B-2s at thisBpoint, or for the foreseeable future. Pentagon officials point toBthe world's rapidly changing strategic landscape in the aftermath=of the cold war, and say the U.S. has more pressing domestic3needs, with balancing the budget chief among them.@   But proponents of the B-2 bomber claim the Pentagon has been@simply bullied into submission by the democrat-controlled WhiteHouse.B   That is the view of Baker Spring, a senior policy analyst with<the Heritage Foundation, a conservative Washington researchorganization:A   "In my view, first of all, the Pentagon has been told what it>should say on this issue, I think, by the people at the WhiteAHouse. So I'm not sure that the Pentagon is given full leeway to@express its views on this. Particularly those [people] from themilitary services themselves."A   Under pressure from the powerful aerospace lobby, Republicans@in the House of Representatives earmarked more than 550-millionAdollars to start building at least two additional bombers. It is>unclear whether the Senate will go along. But Baker Spring is=confident many Senate Republicans are determined to preserveAmerica's military might:A   "It's really a question of looking at the total bomber force.?And the key to that is that the administration plans to retain?the B-52 bomber for the foreseeable future. Now, those bombersBwere built in the '50s and '60s. And, in my view, eventually, allBof the B-52s will have to be retired. So, the question is how you@will make up for the loss of the B-52 over the long run. And my?view is that we should replace those with the more capable and#obviously more modern B-2 bomber."=   Convincing as this line of reasoning may sound, it is not?shared by many lawmakers, including some Republicans. They sayBthe Republican party swept last year's congressional elections on?the promise to balance the budget, not to build more air force<bombers. And at a staggering price of two-point-two billion?dollars apiece, the B-2 is described by its critics as a hefty1sacrifice to the altar of fiscal responsibility.@   Last month, the pro-B2 lobby was dealt a painful blow by the:chairman of the House Budget Committee, John Kasich. In a>Washington Post article, this leading Republican anti-deficit>crusader said the stealth bomber is plagued by many technical8problems and may not have the much-touted radar-evading>capabilities that were supposed to give it a significant edge@over other aircraft. A report by the General Accounting Office,Aan arm of the Congress, came up with a similar assessment of theB-2.5   Ted Postol, professor of national security at the@Massachusetts Institute of Technology, says there is some truth=to these assertions. He notes the bat-wing configuration and@special painting give the plane important advantages but do not#completely hide it from the enemy:B   "These has never been doubt among informed people that such an?aircraft could almost certainly be seen on many radars. That's@really not an issue among informed experts on radar and stealth@technology. The real question is how small is the radar return,Bthe radar reflection from an aircraft like this. And is it easier<to mask the presence of this aircraft with various kinds ofAelectronic countermeasures? So the fact that the aircraft can beAseen on radar, does not necessarily mean it's vulnerable or it'sAnot useful. Because if you can keep its radar signal very small,Bit is very easy to disrupt the radar with, for example, jamming."B   Conceived early in the Reagan Administration, the stealthy B-2?was designed to penetrate Soviet defenses and attack strategicAinstallations deep in enemy territory, a mission its critics sayBwas made obsolete by the collapse of the Soviet Union and the endof the cold war.:   But proponents of the plane argue that its capacity toAmisguide enemy radar operators as well as its impressive arsenal>make it a formidable asset in a conventional theater as well.@They cite the 1991 Persian Gulf war, where a smaller sibling of>the B-2 bomber, the F-117 fighter, was able to wreak havoc on@Iraqi defenses. While acknowledging the aircraft's contribution?to the victory in the gulf, Ted Postol says it was by no means
decisive:@   "The utility of stealth on the Gulf War was primarily in theBvery early stages of the war, when another stealthy aircraft that@was built by the United States, the F-117, was very effectively>used to help suppress air defenses. Now, another question one<might ask is: Could those air defenses have been suppressedAwithout the F-117? And the answer is certainly yes. But it wouldBhave taken more assets, and it would have been more difficult and?the planning would have had to be more careful and elaborate."=   It is anyone's guess how the B-2 issue will ultimately be>decided. But with the approach of the 1996 election campaign,Bpolitical analysts say timing may be crucial. Given the fact that@B-2 production facilities are centered in California, Texas and@Pennsylvania, states that have been hard-hit by a recent series>of military base closures but that also have large numbers of;electoral votes, analysts say Republicans will be stronglyAtempted to woo those constituencies with new military contracts.   ---------------   ---------------+   U.S./CHINA RELATIONS - ANOTHER BLEMISH?   STEPHANIE MANN   WASHINGTON>   China's expulsion of two U.S. air force officers WednesdayBcomes at a time when relations between Beijing and Washington areAat an especially low point. Will this incident affect efforts toBrepair the relationship? Were the two Americans really engaged in7gathering military intelligence, as China has charged?A   China says it caught the two American defense liason officers7taking pictures in restricted military areas along itsAsoutheastern coast. The United States says the two men, attached>to the U.S. consulate in Hong Kong, had diplomatic passports,Avalid visas to enter China, and were on what officials describedAas routine authorized travel. Thursday, they were put on a plane=(in Xiamen) in China's Fujian province, and returned to HongKong.;   Very little information beyond that has been officiallyAreleased. However, sources in the intelligence community say the=air force officers were given instructions to find out aboutBmilitary exercises and missile tests that China was conducting in?the East China Sea, near Taiwan. Several independent observers5here in Washington have expressed doubts about that.=   Ronald Montaperto is a senior fellow at the Institute forBNational Strategic Studies, at the National Defense University in@Washington. Mr. Montaperto, a China scholar, says it's possible:the two Americans were trying to get a closer look at theexercises, but not likely:;   "Fujian province is, of course, right across the Taiwan=strait. Probably that recent exercise was staged from Fujian>province. I don't know where the missiles that were used were@launched from, but it's not unreasonable to think they had beenBlaunched from Fujian province. So, I think all in all, it seems aAlogical place for them (the U.S. officers) to be. It's a logical?place for them to be even if there hadn't been an exercise, orBeven if there hadn't been any missile firings, because we need to<know and generally try to find out about levels of military@activity, methods of military activity. And this is all done by>simple observation, and there's really no need to go sneaking,into restricted zones in order to do this.">   Ronald Montaperto says a quicker, more complete picture of?military maneuvers can be obtained from satellite photos along@with information from other technical sources. However, he adds=that U.S. defense liaison officers posted overseas routinely:travel around their host countries to gather information:@   "People from the defense liaison office regularly make tripsAinto China, and they are acting as attaches, that means they areAintelligence collectors, plain and simple. This was probably one>of a thousand or more trips that have been made over the lastAyear, year and a half. And I think the interesting thing is that+the Chinese chose to make an issue of it."B   Was it appropriate for China to expel the U.S. officers? Susan8Shirk, director of the Institute on Global Conflict andBCooperation at the University of California, says that depends onwhat they were really doing:;   "If they were simply innocently going for a hike in the=countryside, then we might say this is provocative and maybe:stimulated by the pressures of domestic politics and will>contribute to the deterioration of us-China relations. If, inBfact, these are people engaged in some kind of intelligence work,@then expelling them with a brief statement is probably a fairly%restrained approach to the problem."?   Ms. Shirk says it remains to be seen whether the expulsions?will have a significant effect on overall US/Chinese relationsA   "I think it depends on whether or not (President) Jiang ZeminAand China's other leaders now want to improve relations with the?U.S. or not. If they want to show how tough they are vis-a-visAthe United States, if they are reaping some significant domestic@benefits from keeping the tension with the United States alive,<then they could exploit this incident for that purpose. If,:however, they think that it's important to try to improve@relations, if they would like to see a Jiang Zemin meeting with>President Clinton in the United States in the fall, then they&might turn it into a small incident."?   Relations between the United States and China most recently=have been strained over U.S. overtures to Taiwan and China's>detention of Chinese-american human rights activist Harry Wu.=   James Przystup (priss tup), director of the Asian StudiesBCenter at the Heritage Foundation, says the two countries are not5going to let this latest incident damage the overallrelationship:>   "I think it's always the case that the significance of theAincident, whatever happened, is basically what significance whatA(delete?) the governments themselves attach to it. In this case,@my feeling is that this is not going to become a major issue in@terms of the U.S.-China relationship. It's part of a context inAwhich it takes place. The relations have been strained, but I doBthink that both sides are working to try to contain the damage at@this point, and so I would expect that however this is handled,Ait will be handled in a context of trying to prevent any further$deterioration in the relationship."?   The two air force officers were detained last Saturday, yet=neither side raised the issue when secretary of State WarrenAChristopher and Chinese foreign minister Qian Qichen met Tuesdayin Brunei.?   Ronald Montaperto, of the national defense university, says?Washington made a good decision not to press the issue in that7meeting but to follow it through appropriate channels:>   "It's difficult to speculate as to what the Chinese had inBmind. The fact that these men were detained in the first place to9me suggests an effort on the part of people who are veryAconcerned about the way China's relations with the United States>are developing over Taiwan, I think it seems to be kind of an@effort by them to forestall. to prevent, to put it bluntly, any=progress that might have been made with the Christopher-Qian>Qichen talks. The fact that they released the men as they did;suggests one of two things: One, that somehow some kind of>centralized leadership in Beijing reasserted itself and said,>'no, this should not have been done. Let's try to get it overBwith as quickly as we possibly can.' or that in a different senseAthey felt in Beijing that the minimum goal they had in mind when9they issued the order to detain them had been achieved."@   Mr. Montaperto says both the United States and China seem toBbe treating the issue in a way that indicates neither wants it to4poison the overall relationship in the longer term.   ---------------   ---------------%   VIETNAMESE RECEPTION OF AMERICANS   MAX RUSTON	   HANOIB   Considering the extent of death and destruction in the Vietnam?War, it is natural to expect some level of hostility to remain@between Hanoi and Washington. American business people who have>moved to Vietnam since the U.S. economic embargo was lifted aAyear-and-one-half ago have come to the country expecting a mixedBreception. Many of these business people say they are shocked and1surprised by the reception they have been given.<   An estimated two-million Vietnamese and more than 50,000>Americans died in the Vietnam War. In Hanoi, it is often said9there is not a single Vietnamese family untouched by the3destruction caused by the eight-years of fighting.<   The extent of damage and the emotional difficulties manyBAmericans have had recovering from the war has led some people toBworry about what sort of reception they will be given in Vietnam.@   Country manager for the American auto manufacturer Chrysler,?Vance Peacock, is among those who did not know what to expect:A   "I think most Americans, including myself, are shocked by the:fact that when you do come here to Vietnam you are warmly=received and the Vietnamese are very interested in you as an<American. They are interested in American culture. They are4genuinely warm and friendly and open to Americans."8   It is difficult to find an American in Hanoi who has<experienced even a minor case of war-related hostility fromAanyone in Vietnam during the past year. American Linda Pace, whoAworks for the computer company IBM, says this is in part because?the image Vietnamese have of Americans has developed over many)decades, both before and during the war:B   "They think of Americans as very hard workers. This is said toAme quite often, that we are very focussed on our objectives, andAwe work hard, and all in all I believe the Vietnamese perception=of the American is a very positive perception, and of course?being here in Hanoi that makes me feel very good to say that."@   There are a number of theories about why Americans are given?such a warm reception in Vietnam. Some people say because U.S.Aforces fought alongside one group of Vietnamese soldiers, rather@than against the entire nation, helps them to be seen in a moreBfavorable light. Others say that because the American side failed8to win the war, it is easier for the current VietnameseAgovernment to forgive and move on with the future. The assistant>director of Hanoi's Institute of International Relations, Bui9Thanh Son, says the warm reception given to Americans is>consistent with Vietnam's history, and its ability to recoverfrom difficult situations:>   "I think the Vietnamese people's history has proven we are>very generous towards foreign countries. In the past, when we?ended the war with the French and then the Japanese, we alwaysBopened our arms to them after the war, and after the war with theAUnited States the Vietnamese people also expect the Americans toBcome back. But as a partner, counterpart, an equal counterpart to>do business, to exchange views and everything, and I think inBthat respect we warmly welcome the Americans to come back again."A   Another Vietnamese scholar says the reason is more practical.AHe says Vietnam has fought with most of its neighbors during the;past century, as well as many of the world's most powerful>countries. He says if Vietnam ever decided not to be open andAfriendly to the countries it has had conflicts with in the past,4it would end up with practically no friends at all.   ---------------   ---------------   HOUSE WACO HEARINGS WRAP-UP   JANE BERGER   WASHINGTONA   The House of Representatives this week concluded two weeks of?public hearings into the deaths of about 80 people following a>51-day standoff in 1993 between federal agents and the BranchADavidian religious cult in Waco, Texas. The investigation turned>up few new facts, but both Republicans and Democrats said the?hearings proved there was no government conspiracy against thecult members.A   The hearings were called by majority Republicans in the House<of Representatives after regaining control of Congress. The@investigation took on renewed importance after the bombing last@April of a federal office building in Oklahoma City that killedmore than 150 people.>   The blast occurred on the second anniversary of the end of?Branch Davidian siege. The primary suspect in the bombing caseBwas said to be angered about events at Waco, and he has also beenBlinked to armed militia groups whose members blame the governmentfor the Waco tragedy.=   At the outset of the hearings, the committee co-chairman,>Republican Bill McCollum, said the aim of the hearings was toAinvestigate officials of the Clinton Administration for mistakes'the government made during the crisis:>   "The disturbing truth is that all of these deaths were the>result of federal government action. This tragic incident hasBadded to the distrust of the federal government and specifically,Bfederal law enforcement. The deadly mishandling of the crisis and8the ensuing mistrust is why Congress must independently.investigate all the events surrounding Waco."B   But the tone for the investigation was set by House Democrats,?who called 14-year-old Kiri Jewell to testify during the first@day. Accompanied to the hearings by her father, Ms. Jewell said?she had been living at the religious compound with her mother.@She said she was raped by cult leader David Koresh when she was@10-years old, like most other young girls he took as his wives.?   Ms. Jewell said a young friend of hers was hidden away from%authorities because she was a minor:>   "She became one of David's wives when she was 14 and had a>baby for him. Once she was pregnant, I never saw her. She was+kept hidden because she was not an adult."A   During the next two weeks, the committee heard from more than?90 witnesses, including most of the federal agents involved in;the incident, experts who investigated the Waco siege, andAgovernment officials involved in negotiations with the religiouscult.A   All agreed federal agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco=and Firearms, or ATF, badly bungled the original raid on the@compound as they tried to deliver a court warrant to search the<building for illegal weapons. Eyewitnesses testified as theAagents approached, the cult members opened fire. Four ATF agents:and six cult members were killed in the ensuing gunfight.@   ATF undercover agent Robert Rodriguez spoke with cult leaderBDavid Koresh shortly before the raid began. He said he warned hisAsuperiors the cult had been tipped off about the impending raid:@   "I then called Mr. Sarabyn and the first thing I said to him>when he picked up the phone was: Chuck, they know. They know.AThey know we are coming. I can remember that. As long as I live,I will remember those words."A   The FBI then took over the operation, seeking to persuade the@cult members to surrender and stand trial for the deaths of the?federal agents. The House committee heard testimony concerning<repeated broken promises by cult leader Koresh to leave the>compound, FBI tactics used during the long siege, and a final@plan to insert tear gas into the building in an effort to forcethe cult members out.=   Several hours after the final attack began, a raging fireBswept the building, killing about 80 cult members within minutes.=Only a few Branch Davidians escaped the blaze. Several arson<experts were called before the committee, and all said cultmembers set the fire.@   On the final day of the hearings attorney General Janet RenoAfirmly defended her decision to go ahead with the attack instead-of waiting longer for the cult to surrender:@   "We will never know whether there was a better solution. Had=we not acted when we did, and Koresh had brought things to aBsudden and violent finish, as he had rehearsed, we would probably@be here today, anyhow, and you would be asking me why I had not>taken action earlier, why we had not tried to use tear gas toresolve the situation."B   As the investigation concluded, Democratic Congressman CharlesBSchumer said it is clear the government made many mistakes during@the Waco siege, but he blamed the deaths at Waco on cult leaderDavid Koresh:<   "David Koresh is to blame for the tragedy. David Koresh,=beyond any reasonable doubt, as our experts told us, lit the>fire. The most important thing that this hearing taught us isAthat you cannot compare the mistakes of the ATF and the FBI withAthe evil of David Koresh. It is wrong to twist the facts, making?law enforcement the villain, and David Koresh, the lawbreaker,
the victim."B   Republican Bill McCollum agreed Mr. Koresh was responsible for@the deaths of his followers, but he said perhaps the government@should have waited longer before forcing a final confrontation.@   In editorials after the hearings, The New York Times and the?Washington Post also blamed David Koresh for the Waco tragedy,?but they also criticized the federal government. The Post said=the hearings have demonstrated the need for Congress to keep>closer watch over federal law enforcement agencies. The Times>said the investigation brought out justified criticism of theBgovernment's performance in what it called an imprudent raid with:tanks and tear gas in a rush to a needless confrontation.   ---------------   ---------------5   WIEDEMANN CAUTIONS AGAINST TAIWAN-U.N. RESOLUTION   WASHINGTON;   Passage of H.Con.Res. 63, a Congressional resolution to<promote Taiwan's participation in the United Nations, would@contradict the United States's "one China" policy, according to=Kent Wiedemann, deputy assistant secretary of state for EastAsian and Pacific affairs.6   Testifying at an August 3 hearing before the HouseAInternational Relations Committee, Wiedemann said the U.S. could>support Taiwan's participation in the U.N. only if Taiwan andBChina worked out an agreement for Taiwan's participation.  "Until@Taiwan and the PRC reach such an agreement, however, we believe>that no good -- and considerable harm -- would come from U.S.Bsupport of Taiwan's participation in the U.N.  We should not seek<to insert the U.S. into the middle of this issue," he said.?   According to Wiedemann, premature support for Taiwan's U.N.>effort would come at great cost to U.S. relations with China,@would jeopardize China's support for a broad range of importantBissues in the U.N., and would threaten peace and stability in theBTaiwan Strait.  Wiedemann also pointed out that the Congressional?resolution comes at an especially difficult time in U.S.-China@relations with the recent visit of President Lee of Taiwan, the>Harry Wu case, and the spying charges leveled at two U.S. AirForce officers.A   The resolution would "express the sense of the Congress" thatB"(1) Taiwan deserves full participation, including a seat, in theAUnited Nations and its related agencies; and (2)  The Government=of the United States should immediately encourage the United>Nations to take action by considering the unique situation of5Taiwan in the international community and adopting a;comprehensive solution to accommodate Taiwan in the UnitedNations and related agencies."A   "The question of Taiwan's relationship to the PRC is an issue<to be resolved by the Chinese people themselves," WiedemannBconcluded.  "We urge Beijing and Taipei to continue patiently the;talks and economic interchange that they have successfullyBinitiated.  This -- not U.S. support for a quixotic resolution inAthe U.N. -- is the way toward a secure and prosperous future forthe people of Taiwan."?   Among the resolution's supporters who attended the August 3@hearing were Chairman Benjamin Gilman (Republican of New York),9Representatives Steve Chabot (Republican of Ohio), David:Funderburk (Republican of North Carolina),  Sam Gejdenson@(Democrat of Connecticut), Tom Lantos (Democrat of California),@Dana Rohrabacher (Republican of California, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen<(Republican of Florida), Robert Torricelli (Democrat of New=Jersey), and Delegate Eni Faleomavaega (Democrat of AmericanSamoa).B   Representatives Douglas Bereuter (Republican of Nebraska), Jay>Kim (Republican of California) and James Leach (Republican of.Iowa) expressed opposition to the resolution.5   The resolution is currently before the full House#International Relations Committee.   ---------------   ---------------+   HILLARY CLINTON IN SEARCH OF A NEW ROLE   ANDREW J. BAROCH   WASHINGTON>   America's first lady, Hillary Rodham Clinton, is trying to?create a new role for herself in anticipation of the 1996 U.S.8presidential campaign, according to longtime observers.;   Hillary Rodham Clinton recently debuted as a syndicated?columnist in more than 100 newspapers and magazines worldwide.;The weekly column, titled "Talking It Over," is said to beBinspired by one of her idols, Eleanor Roosevelt, the wife of U.S.@President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Mrs. Roosevelt started her own?column, titled "My Day," in 1936, and it ran for more than two	decades.;   Stephen Hess, a presidential scholar with the Brookings>Institution, a Washington, D.C., research organization, says:?   "The most active first lady we've ever had, at least in theA20th century, putting aside Abigail Adams, John adams' wife, the?wife of the second president of the United States, was Eleanor:Roosevelt. She had a different sort of role [than HillaryAClinton's]. She was actually an advocate, not always necessarilyAfor things her husband believed in. She was truly a free spirit.?She wrote a newspaper column, in which, from time to time, sheAchided the president, urging him to do things when the presidentAwas also the husband. Hillary is not independent of Bill Clintonin that regard."=   Like Mrs. Roosevelt, who wrote 12 books, Mrs. Clinton has>written a book to be published this fall, titled, "It Takes a/Village, and Other Lessons Children Teach Us."=   Mrs. Clinton has also played a highly-visible role in the<first two and a half years of her husband's administration,9especially as a policymaker and advocate for issues like=health-care reform. Says Stephen Hess, it's a reprise of theEleanor Roosevelt role:B   "She's a woman of great talent and great energy, and it's been@very hard for her as really quite a modern woman in a role that?was very traditional, with the exception, as I say, of Eleanor;Roosevelt, for her to work out a proper design for living.=Initially, the president made her one of his chief political<operatives and turned over to her the most serious piece ofBlegislation he was proposing, the health care bill, which was notAwell-handled and was ultimately defeated and raised very seriousBquestions whether that was the appropriate role for a first lady,Bwho can not avoid the fact that she's not just an operator but is@the wife of the president. Since then, particularly since that,?in part, brought about the defeat of the president's party [inAcongressional elections] in 1994, there's been clearly an effort@by the Clintons, and by those who are their political advisers,?to redefine her role. they've chosen a different sort of issue<for her to be involved in, issues that are more feminist or@feminine, issues of women's rights and children. She's going toAbe very active again because that's her nature and those are her<talents but clearly directed at a different set of issues."=   One issue, in particular, has begun to occupy much of her@time, according to observers: A special prosecutor and a SenateBcommittee are conducting separate investigations into whether theBpresident and first lady took part in questionable business dealsBassociated with the sale in the 1970's of their Arkansas vacation/property, known as the Whitewater development.>   Stephen Hess notes that the investigations include a probe@into the circumstances surrounding the suicide two years ago of>White House lawyer Vincent Foster, a longtime Clinton friend:@   "There's a more recent question that the Senate committee is?dealing with right now: One of their top aides, Vincent FosterBcommitted suicide [two years ago]. He had also been a law partnerAof Hillary Clinton, and he was their personal lawyer. He had theApapers in his office that related to this Whitewater developmentAas well as their tax returns. And now there are some allegations=that Hillary Clinton tried to keep these papers that were in?Vincent Foster's [White House] office away from those who were@investigating the suicide, and there's one Secret Service agent@who claims he heard Mrs. Clinton's chief of staff say something=to this effect, secondhand. So, her name has come up in this8regard, and we don't know more than that at this time."A   The first lady is concerned about her public image, according=to Donnie Radcliffe, the author of the book, "Hillary Rodham%Clinton: A First Lady For Our Time":<   "There's certainly little doubt in my mind that the 1996?election is close at hand, and Hillary is very concerned about@how she comes across to the public. She's voiced those concerns?in the past to various people. I think she believes she hasn't=connected too well with people since she's been in the WhiteAHouse and that she has to have people know her as she thinks she1is, or certainly as she wants them to know her."?   Mrs. Clinton is writing the newspaper column to establish a=non-controversial relationship with the public, according to?"Newsweek" magazine columnist Eleanor clift, who adds, though,Bthat the first lady's plans to attend a United Nations conference>on women's issues in Beijing this fall risk creating negativepublicity.@   Ms. Clift adds the conference may be overshadowed by China's=detention and interrogation of Harry Wu, an American citizen>critical of China's human rights policies. She says this this%could reflect badly on Mrs. Clinton:B   "The Beijing conference, unfortunately, is getting swept up inAthe political tension between China and the U.S, and many of the?administration's foreign policy advisers think she should just@say she's not going to attend and not get in the middle of what@could be a diplomatic embarrassment if the Chinese chose to use?her presence in some negative way. But she's been reluctant toBdeclare herself out of the mix that early because she really doeswant to attend."@   Some observers say the American first lady should attend the%conference and ignore the criticism.A   Jill K. Conway, a scholar of the history of American women atBthe Massachusetts Institute of Technology, says Mrs. Clinton will?be criticized simply because, as Ms. Conway sees it, it is thefashionable" thing to do:?   "You have to realize that American society likes to fawn onAits celebrities, then trash [criticize constantly] them. It does>it constantly. At Mrs. Clinton's first appearances before the?Congress, people on both sides of the House were struck by her?intelligence and her knowledge of the issues. At least, that's?the way it was reported in the media. Now, it's fashionable toBcriticize everything she does. any effort she makes to contribute@to an understanding of public issues is treated with hostility,@but that's no different from the treatment of public figures inAmerican life, generally."9   But criticism of the first lady is inevitable, in any@administration, Democrat or Republican, according to biographer7Donnie Radcliffe. As she puts it, "Americans feel very;proprietary about their president and their first lady. SoAthey're very critical of them. It's like the way we are with ourown families."   ---------------   ---------------8   SENATE REJECTS CALL TO MAKE PACKWOOD HEARINGS PUBLIC   JIM MALONE
   SENATEA   The U.S. Senate Wednesday narrowly rejected a call for public8hearings (by a vote of 48 to 52) in the case of veteranARepublican Bob Packwood who stands accused of sexual misconduct.<The Senate voted down a proposal for public hearings in the8Packwood case with Democrats supporting the measure andRepublicans opposing it.?   There was tension in the air as senators debated what to do?about one of their own members. Senator Packwood is accused ofBsexual misconduct involving 17 different women over a twenty-yearspan beginning in 1969.@   The Senate Ethics Committee has formally accused him but the9committee deadlocked this week on whether to hold publicAhearings, the three Democrats wanted them, the three Republicans	did not.A   Democrat Barbara Boxer tried to force the issue on the Senate>floor Wednesday, arguing that all previous major ethics cases-involving senators included public hearings:7   "Because the message that it could send is the more@embarrassing the transgression, the more protected you will be.AAnd if it is sexual misconduct, you can count on it being behind"closed doors. And that is wrong."@   But on a largely party line vote the boxer amendment calling?for public hearings was voted down. Republicans countered that<forcing public hearings while the ethics committee is stillBconsidering the Packwood case could undermine the ethics process.@   The ethics committee must now decide what action to take, ifany, against Senator Packwood.   ---------------   ---------------:   DASCHLE LESS OPTIMISTIC BOSNIA VETO WOULD BE SUSTAINED   JIM MALONE
   SENATE;   The leader of Democrats in the U.S. Senate says supportBappears to be slipping for President Clinton's promised veto of a9congressional directive to lift the arms embargo againstBosnia-Herzegovina.A   Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle told reporters WednesdayBhe is not as optimistic as he was a few days ago of being able to<sustain a presidential veto of legislation lifting the arms?embargo against Bosnia. The House joined the Senate Tuesday in?voting to lift the embargo by a margin large enough to protect&the measure from a presidential veto.@   Last week, the Senate approved lifting the embargo by a vote<of 69 to 29, two more votes than the two-thirds required to?override a promised veto by President Clinton. Just a few daysAago Senator Daschle said he was confident enough Democrats would@side with the president to prevent an override. But he says theAdeteriorating situation in Bosnia is undermining support for the'administration's position in Congress:;   "The U.N. and UNPROFOR continue to experience a loss ofBsupport here in the Congress. The vote yesterday (Tuesday) in the;House is indicative of the erosion of support that I think@UNPROFOR has here, and so I am not as optimistic, frankly, as Iwas a month ago."?   The president may wait to veto the measure directing him to7lift the embargo until after Congress adjourns for its>traditional long August recess, setting up a veto battle nextBmonth. Senator Daschle says the situation might improve in Bosnia<by September, making it more likely lawmakers would vote tosustain his veto:@   "And if the situation continues to deteriorate, then I think?our ability to sustain a veto deteriorates as well. So tell meBwhat is going to happen in Bosnia in the next couple of weeks and@I will be able to tell you more clearly what is going to happenhere on the hill (Congress)."=   At the White House Wednesday, presidential spokesman Mike9McCurry reaffirmed the president's intention to veto the>legislation, but there was no firm word on when the presidentAmight do it. The House of Representatives is scheduled to recess@Friday for a month. The Senate is expected to work for at leastone-more week.;   Also Wednesday, the president convened a meeting of his8foreign policy team to discuss the situation in Bosnia.   ---------------   ---------------'   SENATE OPENS DEBATE ON DEFENSE BILL   JIM MALONE
   SENATE<   The U.S. Senate opened debate about a 265-billion dollar;defense bill Wednesday.  Much of the debate is focusing on<Republican plans for an aggressive build-up of U.S. missiledefense systems.=   The defense bill before the Senate would authorize nearly:four-billion dollars in spending for anti-missile defense?programs, a much higher figure than the Clinton Administrationrequested.;   Republicans are pushing for a policy change to deploy a;multi-site anti-missile defense system by the year 2003 toAprotect the United States from a new and dangerous assortment ofBmissile threats in the post cold war world. Republican Trent Lott'is among those supporting the program:A   "The Missile Defense Act would establish a policy to deploy a?multiple site, ground-based (missile) system by the year 2003.@This is not star wars, but a modest and responsible answer to agrowing threat."A   Some Democrats warn establishing a multi-site missile defense=system would violate the terms of the anti-ballistic missile@treaty and could jeopardize the start-two strategic arms treaty	as well.<   Senator Sam Nunn is the top Democrat on the Senate ArmedAServices Committee. He cautions any U.S. move to depart from the=limits contained in the ABM Treaty could produce a dangerousreaction in Russia:A   "They could provoke Russia to stop its adherence to the startAtreaties which would leave a huge arsenal of Russian missiles inBplace. And we would then have to move from a thin missile defense@to protect against accidental launch or to protect against someAkind of small nation, radical nation, or terrorist group launch.=We would then have to start worrying about the SS-18's (long range Russian missiles) again.">   U.S. Defense Secretary William Perry agrees the Republican@bill would jeopardize both the start-one and start-two treaties>which arrange for the elimination of several-thousand nuclear	weapons.A   In addition to missile defense, debate is also expected about>funding for major weapons like the B-2 bomber and the SeawolfBsubmarine. The senate is expected to conclude work on the defensebill by Friday.   ---------------   ---------------;   CONGRESS NOT DIVIDED ON OPPOSITION TO CUBAN POWER PLANT   JIM FISHER-THOMPSON   WASHINGTONA   With American public opinion divided on foreign policy crises:like that of Bosnia, the U.S. Congress recently displayed=remarkable bipartisan agreement on what it terms a danger to?millions of people in the Western Hemisphere -- the completion8and startup of the Juragua nuclear power plant in Cuba.:   At an August 1 hearing of the House Western Hemisphere:Subcommittee examining the nuclear power plant located inBCienfuegos, Cuba, Subcommittee Chairman Dan Burton indicated that;the Soviet-designed plant posed as much a health hazard as=political problem. The Republican Party leader's concern was>shared by representatives of the minority Democratic Party in1Congress who also spoke before the subcommittee.B   Burton explained that Cuban President Fidel Castro was rushing@the facility to completion -- construction stopped in 1992 when;the dictator ran out of money to pay the Russians who were;building it -- due to the bankruptcy of his regime and its>inability to buy oil needed to generate electricity for Cuban
industry.A   Castro's dictatorship "is on its last legs," Burton said, and>his decision to bring into operation a facility that has been<shown to be of faulty construction and design is "an act ofdesperation."?   The subcommittee chairman termed the nuclear power plant "aBnational security threat of the first order," because an accident;in the poorly constructed and now dilapidated plant "would@imperil the lives of millions in the southern United States andWestern Hemisphere.">   Richard Stratford, director of the U.S. State Department's6Office of Nuclear Energy Affairs, acknowledged to theAsubcommittee his concern about the safety of the power plant but8added that the U.S. government "does not have [nuclear]=proliferation concerns regarding the Cuban nuclear program."B   He indicated doubt that completion of one of two reactor units?at Juragua, whose construction was the most advanced with more>than 90 percent of it finished, would occur because it "would8require an investment of at least $300 million, perhapsconsiderably more."<   Representative Peter Deutsch, a member of the opposition<Democratic Party, who spoke before the subcommittee, sharedBBurton's concern, noting that "the reality of what is going on at=that facility is incredibly disturbing." And he termed it "a&nuclear time bomb" waiting to go off.8   Commending the subcommittee and its Republican PartyAleadership, Deutsch said: "this committee has done an incredible;job educating this Congress, about both the danger of this1nuclear reactor and the danger of Fidel Castro."8   Representative Robert Menendez, a Cuban-American and?Democratic member of the subcommittee, addressed the criticism@that the hearing was a springboard for conservative anti-Castro8Cubans, saying: "This is not a Castro thing. This is an<environmental threat to the hemisphere that could affect 80million people.">   He and the other lawmakers had in mind the 1986 accidentalAexplosion of the Soviet nuclear reactor in Chernobyl, which sent>flumes of radioactivity aloft, exposing more than two million3Russians to extremely serious levels of radiation.=   A 1992 study by the U.S. National Oceanic and AtmosphericAAdministration of the potential spread of lethal radiation after>such an accident noted that lethal radiation could be carriedB"possibly as far north as Virginia and Washington, D.C., in about@four days." As many as 80 million people in Mexico, Canada, and%the United States could be affected.?   Menendez, who said he has proposed legislation to keep some;foreign aid from nations that help the Cubans complete theAnuclear power plant, acknowledged protests against completion ofAthe plant made by the Clinton administration, but added that "we.would like to see a stronger position taken."A   On July 24 Clinton answered a letter expressing concern about:the power plant sent to him by subcommittee member IleanaARos-Lehtinen. In it the president said: "The U.S. government hasBmonitored the Juragua project closely since construction began in81983. [And] We have repeatedly stated our objections tocompletion of the facility."=   In response to her concern that Russia and other European=nations had formed a consortium to finance completion of theBproject, Clinton said, "We have made our concerns known to MoscowAon many occasions... As recently as June 22, we urged Russia notAto move ahead with the project. We have also voiced our concerns@to the governments of countries that might supply the equipment!needed to complete the reactor."B   The State Department's Stratford told the subcommittee: "We do=not believe that any Western company has as yet committed to9participating in the project. Given Cuba's dire economic@situation, financing for the project remains a serious obstacleBto completion. Following what was reportedly the worst sugar crop>in nearly 50 years, the Cuban government has not indicated it;will accept anything other than payment in hard currency."?   In response to criticism that the administration's response?has been lame, Stratford cited a number of times when the U.S.Agovernment had made direct representations to other countries on;the issue, including those made to "Russia and Mr. Yeltsin=himself in April 1993; France, Italy, the U.K., Germany, and?Brazil in February 1995; France in March 1995; Brazil in April@1995; and Russia at vice foreign ministry level in June of thisyear."A   Representative Ros-Lehtinen summed up the mood of the hearing<when she told Chairman Burton: "The bottom line is that the<United States cannot allow that this plant be completed. It@should be made clear to Castro that a national security threat,8just 180 miles from our shores, will not be tolerated."B   On the purely political level, Ros-Lehtinen said: "The JuraguaBnuclear plant is a symbol of Castro's endless pursuit to maintainBpower and introduce new dangers to the hemisphere. It also serves4as a measurement of the commitment of the [Clinton]Badministration to face up to the Cuban tyrant, of its support for:the Cuban people, and of its defense of the U.S. nationalsecurity."   ---------------   ---------------@   HOUSE PANEL POSTPONES ACTION ON FAST-TRACK TRADE LEGISLATION   BRUCE ODESSEY   WASHINGTON?   Action on the Clinton administration request for fast-trackBtrade negotiation authority has been postponed until September byBa House of Representatives subcommittee because of sharp partisan
differences.=   Representative Phil Crane, chairman of the Ways and MeansAtrade subcommittee, said he and other members traveling to ChileAwhen Congress takes its summer recess August 4 will reassure the%Chileans about the bill's prospects.>   "We are going to report out a fast-track bill," Crane told=reporters August 2, indicating the subcommittee would act inSeptember.B   After subcommittee action, a bill would still require approval=in the full Ways and Means Committee, the full House and theSenate.<   Published reports indicate that the Chileans are already?refusing to make concessions in a round of North American Free?Trade Agreement (NAFTA) accession negotiations going on now inBMexico City, afraid that Congress, not bound by fast-track rules,$will rewrite any agreement reached.B   Under fast track Congress cedes some of its own constitutionalBpowers by restricting itself to voting only to accept or reject aBnegotiated trade agreement package within certain time limits andwithout amendments.A   Crane said the Republicans were working to craft a fast-track@bill acceptable to the Democrats on the subcommittee and to theadministration.=   The Republican bill abruptly pulled from the subcommittee:schedule August 2 would explicitly prohibit any labor and>environmental provisions in trade agreements unless they weredirectly related to trade.A   While some Democrats insist on having labor and environmental8issues listed in a fast-track bill as trade-negotiatingBobjectives, others allow that a bill without any specific mention@either including or excluding those issues would be acceptable.B   Representative Charles Rangel of New York, ranking Democrat on>the subcommittee, continues to insist also that any agreementAinclude language committing U.S. trade partners to fight illicitdrug flows.A   Representative Sam Gibbons, ranking Democrat on the full Ways?and Means Committee, expressed optimism that a fast-track billwould emerge in time.>   "We've got plenty of time," Gibbons said, referring to the>House of Representatives' bursting agenda. "We're going to be&here until Christmas, unfortunately."   ---------------   ---------------D   NAVY'S PLAN TO GIVE FRIGATES TO MIDEAST DRAWS FIRE FROM CONGRESS   RICK MARSHALL   WASHINGTON@   A plan by the U.S. Navy to transfer six Perry-class frigates>to Middle Eastern nations free of charge drew sharp criticismBfrom Republicans and Democrats at a House International RelationsCommittee hearing August 2.=   Under the Navy's plan, as presented by Rear Admiral W. H.>Wright, assistant deputy chief of naval operations, Egypt andATurkey would receive two frigates apiece, while Bahrain and OmanAwould each receive one. Each of these transactions would be made5as grants and thus involve no cost to the recipient.?   A seventh frigate would be leased at a cost of $3.1 million&per year by the United Arab Emirates.>   "My impression here is that you're giving away a lot," the9committee's ranking Democrat, Lee Hamilton, told Wright.=   Committee Chairman Benjamin Gilman agreed. "It is obvious6there is some skepticism with regard to these sales."A   No decision on whether to authorize the transfer of the shipswas made at today's hearing.9   Wright defended the Navy's plan in terms of the close>relations the United States has with the nations involved. "I?believe these transfers are essential to our future ability toAoperate with friendly countries in this volatile area," he said.A"Both for the sake of interoperability and as force multipliers,8the presence of these ships would be a manifestation of?continuing U.S. commitment to those countries that have staked7their national future on ties with the United States."=   Wright pointed out that the end of the Cold War had led a>number of Western nations to reduce the size of their navies,Bleading to a "buyer's market" for those purchasing surplus ships.A   However, he agreed with Hamilton's comment that the precedentAof giving ships away would make it hard to sell or lease them inthe future.>   The Navy, Wright added, has decided that it will no longer make available ships as grants.   ---------------   ---------------:   RECENT FILM REVEALS FLAWS OF CUBAN NUCLEAR POWER PLANT   JIM FISHER-THOMPSON   WASHINGTON?   After reviewing recent film of two unfinished nuclear power@plants in Cienfuegos, Cuba, a U.S. government investigator saysBhe has grave concern they can be safely operated even after theirconstruction is finished.B   Keith Fultz, an assistant comptroller-general with the General@Accounting Office (GAO), Congress's chief investigative agency,@told the House Western Hemisphere Subcommittee August 1 that he@had serious reservations "about the quality of those reactors,"2which have lain practically abandoned since 1992.A   Fultz told the subcommittee that "the United States has had a9number of concerns for years about this reactor, and the?information we have currently heightens our concern" about its:possible operation because of its "rather serious safety"
problems.;   Never far from the subcommittee's thoughts was the 1986Bnuclear accident in Chernobyl, which spread lethal radiation overAan area affecting two million people. A similar accident in CubaAcould affect millions of people in Mexico and the United States,&according to U.S. government figures.B   Fultz said he concluded that the nuclear facilities are unsafeAafter watching eight minutes of a documentary television film of>Cuba provided to the GAO by the National Broadcasting Company@(NBC). Made just two weeks ago, the film of the Juragua nuclear<power plant, slides of which Fultz showed the subcommittee,>displayed a facility that was more in a state of "abandonmentthan storage," he said.=   Construction of the Cienfuegos plants, designed by Soviet@engineers, began in 1983, with financing provided by the SovietAgovernment. With the end of communism in Russia came demands for?hard cash if the plant was to be finished. When the cash dried=up, construction ceased in 1992. Now one of the plants is 97@percent finished, according to some estimates, and subcommittee2member Ileana Ros-Lehtinen expressed fears that a?Russian-European consortium will finance the completion of the
facility.?   "Indeed, just two weeks ago," she said, "press reports fromBBrazil indicated that a company from that country based in Rio de@Janeiro, MPE, had visited Russia to finalize the deal that will'reinitiate construction of the plant.":   However, Richard Stratford, director of the U.S. State@Department's Office of Nuclear Energy Affairs, said, "We do not9believe that any Western company has as yet committed toparticipating in the project.">   Fultz told the subcommittee that the NBC film "graphically7portrays a nuclear plant that is in a serious state of?deterioration and appears to be abandoned rather than properly>maintained.... In no way would I characterize these plants asmothballed [stored]."?   Dr. Duane Fitzgerald, a nuclear engineer who helped write a=GAO report on the reactors in 1992, viewed the NBC film with?Fultz and told the hearing, "I have visited a lot of [nuclear]@reactors under construction in a lot of different places in the?United States, Yugoslavia, and the Philippines." After viewing>the NBC film, he said, "frankly, I was shocked to see to what?appeared to me to be an almost abandoned site at Cienfuegos --&its condition was really surprising."A   Contrary to claims made by the Russian government that it had<provided $30 million to properly store the facility when it@abandoned the project in 1992, the slides showed a site ravaged@by the climate with important equipment like the reactor vessel itself rusting in an open shed.B   Just as important, said Fultz, is "our concern about a lack of?a quality assurance program at the reactors and the lack of an>infrastructure within the Cuban government to ensure that the.reactors were built in a safe, sound manner."=   The welding of pipes and containers, critical to the safe=operation of any nuclear power plant, is also in question atACienfuegos, according to Fultz. "We talked to one technician who@said that he examined about 5,000 and found that between 10 andA15 percent of those welds were defective, which is rather a high	number."A   Pelayo Calante Garcia, a Cuban nuclear scientist and engineer<who was involved in the initial construction of the Juragua<nuclear plant from 1984 to 1991, told the subcommittee that@during that time he was responsible for "quality inspections inthe containment building."?   He said the reactor containment structure, meant to prevent8the accidental release of radioactive material into theBatmosphere, "contains defective welds in seals in the containment?building and in support structures for the primary components,such as the steam generators."B   Because there is no quality assurance system, said Garcia, the>welders have no incentive to do a proper job. This "poor work;ethnic has resulted in many mistakes in welding equipment,<piping, pumps, valves, and seals in the construction of thecontainment building."A   In addition, he cautioned that "the system to reduce pressure@in the containment building has not been tested. If this system9fails, the containment building could be breached, and a"radioactive release could occur.">   The 1992 GAO study of the Cuban nuclear power plants noted;then that the steam pressure capability of the containment?structure in the Cuban plants was seven pounds per square inch:(PSI) compared to the 50 PSI standard of similar pressure-containment structures in the United States.?   Touching on the deterioration caused by improper storage ofAthe facility, Garcia told the subcommittee that "since 1987, the<exposure of salt air has corroded safety equipment that has;already been assembled, such as pumps, valves, pipes, heatAexchanger, and water tanks. Moreover, the nuclear reactor vessel?should be protected in a nitrogen atmosphere in order to avoid
rusting."A   However, at Cienfuegos, he explained, "the reactor vessel has7been exposed to the salt air in open form, without any;protection, since late 1990." This is dangerous, he added,@because "rust on the reactor vessel can affect the integrity of6welds and can cause weakening of the reactor vessel."@   Even if the completion of the reactors is accomplished, saidBFultz, "we believe that continued monitoring of Cuba's completion?of the reactors, if it goes forward, is absolutely necessary."A   Fultz's agency, the GAO, is the investigative arm of Congress=and is charged with examining all matters that relate to the@appropriation and disbursement of government funds. The agency,@which does this by auditing and evaluating government programs,?is run by the comptroller general of the United States, who is?appointed by the president, with the advice and consent of the Senate, for a term of 15 years.   ---------------   ---------------B   ADMINISTRATION SAYS IT IS WILLING AND READY TO WORK WITH HELMS   STATE DEPARTMENTB   The State Department "is, and will continue to be, willing and?ready to work with" Senator Jesse Helms and the Senate Foreign:Relations Committee he chairs on a broad range of issues,@including a bipartisan State Department authorization bill, theBState Department deputy spokesman David Johnson told questioners.9   This is "a position we've held throughout the Clinton!administration," he pointed out.B   "It's also our hope to continue to work with him and his staff>and his colleagues to assure speedy confirmation of qualified@ambassadors and to ratify treaties" like the START II treaty on=strategic arms reduction, "which are in the interests of theUnited States," Johnson said.<   After the Senate failed to cut off debate on legislation?sponsored by Helms August 1, the senator said he was placing a@"hold" on the nominations of 17 ambassadors-designate until the9bill is brought to a vote. The legislation calls for the>consolidation of the U.S. Information Agency, U.S. Agency for@International Development, and the Arms Control and DisarmamentBAgency into the State Department. President Clinton has indicated=he will veto the bill if he receives it in its present form.   ---------------   ---------------   VIETNAM WAR OVER?   MAX RUSTON
   HONG KONG;   The Vietnam War officially ended 20-years ago when U.S.Bsoldiers departed and communist forces took control of the entireAcountry. But, for many people, in the United States and Vietnam,Bthe pain and memories of the war have lingered, and in some casesBbeen fueled by the lack of interaction between the two countries.BIn `this report from the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi, The two sides@are now rebuilding ties, a move many people say marks the finalend of the Vietnam War.A   When President Clinton announced the resumption of diplomatic:ties with Vietnam last month, the decision was considered@controversial by many people in the United States. The move wasAwelcomed as long overdue by some people. Others objected, saying@Hanoi has not done enough to account for more than two-thousand Americans missing from the war.9   In Vietnam, there is far less controversy. Vietnamese:officials and American business people have applauded the>decision. Both groups are eagerly awaiting the visit to HanoiBthis weekend by U.S. secretary of State Warren Christopher, which>is widely seen as the first step towards implementing the newBrelationship. Mr. Christopher will be the first U.S. secretary of5state to travel to Vietnam in more than two decades.@   Vice president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hanoi,@James Rockwell, says he expects a surge in bilateral trade ties#following Mr. Christopher's visit:@   "For our American clients and for all American businesses in@general, it ends the war once and for all. We now have the same;type of leverage that our competitors do here, we have theBofficial backing of the United States government. An embassy will@happen here in the next week. There will be an ambassador in at;some point, so we are official, we have got everything the;Japanese do, the French do in terms of government businessrelations."=   Mr. Rockwell says the two countries are in the process of?moving to a new playing field. He says instead of focussing on@issues of dispute, they will be able to work on those of common>interest, such as economic cooperation and regional security.A   Vietnamese officials are also excited about the prospects for=increased trade. They are in the process of renovating their>economy after decades of neglect and are in desperate need offoreign expertise and money.6   According to Bui tHanh son of Hanoi's Institute ofBInternational Relations, most Vietnamese people admire the UnitedAStates for its economic and technical achievements and are readyto put the past behind them:=   "I think that the legacies of the war, including a lot of<losses of the people still lingering in the families of theAVietnamese people. But, that does not affect our feeling towards@the Americans once they come back as our friends as a people asfriends to the Vietnamese."7   Possibly more important in Hanoi is the feeling Mr.BChristopher's visit marks a tangible sign Vietnam is now accepted?by the international community. The years of isolation, led by?the United States, were painful for many Vietnamese. They fellAbehind other Asian countries in economic growth and were ignored"politically by much of the world.?   With the normalization of relations, those painful memoriesBare quickly being overshadowed by the flood of foreign investment@and cooperation. According to Vietnamese officials and American?business people in Hanoi, the new spirit of mutual acceptance,Binteraction, and trade are just what is needed to clear the finalremnants of the Vietnam War.   ---------------   ---------------/   U.N. STUDY ON THE IMPACT OF WAR ON CHILDREN   MALLORY SALESON   JOHANNESBURG<   The United Nations is conducting a two-year study of the7impact of armed conflict on children, with results andArecommendations expected to be presented to the General Assemblynext year.@   Armed conflict around the world has taken a terrible toll on=children, who are often caught in the middle and become both4victim and even perpetrator during times of violentconfrontation.?   The United Nations spokeswoman on this issue, Graca Machel,=says it is time for the international community to take full<notice of the the physical and emotional trauma suffered by@children during times of armed conflict, and seriously considerwhat can be done about it.>   Mrs. Machel, a former first lady and education minister in@Mozambique, told a news conference people need to be more awareAof what is happening to children victimized by war. She admitted=that being aware is not enough, adding it may be too late to7rehabilitate millions who have suffered physically and
emotionally:?   "For those who have been involved, what do we do with them??That's what I was saying in certain cases you feel yourself so<angry, so angry, because whatever you can do, you'll try to=reduce, but you will not solve the problem. There are things@which you can not replace anymore. And that's why adults should?be accountable for that. They shouldn't be allowed to do thesekind of things to children."B   Mrs. Machel just concluded a visit to Angola, but she has also@visited Cambodia and Rwanda and plans a visit to Lebanon, among=other countries. She said that in Rwanda, she encountered an@11-year-old boy in prison on charges of genocide. She said when<she asked him why he was in jail, he replied because he had%killed, adding he would do it again.?   Mrs. Machel speaks emotionally about the trauma suffered by:children who are maimed and lose limbs which can never be9replaced. But she says the physical horrors are at least?tangible, while the emotional trauma of insecurity and fear is1not. She says most will never be the same again:>   "But the most difficult issue is exactly the emotions, the@mental and the sense, as I was saying, of not knowing where you>belong to and whom you relate to. This is in my understanding/more difficult to measure in terms of impact."?   Mrs. Machel notes the many children forced into conflict toBbecome child soldiers, saying the world should immediately put an@end to such action that essentially transfers the conflict from;today's generation to future generations. She said finding@solutions will be difficult, but hopes the United Nations study;she concludes next year will at least make a start to help children again become children.   ---------------   ---------------=   THAI WORKERS HELD IN NEAR-SALVE CONDITIONS IN LOS ANGELES   ALAN SILVERMAN   LOS ANGELES>   The alleged operators of a Southern California "sweatshop"?garment factory employing illegal immigrants from Thailand areAfacing federal and state criminal charges. A police raid earlierAthis week Wednesday freed some five dozen Thai nationals held innear-slavery conditions.:   "As bad of a sweat shop as I've ever seen." That's how@California state labor commissioner Victoria Bradshaw describes:what went on behind the barbed wire fence surrounding the>seven-unit apartment complex in El Monte [mohn'-tee], east ofdowntown Los Angeles:A   "They would sew from seven in the morning until midnight. OneBlady told us that if she didn't finish by midnight, they made her?sew until two AM. Then they were up again at seven, sewing thenext morning."B   The garments were sold in fashionable department stores acrossBthe country. Authorities say the undocumented Thai nationals were>forced to work for years under inhumane conditions to pay off@exorbitant fees demanded by smugglers who sneaked them into theUnited States.<   The freed workers described beatings and threats againstArelatives in Thailand. State labor official Bradshaw says agents@found gold jewelry, three-quarters of a million dollars in cash<and evidence of millions more in electronic fund transfers:@   "This was a big operation in terms of the amount of garments,and the amount of money being transferred.">   The federal immigration service has been tracking the ringBsince 1992, but the raid by state and local law agencies followedAa six-week investigation triggered by tips from escaped workers.?Those arrested face state and federal criminal charges ranging:from tax and workplace violations to immigrant smuggling,Bkidnapping, conspiracy and slavery. The workers are being held in7an immigration detention center and could be deported.?   An immigration service spokeswoman says some may be able toAremain with family members already in the United States and many?are expected to be witnesses in trials of the alleged captors.<   The operation is similar to other "indentured servitude"9schemes involving thousands of illegal Asian immigrants,@particularly in New York City where many Chinese nationals work'in restaurants to pay smuggler's fees.   ---------------   ---------------   THE BUSINESS OF HELPING   LINDA CASHDAN   WASHINGTON2   In other countries they are known as "NGOs" or@"non-governmental organizations." In the United States they are?known as "non-profits." Non-profits are cause-oriented, rather@than profit-oriented, organizations set up to accomplish worthyBobjectives, like feeding the poor or helping the sick or cleaning@up the environment. Non-profits don't have to pay taxes and areAsupported by individual, business, and government contributions.?   There are as many as 20,000 non-profit organizations in New>York City alone. Indeed, a growing body of data indicates the=non-profit network in the United States is both enormous and=economically essential, pouring billions of dollars into thenational economy each year.:   John Thomas is communications director of "Independent?Sector," a national coalition of about one-thousand charitable<organizations involved in everything from women's rights toAmedical assistance. Mr. Thomas believes charitable contributions>have become a tradition in the United States, which is a good<thing, he says, since non-profits are dependent upon public"contributions for their survival:@   "Overall, Americans are marvelously generous in their giving8to causes. There's a longterm trust that people have in@non-profit groups, in charitable groups, particularly ones they@know, and the longterm habit they have of supporting and giving;with time and money has stayed pretty constant. We're very9fortunate about that, and we feel very good about that.":   Do charitable contributors get their money's worth? Do=non-profit groups make a difference? Jeffrey Henig, a George@Washington University political science professor, was recentlyBhired to do a survey to measure the economic impact of non-profit=organizations in Washington, D.C. He says the first thing he4learned was how varied such organizations could be:<   "We focussed on the middle range non-profits that have a?community focus. Some of those, for example, provide nutrition;services, some operate programs to feed the hungry. Others;operate shelters to house the homeless. Some were arts andBculture-related groups. That includes art and theater groups that<perform in schools. There's really quite a wide array. SomeAgroups provide legal services to immigrants. Some groups develop0housing and small businesses in poverty areas."B   Mr. Henig studied 90 different non-profits. When he quantified;the services provided by the 90 groups in dollar terms, he@determined they pump the equivalent of about 76-million dollars,into the Washington, DC, economy each year:>   "Most of these groups use volunteers, and some of them use@them very heavily. On average, the groups in our survey used 52>volunteers a week, each of whom provided about three hours ofBservice a week. Now, multiplied out over our 90 groups, which are?really just a small sliver of the number of non-profits in the?district (of Columbia), and multiplied out over a year, we canBassume that at the minimum wage these 90 groups were the focus of*4.2 million dollars of voluntary effort."=   The effects of some of these non-profits create differentBsorts of economic dividends. For example: Many restaurant workers=in Washington, DC, have a non-profit group called DC Central@Kitchen to thank for their present jobs. DC Central Kitchen wasAstarted seven years ago by Robert Egger, whose original idea was@to recycle leftover food from restaurants, hotels, and caterers@into meals for homeless shelters. Then he thought awhile longer?and decided teaching homeless people how to prepare meals withBthe leftover food might yield professional as well as nutritionalgain:>   "We discovered very quickly that we could feed a whole lot=more people much better food with a lot less waste if we did<this, and it presented a golden opportunity for us to teach=homeless men and women who lack some basic skills, some foodBservice background, so they could go out and get jobs, oftentimesBat the same restaurant that gave us the food. So what we employedAwas modern food service skills, which have enabled us to kind of4revolutionize the process of feeding hungry people.?   The modern food service skills taught at DC Central Kitchen;include everything from lessons on food safety and kitchen=sanitation to practical experience preparing meals, in other=words, many of the same things a trained chef needs to know.@   Mr. Egger sees DC Central Kitchen as a pragmatic rather than<idealistic venture, a means of not only feeding people, but<giving them business tactics that could enable them to feedthemselves in the long term:>   "Virtually 100 percent of the people who graduate from ourAprogram get jobs. The struggle we find is finding people who areAprepared to keep jobs. About 53 percent of the men and women whoAgo through our program get and keep jobs. So we're very pleased.@It's not a miracle program, but when you consider the fact thatAwe're putting out roughly 2,500 meals every single day for free,>as a byproduct, the fact that 53 out of 100 people hold on to0jobs .... We're still pretty pleased with that.A   "It's not as if we're changing the face of America. It's just=the idea that non-profits can do more than just have pity on>people, that we can take a role in the empowerment process. I.think we should be taking a leadership role."   ---------------   ---------------E   HARVARD WON'T CENSOR PROFESSOR WHO WRITES OF UFO ALIEN ABDUCTIONS   EDIE SMITH   NEW YORKA   Harvard University has decided not to censure a professor who<wrote a controversial book about visitors from outer space.?   Tales of human beings who are abducted by aliens from outer@space and encounters with 'extra terrestrial' beings are common7themes in science fiction books and movies and tabloid=(sensationalist) newspapers. They are rather more unusual as@subjects of research by Harvard University professors. Dr. JohnBMack, a prize winning writer and a psychiatrist on the faculty of?Harvard University Medical School., has been working in recent=years with patients who claim they are victims of such alien@beings. Last year he wrote a controversial, highly popular book@based on this work, entitled ' Abduction: Human Encounters With>aLiens.' Dr. Mack has written that he is convinced that these?patients are not all mentally ill. When the book came out, Dr.<Mack appeared on many television 'talk shows'. The book and9publicity apparently alarmed some members of the Harvard>community, and led the university medical school to conduct a,review Dr. Mack's work with these patients.A   The Harvard medical School this week issued a brief statement>saying as a result of the review, the dean has reaffirmed Dr.AMack's academic freedom to study what he wishes and to state his@opinions without impediment. However the dean urged Dr. Mack toAbe careful that, in his enthusiasm for the care and study of his?patients, he does not violate Harvard's high standards for the9conduct of clinical practice and clinical investigation.A   Harvard professor emeritus, Dr. Arnold Relman chairman of the?review committee would say little about the proceedings exceptthat they lasted a year:@   "I can say however that this was not a disciplinary inquiry.?No charges of wrongdoing were brought to the dean.There was noBconsideration of suspension of tenure or faculty privileges. ThisBwas in effect a peer (colleague's) review of Dr. Mack's scholarlyand clinical work.">   Dr. Mack's lawyer, Eric Macleish however, says the inquiryshould never have taken place:B   "Even though ultimately there is going to be no adverse action?taken against john, the fact that this went on for such a long?time and involved such an effort by the university, I think is>still very significant. And I think if someone were in John's@shoes today and realized that this type of inquiry was going to@take place over the course of a year and involve as much effortBas it did that someone might think twice about publishing work in>a controversial area and investigating a controversial area."A   Mr. Macleish says Dr. Mack is pleased the inquiry is over andAended as it did. But he says the inquiry itself raises questions=of academic freedom, and could have a negative impact on theacademic community.   ---------------   ---------------(   DRUGS BIGGEST PROBLEM FOR U.S. TEENS   MARILYN SILVEY   WASHINGTON:   The White House recently launched a campaign to combat=marijuana use among Americans. A new study by a private U.S.Aorganization shows that such a campaign is needed, and should be;targeted at American young people. Marilyn silvey reports.A   American youth say illegal drugs are the biggest problem they@face, far bigger than crime, social pressures, or concern aboutBsex or grades. Teen-agers say drugs are so accessible that nearlyAevery American child is forced to make a decision whether to use@illegal drugs by the time he or she graduates from high school.<   Those are results of a survey sponsored by the Center on=Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University. Survey@organizers talked by telephone with two thousand adults and 400>adolescents, aged 12 through 17. The sample is small, but the@group claims the study is more accurate than others of its kind@because the interviews with teens took place when their parentswere not nearby.?   Thirty-two percent of the youth named drugs as the greatestBproblem facing them, with crime and violence in schools in secondBplace, with 13 percent. Next were social pressures at 10 percent;@doing well in school, 6 percent; concerns about sex, 5 percent.?Problems with parents, somewhat surprisingly, received no teenvotes.?   At a press conference announcing the survey results, Joseph=Califano, president of the Center on Addiction and Substance/Abuse, said that teens are appealing for help:9   "The results of the survey send a chilling message to=politicians and parents alike: What's at stake in the war on@drugs is America's children. And America's children are telling<us that they are drenched in drugs. They are crying out forhelp."<   Mr. Califano, who formerly served as head of the federalBDepartment of Health, Education and Welfare, placed blame on easy>access to illegal drugs, and on encouragement to use drugs by>television, films and music. In the survey, 76 percent of theByouth polled, and 67 percent of the adults, said they believe the<entertainment industry encourages the use of illicit drugs.9   However Mr. Califano said that it's also important to?understand that most American children do not use drugs, abuseBalcohol, or smoke cigarettes, and he said that overall, there has=been a dramatic decline in drug use nationally over the lastdecade.?   One survey conclusion was that youth who appear unlikely toBuse drugs share four characteristics: They are active in a church@or religious organization, do well in school, have hope for theAfuture, and believe marijuana to be dangerous. Mr. Califano saidAhe found it disturbing that only 70 percent of the adults in the@survey see marijuana as dangerous. He said that youth who smokeBmarijuana are more likely to move on to hard drugs, just as youthBwho smoke cigarettes are more likely to move on to illegal drugs.=   Two U.S. national newspapers immediately commented on theBstudy's findings. The Christian Science Monitor said that parents?must be more aware of the pressures and choices their children?are confronting, while the wall street journal blamed both the?entertainment industry and tobacco companies. "Even the kids,"@said the journal, "now think the country's popular culture justdoesn't get it."   ---------------   ---------------#   NEW YORK PUBLIC TV STATION SALE   MARTIN BUSH   NEW YORK=   The city of New York announced Thursday it is selling its5public television station to two large corporations.:   New York City has sold WNYC TV, its non-profit, public<television station, for 207-million dollars. That is a muchAhigher price than most people expected. The joint purchasers are>the Dow Jones company and ITT, a company with many interests.<   Dow Jones provides a business and economic news service,@publishes two financial newspapers, The Wall Street Journal andABarron's, and has business channels in Asia and Europe. ITT owns:New York's Madison Square Garden sports arena and a cable	network.B   New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani told reporters the sale of the?station is the largest transaction between an American city orstate and private industry:>   "The sale of WNYC TV is a logical transition and a logical8transaction for the city of New York. It's my view that=governments should not own newspapers, TV stations and radioAstations. The fact is this television station is now moving intoBthe right hands in American democracy, and that is private hands.BAnd it is being done in a way that will bring a long-term benefitBto the people of the city because the proceeds from the sale willBbe put into re-building the infra-structure and the capital needsof the city of New York."?   WNYC TV, which has been on the air since 1962 on ultra high@frequency channel 31, has featured public service, cultural and=foreign language programs, broadcasting in such languages as/Italian, Mandarin, Japanese, Polish and Greek.A   Under the joint management of Dow Jones and ITT, the station,<to be called WBIS TV, will present sports and business newsA24-hours a day. The new management says it will try to transformAits new acquisition into a superstation transmitted by satellite/to cable systems throughout the United States.@   Dow Jones and ITT also are asking the Federal CommunicationsACommission, which must approve the sale of the station, to allow1them increase the power of WBIS TV by one-third.A   The sale of the city-owned television station was arranged asANew York struggles with major budget deficits. Mayor Giuliani isAalso in the process of selling the city's public AM and FM radio/stations to a private broadcasting foundation.   ---------------   ----------------   CHICAGO VOTING SYSTEM STUDIED BY RUSSIANS   PAUL FRANCUCH   CHICAGOA   There are certain impressions which refuse to die, and in the>big Midwest city of Chicago, that includes infamous scenes ofAgangsters spraying machine gun bullets from fast-moving cars and:the image of corrupt politicians stuffing ballot boxes to?guarantee a fraudulent election victory. Today, Chicago openly?displays gangster haunts as relics of the past. And a few daysBago (July 28), the Chicago elections office opened its doors to a@group of visiting political scholars from Russia for a completeinspection.@   On the third floor of Chicago's fortress-like city hall, the=board of election commissioners keeps under lock and key the?signatures and registration cards for the nearly million and ahalf eligible voters.@   The city shoulders a reputation of voters casting ballots on>election day "early and often," to quote a familiar quip, and>where current voter registrations include those whose current'address is sometimes a local cemetery.B   Some 18 Russian academicians currently on a scholarly exchangeAvisit at Southern Illinois University came to Chicago to examine@this infamous voting system themselves. Program coordinator and>political scientist Michael Esler ('es-lur) says the visiting@Russians have heard the tales of political intrigue in Chicago:A   "Yes, they have. And along with gangsterism, it is two of the<great myths that they have about this city and they've beenApleasantly surprised to see that it isn't filled with gangsters,@and will be probably pleasantly surprised to see that elections5here can be conducted in a fair and upright manner.">   The group was both skeptical and excited by the visit. AllBclearly wanted to see what kinds of safeguards are built into theAChicago voting system to keep it honest. Ildus Ilishev ('ill-dus=ill-'ish-ev) is an assistant to the president of republic ofABashkortostan ('bash-core-too-'stan). Mr. Ilishev admits he came<to Chicago with some pre-conceived notions about the place:;   "First, it's, of course, in the National Hockey League,BChicago "Black Hawks." Second, the mafia, Al Capone and this sortBof stuff. And third, probably, blues. And I'm a very great fan of@the blues and this is a very great opportunity to buy very good>music, and I did, I've already bought one bag of this sort ofmusic."A   He also heard the legendary stories about voting fraud, so he1wanted to see what Chicago was doing to stop it.<   Chicago Election Commissioner Arnette Hubbard is a local:attorney who was part of an international delegation thatAmonitored recent elections in South Africa and Haiti. Ms Hubbard<encouraged the Russian visitors to inspect Chicago's voting8system, convinced they would come away with a favorableimpression:;   "They will see the security that we use to maintain theAintegrity of the process, the secrecy of the ballot and then theBcounting process which they will see is both timely and accurate.<The next thing is we immediately produce for the public theAresults, so there is not a delay. There's no time lag. They will3then see that the theories and stories are false."B   The tour of the Chicago Elections Commission office was led by>Connie Kaplan. She trains private citizens to become electionAmonitors and judges, people who check for signs of voting fraud.=Ms. Kaplan is about to set off for South Africa to share herAexpertise on how to train polling place judges. Her Chicago tour5wound its way through several corridors and offices.?   the Russians saw walls lined with drawers filled with voter?registration cards and other election documentation. Ms Kaplanwas busy narrating:B   "It's up to our poll worker to actually check the signature on@that card against the signature that the person gives when they7go to vote. In many foreign countries, I know, they've@experimented with thumb prints and ink. Here we use signatures"B   We moved on into the chilly room where a computer mainframe is*kept. It tallies votes on election night.>   The large electronic brain usually gives a clear signal of?which way elections will result only hours or so after pollingBplaces close. Chicagoans vote on ballots which are computer punchcards.<   History instructor Ivan Ivanovich Kurila (core-'real-la)>teaches at Volgograd State University, where he says students;often express curiosity about the American voting process:@   "It's very interesting. Students always ask me how they vote7in America? Well it's a good opportunity to see and to.participate. Now I can answer that question."?   Professor Kurila admits while he's in no position to make a>final judgment, the Chicago election commission impressed him$with their procedures and fairness::   "It seems more objective, independent from any kind ofAcorruption, it seems for me. Maybe I'm not deep (experienced) in"these things. But it looks good."?   Professor Larrisa Baybakova (lah-'ree-sa by-bah-'ko-vah) of@Moscow State University was likewise impressed, but still aware>that voting fraud can occur no matter how many safeguards are	present:<   "...But just now I took part in the registration and theAprocess of election and it seems to me that as a first principleBof this election was openness. And it seems to me that was a verygood sign."B   Actually, Ms Baybakova was really impressed by how quickly thecomputers tally votes:B   "We have some problems with electronics...and we have not seenAany computers in our election place. And maybe its a good lesson;for our country, how to make our election more technicallyaccommodated."<   After the Russian scholars cast their Chicago votes, the@computerized ballots were fed into a counting machine, right byAthe ballot box. That sends data back to the central computer. It=should work fair and honestly. There are judges to check for>fraud. But, does the system sometimes fail? Election official(Connie Kaplan recalls such an incident:A   "This happened, maybe 10 years ago. An unscrupulous person inBa polling place voted himself with a number that he wanted and he?fed it through 365 times with the (election) judges, the other6people, in collusion with him, watching him do that.">   But somebody admitted to the crime and the voting official7went to jail. It happens, even in a city like Chicago.   ---------------   ---------------G   NY TERROR TRIAL DEFENDANT SAYS HE WAS TRYING TO HELP BOSNIA MUSLIMS   MONA GHUNEIM   NEW YORKA   One of the 11 defendants in the terrorism conspiracy trial in>New York City testified Wednesday that he had planned to help=Bosnian Muslims, not assist bombers in New York. Prosecutors=charge that the defendant, Clement Hampton-El, used funds to;provide firearms and explosives in a terrorist conspiracy.B   Clement Hampton-El is an American-born Muslim accused of being@a weapons supplier to the men charged with plotting to bomb New>York City landmarks. He declared on the witness stand that he<refused any such involvement, and that all his efforts were<concentrated on helping Bosnian Muslims. He said he had "no?knowledge at all" about explosives and that he never purchased>any weapons. Mr. Hampton-el said that he became involved in a>project in late 1992 to support Bosnian Muslims by setting upAtraining programs for Muslims in the United States to help fightin Bosnia.=   Mr. Hampton-El testified that during a visit to the Saudi@Arabian embassy in Washington in December 1992, the Saudis said@150 thousand dollars would be provided by rich Saudi sheiks who@wanted to support the Bosnian Muslims. Mr. Hampton-El said thatBhe had already been given eight thousand dollars in November 1992to start the project.B   Mr. Hampton-El said that over the next few months, he met with;several Muslims interested in lending their support to theABosnian cause, including Siddig Ibrahim Siddig Ali, one of Sheik:Abdel-Rahman's aides who is also accused in the terrorismconspiracy.<   Mr. Hampton-El said he established training camps in the9eastern states of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York,?purchased military supplies, and rented a training area in NewAYork City where he could host people coming from Saudi Arabia toAsee how their money was being spent. A video was made of the men>training in the rented space in April 1993 and later shown incourt to the jury.@   Mr. Hampton-El said he travelled to Zagreb in Croatia and to>Saudi Arabia where he received funds for the project. Defense<attorney Kenneth Wasserman showed the jury Mr. Hampton-El's5passport with a Zagreb visa dated February 20, 1993.8   Mr. Hampton-El said in earlier testimony that he was;sympathetic to the plight of Muslims worldwide and went toBAfghanistan as a medic in 1988. He was wounded by a land mine and:returned to the United States for surgery on his leg. The<defendant also said in earlier testimony that he had in "no:shape, form or fashion" conspired in the terrorism plots.   ---------------   ---------------   THREE MILE ISLAND TODAY   TED LANDPHAIR   MIDDLETOWN, PENNSYLVANIA=   Time for another of our occasional reports on interestingBplaces "off the beaten path" across America. We came upon them on@a fourteen-state automobile trip in which we mostly avoided the@big interstate highways in favor of state routes and backroads.?Today in the eastern state of Pennsylvania, a visit to a placeBalmost no one had heard of until one day sixteen years ago. Then,@overnight, much of the world learned about a little spot in theBSusquehanna [suss-quih-hann-uh] River called "Three Mile Island."B   It was early morning on March 28th, 1979. Most of the 9,000 or<so residents of the historic Susquehanna River community of<Middletown, Pennsylvania, were still sleeping. So were most@people in the Pennsylvania state capital of Harrisburg, just 16=kilometers upstream. But in those middle-of-the-night hours,:something was going terribly wrong. At one of two nuclearBreactors on Three Mile Island, a stone's throw from Middletown, a7series of breakdowns in the cooling system was sending?radioactive gases into the atmosphere. Radiation levels inside@reactor number two registered one-thousand times normal. At the@same time, more than 227,000 liters of water were flooding into>the room housing the reactor, and some of it was turning into6steam that had to be vented into the air to prevent acatastrophic explosion.B   There were fears of a core meltdown, and evacuation plans were>hastily drawn up for all of central Pennsylvania. But nuclear@experts were able to cool down the overheated uranium fuel core)and safely shut down reactor number two.?   After the crisis passed, permanent air-monitoring equipmentAwas installed on the island as anti-nuclear activists called forBthe closing of Three Mile Island and all other nuclear facilitiesAthroughout the United States. And the Pennsylvania department of8health began long-term monitoring of residents within aA20-kilometer radius of the plant. But reactor number one and its@two cooling towers remained in operation, producing electricityBas part of a grid of plants serving Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and
Maryland.@   And the Three Mile Island facility is still operating today.?Besides plant employees, the Wooded Island, which got its name9from its length of about five kilometers, attracts sport>fishermen, who find its many inlets and shoals good spots for?catching Susquehanna bass. Most of reactor number two has beenAtorn down, but you can stand at the base of one of its two empty?cooling towers, clap your hands, and hear dozens of claps comeechoing back.B   Three Mile Island is almost never in the news any more, exceptBon the anniversary of the accident. A few protesters still gather@for a candlelight vigil at the north entrance gate to the plantBon that date, and sometimes the Harrisburg newspaper does storiesBabout the storage of the reactor's nuclear rods. Like all nuclear@power plants in the United States, Three Mile Island stores itsAown spent uranium rods in concrete-encased pools, since there is@not yet any approved nuclear waste storage site anywhere in the9country. So there's more talk about possible groundwaterAcontamination from these nuclear waste pools than there is aboutanother reactor accident.=   So far, the health department study has found no abnormal@rates of leukemia or other cancers in the Middletown-Harrisburgarea.B   But there's still one reminder of the near-disaster of sixteen>years ago, and of the dangers that these reactors could pose.<   It's the continuous air sampler, still whining, testing,>sampling, evaluating, in ten strategic locations around Three
Mile Island.   Just in case.   ---------------   ---------------7   THE FBI DISTRIBUTES 35,000 WORD UNABOMBER MANIFESTO   EDIE SMITH   NEW YORK=   The Federal Bureau of Investigation has distributed a 35-=thousand word document which it hopes will give clues to the>identity of the Unabomber, an individual who has killed threeApeople in the United States with explosive devices over the past
17 years.A   The Federal Bureau of Investigation has sent a long manifesto;to university and college professors seeking their help inBidentifying its author. The document is said to have been written@by the 'Unabomber' who has used explosive devises to kill threeBpeople and injure 23 more over the past 17 years. The victims all+had academic or technological connections.=   Former FBI agent Donald Lavey, now with the University ofBIllinois, says it is a fairly unusual step on the part of the FBI)but it makes sense in this unusual case:?   "I think what the FBI has in mind would be to broaden theirBinvestigative perspective in the sense of perhaps there have beenApersons in the university environment who have known this personBor who perhaps might recognize the style of writing, or something@in those thousands of words that might ring a bell with someone*that might eventually lead to his arrest.A   The document entitled "Industrial Science and Its Future" wasAsent in June to The New York Times and the Washington Post. Both@newspapers published excerpts of it in Wednesday's editions. In6the document the 'Unabomber' says that industrial andAtechnological progress are at the root of society's problems. HeBsays revolutionaries should try to destroy the industrial system.<The FBI says the document shows a familiarity with academicBcourses in the history of science and human behavior. The pattern<of bombings as well as this document lead them to think the9Unabomber has through the years had some connection withAuniversities in Chicago, Salt Lake City and Northern California.B   In June the person nicknamed by authorities the Unabomber told=the Washington Post and The New York Times he would stop the>killings if they published the full 62 page document and some>additional communiques over a three year period. Although the?newspapers have now published excerpts, they say they have not5yet decided whether to meet the Unabomber's demands.   ---------------   ---------------.   50TH ANNIVERSARY OF HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI   FRANK RONALDS   WASHINGTON=   Fifty years ago next week, atom bombs were dropped on the>Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, effectively ending.World War II and ushering in the nuclear age.;   On October 11th, 1939, United States President Franklin>Roosevelt received a letter signed by the 20th century's most=famous scientist, Albert Einstein. The letter read, in part:@   "Some recent work by E. Fermi and L. Szilard, which has been>communicated to me in manuscript, leads me to expect that theAelement uranium may be turned into a new and important source of@energy in the immediate future... It may become possible to setBup nuclear chain reactions in a large mass of uranium, by which a=vast amount of power and large quantities of new radium-like>elements would be generated... It is conceivable, though much>less certain, that extremely powerful bombs of a new type may>thus be constructed... I understand that Germany has actuallyAstopped the sale of uranium from the Czechoslovakian mines whichshe has taken over.">   The letter was presented by Einstein's influential friend,=Alexander Sachs. The president looked at Mr. Sachs and said:A"Alex, what you are after is to see the Nazis don't blow us up."@Mr. Roosevelt then called in his secretary and announced: "This?requires action." Thus Einstein's influence was crucial in the@eventual creation of "The Manhattan Project", the crash program?for the development and construction of an American atom bomb.>Philip Morrison, a physicist at the Massachusets Institute of@Technology who participated in The Manhattan Project, says that?Einstein and his colleagues had good reason to worry that thisBterrible weapon might fall into the hands of Nazi dictator AdolphHitler:>   "We feared the Germans would be there ahead of us because,7after all, fission was discovered in Germany by GermanBscientists. German scientists were among the leaders, perhaps the?leaders, in modern physics. Most of the distinguished AmericanAphysicists had been trained in Germany or were themselves German?refugees. So we had the very highest opinion of the ability of<German physics and chemistry and we knew, moreover, that it@(Germany) was highly mobilized for war, much more than was true/in the west, as we saw in '36, '37, '38, '39.">   In 1905, when he was 26 years old, Einstein had proclaimed:that matter and energy are interchangeable. In his famous@equation, E equals M times C squared, he stated that the amountAof energy created when matter is converted into energy, as it is@in the sun and other stars, is enormous. since C stands for theAspeed of light, which is 300,000 kilometers a second, the factor8comes to 90-billion. While Einstein's special theory of@relativity revolutionized man's concept of the universe, it did8not then appear possible that it would have a practical9application on earth. But at the end of 1938, scientistsAdiscovered that when the nucleus of a uranium atom is split intoAtwo parts, these fragments weigh less than the original nucleus.BThe difference in mass has been transformed into energy. However,@the construction of a nuclear reactor was needed to sustain andcontrol the fission process.B   This was achieved at the University of Chicago in late 1942 by9a team working under Enrico Fermi, a Nobel prize-winning?physicist who had immigrated to the United States from fascistItaly.=   According to Ruth Adams, former editor of the Bulletin of?Atomic Scientists, the Fermi group ushered in the nuclear age:B   "That's what made everything possible. They had to demonstrate?that they could sustain a chain reaction and could control the<energy. They had to know that before they could control theBenergy. They had to know that before they could build a bomb. And=immediately, just a few days, a week afterwards, people wereAorganizing the Manhattan Project, not only at Chicago but at Los1Alamos (New Mexico), which was to be the heart."@   There was still much to be done before an atom bomb could beBbuilt. the Manhattan Project required the development of hitherto?unknown technologies, as well as basic and applied research. A;decision was made to develop three major processes for the5production of fissionable materials: One through the@transmutation of uranium into plutonium, and two for separating@u-235 from other more common isotopes of uranium. The plutonium?was produced at an enormous plant near Hanford, Washington, onAthe Columbia River. A similar complex was set up near Oak Ridge,=Tennessee, to isolate the U-235. The group of scientists and@technicians at Los Alamos, New Mexico, could not complete their:work until they had received large quantities of purified2fissionable materials from Hanford and Oak Ridge.@   The pace at Los Alamos became frantic, Philip Morrison says,=when large shipments of plutonium and U-235 finally began toarrive:?   "There are many steps to making the weapon. The first step,Byou begin to find out methods to make the materials and gradually:build these great plants that were built at Oak Ridge andAHanford. Los Alamos couldn't do its work until those plants wereAdelivering material. So naturally, it was a tremendous rush when;the first substantial amounts of fission material began to<appear. We were the bottleneck for the entire great effort.BBillions of dollars and hundreds of thousands of people, and just@a few thousand people at Los Alamos were standing in the way ofits production."A   The pressure increased still further in 1944 when the Germans>started their rocket attacks on British cities. Named for the>German word, "vergeltung", or vengenance, these rockets couldAhave wreaked devastation on Britain and the Soviet Union if theyhad carried atomic warheads.   Morrison feared the worst:?   "When we discovered that the Germans were indeed spending a9great deal of effort in developing short-range ballisticBmissiles, the V-1, the V-2, we recognized that these might gain a<great deal of military effectiveness if, in fact, they were<tipped with nuclear weapons. And I believed they would be."@   After Germany's surrender in May 1945, the allies discovered?that the Nazi nuclear fission program had scarcely gone beyond@the theoretical stage. Early in the war, German dictator Adolph>Hitler hoped for a quick victory, and knew that it would takeByears to develop an atom bomb. When the tide of battle turned, he;set his hopes on rockets, which proved ineffective withoutnuclear warheads.<   But if the Germans had failed to take advantage of theirBscientific head start, nuclear physicists in the Soviet union had;made more progress than anyone in the west realized. DavidAHolloway is a professor at Stanford University in California whoBhas written a history of the Soviet nuclear program. He says that@Igor Kurchatov, the scientist in charge of that program, provedto be an excellent organizer:B   "Kurchatov had worked out a plan for the whole project and had@assigned different groups and different people to the differentBareas of work on the reactor, which would produce plutonium, work=on isotope separation, work on bomb design and so on. By the>spring of 1945, they were starting to work on the design of aBplutonium production reactor. So they were fairly far along, evenBthough they faced a lot of industrial difficulties in getting the6supplies that they needed, largely because of wartime
conditions."?   On July 17, 1945, the leaders of Britain, the United States>and the Soviet Union met for their last wartime conference atAPotsdam, near Berlin. It was there that Harry Truman, who becameBpresident after Franklin Rossevelt's death in April, was informed;that an atom bomb had been exploded in the desert near LosAlamos.-   Philip Morrison witnessed the epic event:B   "I was ten miles away in the desert, lying on the desert floorBlooking toward the tower in the long distance where the bomb was.@Just before dawn, suddenly it appeared as if the sun had risen.AThe visual effect I was prepared for, but what I wasn't preparedBfor was the sense of heat on the face, just as though the sun had;risen on a cold desert morning. And this visceral sense ofAfeeling the heat from this tiny object ten miles away was really=the most impressive experience I can imagine. No one who waspresent will ever forget it."7   America's British allies, who had cooperated in the;development of the atom bomb from the beginning, were keptBinformed of the progress at Los Alamos. The Soviet Union was not.?At Potsdam, President Truman told Soviet dictator Josef Stalin@about this "terrible new weapon." Stalin's response, Mr. TrumanAthought, was nonchalant. "Good," Stalin said, "I hope you use iton the Japs.">   But Professor Holloway says that Stalin was more impressedthan he let on:?   "This conversation is described in Soviet sources, the mostAimportant being the memoirs of Marshall Zhukov, who was a memberBof the Soviet delegation to the Potsdam conference. And he writes=that after the meeting, Stalin came back to where the Soviet>delegation was staying and told (foreign minister Vyacheslav)@Molotov about the conversation in Zhukov's presence and Molotov<said, 'aha! They are trying to raise the price'. And Stalin@laughed and said, 'I'll have to get in touch with Kurchatov and@tell him to speed things up.' and Zhukov says, 'I realized that)they were talking about the atom bomb.'"@   Three weeks later, when the first atomic bomb was dropped on?Hiroshima, it appears that Stalin was surprised at its awesomeApower. Lavrentiy Beria, the secret police chief in charge of the<Soviet Union's vast network of slave labor camps, was named9director of a massive crash program to catch up with theAmericans.<   His work, Professor Holloway says, was given the highest
priority:>   "After August, 1945, it was Beria who was in charge of the<whole effort, and there was a secret police administration,<headed by a man called (Avraaminy) Zavenyagin, which was in>charge of the use of prison labor in mining, construction andAeven in some research. So this became a very large effort. There?were a great many centers because the whole industry had to be@built up, uranium deposits had to be found, and mines had to beAcreated and then there were the testing sites that had to be set@up. The first one was down near Semipalatinsk. So a whole, huge?network of plants and institutes and mines were set up in that/early period, ultimately controlled by Beria.">   The American scientists in the Manhattan Project had mixed@feelings about dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.?On the one hand, this drastic action had brought the war to an@end. On the other hand, the scientists felt that something mustAbe done to ensure that nuclear energy would be used for peacefulBpurposes, rather than destruction. Hans Bethe (bay'-tuh), perhapsAthe most famous physicist in America, says that President Truman'wished to prevent a nuclear arms race:=   "President Truman first appointed a committee to find out@whether it was possible to internationalize everything nuclear,<from the mining to nuclear weapons. This was the Lilienthal@Committee, which came out with a plan for such an international?organization, endorsed by Dean Acheson, then undersecretary ofAstate, and then brought to the United Nations by Bernard Baruch.?And it was rejected by the Soviet Union, which had already for?two years been engaged in an attempt to make nuclear weapons."?   The Soviet Union exploded its first atom bomb in 1949, justAfour years after the first successful American test. Until then,AAmerican scientists and political figures had been arguing about=the desirability of constructing a thermonuclear bomb, which:would be far more destructive than the A-bomb. The Soviet<explosion ended the argument. The first American H-bomb was<tested in November of 1952. This time, however, the SovietsBcaught up even faster, testing their own thermonuclear device the7following year. Much of the credit for this remarkableBachievement has been given to a brilliant young Russian physicist0named Andreo Sakharov, who was then thirty-two:=   "What had happened in the Soviet Union with thermonuclear=weapons is that already in 1948 Kurchatov had set up a small?research group to work on the theory of these weapons and thatBgroup included, right from the beginning, Sakharov. And that work<was then speeded up in, I think, either late 1949 after the:A-bomb test or in 1950 after Truman announced that he was-speeding up American work on these weapons."<   In the course of the nuclear arms race that followed, it;became clear that even the testing of the bombs threatenedAmankind, due to radioactive fall-out. A compromise agreement was@finally reached in 1963, banning all testing in the atmosphere,@on the surface of the earth, and in the sea. Underground tests,?which could not easily be verified, were still permitted. Hans=Bethe and Andrei Sakharov were key figures in achieving this=crucial agreement. Bethe was an advisor to presidents DwightEisenhower and John Kennedy.A   According to Joel Lebowitz, a physicist at Rutgers University=in New Jersey, Sakharov seized every opportunity to persuade?Stalin's successor, Nikita Krushchev, to accept the compromiseagreement:9   "Dr. Sakharov was one of the key people in convincingBKhrushchev, at that time, that it is desirable to have a test banAtreaty. Dr. Sakharov himself has spoken many times about it, and<it's also included in Khrushchev's memoirs of that period.":   Subsequently, Andrei Sakharov became known as the mostAprominent political dissident in the Soviet Union. He repeatedly<demanded that the Soviet government cooperate with the west=rather than carry on an ideological struggle against it. Mr.?Sakharov was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1975. Five years@later, when he denounced the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, he;was stripped of his many official awards and banished from@Moscow. He was rehabilitated by Soviet leader Mikhail GorbachevBand became a delegate to the Congress of People's Deputies, whereBhe continued to demonstrate his independence of mind up until his>death in 1989. Edward Teller, who is called the father of the?American hydrogen bomb, paid tribute to his Soviet colleague's!courage and integrity by saying::   "I have quite a bit of empathy with him because in twoBrespects we seem to be similar. One is that we both worked on the?hydrogen bomb. The other is that we both seem to have a little7tendency to disagree with the opinion prevalent in our>surroundings. Neither he nor I are a yes-man. but there is anAenormous difference. In the United States, it is relatively easy@to say no, to be different from others. In the Soviet Union, it:is dangerous, and psychologically, incredibly difficult.">   Nuclear weapons, originally created to save the world from@Nazi Germany, now exist in sufficient quantity to wipe out life@on earth, although the collapse of the Soviet Union has greatlyreduced this possibility.@   Hans Bethe, the Nobel Prize winning physicist, says that the=American monopoly on the atom bomb in the immediate post-war<world may well have prevented Josef Stalin from overrunningwestern Europe:@   "The existence of the atomic bomb in the hands of the United?States prevented a further expansion of the eastern bloc after1946."B   The atom bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6th<and 9th, 1945, effectively ended World War II, although the<Japanese surrender was signed four weeks later, on the U.S.<battleship Missouri, on September 2nd. U.S. President HarryATruman's decision to drop the bombs has been a subject of fierce"debate for the last half century.:   Although the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was?fearful, loss of life was even greater in the fire bombings ofBTokyo and other Japanese cities. It has been estimated that thereBwould have been one million American casualties in an invasion of@the home islands of Japan. Japanese dead and wounded would havebeen many times greater.?   Fred Haynes, who was a major in the U.S. Marines during the<bloody battle for Iwo Jima, was training for an invasion of@Japan's main island, Honshu, when the bombs fell. Now a retired>major general, he says that his colleagues had little hope ofBsurviving that attack. Even though Japan had no chance of winningAthe war, General Haynes says that the Japanese spirit of "win ordie" was powerful to the end:A   "I do not think that the Japanese were rational about the wayBthey conducted that war, and I think that it took a very dramaticBexample to convince them that the game was up, that they had lost8the war. I think that Mr. Truman's decision was right."   ---------------   ---------------    FCC ENCOURAGES CHILDREN'S TV   CATHY YACOUB   WASHINGTON<   The controversy about sex and violence on television has;concerned parents, broadcasters, and government officials.BFederal communications chairman Reed Hundt says, his agency needsBto play a larger role in monitoring sexual and violent televisionAcontent.  In a recent speech to the National Press Club chairman8Hundt emphasized the importance of the public interest.<   As television continues to play a large role in AmericanBhouseholds, concern about the harmful effects television may have,on children and teenagers is also mounting.A   FCC chairman Reed Hundt says television's increase of sex and?violence, and a decrease of children's programming are primary?concerns. Mr. Hundt blamed the FCC's regulatory policies since&1945 for allowing these trends on TV:A   "I am here to point a finger at the only institution with the?responsibility to act exclusively for the public interest, the7Federal Communications Commission. In the bargain withBbroadcasters on behalf of the public we did not ask for specific,>concrete, and real commitments from broadcasters to serve the.public interest, convenience, and necessity."@   Mr. Hundt pointed specifically to FCC policies of the 1980'sBwhich he said did not hold broadcasters up to the public interest>standard, but instead treated them as, what he called, simply?marketplace participants. These policies resulted in the three?major networks going from 11-hours per week of educational and=informational programs in 1981, to 2-hours per week in 1990.B   Meanwhile, the commission triggered what Mr. Hundt referred to8as, a tsunami (a tidal wave) of competitive pressure onAbroadcasters, by increasing the number of commercial TV licensesBmore than 50-percent. He said broadcasters were forced to respond8to the competitive environment by cutting the amount of&educational programming for children:8   "All broadcasters are driven by the pressures of the<marketplace to compete. As long as the FCC does not ask all<broadcasters to deliver concrete, specific, public interest?services, in the heat of competition no single broadcaster canAafford to do anything less commercial than the next broadcaster.BMarket values are not necessarily family values. And when the FCC=commits itself exclusively to promoting profit maximizing inBbroadcasting, it has not done its duty under the law for the kidsand parents of this country."B   Despite the path the FCC has taken in the past, Mr. Hundt said>the commission has a second chance. He called for a series ofBactions to improve television, the first of which is the creation9of new rules to implement the Children's TV Act of 1990:@   "Parents need good choices when they turn on the TV. The FCC;has an obligation under law to make sure free over-the-air<commercial TV delivers the choice of kids' educational TV.":   Chairman Hundt also endorsed the V-chip, an electronic;blocking device that could be installed in TV sets to give=parents discretion over which programs their children watch.>   The chairman asked broadcasters to develop a contract with>kids and community, which would require local broadcasters to?state how they intend to offer parents a choice in programing:?   "Market by market, the broadcasters "contracts for kids and@community" would give real meaning, on a local level, to public?interest obligations. No more vagueness. No more confusion. In@each market we would have clear commitments by which to measureBwhether broadcasters have met their public interest obligations."B   By suggesting those actions, chairman Hundt hopes to encourage@a more active role for the FCC in guarding the public interest,Aand a more community-based method of ensuring quality children's
programming.   ---------------   ---------------2   THE RAMONES: WILL THE PIONEERS OF PUNK RETIRE?   PIA SALMRE   WASHINGTON@   The world famous Ramones, American pioneers of the punk rock2movement, may be calling it quits after 21 years.A   The Ramones have been hailed as one of the top seven bands of=all times placing them in the company of the Beatles and the@Rolling Stones. Yet, after 16 albums, 2,100 performances and 215years of playing hard and fast, and gathering a huge=international following, the pioneers of punk may finally be'hanging up their instruments for good.A   After the band recently completed a European tour (to Sweden,@Norway, France, Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands,) bassist9C.J. Ramone, the youngest and newest member of the group%commented on the future of the band:?   "It won't be our last tour but it will probably be our last8album. We will probably tour until April of next year."=   The Ramones' newest album is called appropriately enough,"Adios Amigos". Says C.J.:@   "Just because everybody likes the last album and we're stillAplaying really good live and that's how we want to go out and be@remembered. When we go out we want to be remembered for looking(good, sounding good, and playing good."@   The Ramones got their start in the tiny New York City suburb:of Forest Hills in 1974. They consisted of four derelict,@glue-sniffing youths who used to throw tv sets off of buildings@in New York. In order to escape their urban boredom and to make;something of their lives' they formed a band, the Ramones.=According to C.J. they got their name from one of the former$Beatles, before he became a Beatle:A   "Paul McCartney,'when he was with the silver Beatles' used tocall himself 'Paul Ramone'.">   The Ramones liked the name so much that each member of the"group adopted the surname Ramone.B   "To this day, that's the big joke, I've gone to radio stations@to do interviews and people have asked me how our parents met."B   When the Ramones first formed in 1974, they really didn't know@how to play their instruments. They couldn't play hits of theirAfavorite bands so they had to come up with original songs and an@original sound, three chord anthems played loud and fast seemed@to do the trick. They played faster and louder than anyone else7at the time. Why did the Ramones rise above the rest?:?   "It was very original, they were innovators. I think people;were just blown away by it. They started a whole new musicmovement and stuff."?   In 1976, the Ramones gave their first concert in the UnitedAKingdom, playing for an audience that included future members of=the Sex Pistols, The Clash, and other soon-to-be influentialABritish punk bands. Over the years, the Ramones are said to have-inspired 95 percent of today's rock n' roll.=   But despite adulation by fans and peers, the Ramones haveAnever had a platinum album. Their most successful record reached@number 44 on the album charts. C.J. Ramone says that he doesn't?understand why the Ramones have never been a commercial force:<   "When it comes down to it, the Ramones never had supportAreally from anybody. Without some kind of support from the music?business itself, it's hard to break out of more of than a cultfollowing."?   But what a cult following they have.  In South America, the1Ramones are as popular as the Beatles once were.B   "The last time we were there, we played to 40 thousand people.@Music there isn't as trendy. Plus, most people there don't haveAMTV (Music Television) so they can't get brainwashed by what theAtv executives think they should be listening to this month. TheyBmake up there own minds. Not to mention that South America opened?up to rock n' roll not that long ago, so we are still a fairly8new band there. Which is kind of funny after 21 years."B   Karin Koorits,  29-year-old New York lawyer and a loyal fan ofthe Ramones, says:?   "I think the Ramones are great. I used to listen to them in@the early 80's when I was in high school, but they still appeal@to me now. The music has a real narcotic effect on me. I forget:about everything. I want to just dance. It release all my=frustrations when I listen to that thrashing beat, it sounds	great ."<   Despite their extraordinary durability and their currentAsuccess, the Ramones, both collectively and individually, may be4ready for something new. Bassist C.J. Ramones says:@   "After the Ramones, I'm gonna do something else. I've got my?own band (Los Gusanos) together, we're actually in the studio,;recording. If I don't do music, I'll move to New Mexico or?Arizona and open up a customized motorcycle shop or something.@   And what about the other band members, Joey Ramone, who doesAvocals; johnny Ramone, who plays the guitar; Marky who plays the2drums, what will they do next? According to C.J.:A   "Well, I know that mark has his own band called 'mark and theAinvaders'. He will be doing that, I'm sure. Johnny is just goingBto go out to California and retire. Joey, I'm sure Joey will keepplaying forever. "?   Says Joey, "I've got plans to keep on recording and support@(other recording) artists (on the east coast). I plan to open a8club in New York. Actually, it's multi-media club, some!concoction that I've concocted."A   Joey Ramone is also writing for Internet's first rock n' rollmagazine, "Addicted to Noise".@   "As a part of my column I'm going to do down-loadable stuff.9You can hear 40 seconds of a song or a couple of songs."B   Subscribers to the worldwide web can hear samples of music and<can read about their favorite bands, for free. Over 750,000)people a month read "Addicted to Noise."9   The Ramones have come a long way from the rebellious,=musically unskilled novice band that came together in ForestHills, New York, 21 years ago.>   Even if the band breaks up, the Ramones' influence will be8felt for years to come. But still they're not gone yet.   ---------------   ---------------8   U.S. EMBASSIES TAKING PRECAUTIONS AFTER HAMAS THREAT   STATE DEPARTMENTB   U.S. embassies and consulates overseas are taking "appropriate=security precautions" in the wake of a public warning to theBUnited States from Hamas, the Islamic resistance movement, not to(extradite one of its leaders to Israel.<   Mousa Mohamed Abu Marzook was arrested last week when heAarrived at New York's Kennedy International Airport. The Israeli?cabinet decided July 30 to seek his extradition and an IsraeliBcourt issued a warrant for Marzook's arrest on July 31, the first6step toward submitting a request for his extradition.B   "We always take seriously any threats against the U.S. and itsBcitizens," the acting State Department spokesman John Dinger told@reporters. "Our embassies and consulates are taking appropriate;security precautions, but we don't comment on the security4measures our embassies employ for obvious reasons."?   Dinger also noted that the United States has not issued any@public warning about Hamas. When the U.S. receives specific andAcredible information about threats to U.S. citizens or property,9public announcements are issued by the State Department.:   "Our embassy in Tel Aviv has reminded Americans of the@contents of our current consular information sheet," the acting>spokesman said. The most recent consular information sheet on:Israel, The Gaza Strip, Jericho Area, and The Territories@Occupied and Administered by Israel was issued on May 22, 1995.ADinger noted that the public document, which is still in effect,@addresses the issue of areas of instability, including those in8which Hamas has demonstrated an operational capability.A   Noting that the State Department has seen reports that IsraelAplans to request Marzook's extradition, he said, "As a matter ofApractice, we don't comment on extradition requests. We view this(as a legal matter, not a political one.A   "If we receive a request for Marzook's extradition or for the?provisional arrest of him pending a formal Israeli request for9extradition, we will review the matter and work with the?Department of Justice," the acting spokesman said. The Justice5Department handles these matters in the U.S. courts.   ---------------   --------------->   TOM HANKS & JAMES LOVELL ON THE SPIRITUAL ASPECTS OF SPACE   KEMING KUO   WASHINGTON?   Much of the praise for the film "Apollo 13" has centered on=the technical aspects of the successful efforts to bring the@damaged spacecraft to earth a quarter-century ago. Director Ron8Howard did a remarkable job in capturing the details of<activities inside the spacecraft and at the mission control?headquarters in Houston, Texas. But many who have seen "Apollo:13" since its debut a month ago have also appreciated theAhumanistic messages of the movie, the optimistic American spirit@during the moon missions and the astronauts' unique perspective@of planet earth from afar. During a recent visit to Washington,?D.C., Apollo 13 commander James Lovell [luh-vul] and the actorBwho portrays him in the film, Tom Hanks, talked about some of themovie's spiritual ideas.?   U.S. navy Captain James Lovell says he's not surprised that@the movie "Apollo 13" has become the summer's most popular filmAso far. He told members of the National Press Club in WashingtonAthat aside from the quality of the film's acting, directing, and;special effects design, he believes its underlying messagepleases moviegoers:>   "I think it reminds the audience, when they go in to [see]Bthis movie, of something that was real, something they were proud?of as Americans. The patriotic fervor in their bodies comes upBand they saw something that was real life, a crisis that had beenBovercome due to the teamwork and motivation of a lot of people. I<think that is the real reason why this movie has still been@number one in the movie houses, and why everybody seems to likeit. It appeals to all ages."?   Mr. Lovell appeared to sound nostalgic, as he described theBearly years of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration,;and the inspiration the agency's activities provided youngAmericans:@   "Do you remember Sputnik? A lot of you probably weren't bornAat that time, in 1957. I remember sputnik. The Russians suddenly?put a missile up there, a satellite. And we were all saying to;ourselves, 'why couldn't we do that? What's wrong with our>educational system?' it turned out in the chaos that NASA was@formed. All of a sudden, for the next 30 years, a lot of peopleAlooked to NASA [for role models.] a lot of young people followedBcareers due to what NASA was doing in space. I can remember a lotAof people coming to me in the last few years after they had made<their careers and said, 'you know, it was your flights thatBreally got me to think about being a doctor, or an airline pilot,;or an engineer. I really think that role model was there."B   As important as the spirit of adventure and collective purpose;shown in the film "Apollo 13," actor Tom hanks said he was;impressed with the metaphysical image of vulnerable humansAimmersed in envelopes of protective gear and technical gadgetry:<   "One of the things I'm most proud of in the movie is the=launch sequence. It starts with naked men, these little pinkAbeings, that are getting their hair shaved off of our chests andAalcohol put on so that biosensors could be attached. By the time>they are floating in the free fall of outer space, we realize=that it's flesh and blood and brain and marrow that's inside8those pressure suits and inside the spaceship odyssey."@   Another scene from the film which appealed to both Tom hanks=and James Lovell was the symbolic display of the earth's andAmoon's relative sizes. Mr. Hanks depicts astronaut Lovell at hisBhome holding his thumb to the sky and "covering" the image of the@moon, suggesting how insignificant it looked from planet earth.?The scene was inspired by a similar demonstration James Lovell<performed on an earlier Apollo spaceflight, but from a verydifferent perspective:?   "When I was out around the moon on Apollo 8, I could put my>thumb up to the window, and I could completely hide the earthAbehind my thumb. I realized that everything in life is relative.=Everything I knew down here, my loved ones, the country, theBproblems, the whole world, was behind my thumb. You have to think@about that for awhile. It is quite a feeling, because it reallyBgives you a humble feeling, one of insignificance, one of looking@back at the earth and saying, 'everything I've ever known, I've>got to get back there.' it's [the earth is] a spacecraft justBlike the one I'm on, about four or five billion 'astronauts' downBthere, all trying to find the same things from life, with limited/resources, and everything is behind my thumb."=   The pair was asked about the future of the American space?program, which has been criticized by some members of CongressAwith being too costly and mismanaged. A suggestion was made thatAactor Tom Hanks might use his celebrity status to help the space=agency, NASA, by appearing on Capitol Hill. Hanks responded:>   "Would we go and testify? I think that would make for some?great video for all the news-gathering organizations. we wouldAprobably consider it, but whether it would do any good or not, I?think it would be a question. I think the great statement that@anybody on the filmmaking side could make about funding NASA is<wrapped up in the 210 minutes or so about that little moviecalled 'Apollo 13'."?   Apollo astronaut James Lovell, while acknowledging the need@for trimming the space agency's budget, renewed his support forAmerican space exploration:@   "I think we should keep the program going. There's no reason8to drastically cut it. I can see if there could be some;infrastructure changes so it becomes more efficient. every>program, every agency that grows up, becomes inefficient, and>every once in awhile you have to cut it down. I'm sure you've=seen this in Washington in spades (frequently). I think NASA>could do the same thing. but the basic programs, the programsAthat make this country a leader, we should continue to fund in a7progressive way, not to go overboard in any one area."<   And to cap a day of tributes to Jim Lovell, he was later@joined by Tom Hanks at the White House, where President ClintonBpresented the Apollo commander with the Congressional Space Medal
of Honor.   ---------------   ---------------   SCHOOL TO WORK CRISIS   ZLATICA HOKE   WASHINGTONB   A new study says there is a core crisis in American education.BThe study by the American Federation of Teachers says schools are=not doing enough for those who plan to go directly from highschool into the work force.9   The American Federation of Teachers, or aft, based in?Washington D.C. Has compared exams taken by 15 and 16-year oldBstudents in Germany, France and Scotland with those in the UnitedAStates. Dawn Krusemark, one of the aft researchers, says resultsAof the study published this month (July 5) indicate the European?high school exams were much more rigorous than American exams.<And, she says, students in France, Germany and Scotland are?better prepared than their American counterparts for both work
and college:?   "Here in this country many of our vocational programs don't=force students to take high level academic courses. In these?other three countries, they do. Students have an initiative toAsucceed, because there are stakes attached to their learning. If=they don't pass the exam, they can't go on to a higher level;technical training program, or they can't get a vocational+contract with an employer that they want."@   Dawn Krusemark says students in America often don't have the@incentive to learn because they cannot see how they can use the?knowledge they get at school. And she says their exams are not@adequate to test what they have learned. Ms Krusemark also saysBstudents need to know that how they do at high school will affect.what kind of job they get when they graduate.@   Dennis Polley, executive vice-president for manufacturing at<the Chrysler automobile assembly plant in sterling heights,@Michigan, often gets young employees straight from high school.=He says American high school students need to be taught moreAdecision making and problem solving skills in order to be better?prepared for jobs. He also stresses the importance of teamworkskills:?   "In order to compete particularly with the Japanese, we areBgoing to have to change the way we train kids at school, not only@for the basic reading, writing and arithmetic, but the way they@are trained. We are going to have to go away from training them;so much as individuals and do more of training them how tosucceed as teams."A   What Chrysler's Mr. Polley says is not news. Some time in the?1980-s U.S. analysts began noticing that today's economy needs>more skilled workers than it did a decade or two ago and that<there is a need for better communication between school andAworkplace. In May of last year President Clinton signed into law>the School-To-Work Opportunities Act, which provides money to?communities around the country for work-based school programs.>   J. D. Hoye heads the National School-To-Work office, which>helps the departments of education and labor work together to@develop curricula that would be more relevant to jobs. She says<her office is also trying to improve communications between@employers and schools to make sure that the skill standards and@knowledge necessary at work are in the curriculum. But she adds'more support is needed from employers:B   "When you talk to business people about how education needs to=change and improve, and one of the big issues we've known in?research is that the degree to which a student performs can beBdirectly correlated to the degree to which the parent is involved@in the student's learning, and yet businesses not often enough,;in my mind, think about ways to invest in education, not a8computer or grant, but simply modifying their personnelAprocedures to allow their employees who are parents five hours aAmonth of paid time off to volunteer with schools. I mean, that's%a fabulous investment in community!"=   J. D. Hoye says research has shown students are much moreAmotivated to learn if they see how they can use it. But she says=they also need to get enough academic training to be able to@switch to another career track if they decide to do so later inlife.@   So far the school-to-work office has funded eight states outBof 22 that applied for grants to implement the new school-to-workBsystems. Mrs. Hoye says the office has surpassed its goal for theAfirst year. Instead of the targeted 35 thousand students by JuneA30 of 1995, they have over 150 thousand students engaged in work?based learning. The school-to-work office is now in its secondAround of awarding grants to more states while continuing to fundAthe first round of schools. Mrs. Hoye says in order for the workBbased school system to succeed, employers, teachers, students andparents must work as a team.   ---------------   ---------------7   HISTORY'S WORST SERIAL KILLER: "THE BLOOD COUNTESS"   ZLATICA HOKE   WASHINGTONA   Few modern day serial killers can compete with a 16th-centuryBHungarian countess who brutally murdered hundreds of young girls.@Persistent rumors over centuries have had it that she bathed inAvirgin blood in order to preserve her beauty and youth. The myth>of the beautiful, well-educated and unusually gifted countess>inspired Romanian-born poet and journalist Andrei Codrescu to=research her past. The result is his first novel titled "TheBlood Countess".>   For three hundred years, the Hungarian government kept theBrecords of Countess Elizabeth Bathory's crimes hidden from publicBscrutiny. The secrecy combined with the magnitude of those crimesBintrigued many writers who wrote purely fantastic accounts of herAlife. Romanian-born writer and radio commentator Andrei Codrescu!says his motives were different:?   "I was somewhat drawn to it because of what's going on now,Bbecause I keep thinking that there aren't enough explanations for@the kinds of virulent nationalism and fascism that are reviving<in Eastern Europe, and I thought maybe this would be a good=metaphor or vehicle for speaking about contemporary issues."@   Andrei Codrescu says he also wanted to explore the region ofBTransylvania where both he and Countess Bathory have roots. It is:also the region known for the bloodthirsty Count Dracula::   "It seems like our part of the world is pretty rich inAmonsters and ghouls and we have given the world Dracula who is aBregular industry these days, so I am constantly being asked about?that sort of thing, about our folklore, about our magic tales,@about sort of witchcraft that may still be practiced in regions?of the Carpathians and in that part of the world, and I try tohelp people if I can.">   After the collapse of the communist regime, when Hungarian@archives were briefly opened to the public, Andrei Codrescu wasBpermitted to examine the 16th-century documents. He says he found?evidence that Elisabeth Bathory indeed killed over six hundred<young girls. But no one knows for sure why she did it. SomeAhistorians believe she had been framed because both the king and=the emperor were in her debt. Others say that she had been a@victim of the witchcraft hysteria that had swept through Europe<at the time. And still others believe that she was sexually	deviant.B   Andrei Codrescu originally planned to write a documentary. But@he says after careful study of the documents and many nights of?turbulent dreams, he decided to write a novel that would bringAthe countess to life and explore an interesting time in history:A   "And I love the historical detail, the things I learned about?the 16th century which was an extraordinary time. This was the?time of Shakespeare and Queen Elizabeth as well. This was what)the scholars call the early modern age.";   In Mr. Codrescu's book, "The Blood Countess" also has a=contemporary character, a Hungarian-born American journalist;called Drake Bathory-Kereshtur. The journalist is Countess?Bathory's descendant who returns to Hungary to learn about his=past. Back in his native land, Drake Bathory-Kereshtur falls@under the strange spell of the long deceased Blood Countess and>he murders a young girl. In Hungary he gets away with it, but=upon return to America he himself goes to the authorities to(report his crime and demand punishment.A   Andrei Codrescu says the ethnic killing in Eastern Europe andBits bloody history have made him believe there is a hidden source-of evil there which periodically resurfaces:@   "I think there is something in the soil that tends to sproutAin certain times. For instance, the kind of discourse of hatreds=that you hear is almost the same as the one we heard in 1938@before World War II. It's almost as if these things were buried>or interrupted in mid-speech and when the ground thawed, they@came out and they began to speak exactly where they left off 45years ago."<   The Romanian-born author says today's carnage in Eastern9Europe cannot be explained by conventional means. So his=fictional character Drake Bathory-Kereshtur finds a somewhatunorthodox solution.   From "The Blood Countess":;   "The answer to the horror of Europe lies also in my ownBpsyche, your honor. Somewhere inside me is a small core of hatredBthat is my legacy. It spans centuries. I must be found guilty anddestroyed."B   The contemporary character in "The Blood Countess" believes heAmust be convicted and punished for his crime, but not before the@judges understand him. He says if he is not understood, he will?return like Countess Bathory and haunt the blood-soaked regionagain.   ---------------   ---------------   AMERICAN DIGEST
   DAN NOBLE   WASHINGTON?   African-American buying power, an American gambling capital@attracts a new type of resident and, how one student is raising!funds for his college education.@   The Christian Science Monitor reports that "the buying power:of blacks, the amount of income available after taxes for?purchases of goods and services, is rising faster than for thepopulation as a whole."?   A recent study by the University of Georgia, says that 'the?black population's share of the nation's total buying power is>expected to rise from 7.5 percent in 1990 to 7.8 percent nextyear."7   The newspaper notes that the new financial clout is9attributable, in part, "to higher incomes resulting from?affirmative action and other programs aimed at giving blacks a;fair place in schools and the workplace." According to the@monitor, "some demographers say the growth in the percentage ofBaffluent households stems from new opportunities in education andjobs."7   William O'Hare, a demographer at the Annie E. CaseyAFoundation, in Baltimore, Maryland, says that "historically, allBblacks have been seen as poor and powerless, and today businessesAmust recognize the diversity of the African-american community.">   Jeffrey Humphreys, director of economic forecasting at the?Selig Center for Economic Growth at the University of Georgia,Bnotes that "the time when we could use one message or one product:for all black consumers has passed." He adds that "profit>opportunities are missed if you don't tailor your message andAeven the product to a particular market." And, continues Jeffrey@Humphreys, greater financial clout could translate into greater<power at the ballot box. He says that "if there is a direct;relationship between incomes, political contributions, and;political power, then the black community should benefit."
   LAS VEGAS?   Las Vegas, Nevada has long been a center of organized legal;gambling in the United States. Now it is attracting seniorBcitizens. They're arriving in Las Vegas, not necessarily to visit?the casinos, but as permanent residents. They are attracted by@inexpensive housing and food, many leisure activities, and warmbut dry weather.A   The USA Today newspaper reports that the older residents "are?such a growing and vocal segment of the community that they're<changing the physical and political landscape of the city."<Upscale retirement communities, recreation centers and golf?courses are going up not many kilometers away from Las Vegas's=well known strip, where the casinos are located. Jan Laverty?Jones, the city's mayor, says that "it's somewhat of a shock.">   Anthony Curtis, of the monthly Las Vegas advisor magazine,Atold USA Today that "Las Vegas has always been this surrealisticBentity out in the desert. Anything that makes Las Vegas seem likea real town is great."A   Anita Cohen, a 62-year old who moved to Las Vegas three yearsAago from Van Nuys, California, says that "there's everything youBwant. She says that she and her husband, a retired IBM executive,?see lots of shows and have a good time. Bea Solomon, a 67-yearAold widow, adds that "this is a very young-at-heart place." And,Acontinues Mrs. Solomon, "Florida is a retirement community. Thisis not. It's so alive."   STUDENT:   Jeff Martin believes that charity begins at home. He'sAlaunched a fund raising effort to help himself. Needing money toBpay next year's college tuition, the economics major sent out 800@fliers in his Bangor, Maine, neighborhood and took out an ad inAthe local newspaper saying that he would bike the 300-kilometers@from Bangor to Portland if people would support, what he calls,%'the Jeff Martin scholarship fund'."A   The Wall Street Journal says that "thirty-four people pledged=gifts ranging from $5 to $100. Albert Lachance of Madawaska,=Maine, sent him a note saying, 'here's my $15 to help you in?college...In life, if someone asks you for a dollar give it to>them, as I did with you." But, notes the Journal, most peopleBJeff Martin approached just wished him good luck. Or, in the caseof one woman: "Go get a job.">   Mr. Martin ultimately raised $725. To save money, he bikedBthrough the night to save having to rent hotel rooms. He made the=trip in 22 hours. He says "riding along in the middle of theBnight, no cars, no people, no idea of where I was, I was pedalingAalong saying to myself, 'stupid idea, stupid idea, stupid idea."@Jeff says that he'll work during the school year to make up forthe shortfall.@   The Journal reports that "Mister Martin isn't abandoning his@economics major yet. But he has decided business probably isn't6his forte. He is contemplating a career in politics."   ---------------   ---------------   U.S. AGRICULTURAL ROUNDUP
   ROB SIVAK   WASHINGTON6   President Clinton tells the nation's governors his<administration plans to tighten rules for Americans getting@federal food assistance; The U.S. agriculture secretary defends>farm program spending and U.S. export subsidies; And new data)show U.S. farm numbers are up, Slightly.A   President Bill Clinton said this week he plans to tighten the=rules for the federal food stamp program, which now provides=monthly grocery subsidies to more than 25 million low-income9Americans. In a speech on welfare reform to the nationalAgovernor's conference in Vermont on Monday, Mr. Clinton said the@new rules will encourage more unemployed recipients to find and>keep jobs and eventually remove themselves and their families?from the food stamp program. The president said the food stamp:changes, one of a series of welfare reform initiatives he>described to the governors, will eliminate work disincentives#built into current food stamp law:@   "Right now, when a state reduces someone's welfare check for?failing to hold up their end of the bargain, the person's food;stamp benefit goes up. So it turns out not to be much of aBsanction. We are going to change that. If your welfare check goes?down for refusal to work, your food stamp payment won't go up,
anymore.";   Mr. Clinton said his administration plans to give state>governors so-called "fast-track" 30-day approval to their own@welfare reform plans if those plans meet at least two criteria:@That they require people on welfare to find work, and that theyAcut off benefits, including food stamps, for those who refuse towork.=   President Clinton added that Congress still needs to pass<national welfare reform legislation that focuses on puttingpeople back to work.   ===============?   U.S. agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman told a gathering of@farmers in the Midwestern state of Minnesota this week that theBClinton Administration wants to retain a financial safety net for@the nation's food producers, despite the current federal budget@crisis. Addressing the annual "Farm Fest" gathering in Red WoodAFalls, Minnesota, Secretary Glickman noted that while Republican@leaders in the U.S. Congress have proposed deep and potentially9painful reductions in federal farm program spending, the>administration's farm spending plan imposes more modest cuts:B   "The president has proposed fairly modest cuts in agriculture,>largely because agriculture has taken huge cuts since the midB1980's. And if everybody else had taken those same cuts, we would2not have the deficit problem that we have today.">   According to Secretary Glickman, the president's proposals?call for reducing the current, 11 billion-dollar-a-year budgetAfor federal farm programs by about 4 point three billion dollarsAover the next seven years. Republican congressional leaders have=called for a wide range of spending cuts over that same timeBperiod, from reductions of about 8 billion dollars to the virtual(elimination of farm commodity programs.A   One U.S. farm program that the Clinton Administration says itBwill not cut is the U.S. Export Enhancement Program, or EEP. It'sBa ten-year-old system of subsidies paid to private exporters. TheBEEP allows for U.S. grain and other commodities to sell for lower=prices on the international market, so they can compete more=effectively against heavily subidized European farm exports.<Noting that some in Congress want to end the EEP subsidies,:Secretary Glickman told his Minnesota farm audience thoseBsubsidies have helped to drive U.S. farm exports to record levels4and provided a major boost to the American economy:A   "Agricultural exports created 760 thousand jobs in 1993. ThatBis 18 thousand jobs for every one billion dollars of agricultural@exports. The real growth in American agriculture is the rest ofBthe world, and that is the good news for agriculture. Because forAthe first time since the second world war, the rest of the world$desperately needs what we produce."?   Secretary Glickman said the EEP subsidies should be kept in;place to permit the United States to combat unfair trading@practices. He noted that strong global demand for U.S. wheat in@recent weeks has prompted the Agriculture Department to suspend@its usual subsidy offerings on the grain, at least for the timebeing.   ===============;   A new report released this week by the U.S. Agriculture:Department shows the number of farms in the United StatesAactually went up this past year after decades of steady decline.AThe report says there are now two million seventy thousand farms=in the U.S, which is up four-tenths of one percent from lastyear:@   "But a good portion of that has been because we have started=to pick up (count) horse farms, which we had not done in thepast.";   U.S. Department of Agriculture statistician Eddie OatesAexplains that the inclusion of horse farms in the USDA count wasBdone to conform with the Census Bureau's official definition of a8farm. And USDA population analyst Calvin Beale says the0underlying trend in U.S. farming is continuing:;   "If you consider farms that sold 10 thousand dollars ofBproducts or more, which would include all of the commercial farmsAplus many small-scale and part-timers, those farms declined lastByear by about 18 thousand, about a one-point-seven percent loss."B   USDA demographer Calvin Beale says those numbers show that the@drive for consolidation and efficiency in modern agriculture isAcontinuing the trend toward fewer and larger farms in the UnitedStates.   ---------------   ---------------   MUSIC NOTES   MARY MORNINGSTAR   WASHINGTON   TOP TEN HITS:H   1955 - Bill Haley & His Comets "(We're Gonna) Rock Around the Clock"(   1965 - Sonny & Cher "I Got You Babe""   1975 - Bee Gees "Jive Talkin'""   1985 - Tears for Fears "Shout"   1995 - TLC "Waterfalls"   MUSIC NEWS:B   Film composer Miklos Rozsa died on July 27th after suffering aAstroke. He was 88. During a career that spanned six decades, the@Hungarian native scored nearly 100 films and won Academy AwardsAfor "Spellbound" in 1945, "A Double Life" in 1947, and "Ben Hur"	in 1959.?   Pop singer Whitney Houston will co-star with actress Angela=Bassett in the upcoming motion picture, "Waiting to Exhale."AHouston has recorded songs for the film's soundtrack, which also?features tracks by Toni Braxton, Aretha Franklin, TLC, Mary j.BBlige, Chaka Khan, Patti Labelle, SWV, and Brandy. The soundtrackAis scheduled for release on October 10th, the same day Houston's.greatest hits package will hit record stores.@   Brazilian classical and jazz guitarist Laurindo Almeida diedAof cancer on July 30th. He was 77. Almeida helped popularize the>bossa nova style that combines Brazilian music with jazz. The<five-time Grammy award winner reached number 13 on the U.S./Charts with his 1962 album, "Viva Bossa Nova."?   Jazz pianist Herbie Hancock is working on a a collection of:pop and rock cover songs, which will include the Beatles'="Norwegian Wood" and Nirvana's "All Apologies." The album is%scheduled for release in early 1996.A   Artist updates: Polygram Records will release Janet Jackson'sAgreatest hits album later this year, which will include at least=two new songs. Set for release in September is a Carly Simon?career retrospective that will include recordings from the pop=singer's years on Arista, Elektra and Epic Records. Tower ofAPower has recorded a James Brown tribute album, entitled "Souled?Out." Epic Records will release the collection on August 15th.   NEW ALBUM RELEASES:@   New albums scheduled for release on August 8th include: "Joe>Dirt Car" by The Bodeans on Slash/Reprise Records; "Carved inAStone" by Vince Neil on Warner Brothers Records; "Spirit of '73:<Rock For Choice" by various artists on Sony 550 Records; "I=Remember You" by Brian McKnight, "Spirits Colliding" by Paul@Brady and Terri Clark's self-titled debut collection on Mercury?Records; "After the Rain" by John McLaughlin and "In Tempo" by?Sadao Watanabe on Verve Records; "Love Daddy" by Prince MarkieBDee on Motown Records; "Little Acts of Treason" by Carlene CarterBon Giant Records; and, "In Full View" by Victoria Shaw on Reprise	Records.&   MUSICAL EVENTS/FESTIVALS/BENEFITS:@   On August 7th, the sixth "Back at the Ranch" benefit concertAwill take place at Deep Hollows Ranch on New York's Long Island.=Singer-songwriter Paul Simon will host the event, which will>include performances by James Taylor and Jose Feliciano. PastBconcerts have raised $1.8 million for local environmental causes.?   Willie Nelson's 10th anniversary Farm Aid Concert will take;place on October 1st in Louisville, Kentucky. In 1985, the:country legend organized the first Farm Aid event to draw<attention to the plight of American farmers. In addition to@Willie, this year's featured acts will include Neil Young, JohnBMellencamp and Hootie & The Blowfish. The seven previous Farm Aid,concerts have raised more than $12 million.   BIRTHDAYS THIS WEEK:A   Singer B.J. Thomas will celebrate his 53rd birthday on August@7th. A native of Houston, Texas, he began performing during his>teenage years in local rock bands. In 1966, Thomas scored his:first top ten single with the Hank Williams song, "I'm SoBLonesome I Could Cry." Over the next three decades, he recorded a>string of chart hits, including "(Hey Won't You Play) Another>Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song," "Whatever Happened to Old9Fashioned Love" and "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head."<   On August 8th, country singer-songwriter Mel Tillis will<celebrate his 63rd birthday. Mel has composed more than 500@songs, including "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town," recorded@by Kenny Rogers and the First Edition, and Bobby Bare's top tenBsingle "Detroit City." During the 1970's and 1980's, he regularly@appeared on the charts with hits such as "I Ain't Never," "Good@Woman Blues" and "Southern Rains." In 1976, Mel won the Country?Music Association's prestigious entertainer of the year award.=   Pop singer Whitney Houston will turn 32 on August 9th. In>1985, Houston burst onto the music scene with her self-titledAalbum that included the number one songs "Saving All My Love For@You," "How Will I Know" and "Greatest Love of All." Since then,:she has recorded two more successful albums. In 1992, sheBrecorded six tracks for the soundtrack to the motion picture "TheBBodyguard." Its first single, a remake of Dolly Parton's hit songB"I Will Always Love You," topped the charts for a record-breaking@fourteen weeks. Whitney is currently working on a greatest hitsBcollection and has also recorded tracks for the soundtrack to herBupcoming film, "Waiting to Exhale." Both albums will be in recordstores on October 11th.A   On August 10th, singer Ronnie Spector will celebrate her 50th?birthday. During the 1960's, she recorded with the Ronettes, a<trio that reached number 2 on the charts with "Be My Baby.">   Pop singer Eric Carmen will celebrate his 46th birthday onAAugust 11th. From 1970 to 1974, Carmen Sang lead vocals with theAraspberries, a group best-known for its 1972 top five single "Go?All The Way." In 1975, Carmen pursued a solo career, recording>such hits as "All By Myself," "Hungry Eyes" and "Make Me Lose
Control."!   AWARDS PRESENTATIONS/WINNERS:=   The first annual soul train lady of soul awards will take=place in Los Angeles on August 6th. Laface Records' trio TLC:leads the list of contenders with five nominations. Other>multiple nominees include Anita Baker, Brandy and Brownstone.:During the ceremony, rap act Salt-n-Pepa will receive the>entertainer of the year award. The event will be co-hosted by=fashion model Tyra Banks and rhythm-and-blues singers GladysKnight and Brian McKnight.A   Several musical programs have been nominated for Emmy Awards,@which will be handed out on September 10th. Nominations includeBthe HBO special "Barbra Streisand: The Concert," which appears in<12 emmy award categories; MTV's "Eagles: Hell Freezes Over";program; the PBS-tv program "Eric Clapton: Nothing But The?Blues;" and the Disney Channel's "A Special Evening with EltonJohn."   TOUR DATES/INFORMATION:?   Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers will launch the second leg of?their "Dogs with Wings" tour on August 10th in Salt Lake City,<Utah. The tour will conclude on October 8th in New Orleans,?Lousiana. Front row seats for the final show will be auctioned=off with proceeds going to the National Veterans Foundation.   FACTS FROM THE PAST:=   8/6/70 - Janis Joplin, Paul Simon, Steppenwolf and JohnnyAWinter were the featured performers at an anti-war rock festivalat New York's Shea Stadium.@   8/7/63 - "Beach Party," the first 'beach blanket' movie made=its premiere. The film starred Annette Funicello and FrankieAvalon.?   8/10/85 - Pop star Michael Jackson bought the copyrights toBthe entire Beatles catalog. The 251 songs, written by John Lennon0and Paul McCartney, cost Jackson $47.5 million.>   8/12/66 - The Beatles embarked on their final concert tourAwith a performance at the International Amphitheater in Chicago,BIllinois. The same day, John Lennon made a formal apology for the@statement he made a week earlier claiming that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus Christ.@   8/12/67 - Fleetwood Mac made its debut at the National Blues@and Jazz Festival in London, England. The group endured severalApersonnel changes throughout the 1970's. Fleetwood Mac's biggest7hits include "Dreams," "Don't Stop" and "Little Lies."   ---------------   ---------------4   GAO CONCERNED OVER SAFETY OF CUBAN NUCLEAR PLANT   WASHINGTONA   The U.S. General Accounting Office has serious concerns about@two Russian-supplied nuclear reactors in Cuba, according to GAO.Assistant Comptroller General Keith O. Fultz.=   "A number of concerns exist, including concerns about theAquality of the civil construction completed to date, the lack of8a regulatory organization, and the adequacy of operatorBtraining," Fultz told an Aug. 1 hearing of the House Subcommitteeon the Western Hemisphere.=   He outlined several technical problems that suggested the>reactors could pose a risk to the United States in case of an
accident.<   Following is Fultz's statement as prepared for delivery:   (begin text)1   Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee:A   We are pleased to be here today to testify on our report that5discussed concerns about the construction of the two:Soviet-designed nuclear power reactors in Cuba. While the@construction of these reactors was suspended in September 1992,Brecent information suggests that Cuba may resume the construction?if it obtains financial support. Our testimony is based on our@report and on recent discussions with State Department, NuclearARegulatory Commission (NRC), Department of Energy (DOE), Central<Intelligence Agency, and International Atomic Energy Agency@(IAEA) officials. We also had discussions with U.S. and foreignnuclear industry officials.@   In summary, it is uncertain if and when Cuba's nuclear power>reactors will be operational. It appears that no progress hasAbeen made on the construction of the reactors since the issuance?of our 1992 report. The civil construction (such as floors and>walls) of the first reactor is estimated to be about 90 to 97Apercent complete, while the second reactor is only between 20 to=30 percent complete. However, if Cuba obtains the assistance>necessary to complete the reactors' construction, a number of"safety concerns must be resolved.>   Specifically, it is possible that in the event of a severeAaccident, the containment structure--the ultimate barrier to the=release of radioactive material in the event of an accident-A-could be breached, and a radioactive release could occur. It is@possible that air currents could carry radioactive materials to=the United States- -possibly as far west as Texas and as far@north as Washington, D.C. Furthermore, former Cuban nuclear and@electrical engineers and a technician who worked at the reactorAsite and had emigrated from Cuba told us of safety concerns such@as poor construction practices, that, if true, could affect the:safety of the reactors' operation. In addition, there are@unanswered questions about the potential for earthquakes at theAreactor site because the Cuban government has not given the U.S.?Geological Survey (USGS) the information that it needs to makethe appropriate analysis.>   Mr. Chairman, in cooperation with the State Department, we@tried to gain permission from the Cuban government to visit the@reactor site during the course of our 1992 review. In addition,7we submitted a list of questions regarding the design,:construction, and operation of the reactors to the ActingBPrinciple Officer of the Cuban Interest Section, who said that he@would submit them to Cuban nuclear power officials. However, we@have never received a response from the Cuban government to ourBrequest for a visit or the answers to our questions. As you know,?a few weeks ago, an NBC news crew visited the reactor site andBshot extensive film footage, which included interior and exterior?scenes of the containment building and the reactor vessel. Our9review of this film assisted us in assessing the current<conditions at the reactor site. I believe this film footage?obtained by NBC represents the most current information on theACuban reactors. On the basis of our review of this film footage,Bwe have heightened concerns about the quality of the constructionBof the reactors. The film graphically portrays a nuclear plant in>a state of deterioration that appears to be abandoned, ratherthan properly maintained.A   According to the State Department, the position of the United>States regarding the Cuban reactors has not changed since the@issuance of our 1992 report. The United States prefers that the@Cuban reactors not be completed and discourages other countriesAfrom providing assistance, except for safety purposes, to Cuba's=nuclear program. In addition, Cuba must ratify the Treaty of<Tlatelolco, which it signed in March 1995. The treaty binds>signatories to blanket nonproliferation commitments for theirBentire nuclear program and would allow IAEA inspections of Cuba'snuclear facilities.?   THE DESIGN AND STATUS OF CONSTRUCTION OF THE CUBAN REACTORS@   In 1976, the Soviet Union and Cuba concluded an agreement toBconstruct two 440-megawatt nuclear power reactors near CienfuegosAon the south central coast of Cuba, about 180 miles south of Key?West, Florida. The construction of these reactors, which began?around 1983, was a high priority for Cuba because of its heavy>dependence on imported oil. When completed, the first reactor=would provide a significant percentage (estimated at over 15)percent) of Cuba's need for electricity.<   Most of the reactor parts, except for civil construction=materials, were supplied by the Soviet Union under bilateral>economic cooperation agreements. Following the breakup of the;Soviet Union, economic links to Cuba were disrupted as the=Russian Republic shifted to a market-based economy and began>providing technical assistance to Cuba on a commercial basis.<These changes in the economic conditions contributed to the*suspension of the reactors' construction.   Design of Cuban Reactors=   Cuba's nuclear power reactors are the newest model of theBSoviet-designed 440-megawatt pressurized water reactors (PWR) andBare the first Soviet-designed reactors to be built in the WesternBHemisphere and in a tropical environment. The Cuban model, called=the vVER 440 V318, is the model that the former Soviet UnionBplanned to export to other countries. The most notable difference>between the Cuban model and other Soviet-designed reactors is:that the Cuban reactors will have a full containment. The@containment-- a steel-lined concrete domelike structure--serves@as the ultimate barrier to a release of radioactive material in>the event of a severe accident. As discussed below, there areBdifferences between the design of the Cuban reactors' containment?and the containment of reactors designed in the United States.&   NRC's 1989 Study of Cuban ReactorsA   Because of Cuba's proximity to the United States and the riskBto which U.S. citizens may be exposed to a radioactive release inBcase of an accident, NRC performed a limited study to examine theBcontainment design and safety features of the Cuban nuclear power?reactors. The study, completed in 1989, discusses similarities<and differences in safety characteristics between the Cuban'reactors and comparable U.S. reactors.;   NRC's study noted that although the design of the CubanBreactors has many features in common with those of the U.S. PWRs,:several differences could lead to significantly differentAreactions in the event of a serious accident. For example, while>the Cuban reactors, like the U.S. PWRs, use water to cool the<reactor core, the Cuban reactors use a different system for@handling the steam pressure that would be generated by a severe@accident. In the Cuban reactors, the steam is condensed so thatBpressure is reduced in the containment structure. If, in the caseAof a severe accident, the system for condensing the steam in the;Cuban reactors is bypassed and the steam reaches the upper?portion of the containment in pressures greater than the upperAportion's designed pressure retention capability of 7 pounds per?square inch (other portions of the containment are designed to=withstand pressures of about 32 pounds per square inch), the?containment could be breached, and a radioactive release could:occur. In contrast, U.S. PWRs are designed to accommodate<pressures of about 50 pounds per square inch throughout theAentire containment structure. The study indicated that the CubanAreactors and the comparable U.S. PWR are designed to accommodateBsimilar types of accidents but concluded that it was difficult to@compare the risk posed by the two types of reactors because theBinformation required for such an assessment was not available forthe Cuban reactors.   Status of Construction9   On September 5, 1992, Fidel Castro announced that the>construction of both of Cuba's reactors was suspended because;Cuba could not meet the financial terms set by the Russian@government to complete the reactors. Estimates of the amount of=the civil construction completed for the first nuclear power@reactor ranged from 90 to 97 percent, but only about 37 percentBof the reactor's equipment (such as pipes, pumps, and motors) hadBbeen installed. For the second reactor, about 20 to 30 percent of8the civil construction was estimated to be complete. No=information was made available to us about the status of the@equipment for the second reactor. According to responses to our@recent inquiries, the status of construction has apparently not/changed since the issuance of our 1992 report.>   Mr. Chairman, in cooperation with the State Department, we@tried to gain permission from the Cuban government to visit the@reactor site during the course of our 1992 review. In addition,7we submitted a list of questions regarding the design,:construction, and operation of the reactors to the ActingBPrinciple Officer of the Cuban Interest Section, who said that he>would submit it to Cuban nuclear power officials. However, we@have never received a response from the Cuban government to ourBrequest for a visit or the answers to our questions. As you know,?a few weeks ago, an NBC news crew visited the reactor site andBshot extensive film footage, which included interior and exterior?scenes of the containment building and the reactor vessel. Our9review of this film assisted us in assessing the current<conditions at the reactor site. I believe this film footage?obtained by NBC represents the most current information on theACuban reactors. On the basis of our review of this film footage,Bwe have heightened concerns about the quality of the constructionBof the reactors. The film graphically portrays a nuclear plant in>a state of deterioration that appears to be abandoned, ratherthan properly maintained.8   Concrete had been poured on the upper portion of the@containment dome for the first unit. At the time of our review,>the reactor's instrumentation and control system had not beenApurchased because Cuba did not have the hard currency to pay for@them. Furthermore, the reactor fuel had not been delivered, and>some key primary system components (1 reactor vessel, 6 steam<generators, 5 primary coolant pumps, 12 isolation valves, 19pressurizer and catch tank, and 4 accumulators) had been=delivered but not installed. At the time of our 1992 review,@these components had been stored outside on-site, and there was?concern that the equipment was exposed to corrosive salt water>vapor. The cost of the plant's construction was estimated, in?1992, at $960 million. It is estimated that it will cost about@$300 million to complete the construction of the first reactor.5We could not verify the validity of these estimates.8   Recent news reports suggest that Cuba may resume the>construction of the reactors with the financial assistance of>Russia and an international consortium of major corporations.BAccording to the State Department, several foreign companies haveBreportedly expressed interest in participating in the project and@are currently carrying out a technical and feasibility study of;the project reportedly to be released soon. To verify thisBinformation, we contacted representatives of the firms Siemens AG@[Germany], Ansaldo [Italy], EdF International [France], and NNC7[England]) identified as potential participants in the=international consortium. These representatives told us that<their firms were not part of an international consortium to4finance the completion of Cuba's reactors. However,>representatives of two of the companies told us that they areAperforming, on behalf of the Russian company ATOMENERGOEXPORT, a?financial and technical feasibility study designed to evaluate>the costs to complete the Cuban reactors. According to one of>these representatives, the study, described as preliminary in;nature, is similar to studies currently being performed by9western companies for eastern European nuclear reactors.BSAFETY CONCERNS RAISED BY FORMER CUBAN NUCLEAR POWER PLANTWORKERSA   During our 1992 review, we talked with five Cuban individuals@including nuclear and electrical engineers and a technician who?had worked at the reactor site, all of whom had emigrated from>Cuba and expressed concerns about the reactors. They believed@that problems exist that could affect the safe operation of the>reactors, such as the lack of a system to check the reactor's;components, defective welds in the civil construction, and+questionable training of future operators.7   Allegations of Problems and Defects in Construction<   According to the former Cuban nuclear plant workers, the9nuclear facility did not have a good system to check the@reactor's components. For example, two individuals alleged thatAadvisers from the Soviet Union working at the reactor site could?not guarantee that the valves installed in the first reactor's;emergency core-cooling system would function under certainBconditions. Although the Soviet advisers told the Cuban officialsBthat the valves had been tested, the advisers did not provide any?documentation showing the test results. Emergency core-cooling?systems are an important part of the reactor because they helpBensure that in the event of an accident in which coolant is lost,;radioactive material does not escape into the environment.A   The former Cuban technician, who was responsible for checking>welds in the civil construction, told us that he and a Soviet@technician had examined X-rays from about 5,000 weld sites thatAhad passed inspection. They found that about 10 to 15 percent ofBthese welds were defective. Although the Cuban technician did not;know exactly where the pipes with the defective welds wereBlocated, he thought that they were part of the auxiliary plumbing?system. According to this former technician, a group of Soviet@officials also reviewed the X-rays and confirmed that the welds9were defective. Another individual said that even thoughAdefective welds were found in the containment dome, concrete wasstill poured.=   Former Cuban nuclear plant workers alleged that defective?welds were also found in hermetic seals, in support structuresBfor the primary components, and in the spent fuel cooling system.AThe seals and support structures are important to safety because;they are part of the containment that prevents radioactiveBmaterial from leaking into the environment if an accident occurs.?The spent fuel cooling system is important because it prevents9radioactive material from leaking if overheating occurs.0   Allegations of Inadequate Simulator Training7   According to one former Cuban nuclear plant worker,Aindividuals trained to be reactor operators received 5 months of?instruction from the Russians on a WER 440-megawatt model V230=reactor simulator at the Novovoronezh nuclear power plant in<Russia. However, he said that the value of this training isBquestionable because this simulator does not resemble the reactorAunder construction in Cuba. In addition, he said that some CubanAreactor operator trainees had asked for training on a WER 1,000-Amegawatt reactor simulator because it was similar to the reactorBin Cuba, but were not trained on it. Furthermore, according to an;NRC official, Soviet-designed simulators are slow-responseBsimulators and are considered deficient by U.S. standards because>they do not simulate an accident as it would actually happen.@NRC OFFICIALS' CONCERNS ABOUT ALLEGATIONS OF SAFETYDEFICIENCIES=   NRC officials familiar with the allegations raised by the>former Cuban nuclear power plant workers concluded that theseBindividuals were knowledgeable in their respective areas and that@the deficiencies they alleged could affect the construction and;future safe operation of Cuba's nuclear reactors. However,?because the information available on the reactors was limited,<NRC officials had no way of verifying the validity of these?concerns. An NRC official told us that NRC was concerned aboutB(1) the adequacy of Cuba's nuclear regulatory infrastructure, (2)>the adequacy and number of trained regulatory and operational/personnel, and (3) reports of defective welds.:   NRC's Director of Bilateral Cooperation and AssistanceBrecently told us that NRC has not had any recent contact with the;Cubans and wondered whether that plant has been adequately=maintained. He said that NRC has the same concerns about theACuban reactors that it had at the time our report was issued. He<also said that he doubted whether there is a viable nuclear8regulatory body in Cuba that could license the plant in:accordance with internationally recognized nuclear safetystandards.)   ASSESSMENTS OF RISKS FROM EARTHOUAKES?   According to USGS' Chief, Latin American Programs, USGS hasAnot assessed the risk of an earthquake in Cuba, in part, because@the agency does not have access to the information required forBthis type of analysis. USGS attempted to obtain this information,>but the Cuban government has not provided it. Therefore, USGSAcannot answer specific questions about the seismic conditions at"the site of the reactors in Cuba.A   However, according to a USGS official, the Caribbean plate, a?geologic formation near the south coast of Cuba, is active and?may pose seismic risks to Cuba and the reactor site. The plateAcould produce large to moderate earthquakes. In fact, on May 25,?1992, this plate produced an earthquake measuring about 7.0 on9the Richter scale. A 1988 assessment by an internationalAinsurance group estimated that the Cienfuegos area could produce>an earthquake with a probable maximum magnitude of 5.0 on theRichter scale.<   At our request, scientists from the National Oceanic and?Atmospheric Administration analyzed the probability of impact,=the average arrival time, and the relative concentrations ofBradioactive pollutants that would be released into the atmosphereAby an accidental release of radioactivity from the nuclear-powerBreactors in Cienfuegos, Cuba. On the basis of climatological data?for the summer of 1991 and the winter of 1991-92, the analysis<showed that the summer east-to-west trade winds could carry?radioactive pollutants over all of Florida and portions of theAGulf states as far west as Texas in about 4 days. In the winter,Awhen the trade winds are weaker and less persistent, radioactiveApollutants would encounter strong westerly winds that could moveBthe pollutants toward the east, possibly as far north as Virginia'and Washington, D.C., in about 4 days.   CURRENT U.S. POLICYA   According to a State Department official, the position of theAUnited States regarding the Cuban reactors has not changed since@the issuance of our 1992 report. The United States prefers thatBthe Cuban nuclear reactors not be completed and discourages otherAcountries from providing assistance, except for safety purposes,Bto Cuba's nuclear program. The U.S. position is that sales and or<assistance to the Cuban nuclear power program should not be5provided until Cuba has undertaken a legally binding>nonproliferation commitment, including a commitment to accept>full- scope IAEA safeguards on all present and future nuclear8facilities. In addition, Cuba must ratify the Treaty of@Tlatelolco, which binds signatories to blanket nonproliferationBcommitments for their entire nuclear program and would allow IAEABinspections of Cuba's nuclear facilities. Cuba signed that treatyin March 1995.   CONCLUSIONS:   In summary, a number of concerns exist about the Cuban<reactors, including concerns about the quality of the civil9construction completed to date, the lack of a regulatory<organization, and the adequacy of operator training. If the?allegations of safety problems are true, the safe operation of?the reactors could be affected. In addition, it is unclear how>well the equipment on-site has been maintained and preserved.=Although the reactor will have a containment building and an@emergency core- cooling system, which lessens the likelihood of8an escape of radiation in the event of an accident, theBcontainment dome was not designed to withstand pressures as great.as U.S. containment structures can withstand.B   We believe that continued monitoring of Cuba's progress toward:completing the reactors is warranted. If Cuba obtains the?assistance needed to complete its nuclear power reactors, U.S.<officials will need assurances that all safety concerns areBresolved and that the reactors are built and operated in a manner0that does not pose a risk to the United States.A   This concludes our prepared statement, Mr. Chairman. We wouldAbe pleased to respond to any questions that you or other membersof the Subcommittee may have.   ---------------   ---------------.   KEITH LOCKHART: BOSTON POPS' NEW CONDUCTOR   SUSAN LOGUE   WASHINGTON=   This year marks the 110th anniversary of the Boston pops,=perhaps the most listened-to orchestra in the United States.BWhile they regularly present a lighter fare of classical music to>a local audience, record sales and television broadcasts have?extended the Boston Pops audience well beyond the northeastern?city of Boston, Massachusetts. This year the orchestra hired aAnew conductor. Keith Lockhart comes to the pops after serving as<associate conductor of both the Cincinnati Symphony and theBCincinnati Pops Orchestras. Mister Lockhart shares much in commonAwith the man who is credited with making the pops the celebratedorchestra it is today.B   Keith Lockhart takes over the Boston pops podium from composer@John Williams, who retired in 1993 after 13 years as conductor.@But it is Mr. Williams' predecessor who is credited with makingBthe pops famous. Arthur Fiedler, who led the orchestra for half a?century, was the first conductor to sell a million copies of aAclassical recording. He became a familiar face to Americans when6he launched the pops weekly televised concert series.A   For many Americans, including Keith Lockhart, the program was+an introduction to the orchestral concert:<   "My parents were not the concert-going type. So my first?chance at seeing a quasi-live orchestra performance experienceAwas 'Evening at Pops,' which went on the air in 1970, when I wasA10 or 11. And I think for a couple of years after that, if I hadAhad to draw a picture of what an orchestra conductor looked like1it would have been a picture of Arthur Fiedler."@   Keith Lockhart looks nothing like the white-haired gentleman?with the neatly trimmed moustache. Tall, thin, dark-haired and?attractive, the conductor looks younger than his 35 years. But?like Arthur Fielder, Keith Lockhart wants to extend the BostonPops' audience:?   "If I have one thing that I would like to accomplish in the@time I'm here, whether that's 10 years, 20 years, 50 years, I'dAlike to be known as a conductor who really broadened the base of;who the Boston pops orchestra existed for. We have alreadyBsucceeded quite a bit in Boston in one season in bringing in a by?and large new group of younger audience members, a lot of themBjust curious because they saw me and said, 'hey, there's somebody>who looks my age on the poster, maybe we should go check thisout.'"?   For the first time in its 110-year history, the Boston pops@has so called groupies attending its concerts. Like rock singer?Jon Bon Jovi, Keith Lockhart is greeted by young, female fans,>screaming and waving signs which read "we love you Keith!" At=first, the conductor says, he was somewhat distressed at the?personal attention he was receiving. But at an outdoor concert@featuring opera music he realized it was worth it to accomplish)his goal of reaching a younger audience:B   "We did an all opera concert with four singers from the Boston@lyric opera, and we played orchestral opera music and did Arias@with them. We had 15,000 people there for that concert, up fromBunder 3,000 the year before. When I walked out, they were hooting@and hollering and yelling and waving signs, and I said, this isAthe wrong concert for these people to come to. They are going to<hate it. They all shut up, were silent as mice, to hear the?Arias, which were all very serious, Puccini Verdi, Bizet. They?finished, and they started screaming at the end of each one of<these things. And I thought, you know, for whatever reason,Bwhether it is the hype, the Hollywood lust or anything like that,=we just got 15,000 people to listen to an hour and a half ofopera. This is a good thing."@   To further broaden the Boston Pops' audience, Keith Lockhart8would like to diversify the programming. Arthur Fielder>introduced rock and roll music into the pops' repertoire. The=orchestra's new conductor, who defines the pop repertoire as?"music without boundaries," would like to go one step further.6Keith Lockhart says he hopes to collaborate with someAcontemporary musicians like Billy Joel, Paul Simon and BuckwheatZydeco:B   "You don't just pick whatever happens to be selling records at=this particular point. But there are a lot of creative, very?talented artists who just do different parts of the professionBthan we do. We need to seek them out and try to come up with good9marriages, but that takes time. For one thing it is very?expensive, starting out and creating good arrangements for newAcollaborations. I don't want to do any of this sloppily, because@if you do it poorly, you may not get a second chance to do it."B   Keith Lockhart believes there is a misconception in the United>States at least that classical music is elitist and a concert@performance should be a formal affair. It is time to break down?those barriers, the conductor says, because classical music isfor everyone:B   "The general marketing scheme of classical music has been: 'go=to concerts to show that you are better than your neighbors,=better educated, more socially-ept.' these, I think are very>wrong-headed ways to convince people that what we do is worth=listening to, and I think they have done us a lot of damage,@because I think they have made a whole lot of people go, 'well,;that is not for me.' what we need to do is start marketing?classical music less on the trappings, the concert experience,?and more on the intrinsic value of what it is we do, which is,>'there is this wonderful thing here. We don't care if you are>enjoying it in Reeboks and Levis or if you are enjoying it in	tails.'"A   The new Boston pops conductor Keith Lockhart wants the public;to know that concert performances are just another form ofBentertainment, and that the audience should have fun. That belief>was shared by Arthur Fiedler, who began his conducting careerAwith the Boston pops 65 years ago. Like Keith Lockhart, he, too,was only 35 years old.   ---------------   ---------------&   RE-LAUNCHING OF JEFFERSON STARSHIP   BERNIE BERNARD   WASHINGTON<   The rock band Jefferson Airplane was born during the SanBFrancisco art and music explosion of the 1960's. With appearances@at the infamous Monterey Pop and Woodstock music festivals, the@band became legendary. After 20 albums and record sales of moreBthan 20 million, the group has survived despite personnel changes?and variations on its name. Jefferson Starship re-launches itsBcareer with original band members and a new compact disc entitled"Deep Space/Virgin Sky."<   Along with Janis Joplin and the Grateful Dead, Jefferson>airplane defined the San Francisco sound of the 1960's. SongsBsuch as "White Rabbit" and "Somebody to Love" started a string of=hits for the group that went on for decades. Over the years,<personnel changes had the group alter its name to Jefferson=starship, starship, and back to Jefferson airplane. Now, the@veteran band has decided to be known as Jefferson Starship onceBagain, with a roster that includes original members Paul Kantner,?Marty Balin and Jack Casady. The group's latest release, "Deep@Space/Virgin Sky," was recorded live at the House of Blues club9in Los Angeles. Song lyrics touch on the themes of space7exploration, self-discovery and preserving the earth's
environment.B   Founding member, guitarist, songwriter and singer Paul Kantner>decided to resurrect the name Jefferson starship. He feels itBsums up the group's philosophy of looking toward the future while(mixing in elements of the supernatural:@   "I'm a science fiction person, greetings, earth people! It'sBthe perfect vehicle for people to come on and get off and move in<and out of, and it's worked out well for the past couple ofAyears. It embraces science fiction, it embraces the eclecticness?(unusual qualities) of Marty's love songs. You can take almost?any scenario and put it into song with us. It's very flexible,@and Jefferson starship is a name that I started and just wantedto continue."?   Jefferson starship's latest album, "Deep Space/Virgin Sky,"?features 8 new songs and 8 classic hits, some of which include;guest performances by long-time lead vocalist Grace Slick.A   Guitarist Paul Kantner announced one big change in the band'sAline-up, the new, permanent lead singer will be Darby Gould, who7has performed with several local San Francisco groups:A   "I went down and saw Darby singing with her band and thought,@'oh wow, she's great.' at one point, their band broke up, close8to the point that we were starting to put this creature@(Jefferson Starship) back together again. I just asked Darby ifAshe'd help me out a little bit and she did. She had always likedAGrace and the airplane, so it was a natural fit. She creates her;own aura with that material that's different than Grace's,Aequally purposeful, perhaps, and powerful, but she has a textureBof her own voice that's very enveloping and warm that's differentfrom Grace's.">   Jefferson Starship will be on tour through October of this9year, then its members take a break to pursue their soloBprojects. Paul Kantner says he'll be working on a novel, an avantAgarde theater piece, and a new recording that will feature women<vocalists, including both generations of Jefferson starship@singers. The band members have written some new songs, and they*plan to record another album in December.   ---------------   ---------------8   LITTLE KNOWN PIONEERING JAZZ VETERAN: VALERIE CAPERS   DOUG LEVINE   WASHINGTON, D.C.>   During the past year Columbia Records has been producing a>series of new recordings called "Legendary Pioneers of Jazz.":Some of the talents featured include bassist Milt Hinton,>saxophonist Lou Donaldson and pianist Harold Mabern. ColumbiaArecently capped its series with the release of "Come on Home" by3blind singer, pianist and composer Valerie Capers.>   Valerie Capers may not be a household name, but she's beenAmaking music for most of her sixty years. When Capers was chosen@to record an album for Columbia's "Legendary Pioneers of Jazz,"$she wasted no time getting started:?   "I started working on it and making selections. And then we@were making phone calls and getting commitments from people for@the recording. And then finally I just said, 'what I want to do@here is just to produce a product that will give people a great9deal of joy and happiness.' and that was my main thing."A   Valerie Capers was born and raised in New York City. She says;she received her earliest musical education right at home:?   "We had music always in the house. So I was exposed to Cole?Porter, and to Bach, and to Rachmaninoff and to Ellington. All$the time (while) I was growing up."A   A viral infection left Capers blind at age six. Determined to9study music, she attended the New York Institute for theAEducation of the Blind. She later became the first blind studentBto graduate from the Julliard School of Music. Following college,8Capers launched into a career as a nightclub performer:?   "Working on a blues, or working on a (Thelonious) Monk tuneBand then going out on a club (concert), and (then) trying to playBit wasn't the same thing. I mean I fell apart. Many, many times I;was not used to that idiom. I was not used to that mode of>expression with an audience, and (i was) inexperienced. In my@mid-20's and inexperienced, playing with musicians who had been,playing from the time they were teenagers."?   In addition to recording, Valerie Capers is the director of?music and art at Bronx Community College in New York. She also?serves on the board of directors of the American chamber music=society.  Capers hopes that one day music will exist without
barriers:B   "I think one of the things I'd like to do in my lifetime is to@try to get people to stop putting things in little pidgeonholes=and putting labels on it, labels on things. Music is music.":   The final release from the Columbia Records "Legendary=Pioneers of Jazz" series features singer and pianist Valerie?Capers. On her new album called "Come on Home" she's joined by8jazz greats Wynton Marsalis, Paquito D'Rivera and MongoSantamaria.   ---------------   ---------------7   MARTINE VAN HAMEL: PRIMA BALLERINA TO MODERN DANCER   KEMING KUO   DURHAM, N.CAROLINA?   As American ballet companies struggle to remain financially@afloat, some are incorporating programs of modern dance to help:attract wider audiences. the Joffrey Ballet, for example,?performed modern dance works choreographed to the music of the;rock star formerly known as "Prince." Even so, the company<recently announced (7/28) it would no longer perform as theA"Joffrey Ballet" because of financial difficulties. some dancers@from the ballet world are also entering the previously separate8domain of modern dance. Among them is Martine Van Hamel?[hah-mul], who was a principal dancer for two decades with the>American Ballet Theater based in New York City. Ms. Hamel nowBperforms regularly with the modern dance company Nederlands Dance@Theater Three, which recently [7/27-30] premiered a work in New>York by the avant-garde American choreographer Martha Clarke.;   Critics worldwide marveled at the graceful movements ofAMartine Van Hamel as she danced such traditional ballets as Swan:Lake for the American Ballet Theater. But like many primaBballerinas, Ms. Van Hamel began to consider future career options<as she entered her mid-thirties. Some ballet dancers become?teachers, some become choreographers, and still others turn to@artistic management, such as Peter Martins, who became artistic>director of the New York City ballet company. but Martine VanBHamel says she chose to remain a performer, exploring other forms
of movement:?   "I studied some tai-chi, I did some yoga. I keep searching,?and now I think I should see what it's like to sing. What it's?done for me is [led me to chose to] remain in a physical area,7but really research the possibilities of what is still=stimulating, interesting, and what keeps me functioning as aphysical being."=   In rehearsing and performing Martha Clarke's new work "AnAUncertain Hour,", featuring a mix of dance and theater elements,BMs. Van Hamel says she experienced a transition not only from her@ballet training, but also from her modern dance experience as a6member of the nederlands dance theater three company:@   "The progression into the Martha Clarke work is very extreme?in that it's so minimal that, in a way, you look like a dancer?but you don't have anything to do with dancing. It's movement,Bhow to get from one place to another, without looking like you'rea dancer."?   "An Uncertain Hour" presents the interrelationships between6men and women, has a dreamlike quality, and is set in;19th-century Europe. The Martha Clarke Theater-dance pieceAreceived its first, preview performances in June at the American@dance festival in Durham, North Carolina, and incorporates someBcinematic elements. To assist her in performing the new work, Ms.>Van Hamel says she has adapted the idea that she is more of afilm actor than dancer:@   "I think it helps me to think of it a little as film acting,Awhere it's really about the visual space that you're looking at.B[It's] the whole visual effect of the scenery, and the sound, and8the bodies moving, rather than if you were to see dance;performances [that are] really not about dance, in a way."B   Martine Van Hamel says she's pleased that several modern danceAchoreographers, such as Mark Morris, Twyla Tharp and Laura Dean,Ahave created works for ballet companies. But she wistfully hopes<that some of the "cross-genre" dances will incorporate moreballetic movements:B   "It's interesting to work in different areas. But it's a shameBto negate what you really have to offer or what you've worked for820 years to attain. It's interesting to have the modernBchoreographers because it's a stepping stone. But what I'd reallyBlike to see or feel as a dancer is some way to extend your ballet@technique that you've worked on to a level where you don't feel(like you've wasted your time doing it."B   Martine Van Hamel says she hopes to continue her work with the;Nederlands Dance Theater Three, which is composed of older<dancers, and attract new audiences from both the ballet andmodern dance worlds:@   "I would like to help make it possible for dance to continueBto grow, so that it continues to have a place where it can happen=and continue to develop audiences. [Modern dance] depends onB[audiences coming] to see it, very much, to keep up the interest.'Somehow, I'll try to keep doing that."@   Next year, Ms. Van Hamel will return to the ballet world andAchoreograph a dance for the royal winnipeg ballet. She will also?stage works for her own ensemble, the New Amsterdam ballet, in%her home country of the Netherlands.   ---------------   ---------------   "MUSICAL EXPEDITIONS"   DOUG LEVINE   WASHINGTON, D.C.@   In 1992, Ellipsis Arts Records released "Global Meditation,"?featuring traditional music from around the world. Since then,9this small Long Island, New York label has released fiveAmulti-disc collections of world music with everything from Tuvanthroat-singing to Gypsy rock.@   In remote villages on the Indonesian island of Bali, men andAwomen meet in the late afternoon to participate in sacred trance>rituals. These spiritual gatherings are led by a processionalAband composed of gongs, cymbals and drums, which accompanies theAvillagers into the courtyards of their Hindu temple. In additionBto rare recordings of trance rituals in Asia and the Middle East,<"Musical Expeditions" travels to Morocco for "Crossroads ofBTime," and to Central Africa for "Echoes of the Forest." Ellipsis@Arts President Jeff Charno describes "Musical Expeditions" as amystical musical journey:@   "Each title in the 'musical expeditions' series takes a look@at a different culture or a different musical theme. And we tryBto find little traditions that haven't been that well produced or=that well publicized in most of the world. Things that are a?little bit obscure and off the beaten path. And then we try toAget into them a little bit more deeply than perhaps other record-companies have been able to do in the past."8   According to Jeff Charno, Morocco has been a land ofBenchantment for artists, poets and musicians for generations. And@he says Moroccan music itself crosses many cultural boundaries:?   "Moroccan music has influenced many contemporary musicians.BI've been told that Jimi Hendrix was influenced by his travels in>Morocco, (jazz musician) Pharoah Sanders, the Rolling Stones.?Many people have gone there. There's a whole mystical intrigueAassociated with Morocco, and there's a whole lot of energy thereand interest in that culture.":   Each disc in "Musical Expeditions" includes a 64-page,?full-color hardcover book complete with drawings, photographs,Bhistorical notes and discographies, as well as written interviews>with field producers and writers. American author Louis SarnoAsays he heard a pygmy song on the radio and then traveled to theACentral African republic to meet the creators of this compellingmusic:?   "One of the songs was a song of the Bayaka, in fact, of the=clan the Ba-Benjelle, which is the people I visited. It just=struck me as (being) so beautiful. It wasn't just the music.AThere was something I could almost hear about the people. It was>like a window into their soul or something. I thought, 'thesemust be wonderful people.'"B   Ellipsis Arts Records company plans later this year to releaseBfour more collections from the "Musical Expeditions" series. Next=up is a compilation of cross-cultural music entitled "PlanetSoup."   ---------------   ---------------/   LOUANNE JOHNSON: REACHING "DANGEROUS MINDS"   KEMING KUO   WASHINGTON@   The new movie "Dangerous Minds" which opens August 11 in theBUnited States, tells the story of a former U.S. Marine who became@a teacher in an urban California high school. Starring Michelle@Pfeiffer, the film is based on the 1992 book "My Posse Don't Do?Homework," which describes the experiences of Louanne Johnson.?Ms. Johnson was assigned to teach a special "at risk" class of>troubled teens, and the movie "Dangerous Minds" shows how Ms.AJohnson was able to instill in her students the will to try, andAeventually, succeed. Louanne Johnson was in Washington recently.B   Several movies about teachers struggling to reach tough, urban@students have been made in recent decades, such as "Up The Down?Staircase" [1967] set in New York City and "Stand and Deliver"9[1987] set in Los Angeles. The newest incarnation of the=teacher-urban students theme, "Dangerous Minds," takes placeAsouth of San Francisco in Belmont, California and is directed by@a Canadian, John N. Smith. It opens with scenes showing a group@of mostly minority-group teenagers trying to learn grammar from:their newly-appointed teacher, Louanne Johnson, played byMichelle Pfeiffer.@   Louanne Johnson says after seeing 'Dangerous Minds," she was@pleased with the way Hollywood filmmakers adopted her story forthe silver screen:@   "I drank two bottles of water before I went in [the theater]@and I didn't want to leave, even though I knew the story. I was>sitting with my legs crossed for about an hour and I cried. IBcried twice during the movie, and [thought,] 'this is such a good	movie.'"A   Ms. Johnson says she was pleasantly surprised that three-time>Academy Award-nominated actress Michelle Pfeiffer was cast toBplay her in "Dangerous Minds." Ms. Pfeiffer may be best known for;her roles in such commercially successful films as "BatmanAReturns" and "The Fabulous Baker Boys," but Louanne Johnson says:it was the actress' portrayals in lesser-known films thatimpressed her most:@   "My favorite movies she made were not her box office hits. IAliked 'Frankie and Johnnie.' I had seen it originally as a play,>and I thought the movie was really good. And I liked [her in]B'Love Field.' those weren't major successes. I didn't see 'Batman@[Returns].' I knew she could do the acting, but there was a lot@of discussion among Hollywood [producers] about whether she was?too pretty to be a teacher. I said, 'come on, not all teachers>are ugly. I think it's an insulting thing to say.' they said,>'that's not what we're saying.' I said, 'yes, you are. You'reAsaying this woman is too pretty to be a teacher. Did anybody say<[actor] Tom Cruise is too good-looking to be in the Navy?'"7   Born 41 years ago in the small town of Youngsville,@Pennsylvania, Louanne Johnson enlisted in the U.S. Navy with an>interest in journalism. She continued her military service by@becoming an officer in the U.S. marines. But Ms. Johnson alwaysAretained an interest in writing and reading, earning a bachelorsBand masters degree in college and later, working as an editor. It?was her love of the English language, and the realization that;many young Americans were poor wordsmiths, that led her toconsider teaching.A   "I would read about kids graduating and they couldn't read orBwrite and didn't like to read. I thought, what a crime, because IAloved books, and always have. They opened so many worlds for me.@And I really couldn't imagine what my life would have been likeif I hadn't had that."@   As shown in the new movie "Dangerous Minds," Louanne Johnson>accepted a part-time position as an English teacher at a high@school in Belmont, California. But she was not told exactly the:kinds of students she would teach, unruly teens from poor=families who resisted traditional attempts at education. Ms.@Johnson abandons standard curricula and introduces her students>to the works of writer Dylan Thomas and songwriter Bob Dylan.?With patience and determination, she succeeds in reaching someAstudents. But Louanne Johnson says some seemed to accept failureas a way of life:8   "There were a few kids who were almost determined to?self-destruct. [But] I had a student, Julio, who told me, 'I'mAgoing to prison. I know I'm going to prison; that's what all the?boys in my family do.' I said, 'but you don't have to. You can9change that.' He said, 'no! That's what we do. You don't@understand. My uncles, my cousins, that's where they go.' and I;said, 'you don't have to. He said, 'yes I do.' He wouldn't@discuss it with me. He did end up going to jail. And i was very?disappointed. But someone called me last year and said, 'Julio@said to be sure to tell Ms. Johnson I got out of jail and got a.job. I straightened out and I'm doing fine.'"?   Louanne Johnson admits there were times she would reach her@limit and decide to quit. A scene in the film "Dangerous Minds"Bshows her packing her belongings and moving them to her car, only@to change her mind because of her students' pleading for her tostay:?   "Quite frequently, I'd think, oh, I can't do this anymore.'>and then someone would come and say thank you, or someone who?hadn't produced would work really hard and get an 'a' [grade].=There are more kids that are good, that are trying, than are9trying to make you quit. It's those ones that I tried to?concentrate on, and try to get the other ones to go along with7them. I'm also stubborn. I don't give up very easily."B   Although the movie ends after a couple of hours, the real-lifeALouanne Johnson continues her interest in education. She teachesAEnglish at New Mexico State University, but has taken a year off@to speak about educational issues, Such as criticizing programs=that pay students if they read a certain number of books andAsupporting the concept of community-based schooling. Ms. JohnsonAalso completed another book about her teaching experiences, "The=Girls in the Back of the Class," which was published in May.   ---------------   ---------------&   EGYPTIAN GOVERNMENT-PRESS TENSIONS   PEYMAN PEJMAN	   CAIRO=   Tension continues between the Egyptian government and the?country's journalists. But both sides seem eager to contain an?incident in which a senior opposition journalist was beaten byunknown attackers.:   Egyptian newspapers Friday quoted an interior ministry:statement saying that solving a case in which a prominent<opposition journalist was badly beaten is its top priority.;   The statement said those who attacked Gamal Badawi, theAeditor-in-chief of the opposition Wafd newspaper, and his driver:Tuesday night will not be able to escape apprehension andpunishment.@   Two cars blocked Mr. Badawi's car in a Cairo suburb, dragged8him and his driver out, and beat them for five minutes.A   For his part, Mr. Badawi, too, seems to be wanting to containthe issue.9   In interviews after the attack, he openly accused theAgovernment of involvement in the attack because of his outspoken9opposition to a press law the government passed in June.@   But on Friday, Mr. Badawi said the government may or may not?have been involved in the incident against him. He said he now@believes the government is seriously looking for the attackers.@   The government also seems to be sending a signal that, whileAit still thinks Egypt needs a new press law, it wants the law tobe a fair one.?   It has invited a half-dozen senior journalists from various@countries such as the United States, Germany, France, Japan andBSouth Africa to attend a conference starting Monday on what presslaws their countries have.<   The previous law that Mr. Badawi and others so intensely?criticized was passed in June and substantially increased jail?terms and financial penalties for journalists deemed violatingAthe law. Faced with unusually harsh and continuous opposition by?journalists from national and opposition newspapers, PresidentBHosni Mubarak suspended the law and formed a committee to draft a	new law.   ---------------   ---------------3   BBC MAY BAR KENYA FROM USES OF ITS NEWS PROGRAM   ALEX BELIDA   NAIROBIA   The British Broadcasting Corporation is poised to bar Kenya's?state-run television station from any further use of a nightly;BBC news program. The action is being taken because Kenyan@authorities are censoring reports critical of the government of<President Daniel Arap Moi, which charged Friday)there is anAinternational conspiracy against Kenya. The move comes at a time>when Kenya's relations both with foreign journalists and with2Britain have taken a dramatic turn for the worse.@   The censorship by state-run KBC TV has at times been clumsy,Awith screens suddenly going blank during the nightly rebroadcast?of a BBC world service news program and then suddenly resumingBwith a local advertisement instead of continuing with a scheduleditem about Kenya.=   Such incidents have occurred with increasing frequency in@recent weeks as a result of the international attention focused?on such matters as the Moi government's alleged suppression of>human rights and its disputes with donor countries, including0Britain, about the future of political reforms.@   Broadcasting sources say that under the BBC's agreement with>the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation, local authorities are notBallowed to censor the nightly news program. These sources say theABBC has sent written warnings to Kenyan officials reminding them@of the terms of the agreement. The sources say the Kenyans have0never replied and the censorship has continued.?   Now the BBC is understood to be preparing to bar Kenya fromAany further rebroadcasts of the news program, probably beginningnext week.@   While viewers may bemoan the loss, Kenyan authorities do not7appear to be troubled in the least. Kenyan minister ofAinformation and broadcasting Johnstone Makau told reporters late?Friday that Kenya will never allow itself to be blackmailed orintimidated by anyone.@   Mr. Makau said the BBC is free to withdraw its broadcasts if7it insists that KBC must carry stories critical of theBgovernment. But he said editing will continue because the country2can not, in his words, sacrifice its sovereignty.B   Kenya's relations with the news media have been rocky of late.:Mr. Makau, for example, issued a written statement Friday>declaring there is an international conspiracy against Kenya.9Although foreign reporters were not informed of his newsAconference, Mr. Makau specifically accused them of intentionally;trying to portray Kenya negatively, thus influencing donorcountries to withhold aid.A   Foreign correspondents have also been accused of scaring away:tourists and investors. The Kenya Times, the newspaper ofAPresident Moi's ruling Kanu party, recently urged minister Makau8to consider the expulsion of some non-Kenyan reporters.=   Kenya's relations with Britain have appeared particularly<rocky. President Moi this past week lashed out at Britain's=overseas development minister Lynda Chalker, accusing her of=treating Kenyans like a domineering headmistress would treatkindergarten children.@   The president's personal attack followed a formal government@statement accusing Ms. Chalker of misbehavior during a visit to?kenya in which she appeared to say Britain would freeze aid toAits former colony pending improvements in the political climate.B   British officials later accused journalists of misinterpreting>her comments. But the controversy has now reportedly affected?negotiations on the extension of a military agreement allowing7British troops to conduct training exercises in Kenya.   ---------------   ---------------"   KENYA OPPOSITION PARTY: SAFINA   ALEX BELIDA   NAIROBI;   Since its establishment in Kenya earlier this year, theAopposition Safina political party has come under almost constantAcriticism from the government of President Daniel Arap Moi. Much?of that criticism has been aimed at Richard Leakey, the second?generation white Kenyan conservationist whom President Moi hasBaccused of plotting to reintroduce colonialism. A prominent young>black Kenyan lawyer and activist is considered the real force0behind Safina, which is Swahili for Noah's ark.?   Perhaps because of the frequent attacks by President Moi on@Mr. Leakey and all the attention focused on the conservationist@by foreign reporters, it has often seemed that safina should beconsidered "Leakey's party."A   But in Kenya itself, many observers familiar with the group'sAorigins regard it as "Muite's party", a reference to Paul Muite,;a member of parliament, prominent lawyer, and human rights>activist who is considered one of the vital forces in Kenya'sopposition movement.5   Mr. Muite dismisses such suggestions. In a recent?conversation, he said he is just one member of a team, not itsleader:A   "They are giving me credit that I do not deserve at all. I am@one of a team, I'm one individual amongst others. When you readAour (Safina party) constitution where we are delinking the partyBfrom even the political leadership, all these positions are going?to be open. We are saying that if you are going to assist this@country in becoming truly democratic, we must set an example by=being internally very democratic, so it is simply not true."@   Despite this show of modesty, Mr. Muite, like Mr. Leakey, is8often characterized as arrogant, and he is particularlyBblistering in his criticism of the government of President Daniel9arap Moi. The Safina activist makes no apologies for hisaggressive attitude:>   "It is not arrogance. I believe that there are issues thatBmust be discussed and discussed very candidly, and the president,>as everybody knows particularly in this country, is less than?candid. I mean he tells blatant lies. What am I to do? Pretend2that he has not told lies when he has told lies?"B   As an attorney, Mr. Muite recognizes that is a serious charge.:But he does not hesitate to cite an example of an allegedpresidential lie:?   "The most insulting one to the intelligence of Kenyans, for>example, is his (Moi's) repeated lie that the tribal clashes,@ethnic cleansing, which claimed hundreds of lives and displaced@thousands of people, that it was caused by the opposition, when8he knows it was initiated, planned, and executed by his
government."B   Although he may not be as well known abroad as Richard Leakey,BPaul Muite is constantly in the news in Kenya. This past week, he?showed up in court to defend two Safina activists arrested andBcharged with trespassing after they met a professor on the campus?of Nairobi university. He has also served as the chief defense:attorney for Koigi Wa Wamwere, perhaps Kenya's best known?dissident, who has been on trial for alleged involvement in an armed raid on a police station.   ---------------   ---------------A   U.S. WARNS SOUTH AFRICA NOT TO TAKE IRANIAN TRADE OPPORTUNITY   RON PEMSTEIN   STATE DEPARTMENT?   The United States has called on South Africa not to fill in:the void left by the American refusal to trade with Iran.<   South Africa is about to close a deal with Iran to store=15-million barrels of oil earning South Africa more than 200Bmillion dollars. South Africa also purchases 300 thousand barrelsa day of Iranian oil.?   The United States had hoped its allies and friends would go=along with its ban on trade and investment in Iran,including;purchases of Iranian oil. However, South Africa, like most3European countries, has ignored the American move.B   State Department spokesman David Johnson urges South Africa toreconsider its ties to Iran:;   "We believe it is inappropriate to provide teheran with=additional financial resources while the government supports9terrorism and pursues weapons of mass destruction. We've@expressed our concern to the South African government regarding9its agreement to store Iranian oil and we've urged it to'reconsider its cooperation with Iran."?   The United States also has trade disputes with South AfricaAover the misuse of American trademarks and South Africa's closerrelations with Cuba.   ---------------   ---------------:   CHIEF TOM IKIMI AND RANDALL ROBINSON DEBATE ON U.S. TV   JIM FISHER-THOMPSON   WASHINGTON9   Nigerian foreign minister Chief Tom Ikimi and RandallARobinson, the African-American advocate who could go to jail for=protesting outside the Nigerian Embassy here, debated for 10;minutes on national television August 3 over the status of,democracy in Africa's most populous nation.?   Ikimi, who was in New York City on business with the United=Nations, was appointed foreign minister earlier this year by?Nigerian head of state General Sani Abacha. The official is an9architect and self-described longtime player in Nigerian
politics.@   Minister Ikimi debated the status of Nigeria's transition toBdemocratic civilian rule with Robinson, who is executive director?of TransAfrica and a longtime anti-apartheid protester, on the<MacNeil-Lehrer NewsHour. A court date to rule on Robinson's>recent arrest for protesting outside the Nigerian Embassy wasrecently postponed.B   Asked on the program about promises General Abacha has made toBmove Nigeria toward civilian rule as soon as possible, Ikimi said>that now that the military ruler has received the report of a>constitutional conference (which has been meeting for year in=Abuja), "I am confident that on the first of October of thisAyear, he will produce an agenda [for political action] that will'be perfectly acceptable to Nigerians.";   This did not satisfy Robinson, who has testified beforeBCongress and told top government officials that the United StatesAneeds to take a tougher stance against Abacha's regime with more>serious economic sanctions. He stated: "I would even hazard aAprediction...that his [Abacha's] response in October will be theAsuggestion of a two-to three-year transition plan in which there;will be further delays" in holding elections and returningNigeria to civilian rule.?   General Abacha's real plan, Robinson stated, "is to stay in=power and continue to loot the country until the year 2000."B   Protesting Robinson's statement, Ikimi said: "I wonder how Mr.9Robinson can sit in Washington and be so sure of what isBhappening in Nigeria. Let me assure you that my country is moving;in the path toward democracy -- a path that we have freely	chosen."A   Ikimi said Nigeria was "only 35 years young as an independentAnation, compared to the United States, with over 200 years as anAindependent nation. You have your problems in the United States,=we have ours in Nigeria... We need understanding and genuine9friends who will come to Nigeria and discuss with us the(democratic path we have freely chosen.":   Touching on the question of economic sanctions against=Nigeria, Ikimi said, "There are nations on earth that do not?intend to become democratic at all but the United States still%does business with those countries."8   Finally, Ikimi said, "As the most powerful nation on=earth...please, we ask you to respect the sovereignty of our<nation and please allow us, Mr. Robinson, to be the ones todecide what we want to do."@   Asked what he hoped to achieve by calling for sanctions like>an embargo on oil imports from Nigeria, Robinson said: "It isBclear to me and to others around the world that the military willAnot leave power unpressured. General Abacha only understands the<language of money. And when we are prepared to impose those0sanctions, Nigeria will move" toward democracy.@   If the U.S. government does not impose sanctions on Nigeria,=Robinson said, "Nigeria will deteriorate into civil war -- aAcivil war that will take with it all of the emerging democraciesBof West Africa and have consequences across the world -- we stillcan avoid that."A   Currently, the United States buys 50 percent of Nigeria's oil>exports, which accounts for about 8 percent of total U.S. oil	imports.B   Addressing Ikimi directly, Robinson said, "What you have said,;Mr. Minister, for 35 years in Nigeria about moving towards@democracy is exactly what the South Africans said for 40 years,3[and] they didn't move until they were pressured."A   In response Chief Ikimi declared that "there will be no civilBwar in Nigeria... We have fought a civil war like you have foughtAa civil war. We have that experience, and General Abacha was oneAof those young officers that fought to save Nigeria, and Nigeria-is not going down the path of any civil war.@   "Let me assure you," the Nigerian official told his American@audience, "that we will have democracy in our country -- in our@own time -- a democracy that will take into account our social,>cultural, and political circumstances. It will be peculiar to@Nigeria. It will not be the Westminster system, which failed in>our country. It will not be the American presidential system,which failed our country."<   Ikimi said, "Now we know better and we are about to move>forward. We are all in it [together]. I am a politician and aAdemocrat and that is why [I am] in the government -- because theaction is in Nigeria."?   The Nigerian official then turned the tables on Robinson by?inviting the American to Nigeria as his personal guest "to see?things for himself." Addressing Robinson directly, Ikimi said:B"If you have prejudices, then you will have time to confirm them.BBut you will find, like your own countrymen have found, that someBof the beliefs you have [expressed] here are far removed from thetruth."=   Robinson, who has never visited Nigeria, accepted Ikimi'sAinvitation but stipulated, as he has in the past, "the condition>that you release all political prisoners forthwith, declare a6plan, forthwith, to restore democracy, and invite the8international community to participate in the process."   ---------------   ---------------G   SUDAN PLEASED EGYPTIANS IMPLICATED IN MUBARAK ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT   LAURIE KASSMAN	   CAIROA   Sudan says it is pleased Ethiopian authorities declared theirAinvestigation shows the 11 men who organized and carried out the?assassination attempt against Egyptian President Hosni MubarakBwere all Egyptian Muslim extremists. The finding does not resolve(Egyptian suspicions Sudan was involved.:   The director of the Sudan foreign ministry's political;department in Khartoum told reporters his government feelsBvindicated by the Ethiopian report. Ethiopian authorities say theBmen who tried to kill President Hosni Mubarak in Addis Ababa were<members of the extremist Egyptian group Gama-A Al-Islamiya.;   Egyptian government spokesman Nabil Osman says the fullAinvestigation is not complete. Top presidential advisor Osama El?Baz says investigators need to pursue some convincing evidenceindicating Sudanese links.@   Ethiopia has arrested two more suspects and says they belong>to the assassination team sent to kill the Egyptian president>during his stay in Addis Ababa. Two gunmen were killed at the?scene of the attack. Three others were killed during a raid onBtheir hideout. Another suspect, believed to be the mastermind, isstill at large.:   After escaping the assassination attempt in late June,=President Mubarak accused Sudan of involvement in the murderAplot. Mr. Mubarak has long complained Sudan harbors and supportsAIslamic radicals who want to overthrow his government and createan Islamic state in Egypt.>   Relations between the neighbors have deteriorated rapidly.=Tensions remain high in the disputed border area of halayeb.ASudans' official news agency is carrying a report accusing Egypt3of forcing 28 Sudanese families to leave the area.B   The dispute about sovereignty has been unresolved for decades.;Egypt claims rights to the oil-rich triangle and has begunAimplementing development projects there. Reports in the Egyptian@media this week tell about the transfer of Egyptian workers andBtheir families to halayeb to help build tourist facilities there.   ---------------   ---------------@   NIGERIAN COURT ORDERS MILITARY NOT TO TRY DEMOCRACY ACTIVIST   PURNELL MURDOCK   ABIDJANB   A Nigerian court has ordered a secret military tribunal not to;try pro-democracy activist Beko Ransome-Kuti. The tribunal<recently convicted 40 people of conspiring to overthrow themilitary government.=   A lawyer for the pro-democracy activist said federal high7court Judge MO Bioshogun granted an interim injunctionBprohibiting the military tribunal from arraigning, prosecuting or)passing any verdict on Mr. Ransome-kuti.7   The court ruling was given in a suit brought by Mr.@Ransome-kuti challenging his arrest and detention. The case was!adjourned until September first.?   This is the first time that a civil court has issued a stopBorder on the tribunal after at least two failed attempts by otherBapplicants. Observers say they do not expect the tribunal to heedBthe court order because the government has placed military courts(above the jurisdiction of civil courts.=   Mr. Ransome-kuti was arrested one week ago and accused of:distributing the defense statement of one of the suspects>convicted by the tribunal in an alleged coup plot. He is also@said to have met with a commonwealth team that recently visited>Nigeria to monitor its human rights record. The pro-democracy=group campaign for democracy said it believes its leader has4already been tried and sentenced to life in prison.>   Nigerian authorities have not said whether any more people9have been tried by the tribunal since they announced the=conviction of 40 alleged coup plotters last month. But humanBrights groups have said several people, including journalists and?pro-democracy activists, have been arrested and brought beforeAthe secret military tribunal. Critics of the military government:say the tribunal has changed from one trying alleged coupBplotters, to one used by the government to silence its opponents.=   Nigerian leaders have come under increasing internationalBpressure to show leniency to the alleged coup plotters, including>former military leader Olusegun Obasanjo and his deputy Shehu<Yar'adua. Some government officials have suggested that the;administration may show some leniency. But news reports in>Nigeria say two of Nigeria's 30 state military governors have;urged army ruler General Sani Abacha to ignore appeals for clemency for the convicted men.?   Some 117 people have been shot for coup charges since 1976.   ---------------   ---------------!   TANZANIA ELECTION CAMPAIGNING   WILLIAM EAGLE   WASHINGTONB   This week, Tanzania's main opposition party chose a well-knownBcritic and veteran politician as its vice presidential candidate.<He is Ahmed Mohammed Abdulrahman Babu (ah'-med moe-hah'-med9ahb-dool-rah-mahn' bah'-boo). Together with presidentialAcandidate Augustine Mrema (aw'-guh-steen meh-ray'-mah], he hopesBto boost the fortunes of their party, the National Convention for#Constitution and Reform, the NCCR.8   Analysts say the Tanzanian government may face stiff>competition in the October elections. They say the opposition>NCCR could make gains, by tapping into public dissatisfaction=over the rate of privatization, unemployment and corruption.A   The party's vice presidential candidate is veteran politicianBAhmed Mohammed Abdulrahman Babu. He has served in many government;posts, including minister of economic affairs and economic0planning under former President Julius Nyerere.?   Some people criticize the opposition ticket. They point out9the age difference between Mr. Babu and the presidential?candidate, Augustine Mrema. Mr. Babu is over 70 years old; Mr.;Mrema is about 20-years younger. Others say Mr. Mrema is a#hard-liner, while Mr. Babu is not.@   They say Mr. Mrema was a strict administrator when he servedBas minister of internal affairs under the ruling party. They also@criticize him for following the party line while working in the!governing party's press section.B   In fact, some critics have gone so far as to say Mr. Mrema has?"neo-fascist tendancies." On the other hand, vice-presidentialBcandidate Babu is considered to be left-wing, and more supportiveof multi-party rule.A   Mr. Babu is quick to come to the defense of his running mate:@   "He has the right to take any political position [he likes].AIf he's on the right, it's better because we can counter-balance@each other and get the medium position. So I don't see anythingwrong with that."@   Mr. Babu also says age should not be a factor in the October<campaign, although he told the guardian newspaper in Dar Es>Salaam recently that he favored the involvement of more youngpeople in politics:A   "You need to have strong opposition to challenge the existingAparty. I could use my [own] experience, as long as I am healthy,?mentally and physically, I can be useful. Age becomes an asset8and not a liability. I'm happy to work with the younger-generation for as long as I can contribute."8   Other critics ask how Mr. Babu, who is known to be aAsocialist, can guide Tanzania in the post-cold war world of free@market economics. But he says pragmatism, and not dogma, is the#best guide for Tanzania's economy:>   "I do believe in a centralized, or planned economy. Japan,<China, Korea and Singapore has that. In a small third world=country you have to have some element of state intervention,<although not too much. [You must] allow more of the private@entrepreneurs to do their bit. The state must play some role in@promoting some areas, because in some areas, private enterpriseBis not interested like in setting up infrastructure and things ofthat sort."B   Mr. Babu says to be effective, Tanzanian, and African, reforms=must help abolish poverty and provide for food, clothing and;housing. They must also provide incentives for the private8sector. On a regional level, Mr. Babu supports economicAintegration, similar to that which existed under the former EastAAfrican community. He says eastern African countries should helpAeach other develop, and not see others simply as export markets.>   He also confirmed his support for multi-party politics. He=says pluralism provides what he calls the "creative tension"Bnecessary to bring about new ideas and promote accountability. He>blames the one-party state for Tanzania's economic and social
problems.A   Following disagreements with the ruling party, Ahmed Mohammed@Abdulrahman Babu moved to London, where he has lived for over a-decade. He returns to Tanzania this weekend.6   Observers have been quoted as saying Mr. Babu adds?intellectual weight to the opposition campaign, a campaign the%government calls knee-jerk populist.   ---------------   ---------------&   TRIAL OF PROMINENT NIGERIAN AUTHOR   CHINEDU OFFOR	   LAGOS>   The trial in Nigeria of prominent author Ken Saro-Wiwa andBfour leaders of the movement for the survival of the Ogoni people<has hit a new snag. The accused men have rejected a team of:defense lawyers appointed by the military government. TheBoriginal defense attorney, Gani Fawehinmi,  stepped down chargingthe trial was unfair./   Sources say the accused men turned down theBgovernment-appointed lawyers because of concern they would not beadequately represented.>   In a statement, the movement for the survival of the Ogoni@people said it would be suicidal to put the life of its leadersAin the hands of government-appointed lawyers who, it said, might8team up with the prosecution to convict them of murder.B   The organization said the accused men should be able to chooseBtheir own defense team. Nigerian author Ken Saro-Wiwa has said he?and the accused movement leaders consider Gani Fawehinmi to be@their defense lawyer. But Mr. Fawehinmi has given conditions to?be met by the state before he agrees to accept the case. Among?the conditions are the removal of the judge and members of the#tribunal created to hear the case.=   Mr. Fawehinmi and several other lawyers pulled out of the<Agoni civil disturbance tribunal, alleging intimidation andharassment by security agents.;   Following the withdrawal of Mr. Fawehinmi, the militaryAgovernment appointed four lawyers from the legal aids council to@defend the suspects. One of the defense lawyers reportedly told?the tribunal Mr. Saro-Wiwa declined his services. The tribunalAruled the trial would continue and ordered a new team of lawyersto represent the accused men.@   Mr. Saro-Wiwa and four others are being charged with killing?four members of the Ogoni ethnic group last year. Critics have@called the charges a ploy by the military government to counterBpersistent agitation by the Ogonis against alleged destruction oftheir homes by oil companies.<   The Ogoni people are demanding compensation from the oil9companies and the Nigerian government for the ecological<destruction of their land. The Nigerian government says the>Ogonis want to break away from the country and are committing9acts of sabotage against oil refineries to achieve theirAobjective. Leaders of the Ogoni movement have denied the charge.   ---------------   ---------------0   NIGERIA USES LETTER AS PRETEXT FOR CRACKDOWN   WILLIAM EAGLE   WASHINGTON@   Critics say Nigeria's military government may be using a newApretext for its crackdown on dissent: A letter supposedly issuedAby the opposition constitutional rights project. The letter asks;the American embassy to help opponents rescue alleged coup=suspects from prison. But human rights activists say it is a	forgery.B   Members of the American embassy staff were skeptical about the@claims of a visitor last Thursday. A man calling himself Edmund:Onyeama told ambassador Walter Carrington he was from theAlagos-based constitutional rights project. He came with a letter=asking for support for a plan to rescue over 40 alleged coup4suspects from the Kirikiri maximum security prison.?   The letter said the cost of the plan was just a fraction of<the cost of the American effort to solve crises in Somalia,BKuwait, and Haiti. The so-called Damisa operation would ferry the*prisoners to safety in neighboring Benin.B   The embassy faxed the letter to the head of the constitutional+rights project, Clement Nwankwo, who says:A   "I think it must be some elements within the security service>involved in this plan. I don't know the reason. It's possibleBsome elements may want to create an atmosphere to further justify(a clampdown on human rights activists.">   Mr. Nwankwo says his group did not send the letter. And heAsays human rights groups are committed to non-violence and moralpersuasion.@   He also says the visitor to the American embassy came on the<same day leaflets appeared at major bus stops in Lagos. The?leaflets also said human rights groups were preparing to breakinto Kirikiri Prison.A   Clement Nwankwo says Edmond Onyeama is a name that's familiar@to Nigerian journalists. He says Mr. Onyeama gained major media;attention a few years ago when he claimed he was part of a@security service team that delivered a fatal letter bomb to the@editor of one of Nigeria's best-known newsmagazines, Newswatch:?   "He claims he is working in the special strike force of the>security services. He says [it] was set up to destabilize theBopposition, and that they are empowered to use force of all kindsBof means to deal with the opposition.  What we have from the U.S.Aembassy is also that he has also at various times claimed he wasAa basketball player who needed assistance to go into the U.S. toplay basketball.=   The constitutional rights project says a few years ago, a?Nigerian army spokesman, General Fred Chijuka, denied that the?military or security services were involved in the 1986 letter
bomb attack.>   General Chijuka denied any knowledge of Edmund Onyeama, aswell:@   "I don't know him at all...have they checked to see if he is@mentally balanced? How can he just go to the [American] embassy=and start seeking assistance to go and break in [to Kirikiri>prison]. I don't think any embassy can assist in that type ofdirty job."?   General Chijuka says he is also skeptical about claims that+human rights activists have been arrested:;   "I hope they are correct about what they are saying. We>usually read things from the daily papers. From Thursday lastAweek and this morning, I have not seen any reports of arrests ofBanybody. [Moreover], we usually hold meetings at the beginning ofBthe week which I've attended and none of that was reported in our@own security briefing. I think it's just people trying to build=up tension and the best way to do that is by making up these$phony stories. I don't believe it."?   However, constitutional rights project head Clement NwankwoBsays over the past week, the government has arrested the heads of=several human rights organizations. Among them, he says, are:Abdul Oroah of the Civil Liberties Organization, Dr. BekoARansome-Kuti of the campaign for democracy and Dr. Tunji Abayoma=of human rights Africa. The government has also arrested the9legal counsel to coup suspect General Olusegun Obasanjo.=   Mr. Nwankwo says security forces have already been to hisAoffice. For now, he is keeping a low profile. The constitutionalBrights project is calling on the military government to guaranteehis safety.   ---------------   ---------------=   SUDAN CALLS REPORT OF HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES, HALLUCINATIONS   ALEX BELIDA   NAIROBI>   The government of Sudan has dismissed as a hallucination a@recent report by an international monitoring group that accused=Khartoum of committing gross human rights abuses in the NubaMountains.9   A statement issued by the Sudanese embassy in Nairobi>denounced the report issued two-weeks ago by the London-based@monitoring group, African rights. The statement charged authorsBof the report never visited Sudan,despite invitations extended to?them by the government and local organizations. It claimed the:report was apparently the creation of Sudanese oppositionelements in London and Cairo.A   In its report, African rights accused the Khartoum government?of committing what it termed genocide by attrition, slowly and>methodically grinding down the society and the economy of the(Nuba people until they no longer exist.6   The human rights group claimed government soldiers>systematically killed Nuba leaders, abducted and raped women,Bburned villages, looted crops, and destroyed other possessions of=the Nuba. African rights charged the government's policy was>aimed at creating what is effectively a permanent famine, one3that forced surviving residents of the region intogovernment-controlled camps.;   The Sudanese government statement said the Nuba region,Alocated in Kordofan Province in northern Sudan,has enjoyed total<peace and stability since 1990 when rebel groups there wereAsmashed by troops and the area was declared a no-rebellion zone.B   African rights said its investigators visited rebel-controlled?parts of the Nuba area twice this year, travelled extensively,?and carried out more than 130 detailed interviews with victims&and witnesses of human rights abuses.   ---------------   ---------------"   ZIMBABWE BOOK FAIR CONTROVERSY   LAWRENCE BARTLETT
   HARARE@   The future of sub-Saharan Africa's biggest publishing event,Bthe Zimbabwe International Book Fair, has been put in jeopardy by:the expulsion of a gay and lesbian group under governmentBpressure. The incident has drawn fierce criticism from publishers=and human rights organizations attending the fair, which was+opened Tuesday by President Robert Mugabe.@   The theme of this year's Zimbabwe International Book Fair is8human rights and justice. The fair is being attended by3representatives of 450 publishers from 40 nations.@   The Gays and lesbian Association of Zimbabwe, GALZ, booked a=stand at the fair, but was expelled at the insistence of theZimbabwe government.B   The ministry of information said in a letter to the organizers@President Robert Mugabe was officially opening the fair, and it>said Zimbabwean society and the government did not accept the6public display of homosexual literature and material.A   The trustees of the book fair described their decision to banAGalz from the fair as, agonizingly painful, pointing out if they@failed to do so they stood to lose essential government supportfor the annual event.B   The incident appears to have put the fair's future in jeopardyAin any case. The Publishers Association of South Africa has said@it will urge its members to reconsider their participation next<year, and has suspended talks about the creation of a joint*southern African International Book Fair.:   The South African publishers group called the banning,<indefensible, particularly in the light of the fair's humanBrights theme. It referred in a statement to what it called, SouthAAfrica's own history of discrimination and censorship and warnedBof the dangerous consequences of applying authoritarian measures.8   The decision of the fair's organizations to yield to?government pressure has also led to the resignation of four ofBits 18 trustees and condemnation by writers attending seminars at<the fair, including South African Nobel Prize-winner Nadine7Gordimer, as well as by the human rights group AmnestyInternational.B   Critics say homosexuality is not at issue, but the suppression9by the government of an individual's right to freedom ofexpression.   ---------------   ---------------;   NIGERIAN OPPOSITION REPORTS MORE SECRET MILITARY TRIALS   PURNELL MURDOCK   ABIDJAN;   Nigeria's main pro-democracy organization, campaign forAdemocracy, says more people have been tried by a secret militaryBtribunal following the sentencing of 40 civilians and soldiers inan alleged coup plot.B   Campaign for democracy said in a statement the secret military>tribunal had changed from a court created to try alleged coupBplotters to one that is now being used by the military governmentto silence opponents.>   The pro-democracy group said "Tell" magazine editors Kunle<Ajibade and George Mbah were convicted last Saturday by the>tribunal for publishing articles related to the coup plot and6trial. Campaign for democracy said its chairman, Beko?Ransome-Kuti, who was arrested last Thursday, has been brought>before the military investigating panel and would soon appearbefore the coup-plot tribunal.<   The Reuter News Agency reports a defense spokesman wouldBneither confirm nor deny whether more people have appeared beforeBthe secret tribunal since sentencing 40 people in an alleged coupplot several-weeks ago.B   Human rights groups in Nigeria have denounced the coup plot as9a hoax and promised to seek a reversal of the tribunal's5sentences. Military ruler Sani Abacha has been under@international pressure not to carry out any death sentences and)to quickly restore democracy in Nigeria.@   Nigeria has been in political turmoil since the annulment inA1993 of presidential elections that would have restored civilianBrule in Nigeria. The presumed winner of the election, millionaireAbusinessman Moshood Abiola, has been in prison for more than one:year for proclaiming himself president in defiance of the
military.   ---------------   ---------------9   RWANDAN PRIEST CHARGED WITH PARTICIPATING IN GENOCIDE   JULIAN NUNDY	   PARIS@   A French judge has indicted a Catholic priest from Rwanda onAcharges he participated in genocide against members of the Tutsitribe last year.B   Father Wenceslas Munyashyaka fled from Rwanda last year duringBthe civil war that saw his Hutu tribe driven from the government.@The French Catholic church found him a post last September in aParish in southern France.A   Then the new Tutsi-led Rwandan government named the priest in?a list of suspects wanted for genocide, torture, and politicalassassination.>   Father Munyashyaka denied the charges and threatened libel=actions against a Catholic magazine that published them. TheBmagazine quoted witnesses as saying the priest killed Tutsis with/a machete when they took refuge in his church.@   The relatives of five people who were killed in the violence?brought legal complaints in France against Father Munyashyaka.@The priest was detained as he stepped off a train Friday. After@several hours of questioning, he was charged late Saturday with>torture and complicity in genocide. It is not known if Rwanda?will seek the priest's extradition or if he will be brought totrial in France.   ---------------   ---------------@   FORMER IVORY COAST PRIME MINISTER WILL NOT RUN FOR PRESIDENT   PURNELL MURDOCK   ABIDJAN=   Ivory coast's former prime minister Alassane Ouattara hasBannounced he will not run for president in the country's national=election in October. Mr. Ouattara, seen by many as President9Henri Konan Bedie's main political rival, says the legalAconditions set by the recently adopted electoral code disqualifyhim.9   In a letter to members of the opposition rally of the8Republicans party, Mr. Ouattara turned down the party's?invitation to be their presidential candidate, saying he would@not oppose the electoral code's tough eligibility requirements.;   Among the requirements are proof of the candidates pure=Ivorian ancestry and residency in Ivory Coast for five years>prior to an election. Mr. Ouattara, who is currently a deputyAdirector of the International Monetary Fund in Washington, livesin the United States.B   Opponents of President Henri Konan Bedie say the new laws wereBdesigned to disqualify Mr. Ouattara, who has been the president's9main political rival since losing a brief power struggle>following the death of veteran leader Felix Houphet-Boigny in1993.@   Mr. Ouattara said while he deplored the legislation, he willBrespect the law, saying he does not want to do anything that will8create political and social instability in Ivory Coast.B   The opposition rally of the Republicans party has been seekingAMr. Ouattara's candidacy for months, saying the country needed a>leader who personifies the aspirations of the Ivorian people.?   Opposition party leaders say they will seek a repeal of the:electoral code and call on the government to establish anBindependent commission to oversee the election. They say they are=ready to discuss postponing the election for a few months toBallow time to correct electoral lists and install the commission.A   Five other candidates, including Ivorian popular front leader>Laurent Gbagbo, who ran against Felix Houphet-Boigny in 1990,@have declared their candidacy. Elections are scheduled for late>October, followed by parliamentary and municipal elections inNovember and December.   ---------------   ---------------<   KENYA CONTINUES TO CRITICIZE BRITAIN'S OVERSEAS MINISTER   ALEX BELIDA   NAIROBI:   The Kenyan government continues to criticize Britain's?overseas development minister in a diplomatic dispute that has<raised questions about the future of a military cooperation"accord between the two countries.>   The latest attack on British overseas development minister?Lynda Chalker comes directly from Kenyan President Daniel ArapAMoi. In a public appearance, he accuses her of haughty arrogance@during a visit last week. Mr. Moi says Kenyans were offended by>her behavior, which he charges was like that of a domineering1headmistress dealing with kindergarten children.B   The president's personal criticism follows a formal governmentBstatement which blasted Ms. Chalker for alleged hostility towards?Kenya. It blamed her for harming relations between Britain and@its former colony, and threatened Kenya might not continue with?an economic and political reform program sought by donors like	Britain.<   In an official response, Britain's embassy in Nairobi on@Wednesday took note of the criticism. It went on to say Britain>would continue to regard Kenya as one of its most significant?partners in Africa. It also said Britain remained committed toassisting Kenya with reforms.@   The dispute stems from remarks Ms. Chalker made at a Nairobi=news conference last week in which she suggested Britain wasBsuspending most aid to Kenya because of political tensions in the@country and allegations the Moi government was committing human@rights abuses. British officials later claimed her comments had=been misinterpreted by journalists and said there was no aidfreeze.6   Despite what observers have described as Britain's?damage-control efforts, some local news reports have indicated@the dispute could affect the future of a long-standing military<cooperation agreement that allows British troops to conduct&training exercises in northern Kenya.A   The East African standard newspaper quotes a British military>advisor as acknowledging talks on a renewal of the accord areAcontinuing. But the official rejects suggestions the cooperation@pact could become one of the first casualties of the diplomatic&controversy over Ms. Chalker's visit.   ---------------   ---------------,   KENYA OPPOSITION PARTY ACTIVIST ARRESTED   ALEX BELIDA   NAIROBIA   In Kenya, two activists of the unregistered Safina opposition@party have been arrested near the campus of Nairobi University.9Party leaders charge the action is political harassment.A   The two Safina activists, Wafula Buke and Kabanda Wa Kabanda,Bwere arrested late Tuesday by police while meeting with a Nairobi=University law professor. They were brought before a Nairobi?magistrate on Wednesday and charged with trespassing, a charge?which their attorney termed frivolous. Despite opposition fromBthe prosecutor, the two men were ordered released on bail pendinga further hearing.B   Mr. Buke told reporters there was little doubt in his mind whyhe was arrested:B   "I definitely believe they arrested us because we are founders'of Safina and active members as well."<   The secretary-general of Safina, conservationist Richard>Leakey, said he regarded the arrests as political harassment:8   "This is, as far as I can see, nothing but political
harassment."=   Another Safina activist, Robert Shaw, charged all leading<members of the group were suffering from similar government	actions:@   "All of us are being harassed, right, left and center. WhereAthey feel they can arrest us, they do that. Where they feel theyAcan bug our telephones, they do that. They are opening our mail.@They are throwing rubbish on our cars. They will continue to do<all these things. This is pettiness and the people of Kenyarealize how petty this is."B   Government authorities had no immediate comment on the arrests?or the accusations made by Safina leaders. Kenyan sources said>the detentions appeared to reflect concern the new opposition;group might be gaining popularity among restive university
students.@   The government of President Daniel Arap Moi has been sharply>critical of Safina. Authorities recently accused the party of<plotting a nationwide campaign of civil unrest and anarchy.B   Safina, Swahili for Noah's ark, has denied the charge. But itsBofficials have indicated they will call for demonstrations if theBgovernment continues to hold up the party's application for legal<registration, a move which is necessary for Safina to raise@funds, recruit members, and conduct other political activities.   ---------------   ---------------6   BRITAIN SAYS IT VALUES ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH KENYA   ALEX BELIDA   NAIROBI@   Britain says it continues to regard Kenya as one of its most@significant partners in Africa, despite a harshly-worded Kenyan>government attack on Britain's overseas development minister.AKenya suggested she is responsible for hurting relations betweenthe two countries.?   Observers say a brief embassy statement makes clear British?officials in Nairobi are attempting to prevent a dispute aboutBlast week's visit to Kenya by overseas development minister Lynda7Chalker from developing into a full-fledged diplomatic
controversy.B   During her visit, Ms. Chalker appeared to announce Britain wasAfreezing most aid to Kenya because of ongoing political tensions<in the country, and allegations the government of president4Daniel Arap Moi is involved in human rights abuses.?   British officials later denied there was any aid suspensionBand blamed journalists for misinterpreting her remarks. Diplomats<expected the affair to die then and there. But Tuesday, the=Kenyan government issued a statement accusing Ms. Chalker ofBimpolite and contemptuous behavior. It also accused her of having;a hostile attitude towards Kenya and suggested Kenya would9reconsider its plan to carry out reforms sought by donorcountries like Britain.=   The British response simply notes the Kenyan government's;criticism and recalls efforts by the British ambassador inBNairobi to calm Kenyan fears of an aid freeze. It describes KenyaAas one of Britain's most significant partners in Africa and saysABritain remains committed to assisting the Kenyan government and,people with economic and political reforms.B   Embassy officials decline to elaborate on the statement. Other?observers say Britain is hoping to put the affair to rest once@and for all. These observers say they regard the harshly-wordedBattack on Ms. Chalker as a predictable venting of anger by Kenyan
authorities.@   But they say while they are concerned about Kenya's constant?complaints about the impact of economic and political reforms,Athey do not believe the Moi government will do anything dramatic=to further undermine its relations with the donor community.   ---------------   ---------------2   PAKISTAN FOREIGN MINISTER VISIT TO AFGHANISTAN   TIM JOHNSTON	   KABULA   The foreign minister of Pakistan has left the Afghan capital,BKabul, Friday after a two-day visit. the visit may mark the start>of a new era in the rough, rocky relationship between the two
governments.?   The visit of Pakistani foreign minister Sardar Aseff Ali toBKabul was the first leg in a five-day tour of Afghanistan. During9the visit to Kabul, the foreign minister met with AfghanAPresident Burhanuddin Rabbani, and the government's top militarycommander, Ahmed Shah Masood.B   It was Mr. Masood who, in a recent interview, accused Pakistan?of supporting opposition groups in Afghanistan, something thatPakistan has always denied.?   Najibullah Lafrai, the Afghan minister of state for foreign=affairs, told reporters he is optimistic that the visit is aAstart towards improving the strained relations between Islamabad@and Kabul. He said the Pakistanis have agreed to set up a joint?ministerial commission to discuss the problems between the twocountries.?   Analysts say that if and when this commission is set up, itAwill represent a major victory for the Afghan government becauseAit will show tangible evidence that the Pakistanis recognize the<legitimacy of the Kabul government, something that has been+subject to considerable doubt in the past.@   Mr. Lafrai said the essential ingredient for the improvementBof relations between the two countries was trust, and he believed>this visit and the setting up of the commission were positive'steps towards establishing that trust.;   This visit to Kabul passed off more peacefully than the?previous one. During that visit, last year, a riot erupted andAthe Pakistani embassy was extensively damaged, marking a new low*in relations between the two governments.@   The Pakistani foreign minister will fly to the southern townAof Qandahar Saturday to meet with the opposition Taliban Islamic?student movement before going on to meet with the government'sBother main opponent, General Abdul Rashid Dostum, in the northerntown of Mazar-I-Sharif Monday.   ---------------   ---------------"   CHINESE ATTITUDES TOWARD JAPAN   STEPHANIE HO   BEIJING6   China has been undergoing a great deal of internalBsoul-searching about its experiences under Japanese occupation inBthe 1930's and 1940's. The 50th anniversary of the end of the warBwith Japan has provided an opportunity for the Chinese people and)government to reexamine old hostilities.?   Chinese people have mixed feeling about Japan. As soon as iBarrived in the eastern city of Nanjing, a young cabdriver angrily@told me he feels the Japanese never expressed sufficient regret?for the brutal killing of Chinese civilians during an incident@[in 1937] known as the "Nanjing massacre." Moreover, he said heBfeels the Japanese are again invading Nanjing. Only this time, he:pointed out that the invaders are gaining control through&economic, rather than military might.?   Then, after I arrived at my hotel, a joint venture with the=Japanese, a hotel porter claimed that the hotel was a Germanjoint venture.B   Of the people I talked to on my trip, survivors of the NanjingAmassacre, who have the most to be bitter about, actually seem toAbe the least hostile towards Japanese economic activity in their
hometown.@   Seventy-eight year-old Pan Kai Ning, who barely escaped with:his life during the Japanese attack, said he now welcomes9Japanese investment as long as it helps Chinese economic
development.?   From its actions in recent months, the Chinese government'sBattitude toward Japan is also ambivalent. When Japanese President?Tomiichi Murayama visited China earlier this year, the chinese;government, which gave up its right to claim compensation,?allowed a group of Chinese survivors to hold a news conference:and urged the Japanese government to consider claims from
individuals.B   At the same time, China appealed to Japan to ease China's debt?burden, which has ballooned because of the sharply rising yen.@But just this week, the leader of a group of survivors, who hadBplanned to go to Japan to sue for compensation, said the group is*being prevented from leaving the country.B   He said a source at the Chinese foreign ministry told him that@because China's most important bilateral relationship, with the?United States, has become strained, China wants to ensure that?its number two bilateral relationship, with Japan, is not alsothreatened.   ---------------   ---------------E   FALLOUT FROM INDIA REJECTION OF US-BUILT $3 BILLION POWER PROJECT   MICHAEL DRUDGE
   NEW DELHI6   The decision by an Indian state to cancel a nearly<three-billion-dollar US-built power project could result in-hundreds of millions of dollars of lawsuits.@   Legal experts forecast a flurry of litigation as a result of:the Maharashtra state government's decision to cancel theAcontract with Enron to build a two-thousand megawatt power plantsouth of Bombay.=   The Maharashtra state government says it is scrapping the?nearly three-billion-dollar deal because it costs too much and>because a previous government gave Enron the contract withoutasking for other bids.<   Lawyers from Enron are poring over the agreement as they@consider their options. A statement from Enron says the company7has strong legal defenses and it is ready to use them.B   Some experts say Maharashtra may owe Enron 500 million dollars?in damages. The company also could demand compensation for 600=million dollars it says it has already spent on the project.7   In turn, Enron could expect to be sued by about 150sub-contractors it has hired.:   The Indian power minister, NKP Salve, says the central;government is trying to figure out its financial liability>because New Delhi has guaranteed Enron payment if Maharashtra
defaults.B   Beyond the legal ramifications, businessmen are fretting about<the psychological impact of scrapping the country's biggestBforeign investment at a time when India wants to attract overseas>financing to build roads, power plants and telecommunications	systems.B   The business standard newspaper calls the cancellation a grave;and excessive step that will probably damage prospects for@much-needed foreign investment not only in Maharashtra, but all
of India.A   On the political front, the Hindu nationalist Indian People's@Party, which backs the cancellation of the Enron deal, believesBit has scored points on the ruling Congress Party, which over the9past four years has opened the Indian economy to foreigninvestment.A   It was a Congress Party government in Maharashtra that signedthe deal with Enron.?   The Indian People's Party is trying to tap a deep strain of@Hindu pride and mistrust of foreigners as it prepares to battle7the Congress Party in general elections due next year.   ---------------   ---------------<   SRI LANKAN PRESIDENT EXPECTS REBELS TO REJECT PEACE PLAN   MICHAEL DRUDGE
   NEW DELHI>   Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga says she doubts@Tamil separatist guerrillas will accept her just-unveiled peace>proposal. The Sri Lankan leader says she expects the war will/continue until the rebels lay down their arms.?   President Kumaratunga has told a news conference in colomboBthe Sri Lankan military will keep fighting Tamil Tiger guerrillas=until they agree to lay down their weapons and stop the war.<   Mrs. Kumaratunga says she has little hope that the Tamil<Tigers will accept her new peace plan after they refused to1discuss it during peace talks earlier this year.<   The president spoke a day after announcing proposals for8sweeping constitutional changes to give minority tamilsAsubstantial autonomy over their traditional homeland in northernand eastern Sri Lanka.:   The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam have fought for a=separate homeland in the region since 1983, and more than 304thousand people have been killed in the ethnic war.@   Mrs. Kumaratunga won election last year on a peace platform.>Her government held four rounds of peace talks with the Tamil>Tigers, but the rebels left the negotiating table and broke a!three-month cease-fire in April.=   The military last month launched a major offensive on the5rebel's stronghold in the northern Jaffna Peninsula.=   Mrs. Kumaratunga's peace plan picked up more endorsementsAFriday, with the main opposition United National Party welcomingAthe proposal. Moderate Tamil politicians and Muslim leaders alsoAback the plan, which would divide Sri Lanka into eight provinces8where elected governments would run most local affairs.:   The proposal will have to be approved by two-thirds of?parliament and win approval in a national referendum before it;can be implemented. The process could take several months.   ---------------   ---------------F   WORLD BANK CANCEL FINANCING FOR CONTROVERSIAL DAM IN THE HIMALAYAS   MICHAEL DRUDGE
   NEW DEHLIB   The World Bank has cancelled financing for a controversial dam:in the Himalayan mountains of Nepal, citing environmental	reasons.>   The World Bank says it is withdrawing a 175-million-dollar.loan for the Arun three dam project in Nepal.>   The announcement cited environmental, social and financial;reasons. The dam had been targeted by environmental groups;because of its impact on the land and people in the remote%himalayan region near Mount Everest.A   World Bank President James Wolfensohn said the risks to NepalBwere too great to justify proceeding, but the bank will work with$nepal on alternative power sources.?   Analysts say the announcement probably means the end of theBnearly 800-million-dollar project. There was no immediate commentby the Nepalese government.@   Experts say Nepal, one of the world's ten poorest countries,9faces a severe energy crisis, but environmentalists have?advocated building a series of smaller dams that would do lessdamage to the land.   ---------------   ---------------E   JAPAN PARLIAMENT CALL ON CHINA AND FRANCE TO HALT NUCLEAR TESTING   KYOKO KANEKO	   TOKYOA   Japan's parliament has adopted a resolution calling on France@and China to halt nuclear testing. The action came at the start=of an extraordinary five-day session Friday at the same timeAleaders of Japanese prime minister Tomiichi Murayama's coalitionBgovernment began discussing the scale and the timing of a cabinetreshuffle.A   The resolution was passed unanimously by the 511-member lower@house, the more powerful of Japan's two parliamentary chambers,>and it was approved by the 252-member upper house. It was the:first time an anti-nuclear resolution in parliament namedspecific countries.@   In the resolution, parliament opposes nuclear testing by any=country in view of the fact that Japan is the only nation toexperience an atomic bombing.B   The resolution says the fact that France has decided to resumeAnuclear testing, following China's underground nuclear tests, isBan act that destroys the global environment and ecological system;and threatens the existence of humanity, regardless of the@reasons given and whatever conditions are placed on carrying itout.B   Japan says it will keep applying diplomatic pressure on France"to cancel its nuclear test plans.<   The resolution was adopted just two days before the 50th<anniversary of the dropping of the first atomic bomb on the@Japanese city of Hiroshima on August sixth, 1945. The atom bomb>killed more than 100 thousand residents on impact. The United?States dropped a second bomb on the city of Nagasaki on August9ninth, 1945, killing scores of thousands more on impact.>   Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama was expected to renew the;calls on France and China when he addresses an anniversary'memorial event in Hiroshima on Sunday.<   Meanwhile, the three leaders of Mr. Murayama's coalitionBgovernment are scheduled to discuss the timing and the scale of aBcabinet shakeup. The coalition parties are the liberal Democratic=Party, social Democratic Party of Japan and the small party,
Sakigake.?   Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama has been under pressure to>take a bold move to put his socialist party and the coalition<back on their feet after both fared dismally in upper house;elections last month, a poll seen as an unofficial vote of7no-confidence in the three party coalition government.A   However, the prime minister was reported to have been against>a major reshuffle, hoping to keep the 13-month-old government"afloat by preserving its balance.>   Foreign minister and the president of the LDP, Yohei Kono,?says many his party members support a drastic change to tacklethe nation's flagging economy.   ---------------   ---------------   KARACHI VIOLENCE   ZARA MAHMUD   KARACHI9   At least 23-people were killed Thursday in Pakistan's>commercial center of Karachi, in what officials describe as a?virtual massacre. The worst-hit area is Orangi where seventeen1people, including two girls have been shot dead.<   Tension gripped Karachi as news spread quickly about the@massacre of 12 men, whose bodies were found in an abandoned bus@in Orangi, in the western district of the city, early Thursday.B   All the men, ages ranging from late twenties to early forties,?were shot in the head and chest. Some were blindfolded and had@their wrists tied. Officials say all the victims were civilians of assorted ethnic backgrounds.A   Within the hour, four more people, including two young girls,=were killed in their home in the Orangi area by unidentified=gunmen. Snipers also killed a local magistrate and his armedBguard in the eastern area of the city and five others were gunneddown in separate incidents.>   Federal interior minister Naseerullah Babur say Thursday's>deaths were in response to the killing by police of four men,@whom he described as terrorists. The four men, including FarooqBdada listed by police as one of the most wanted in Pakistan, wereBshot dead by police Wednesday in what authorities describe simplyas an encounter.B   The city's largest political party, the Mohajir Qaumi Movement@said the four men were members of the party and had been killedin cold blood by the police.@   Peace talks between the government of prime minister Benazir>Bhutto and the MQM were deadlocked earlier this week, causing=fears of renewed violence in Karachi. More than two-thousand<people have died during the past 19-months in religious andpolitical violence.@   Officials fear renewed killings could escalate, plunging theBcity into another bout of wide-scale violence. Officials say they@expected a backlash after the killing of Mr. Dada and his threecolleagues.@   Heavy shooting was reported from different parts of the city@and many people closed their offices and left for home. Schools?which had just reopened after the summer vacation also emptied	rapidly.?   The government blames the MQM for much of the violence, but@the opposition party denies the charge, accusing the government(of carrying out an anti-Mohajir policy.   ---------------   ---------------@   AFGHANISTAN ACCUSES PAKISTAN OF SUPPORTING OPPOSITION GROUPS   TIM JOHNSTON	   KABUL>   On the eve of a visit by the Pakistani foreign minister, a9senior Afghan government official has accused Pakistan's>government of supporting opposition groups in Afghanistan. AsAThis is the latest example of tension between the two countries.<   In a Wednesday interview, Afghan deputy foreign ministerBAbdurahim Gaffurzai accused Pakistan of supporting groups opposedBto the Afghan government. His comments come on the eve of a visit@to Kabul by the Pakistani foreign minister at the invitation ofthe Afghan government.?   Mr. Gaffurzai said the aim of the visit was to ease what heAdescribed as the tense relations between Islamabad and Kabul. He=said he hoped the visit would be used to re-evaluate the twoBcountries' relationship. Pakistan has consistently denied helping%the warring factions in Afghanistan.@   Mr. Gaffurzai said Pakistan was in a unique position to helpBfurther peaceful solutions to the three-year-old Afghan conflict.BHe said Pakistan could exert pressure on the opposition groups to>come to the negotiating table to find a political settlement.>   The Pakistani foreign minister is to arrive Thursday for aAtwo-day visit in Kabul. He is scheduled to meet Afghan President:Burhanuddin Rabbani and the minister of state for foreign	affairs.9   It is unclear if the Pakistani official will meet the@government's top military commander Ahmed Shah Masood, who in a@recent interview also accused Pakistan of being responsible for(the continuing fighting in the country.B   Mr. Gaffurzai also said Pakistan should support the efforts of@the United Nations to bring peace to Afghanistan and not try to create a peace plan of its own.   ---------------   ---------------F   INDIA TO INVESTIGATE LINKS BETWEEN POLITICIANS AND ORGANIZED CRIME   MICHAEL DRUDGE
   NEW DELHIA   The Indian home minister has announced a high-level committee;is being formed to investigate links between criminals andApoliticians. The announcement follows a report mafia-style gangs#are corrupting Indian public life.?   An official report presented to parliament states what manyBIndians have suspected, the country's political institutions have9been infiltrated by criminals and corruption is rampant.B   The report was prepared in the aftermath of communal riots and>bombings that shocked the nation in 1993. The report has beenAsitting with Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao,but it was not madepublic until Tuesday.?   The report refers to what it calls, sinister links, betweenBthe underworld, politicians, and the bureaucracy. It recommends a>central bureau be established to exchange information between?intelligence agencies, police, and tax officials to combat the	problem.B   Home minister SB Chavan told parliament a high-level committee@of lawmen, taxmen, and intelligence officials will be formed to$follow up on the report's findings.>   The report, written by former home secretary NN Vohra, has@disappointed some politicians because it does not name specific>individuals or parties involved with criminal gangs. The main@opposition Indian people's party, looking for political dirt on<the ruling Congress Party, calls the report meaningless andirrelevant.=   Prime Minister Rao, leader of the Congress Party, says noBparticular party should be singled out as being more corrupt than?the others. He told Congress Party members of parliament theirBopponents will repent if they attack Congress for having links tocriminals.;   Mister Rao's party has been stung by recent controversyBinvolving a former senior official of the party's youth wing. The?former official is accused of murdering his wife and trying to8burn up her body in the clay oven of a government-owned$restaurant he managed in New Delhi.:   The alleged ties between criminals and politicians are<reported to be most flagrant at the state level. In India's:biggest state, Uttar Pradesh, media reports say more than>40-percent of the state assemblymen have criminal records. In<neighboring Bihar, police say more than 200 candidates with<criminal charges pending against them ran in state assemblyelections this year.   ---------------   ---------------@   MILITANTS IN KASHMIR THREATEN AGAIN TO KILL WESTERN HOSTAGES   MICHAEL DRUDGE
   NEW DELHI?   Islamic militants holding five westerners hostage in IndianAKashmir have renewed a threat to kill the tourists. The Al-Faran>group also denies that it has asked for a cash ransom for the
captives.B   Al-Faran has sent a statement to reporters in Srinagar, IndianAKashmir, denying that it wants a cash ransom in exchange for the>five western hostages it has been holding for nearly a month.@   Al-Faran, an Islamic militant group, also renewed its threat@to kill the hostages, one American, two Britons, a German and aNorwegian.9   Al-Faran's statement blamed the Indian government for>newspaper reports that said the militants had demanded a cashransom.B   Al-Faran said India must change its policy (on Kashmir) or theBhostages could be killed and the government would be responsible.A   A Pakistani news agency recently quoted a Kashmiri separatist9leader saying Al-Faran wanted cash for the hostages. The5separatist leader later denied making the statement.@   Al-Faran has demanded India release about 20 jailed Kashmiri?separatists for the hostages, but India has rejected any swap.   ---------------   ---------------   VIETNAM ECONOMIC REFORM   MAX RUSTON	   HANOI?   The resumption of diplomatic ties between the United StatesBand Vietnam is expected to lead to a surge of American investment@in the East Asian nation, and boost its long neglected economy.;The move coincides with efforts by Vietnamese officials toArebuild their economy and replace its socialist structure with amarket-oriented system.@   In theory, Vietnamese reforms, known as doi moi, or economic?renovation, sound similar to those carried out during the last7decade in China. Long outdated socialist policies of aAcentrally-planned economy are being replaced by a market system,3in which supply and demand are the driving forces.A   Western businesses people say in practice Vietnam may be more@successful than its northern neighbor. With a population only aBfraction of the size of China's, economic planners find it easier>to implement policies. Political observers say the Vietnamese>government is more unified than the Beijing leadership in its?resolve to join the ranks of other East Asian states that have2become so successful during the past two decades.:   The deputy director of the ministry of trade's foreignBinvestment department, Hoang Ngoc Cu, says China has a head-start@on its reforms. But, speaking through an interpreter, Mr. Hoang@says Vietnam is moving more quickly to eliminate problems, such=as corruption and a poor legal system, that are driving someinvestors away from China:B   "Vietnam will continue to pursue the policy of economic reform?and in order to do so, we continue to perfect our legal system@and develop further the infrastructure and continue to have theBadministrative reform and try to abolish the bureaucracy and also2the authoritative manner in economic management."B   Economic reforms have already attracted billions of dollars in>foreign investment, much of it from other east-asian nations.>Taiwan has become Vietnam's largest partner, as its residents?attempt to diversify investments away from China. Hong Kong isAVietnam's second-largest investor, officials say this may be dueAto the uncertainty surrounding the territory's 1997 reversion toChinese sovereignty.<   Efforts are also being made to encourage the hundreds of:thousands of Vietnamese living abroad to return home with?investment dollars. The resumption of diplomatic ties with the@United States, announced last month, is unleashing an inflow ofAmerican investment capital.>   Do Ducdinh of Hanoi's Institute on World Economy says moreAthan just foreign investment is needed to carry out true reform:A   "But in my view the most difficult thing is the change of the<mind of the people, since we follow the planned economy, we>follow the planned economy methodology. So now we move to the?market economy, we need some new methodology and the change of?this is very difficult, that is why you can see that before we>had renovation started, we had the renovation of thinking and>that renovation was moving and driving the whole economic andsocial renovation process."B   Mr. Do says the process of changing the mind-set of Vietnamese@people varies, depending on where one lives in the country. The<south has more experience with westerners, due to its closeAassociation with the United States before and during the Vietnam>war. The north has more experience with the socialist system.<   Mr. Do, and others, say it will take time for the entireBcountry to reach the same level in understanding and implementing?economic reforms. Meanwhile, the arrival of foreign investment?and the rebuilding of ties with western nations is seen as the,fastest way of moving that process forward.   ---------------   ---------------9   CHINESE VICTIMS OF JAPANESE WAR ATROCITIES TRY TO SUE   STEPHANIE HO   BEIJING?   An unofficial group of Chinese victims of Japanese war timeAatrocities who want to sue Tokyo for compensation is finding its?way blocked, both by the Chinese and Japanese governments. TheBleader of the group says Chinese authorities have confiscated hisApassport and are refusing to grant passports to other members ofthe delegation.B   Although China suffered greatly under the Japanese occupation,?the Chinese government gave up its right to claim compensation;when it re-established diplomatic ties with Tokyo in 1972.;   However, when Japanese prime minister Tomiichi Murayama>visited China in May, Chinese officials urged him to considerAprivate Chinese claims, a request Mr. Murayama, speaking through*a translator, said Japan would look into:>   "I don't know what specific problems exist, but we believe>that we have to respond to individual cases that in fact havetaken place.";   despite Mr. Murayama's encouraging comments, 12 ChineseBcitizens who had planned to go to Tokyo next week to formally sueBthe Japanese government now say the trip is not likely to happen.<   Tong Zeng, a researcher on the elderly and leader of theBgroup, says the first problem is that, despite numerous attempts,>the group has not been able to obtain visas from the Japanesegovernment.=   Mr. Tong says passports have also been a problem. He says>Chinese authorities recently confiscated his passport and are7refusing to issue passports to two other people in hisdelegation.B   Mr. Tong says he was told that, because of his activities, the;central committee of the communist party considers him notsuitable to travel overseas.A   Neither the Chinese foreign ministry nor the Japanese embassy6in Beijing has commented on the group's difficulties.@   In a separate development, Mr. Tong says he has been told he=will not be allowed to participate in the upcoming forum for<non-governmental organizations, a parallel gathering to the*United Nations world conference on women.?   Mr. Tong had been chosen to represent China on the issue ofAcomfort women, women who served as sex slaves to Japanese troops?during World War II. Now, however, he says he has been told he,should leave Beijing during the conference.   ---------------   --------------->   PHILIPPINE COURT FINDS SON OF MARCOS GUILTY OF TAX EVASION   MARIE ORARA
   MANILA=   A Philippine court has found the son of former PhilippineAPresident Ferdinand Marcos guilty of tax evasion. The son of the?ousted dictator has been sentenced to nine-years imprisonment.=   A Philippine judge issued an arrest warrant for FerdinandAMarcos junior, who was absent from the court when the ruling was?handed down. A spokesman from his office says he is in France.?   The judge found Mr. Marcos guilty of not filing tax returns@and not paying taxes from 1982 to 1995, when he was governor of,his father's home province of Ilocos Norte.A   He was fined almost three-thousand dollars and ordered to pay300 dollars in back taxes.=   Judge Benedicto Ulep says Mr. Marcos clearly knew the law!concerning the payment of taxes.B   This is the second setback for Mr. Marcos in recent months. He?failed to win a Senate seat in a recent national election. The<younger Marcos had previously held his father's old seat in/Congress before running for the Senate in May.=   Supporters of the Marcos family say the conviction of Mr.@Marcos is just the latest incident in a longstanding pattern ofharassment by the government.A   The wife of former President Marcos, Imelda, was sentenced toA18 to 24-years in prison last year for corruption and graft, and<faces dozens more charges as well. She is currently free onappeal.;   The Philippine government has alleged the Marcos familyAplundered billions of dollars from the country's treasury during"the late dictator's 20-year rule.<   A presidential commission has traced 400-million dollars@belonging to the family to a Swiss bank where their account has
been frozen.:   The Marcos family's financial dealings have been under:investigation by the Philippine government since the late%President Marcos was ousted in 1986.   ---------------   ---------------@   "CODE-NAME DOWNFALL", WHAT IF THE BOMB WAS NOT USED ON JAPAN
   DAN NOBLE   WASHINGTON?   1995 marks the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II.>During the course of the year a number of books have come outabout that historic conflict.A   What would have happened if atomic bombs had not been dropped9on Japan in August 1945? This is a question discussed by9historians Thomas B. Allen & Norman Polmar In "Code-NameBDownfall: The Secret Plan to Invade Japan, And Why Truman DroppedAThe Bomb." The authors say that fifty years ago during the month@of June, President Harry Truman asked the joint chiefs of staff>to explain the proposed invasion to him. Co-author Allen says?that Truman wanted to know the cost of the operation: How manycasualties would be incurred:>   "What General George Marshall, the chief of staff, does atBthat meeting, is he makes almost a Churchillian speech. He almostBsteps out of character because he is almost always very sober and<very factual when he deals with the president. But, at this<meeting, he says that leaders must at times call upon theirBcitizens to make great sacrifices and leaders must be prepared toBtell men that they must die. And that's what you have to do about=this invasion. So, the invasion, when Norman and I wrote the@book, we felt that we were dealing with a battle that had neverBbeen fought but a battle that was extremely important because theBbattle was inside the president's mind when the president decidesto drop the bomb.";   The invasion of Japan was to begin on November 1, 1945.@Landings would require more than a quarter million soldiers andAover 85,000 marines. Co-author Norman Polmar outlines the battle
scenario::   "We not only would have faced in an invasion 6-700,000BJapanese troops in the southernmost island of Kyushu, even though>they were hungry, short of ammunition, short of weapons, they=were still fighters. We would have faced the entire civilian>population. We have, and we've quoted in our book, "Code-Name8Downfall", we have copies of the handbooks the Japanese?government was printing up for civilians on how to use butcher>knives, sharpened bamboo sticks, hatchets, to attack AmericanBsoldiers. Truman, in one of the meetings discussing the invasion,@says 'I don't want an Okinawa', thinking of the many casualtiesAthere, 'from one end of Japan to the other'." It would have beenBa ferocious defense and it would have been costly in tens, if notBhundreds of Americans killed and injured, and certainly, millionsof Japanese killed, millions."?   But, there was no invasion. President Truman authorized theAuse of the atomic bomb. On August 6, 1945 one bomb was detonated<over Hiroshima. Three days later, a second device destroyed<Nakasaki. Thomas B. Allen acknowledges that some historians<suggest that using the atomic bomb was both unnecessary and9immoral. The authors of "Code-Name Downfall" refute thatargument. Says Allen:B   "Well, I think that if you look at the criticisms of PresidentBTruman's dropping of the bomb, the criticism really begins in the@1960s. By that time we have a perspective of 20 some-odd years.AAnd, looking back through the prism of Watergate and then, later9through the prism of Vietnam, people are saying: 'well a>president can't be trusted. The government can't be trusted'.?But, if you go back to 1945, when the entire nation was united?with the idea of defeating this enemy in war, every weapon was;used, with the exception of poison gas and bacteriological
warfare."?   According to Mister Allen, more people were killed when the?United States fire bombed Tokyo, the Japanese capital, than in?the two bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima. He says the 83,000>people who were killed and one million made homeless in Tokyoneed to be recognized as well:=   "Yet, that particular night of March 9-10, 1945, is neverBcited as an important moment in the moral history of the war. AllBthe morality seems to focus on the dates August 6 and August 9. I+don't really see the moral logic of that.":   And Mister Allen's co-author, Norman Polmar, says thatBdropping the atomic bombs at that time in Japan may actually have$prevented their use in later years:B   "The cold war was a very bad time. We were all under threat ofBnuclear annihilation. But not one nuclear weapon was detonated inB50-years which included three or major confrontations between the<us and Soviet Union. I think that is one of the legacies ofBHiroshima and Nakasaki; that people didn't use the atomic weapons>and for 50-years there was real peace in Europe, probably the>longest period in the last thousand years because of the fear?that if someone attacked, even conventionally, nuclear weaponsBwould be used and that could lead to the annihilation of mankind.BSo, I don't know that this has been fully developed, or explored.9I certainly haven't thought it all out. But I think thatBHiroshima and Nakasaki are a key factor in why the cold war was acold and not a hot war."?   Norman Polmar and Thomas B. Allen, co-authors of "Code-NameBDownfall: The secret plan to invade Japan, and why Truman droppedthe bomb."   ---------------   ---------------A   "NEW PASSAGES: MAPPING YOUR LIFE ACROSS TIME," BY GAIL SHEEHY   NANCY BEARDSLEY   WASHINGTON@   American journalist Gail Sheehy (shee-hee) has spent much of@her career mapping the milestones of modern life. Her 1976 best<seller "Passages," examined the stages of adult development>leading up to middle age. A later book, "The Silent Passage,"Adealt with female menopause. Now Gail Sheehy has written anotherAbest seller that moves into still other stages in the adult life@cycle. "New Passages: Mapping Your Life Across Time" is a studyBof what Gail Sheehy believes to be a revolution in the process ofaging.:   Gail Sheehy began researching her earlier best seller,="Passages" when she was in her mid 30s, and the book chartedBchanges she and her contemporaries were experiencing at the time.?Now, 20 years later, she has written "New Passages" to pick upBwhere that book left off, exploring the lives of men and women as8they approach 50, 60 and beyond. But it wasn't just the?progression of her own life that inspired the book. She says aAprofound change is taking place in the United States, as well as?in other developed nations around the world. People are taking+longer to grow up, and much longer to die:=   "That has the effect of pushing forward all the stages ofAadult life by up to 10 years. Adolescence today is prolonged forAthe middle classes until the end of the 20s. Our first adulthoodAreally only begins at 30, and most people today don't feel fully@grown up until their mid 40s.  When they think of their parents=turning 50 they think, 'gee, they were old.' but most of the@people I've interviewed in their 40s don't believe they're ever6going to hit middle age. so I've supplied a new term,>middlescence, which is a little bit like adolescence a second@time around, when people have to ask themselves all over again,<'what do I want to do with my life? What is going to be themeaning in it?"?   Gail Sheehy supports her claims with dramatic statistics. A@woman who reaches age 50 today, -and remains free of cancer and>heart disease, can expect to celebrate her 92nd birthday. The@average healthy male who is 65, an age now reached by the greatAmajority of the U.S. population, can expect to live until 81. So=what do Americans do with all those added years? Gail Sheehy=believes they need to rediscover interests they may have put:aside during decades of child rearing or career building:8   "People are so busy often by their 40s and 50s being@responsible and moving along in lock step, that they can't evenBremember what it was they really used to love to do. So I suggestAthey take the 'time flies' test. What did you do when you were 9@or 10 or 11 that time flew and when your mother called you, youBjust didn't hear her? Well, somewhere in that activity may be the?kernel of a dormant self that can be developed and trained and?perhaps reeducated to pursue a dream or passion that will give/tremendous meaning to your second adulthoood."9   Gail Sheehy did seven years of research for her book,=interviewing some 500 men and women in the process. She saysAwomen generally seemed to be coping better than men in coming toBterms with second adulthood. While many men found it difficult toBrelinquish the hopes and possibilities of youth, women often felt=they'd been denied the chance to fulfill themselves in their<younger years, and cherished the prospect of starting a newAbusiness or going back to school. But Gail Sheehy found numerousBpeople of both sexes who'd made successful transitions into laterlife:B   "I think the book is filled with them, whether it's a formerlyAsingle mother who had very little education and lots of childrenBand who got herself into psychotherapy as a professional and thenBhad to move to another part of the country because she kept being<mother to everybody. And by the time she was 50 she finally@realized what she had to do was build a little house of her own<with no bedrooms for the children. And then she became very@creative. The man who at 65 was a widower and said, 'I turn the?key in the motor and I don't hear the hum any more.' and after>two years, I kept interviewing him and reinterviewing him, he?found a new dream. He began to take up art, the passion of his>youth. And I said, 'you remember what you were like two years;ago?' and he said, 'oh, sure, but I was an old man then!'";   For all the opportunities of the later years, there are@inevitably going to be losses and setbacks as well. Gail Sheehy<writes at length about what she describes as "the mortalitycrisis" of second adulthood:?   "It certainly comes to everybody at least in their 50s when>the ground is shaken beneath us. It may be a bout with breast@cancer or a spouse who gets ill or who dies or a child who just=doesn't turn out right. And that is really the crucible that<allows people who come through it to realize that they have=tremendous inner resources, and that if they didn't die from?this, that they maybe can go on for much, much longer, and now$they have to make every day count.";   Gail Sheehy ends her book with a look at what she callsBtoday's fastest growing age group, people in their 90s. She found>they tend to be risk-takers, who value their independence and:refuse to be held back by constraints. She also notes the@importance of being both physically and mentally active. People@who take on new intellectual challenges late in life can almost>literally, in Gail Sheehy's words, "grow brain," creating new=neural connections. she believes anyone preparing to journeyAthrough later life can learn from their example. If every day isBan awakening, concludes Gail Sheehy, you need never grow old; youjust keep growing.   ---------------   ---------------9   "CITIZEN TURNER, THE WILD RISE OF AN AMERICAN TYCOON"   CAROL PEARSON   WASHINGTON@   15 years ago, when Cable News Network made its debut, it was?ridiculed by the major news organizations. Today, it spans the:globe. And its founder, Ted Turner, sits at its helm. The@network's success was considered a long shot (a huge risk). But=Ted Turner is someone who seems to enjoy walking on the edgeA(taking risks). Now a new biography published by Harcourt, BraceAtells more about this man who changed the way many of us get ournews.A   When Ted Turner first started CNN, his cable news network, he?used to work 18 hour days and sleep in his office. He is a man>who is driven to succeed. And if the odds are against him, heenjoys it even more.A   In a new biography called Citizen Turner, The Wild Rise of AnAAmerican Tycoon, authors Gerald Jay Goldberg and his son Robert,@write that if Ted Turner could sum up his life's goals in a few-words, he'd say, "I want to own everything."?   Robert Goldberg is a journalist who writes about television>for The Wall Street Journal. His father, gerald, is professor;emeritus of English at the University of California at LosAAngeles. They chose to write about Ted Turner, because as Robert&Goldberg says, he's larger than life:<   "We think that Ted Turner is a quintessentially AmericanAtycoon in the same way that people like (John D.) Rockefeller inAthe late 1800's, or (Andrew) Carnegie, the way Henry Ford was in<the early 1900's, Ted Turner is that kind of figure. He's a9telecommunications tycoon for a telecommunications age."@   The authors describe Ted Turner as a risk taker, a tenacious?competitor, a flamboyant character who likes to be in control.Says Robert Goldberg:B   "I met with him at the very beginning of this project. He knewAabout my column in The Wall Street Journal, we walked around New=York City for about an hour, talking about this book and his?question was, in typically Ted Turner fashion, 'if I cooperate<with you, what kind of control am I going to have over thisBbook?' and I had to say, as any independent journalist would say,B'well, we want to make this a thorough, even-handed serious book,Abut you're not going to control the book, that's the whole pointof a free press.' "?   After their meeting, Robert Goldberg says Ted Turner wished@the authors good luck but asked those close to him not to grantinterviews:B   "But over time, in fact, a lot of those friends and colleagues@came around. And we went back to them again and again. And theyAunderstood that we were doing a serious book, that we were doingAan even-handed, thorough book, so in fact, we actually talked to1a lot of the people who initially had concerns."A   The authors interviewed everyone from Ted Turner's elementary@school classmates to his former wives and girlfriends. And they@poured over every public document about him that they could gettheir hands on.;   Robert and Gerald Goldberg end up comparing Turner withBanother media tycoon, William Randolph Hurst. They concluded that?Hurst was to print what Turner is to broadcast communications.AWilliam Randolph Hurst was portrayed in a thinly disguised movieBcalled "Citizen Kane." That parallel and Turner's own fascination@with the movie are why, Gerald Goldberg says, they called theirbook "Citizen Turner":?   "In that story of Citizen Kane, it's really interesting how@many parallels there are between the life of Ted Turner and the=life of Charles Foster Kane in the movie. They both had veryAunhappy childhoods, and they both went into communications, they>both tried to fashion themselves as people of the common man,@friend of the common man and this was an image that became very@important to Ted when he took over the ownership in 1976 of theAtlanta Braves."=   By the time Ted Turner bought the Atlanta Braves baseballBteam, he owned a small television station in Atlanta, Georgia. He@extended the station's audience, and the braves' audience, too,Aby becoming one of the first television stations to sign on with>a cable tv operation. It was a good deal for both businesses.:   The authors say the key to understanding Ted Turner isAunderstanding his relationship with his father. Ed Turner was an<alcoholic. He could be charming, demanding and insensitive.<   Ted Turner always tried to please his father, and in his=hunger to achieve great things, he took great risks, in both?sailing and in business. His father committed suicide when TedAwas 24. Afterwards, Ted Turner acted as though he had nothing tolose.A   They say another major influence lies in the suffering of his=sister, Mary Jean, whom he loved. She died before she was 20&after a horrible and painful illness.B   Because Ted Turner couldn't save his sister, his father or his?parent's marriage, the authors perceive him as a man driven tosave other things.A   "He would buy companies that were in distress and save them,"Bsays Robert Goldberg "a small station that would become the heart;of his telecommunications empire years later. He would buy?terrible, like the baseball team, the Atlanta braves, which istotally turned around."@   "He bought the OMNI International (hotel), which at the timeBin Atlanta was regarded as a white elephant (a loser) in the real?estate market," says Gerald Turner, "and turned it into a very5valuable piece of property in the heart of Atlanta.":   "And then, to take it into the next step," says Robert>Goldberg, "when he got a little more prominence, he wanted to@save America and the Soviet Union at the time, from what he saw?as the brink of nuclear war, which is why he invented the good@will games, which has been a terrible money-losing proposition,=but he saw himself, and he literally did interviews and said@this, that he wanted to be the nation's conscience, Ted Turner./Now he talks about wanting to save the earth."@   And he aims to do it by broadcasting environmental programs.=   The authors see other similarities between Ted Turner and9Citizen Kane, and that is that both Turner and Kane wereBfascinated with Hollywood. Ted Turner now owns the movie, CitizenAKane. He acquired it when he bought the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film?library. And his fourth wife, Jane Fonda, came from Hollywood.@   The last book on Citizen Turner has not been written. But in:this one, Robert and Gerald Goldberg examine Ted Turner'sApersonal and public life, his love of fast boats and fast women,Bthe unhappiness and solitude endured by his first two wives, and,=yes, his charm. Citizen Turner, the wild rise of an American6tycoon is a fascinating book about a fascinating man.   ---------------   ---------------+   U.S. UNEMPLOYMENT RATE EDGES UP IN JULY   WASHINGTON'   Payroll employment growth stagnates?   The U.S. unemployment rate edged up slightly in July to 5.7=percent because of a near halt in payroll employment growth,+according to the U.S. Department of Labor.?   The 0.1-percent increase in the unemployment rate over June>was a result of the apparent stagnation in payroll employment?which rose to 116,553,000 in July, an insignificant 55,000 job9increased over the preceding month, the Labor Departmentannounced August 4.>   "Continued deterioration in manufacturing employment was a>major factor in the weakness of the July payroll count," said=Katharine G. Abraham, Commissioner at the Labor Department'sBureau of Labor Statistics.A   "The number of factory jobs fell by 85,000 over the month and?has declined by a total of 188,000 over the past four months,">she said in a statement presented to Congress' Joint EconomicCommittee on August 4.<   Job losses in July in manufacturing, Abraham said, "were8widespread throughout both durable and nondurable goodsAindustries." The largest decline was in transportation equipmentBsector -- both the motor vehicle and aircraft industries -- whereBemployment fell by 20,000, she said. Abraham added that while the>motor vehicle decline reflects temporary plant shutdowns, theAloss of jobs in the aircraft manufacturing industry "continues a,pattern that has persisted for five years."@   Continued job losses were also seen in the textile, apparel,Bchemicals and rubber and plastic industries. "Electronics was the=only manufacturing industry to show a job gain in July," shesaid.=   In addition to job cutbacks, the factory workweek fell by<two-tenths of an hour during July and has been shortened byAnearly a full hour since January, Abraham said. Factory overtime,edged up by a tenth of an hour during July.?   Employment in services industries increased 60,000 in July,<reflecting the weak growth in this sector since March, said@Abraham. Employment in the retail trade rose by 54,000 in July,<for a 100,000 increase in the last two months, after having>exhibited no net growth in the first five months of 1995, shesaid.@   "The overall unemployment picture has changed very little inArecent months," said Abraham. "The unemployment rate has been in<the 5.6 to 5.8 percent range since April, and the number of@unemployed persons has remained within a narrow range of around7.5 million," she said.8   The July employment increase "was somewhat less than@anticipated," said Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Joseph@E. Stiglitz. "We expect that future job creation will keep pace=with our expanding economy and growing workforce," he added.#   Following are some key figures:=   MAJOR LABOR MARKET INDICATORS Seasonally adjusted data onAcivilian employment, not counting members of armed forces. Labor>force, employment and unemployment in thousands, unemployment rate as percent of labor force.8                  Quarter average         Month average=                 1st qtr  2nd qtr      May     June     July=                    1995     1995     1995     1995     1995HOUSEHOLD SURVEY=Labor force      132,318  132,139  131,811  131,869  132,518=Employment       125,012  124,625  124,319  124,485  124,959=Unemployment       7,306    7,514    7,492    7,384    7,559=Unemployment rate    5.5      5.7      5.7      5.6      5.7ESTABLISHMENT SURVEYNonfarm payroll=  employment     116,078  116,352  116,248  116,498  116,553   ---------------   ---------------   AIRLINE NEWS   PAUL FRANCUCH   CHICAGO5   Around-the-world flights are coming back, and twoBMidwest-based air carriers announce some major corporate changes.A   Come mid-December, the opportunity to circle the globe by air>on a single flight will be available again when Chicago-basedBUnited Airlines inaugurates this classic service, last offered by>the now-defunct Pan American World Airways. United will offerBboth westbound and eastbound flights starting from Los Angeles. A=flight will take three days to complete, making stops in New@York, London, Hong Kong and United's latest destination, Delhi,AIndia. The service is subject to approval by various governments@along the route. Fares will range from 2,500 dollars in economy?to more than five-thousand dollars in the first-class section.?   Atlanta-based Delta Airlines says it has formed an alliance?with Japan's All Nippon Airways to share service between JapanAand the west coast of the United States. Delta also says it will>join other airlines in offering, what is called a co-branded,Acredit card. Users will get credit toward free flights with each;purchase made with the card. It will be issued by American>express, the first time that company has offered a co-branded@card. Most major airlines offer so-called frequent flier credit9cards issued by partner banks and carrying the "Visa" or"Mastercard" label.@   Shares in a U.S. based carrier rated highly for its services:and amenities are to be offered to the public. Milwaukee,AWisconsin-based "Midwest express," was an airline started by the:big paper company "Kimberly Clark", mainly to shuttle itsAexecutives among key corporate locations. Kimberly Clark says it@will retain only about a 20 to 30-percent stake in the airline,?concentrating its business on its core paper and personal care
products.>   An airline named for Chicago's "Midway" airport is leavingBMidway and moving its headquarters to the mid-atlantic coast city<of raleigh-durham North Carolina. This past January "Midway=Airlines" moved the bulk of its flights to the Carolina cityAafter the big carrier "American Airlines" closed a hub operationAthere. So far there is no word if "Midway" will retain its name.;Midway was a major carrier in the United States during theA1980's, but declared bankruptcy in 1991. It was resurrected in a much smaller form one-year ago.   ---------------   ---------------$   JAPAN INTERVENTION TO WEAKEN YEN   LES CARPENTER   WASHINGTONA   The resurgence of the U.S. dollar in relation to the Japanese@yen comes as a result of Japanese central bank intervention and>the nation's effort to weaken its currency. But Some analystsAthink the package of Japanese financial incentives may be only ashort-term solution.A   Japan's government lifted regulatory barriers on capital that@flows out of the country. Among other things, the action allowsBinsurance companies and other financial institutions to keep less=of their money in yen and invest more it overseas in foreignmarkets and currencies.=   The idea is to weaken the yen because its relatively high:value, in relation to many other currencies, robs Japan'sAexporters of sales in foreign markets and threatens a recession.>Carl Weinberg, chief economist with High Frequency Economics,3says the plan is likely to fall short of its goal:A   "We've heard the program announced, but so far, not a yen has?started to flow across the border. It's going to take not only;the program itself, which, basically makes easier and more?attractive for Japanese institutions to invest abroad, but, we@also have to have another element in place, as well: We need toAsee a restoration of monetary growth, of credit and liquidity in<the Japanese economy that will loosen up the funds that areneeded to invest abroad."@   And how can that be done? Chris Golden, head of fixed income?research at Nomura International, says Japan will have to take<steps that have been urged by many of its trading partners:;   "Japanese investment abroad is, effectively, lending toBforeigners. However, if you do not allow foreigners to be able to?make the money required to repay the loans; in other words, byAopening up your own internal markets to their exports; then whenBit comes to repaying such loans, the only way it can happen is by@the currency rates giving way and the yen strengthening again."B   A strong yen and a Japanese economy in recession are prospects@that cause concern almost everywhere. Many fear it would dampen?worldwide growth economic next year. And in the United States,Bsuch news would certainly not be welcome, since it is an electionyear.   ---------------   ---------------#   MEDIA AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY   ANDREW BAIRD   WASHINGTONB   Two huge media mergers this week have focused attention on theBvalue of media and entertainment intellectual property and how it)can be protected by owners and creators.A   Lawyers filled virtually every seat at a conference WednesdayBsponsored by the Washington D.C. Bar Association. The subject was>intellectual property, especially issues regarding multimediaAproducts which combine entertainment, educational, and scholarly=material and use sophisticated software to create multimedia-documentaries, CD-ROM disks and video games.@   Interest in how to protect these products has surged against7the backdrop of growing consolidation in the media and>entertainment fields, including proposed mergers between WaltADisney Company/Cap-Cities and Westinghouse/CBS announced earlier<this week. Philip Porter, a lawyer with the Washington firm@Fenwick and West, says creators, developers and owners of these4new products must make legal protection a priority:<   "The minute you put a program on the market, if it makes<money, it becomes a target for people to say, 'hey, there'sBsomething of mine in there. I'm going to make a claim on it.' the<only way you can avoid those claims is to nail down all the.propriety rights before they hit the market."?   Philip Porter and David Karp, an attorney for the big cable=company, the Discovery Channel, said one key to intellectualBproperty protection is obtaining ownership or licensing rights to9unique software which makes possible the production of amarketable multimedia product.=   In addition, there must be a detailed process for gaining?assignments or licenses for processes or media materials which?involve patents, copyrights, or trade secrets. He adds that to@ascertain ownership and to know exactly to whom rights payments?must be made, there should be close scrutiny as to whether the5product was created using independent contractors orBwork-for-hire employees. Herb Raiche (raysh), general counsel for@GRC International in Tysons Corner, Virginia, said his firm was<involved in every stage of protection for its key products:@   "Basically, we do developmental programs for law enforcement=training and electronic-warfare type training. And it's very=interesting to work with distribution areas in some of these@products as well. Our work with respect to that runs the entire9gamut of what you would expect in the multimedia field."?   Other key issues raised at the conference included contractAtermination and how a developer or creator should negotiate withAa publisher or purchaser over who owns the rights to development:work after a project is cancelled. In addition, there are;concerns over privacy and publicity, especially since some<multimedia products have begun to use live actors in motion@picture-like sequences. It is a right in many states to protect:the use of one's name, likeness, caricature, biographical@information, voice and other personal attributes. And, as DavidAKarp of the Discovery Channel, the nations is full of sharp-eyed=lawyers who look for cases where these rights are infringed.   ---------------   ---------------   DISNEY & TIMES SQUARE   CAROLYN WEAVER   NEW YORK>   The Walt Disney Company is an entertainment giant that hasAproduced classic children's movies such as Pinocchio, Beauty andAthe Beast and Snow White, and operates theme parks in the United;States, France and Japan. Now it is coming to the one-timeBcapital of American theatrical entertainment, Forty-Second StreetAand Times Square, in New York City, that has fallen into decline
since 1950s.8   The area around times Square is dazzling at night, a=phantasmagoria of skyscrapers, gigantic flashing neon signs,@video billboards, theaters, movies, and nightclubs. The immense>faces of television and movie stars peer down from signs likeBgods of celebrity. Real steam puffs from a giant, but unreal, cupBof coffee and the cap of a meters-long coke bottle high above the?street pops off periodically as a drinking straw rises up. AllBaround swirls a stream of cars and people. Times Square is also a>hub for New York City's subway, so underneath the street is a8maze of hot, grimy tunnels with people rushing through.;   But 42nd Street itself, the heart of Times Square, is a>mixture of faded, decaying buildings, many of them boarded-up?theaters, and seedy pornography shops. At Peepland, a blinking9neon eye advertises the pleasures of voyeurism, inviting>passersby to look upon pornography videos or real performers,;always billed as "live girls." In contrast is the sidewalkApreacher, who has set up camp near the heart of the dereliction.?   You might think the squeaky-clean, famously well-controlled?Walt Disney Company would shrink from this (music begins under:here) extremism, chaos, dirt and sleaze. But the Burbank,BCalifornia, entertainment company is advancing upon Times Square,@leading a pack of other enterprises which are planning to clean?the place and restore its old grandeur. New York officials are
jubilant.B   New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani at a news conference held9recently outside the boarded-up New Amsterdam Theater onForty-Second street said:A   "I have a vision too, I have a vision of being back here when?all of this is here, when there are thousands and thousands ofApeople coming here...When revenues are flowing into the city.***@This will be the turning point for New York City, the way it isviewed all round the world."@   The Disney company will restore the 92-year-old theater, andBuse it to stage musical plays and other big shows. With developer?John Tishman, Disney also plans to build a vast 48-floor hotelBand entertainment complex on Forty-Second Street. A laser beam atBthe top will spray dust-like sparkles of light over Times Square.ADisney refused to sign the deal until New York officials granted@it large tax breaks and subsidies, and secured deals with otherBlarge entertainment companies to renovate other decaying sites onForty-Second Street.<   They include the AMC theater company, which will build a>25-screen movie theater, the largest in the United States, as@part of a joint venture with the British waxworks entertainment?company the Tussauds [too-sodes] Group. Tussauds plans to open@its own five-floor exhibition, including movable wax figures ofAAmericans in history. The theatrical production company, Livent,9has also announced plans to renovate two old theatres on@Forty-Second Street into one large stage. The idea is to return5Times Square to what it used to be, a center of massentertainment.B   Kent Barwick, president of New York's Municipal Art Society, a>group that acts to preserve New York's historic places, says:B   "It may be that just as Disney, presumably as hygienic as ever>and as apple-cheeked as they probably ought to be, dishing upBfamily entertainment, will have an effect on the street, probably0the street will have an effect on Disney, too.">   The society has been fighting for 10 years against earlier=city plans to turn the Times Square area into a new businesscenter, like Wall Street.@   "Gradually the city is beginning to wake up and realize that?what it tried to get rid of," says Arwick, "this entertainment8complex, the movies, the theaters, the night clubs, theBrestaurants, are really very, very significant economically, that:tourism is the second largest industry in New York state.BThere's a lot of money to be made, and not only money to be made,=but the jobs and industries around Times Square are good forAunskilled laborers and people who don't have a chance to work onWall Street."<   Times Square is the place where New Yorkers and tourists?gather on New Year's Eve to watch the ball drop from the Times@Tower, in the last seconds of the old year. It's also the place?where people gathered to cheer at the end of World War II, andBwhere they assembled after the assassination of President John F.	Kennedy.=   Mr. Barwick describes it in its heyday in the 1940s, when@people of all classes and interests might find themselves thereon a Saturday night:@   "There were about 48 theaters, with Madison Square Garden atAthe north end and the Metropolitan Opera at the south end....you@can imagine a spring night with thousands of people pouring out<of the knicks [basketball] game at one end, almost in their?undershirts, and at the other end people in black tie, and all<those theater goers in the middle, and the kids in from the@suburbs to look at the bright lights, and the sailors trying toBpick up girls, and the girls waiting in line to see Frank SinatraAat the paramount. And that's what a great city is about. And the@news of this week is that at least there are shrewd moneymakers,still willing to bet that it can be again.">   Culture critic Marshall Berman writes in the Village Voice@newspaper that it would be a mistake to think that Times SquareBshould be, or even could be, made utterly clean and pure. He says?all carnivalesque places are dangerous, and that's part of the<Times Square appeal, captured in the words to the song 42nd5street: "Naughty, bawdy, gaudy fawty-second street."<   Construction on the 42nd street project is to begin this@September, and the Walt Disney Company plans to stage its first%theatrical production there in 1997.   ---------------   ---------------"   AFL, CIO LEADERSHIP TRANSITION   PAUL FRANCUCH   CHICAGOB   The federation of major labor unions in the United States, the>"AFL, CIO", selected an interim president at a meeting of itsBexecutive council Tuesday in Chicago. The interim president faces>an The challenge for the leadership, and the battle ahead may;chart the course for organized labor in the United States.5   Outgoing AFL, CIO President Lane Kirkland led the?13-million-member labor federation for almost 16 years, a timeAwhen both the size and political influence of the labor movement'in this country declined dramatically.;   The courtly and deliberate Mr. Kirkland said nothing to=waiting reporters when he emerged from a meeting of the AFL,;CIO's executive council in the grand ballroom of Chicago's9elegant "Drake" hotel. A spokesman for Mr. Kirkland told:reporters later that Mr. Kirkland spoke only for about 20:minutes. He was then praised by the assembled labor union=executives, who took turns giving him farewell bear-hugs andwords of encouragement.7   Lane Kirkland is only the second person to head the940-year-old AFL, CIO, a federation of 80 national unions@representing a spectrum of trades, services and professions. He@was preceded by the late George meany, a powerful and outspokenAunion leader who led the federation during the time of organized6labor's greatest influence here in the United States.A   Now, however, only about 15 percent of the American workforce?belongs to a union. Some blame the low figure on what has been@perceived as lackluster leadership by Mr. Kirkland, who retired"before his term officially ended.?   The federation's new leader is Tom Donahue, a long-time top>assistant to Mr. Kirkland named interim president by the AFL,>CIO's executive council. But Mr. Donahue's leadership faces a>challenge when the federation's convention takes place in New>York in late October. That challenge comes from John Sweeney,?president of the rapidly growing "service employees industrialAunion," a union whose million-plus membership includes janitors,)clerical, government and office workers.?   A slate of candidates supporting Mr. Sweeney is challengingAthe interim appointments made by the AFL, CIO executive council.@This opposition slate believes it can turn the labor federation:in a bold, dynamic way not seen during the tenure of Lane
Kirkland.@   American federation of state, county and municipal employees>vice President Linda Chavez-Thompson is running for executive;vice president of the AFL-CIO on the challenging slate. Ms=Chavez-Thompson says American workers are "itching" for more*aggressive leadership in organized labor:;   "We're the slate that wants to scratch the itch, in all=honesty, simply because we want to bring more resources into>play. We don't want a measured program. We want to go into it@full-force. We want to hire organizers that reflect the changesBin the American work force. We need more people of color. We need<women organizers. There's nothing better than to go out and?organize a new worker and have the face of that person reflecttheir own."<   The slate of challengers led by Mr. Sweeney includes the?support of such progressive labor leaders as Richard Trumka of?the United Mine Workers Union and Stephen Yokich of the United@Auto Workers Union. Support from such large and powerful unions@may be enough to give Mr. Sweeney victory over Mr. Donahue. UAW@president Yokich says he supports the Sweeney ticket because he@believes it will work more aggressively in raising the voice oforganized labor:B   "We're talking about regenerating, getting workers involved in@their unions again and making sure that decisions are made withtheir voices as well."<   But in his inaugural address to union leaders in ChicagoBTuesday, interim AFL, CIO President Tom Donahue boldly stated his@goals to make organized labor a more potent force, echoing manyAof the themes sounded by the opposition slate of candidates, and;agreeing with those who challenge him that it is a time of&reckoning for America's labor unions:@   "The workforce is changing, and we haven't kept up. The workAplace is a different place, and we haven't sufficiently adapted.BThe political order we face is an entirely new one, and we're notByet fully geared-up to meet its challenges. There are millions of?workers today who desperately need and want a union, and we'refailing them."<   Both candidates for the leadership of the AFL, CIO labor@federation here in the United States vow to increase efforts to>enlist more workers into unions, especially those in low-wageAjobs. Organized labor further vows to challenge on legal grounds<companies which move jobs abroad. And the union leaders say;they'll rally their membership on election day to vote for(candidates who champion labor's causes.   ---------------   ---------------   WESTINGHOUSE/CBS DEAL   BRECK ARDERY   NEW YORK?   For the second day in a row, a major takeover was announced/Tuesday)in the American broadcasting industry.9   It had been rumored for several weeks, and, at a news:conference, Michael Jordan, the chairman of Westinghouse,confirmed it:7   "We are here today to celebrate and introduce a new;corporation, Westinghouse/CBS, which will be formed by the<acquisition by Westinghouse Electric corporation of CBS. In<summary, we are really out to create a premier broadcasting=company, not only here in the United States, but eventually,Aaround the world." Westinghouse will pay five-point-four billion>dollars for CBS. The announcement came just one day after theBWalt Disney Company announced a 19-billion-dollar takeover of thea-b-c television network.B   Westinghouse is best known as a major manufacturer of electricApower generating plants and refrigeration equipment. However, itAhas long had a presence in the broadcasting industry through itsAvery profitable "Group W" subsidiary. Mr. Jordan emphasized that@his company has had long experience in broadcasting, owning one:of the first radio stations in the United States (KDKA in>Pittsburgh). Mr. Jordan said that radio will continue to be a@very strong focus for Westinghouse as it adds several CBS-ownedradio stations to its own.<   Unlike Walt Disney, Westinghouse refuses to rule out the4possibility of layoffs as a result of the takeover.B   Analysts say the takeover is probably good for both companies,<giving a nice profit to CBS stockholders and added value toWestinghouse.=   One big question, though, is whether another company willBattempt to outbid Westinghouse for ownership of CBS. Westinghouse;chief Michael Jordan played down the possibility, but many@observers say they would be surprised if a bidding war does notBdevelop, perhaps involving media companies such as Time-Warner orTurner Broadcasting.   ---------------   ---------------   DETROIT NEWSPAPER STRIKE   PAUL FRANCUCH   CHICAGOA   Readers of the two major daily newspapers in the Midwest city>of Detroit are getting thinner papers these days, if they areBgetting papers at all, due to a strike by various trade unions atBthe papers. No bargaining talks are scheduled, but some reportersBare crossing picket lines electronically to get their stories in.?   The strike which began July 13th against the "Detroit News"?and "Detroit Free Press" was called by six unions representingBprinters and teamsters. A company called "Detroit Newspapers" was7struck after it cancelled contracts with 2,500 workersBrepresented by the unions. "Detroit Newspapers" does the printing&for both the "Free Press" and "News".5   The papers are owned by the giant media companies?knight-Ridder and Gannett. Managers and temporary replacementsAfrom other papers owned by these companies have been putting outAjoint editions of the Detroit newspapers since the strike began.A   The printers and teamsters are striking to protest management@plans to change the newspaper delivery system, which could costAsome teamsters their jobs. There is also a dispute about pension?contributions by the companies. No bargaining talks have takenplace since the strike began.A   A thinner newspaper has been published, and daily circulation#has been reduced about 20-percent.A   Newspaper vendors and carriers are getting free copies of the?papers to re-sell, this to compensate them for harassment theyBmay face from strikers or strike sympathizers. Carriers have been@told they will lose their jobs if they refuse to deliver papersduring the strike.>   Reporters are not on strike against the Detroit "News" andA"Free Press," but many are honoring picket lines and not showing@up for work. The newspapers are threatening to fire and replace;newsroom employees who are not on the job. Union spokesmenAdismiss the threat as an intimidation tactic. Some reporters whoBare unsympathetic to the strike and who genuinely fear their jobs=are in jeopardy are using computers to file stories to theirnewsrooms from home.=   The Detroit newspaper strike has been marred by scatteredBincidents of violence and by a serious accident this past Sunday.ASeveral reporters who are honoring the strike were injured in an@automobile collision after they spent time marching on a strikeBpicket line. Authorities believe the collision was not related tothe strike.B   Among those injured was "Detroit News" reporter Eric Freedman,?who won a Pulitzer Prize last year for his reports about localpolitical corruption.?   An open question brought on by the strike against Detroit's7newspapers is how it may affect the viability of these<publications. Detroit remains among a handful of large U.S.>cities which continue to support two major metropolitan dailyAnewspapers. In more and more cities, that number has been cut to<a single paper, with regional or suburban papers picking upreadership.=   Many advertisers like the smaller papers because they canBtarget their products to those readers, rather than to the broad,?diverse readership of a metropolitan area. A problem, say someAmedia critics, is smaller papers usually offer scant coverage ofBnational and world events, focusing instead on local or parochial<matters. Large metropolitan dailies usually provide greater8breadth of coverage and contrasting editorial opinions.AAmericans, media critics fear, are getting a smaller view of the?world from their newspapers and from broadcasting, the primary#source of news for most Americans.B   A key concern in Detroit is a prolonged strike will cut deeply?into circulation figures, and that could spell doom for one ofthe two daily newspapers.   ---------------   ---------------   DISNEY/ABC DEAL   BRECK ARDERY   NEW YORKB   In a move that took Wall Street by complete surprise, the Walt@Disney Company and the Capital Cities/ABC Corporation announcedAMonday they will merge in a deal worth about 19-billion dollars.?   In acquiring Capital Cities/ABC, the Walt Disney Company is@gaining the leading television and radio network company in the?United States. Walt Disney's primary businesses include motion-picture production and theme park operation.A   Thomas Murphy, the chairman of Capital Cities/ABC, says it is?precisely the differences in the two companies which will make)the merged firm stronger than its parts:?   "We are not putting two television networks together or two?studios together or two theme parks together. We are in allied)fields, but we are in different fields."?   Under terms of the deal, Mr. Murphy will become a member ofBthe Walt Disney board of directors while Michael Eisner, chairmanAof Walt Disney, will head the combined company. Although the ABC>broadcast networks will maintain their identities as separate=operations, the combined firm will be called the Walt Disney	Company.A   The acquisition of Capital Cities/ABC will give Walt Disney a=major broadcast outlet for its programming. In addition to a>network and television stations in the United States, Capital;Cities/ABC also has substantial interests in international>broadcasting in Europe and Japan. It also owns 21 large radio>stations in the United States as well as the nation's largest?radio network. In a statement that was cheered by employees at@both companies, Walt Disney said it expects no staff reductionsas a result of the merger.A   Although Wall Street analysts were uniformly surprised by the>announcement, almost all of them believe the deal is good for:both companies. John Reedy, who follows the entertainment?business for the Smith Barney investment firm, says the merger6reflects an ongoing trend toward consolidation in theentertainment business:B   "This is really part of the convergence that has been going on>in entertainment and communications and will likely step up apace."@   The announcement came as Wall Street was concentrating on an>expected bid by the Westinghouse Electric company for the CBS@television network. Some analysts say the size of Walt Disney's;deal for Capital Cities/ABC may raise the value of CBS. AtB19-billion dollars, the Walt Disney deal is the largest corporatetakeover so far this year.   ---------------   ---------------9   SEC ANNOUNCES ATTEMPT TO SIMPLIFY INVESTMENT LANGUAGE   MERCEDES SPROUSE   NEW YORK@   The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Monday announced:an effort to simplify and clarify information provided topotential investors.=   An estimated 40 million Americans invest in mutual funds,@pools of money which buy large numbers of stocks and bonds. But<many investors find the company information provided?, In aBdocument called the prospectus, is too complicated and cumbersometo understand.?   Now, non-government regulators and the mutual fund industry:are experimenting with a simplified document to provide a financial profile of each fund.A   Matthew Fink of the mutual fund industry's trade association,:the Investment Company Institute, says the newly-designed<prospectus profile will clarify company goals and risks forpotential investors:>   "It (the profile) presents the key information, the 11 key?points that we believe are what investors should probably care>about. Second, it is written clearly and concisely, in "plain>English." Third, it should help compare among different funds?because it has the same information given in the same order. ABmajor breakthrough, a fourth item that the profile offers, it has=a bar chart that shows you (figures) for each of the last 100years, each year, the total return up or down."?   Federal and private analysts will conduct research over theBnext year to determine how much or little information mutual fund2companies should disclose to potential investors.@   Arthur Levitt is the chairman of the Securities and Exchange4Commission which regulates the securities industry:A   "I would like to know, in the first place, am I correct in my@assumption that many, if not most, people do not carefully read:the prospectuses as they (the prospectuses) are presently>structured? Secondly, does this device (the new profile) helpBmake it easier? Having read this, do they understand it? Are they/able to answer some basic questions about it?"9   Mr. Levitt adds the new profile takes one step toward9replacing more traditional representations of investment7information. Eight mutual fund groups will present the9experimental prospectus profiles beginning August first.   ---------------   ---------------@   CLINTON ADVISERS SEE $160,000 MILLION BUDGET DEFICIT IN 1995   JON SCHAFFER   WASHINGTON:   The Clinton administration's top economic advisers areAprojecting a $160,000 million U.S. government budget deficit for-the current fiscal year ending September 30.B   Lower projected interest rates should bring the fiscal deficitBinto surplus by 2004, one year earlier than previously projected,;if the president's economic plan is adopted, Alice Rivlin,?director of the Office of Management and Budget, said July 31.3   The latest budget projections, presented in theAadministration's mid-year review of the budget, show the deficitArising slightly to $163,000 million in 1996 and $179,000 million<in 1997 and then falling until the budget achieves a $7,000million surplus by 2004.>   The latest fiscal year 1995 deficit estimate would fall 45>percent below the record $290,000 million deficit of 1992 and>$33,000 million below the administration's February estimate.0   Rivlin attributed the good news primarily to>better-than-expected U.S. economic performance. Though growthAslowed sharply in the second quarter, higher consumer confidence@now should contribute to faster expansion in the third quarter,
she said.@   Rivlin predicted U.S. economic growth to remain on a path of@about 2.5-percent annual growth through the rest of the decade,Aestimating 1.9-percent growth from the fourth quarter of 1994 tothe fourth quarter of 1995.@   The administration now projects lower interest rates than itBdid in February, which should stimulate spending on such interestBrate-sensitive sectors as housing, consumer durables and business9plant and equipment, said Martin Bailey, a member of the*president's Council of Economic Advisers.A   The administration projects interest rates on 91-day Treasury;bills falling from an average 5.7 percent this year to 5.4?percent in 1996 and trending slowly down to annual averages ofA4.4 percent in 2002-2005. Long-term rates interest are predicted?to fall from 6.6 percent in 1995 to 5.3 percent in 2005. TheseBestimates are based on adoption of the president's budget package/of moderate tax and substantial spending cuts.?   The Republicans have proposed even larger spending cuts andAtax reductions aimed at achieving a balanced budget within seven;years. Rivlin described Republican proposals as "extreme,"@requiring substantial reductions in funding of health and other'programs for the elderly and the poor.;   Assuming no change from existing economic policies, the?administration said that short-term interest rates would hover@around 5.5 percent and long-term rates would rise and level offat 7.0 percent in 1997.<   The administration also expects the unemployment rate to;remain just under 6 percent throughout the next decade and0inflation to measure around 3 percent annually.>   Rivlin called the administration's projection's "sound and>realistic," even "on the conservative side," when compared to@estimates being made by private forecasters. "We believe we areon solid ground," she said.B   Following are some of the key projections and assumptions from   the report:A   OMB ESTIMATES FOR U.S. GOVERNMENT BUDGETS 1995-2002 In $1,000   million;            1995  1996  1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002;Receipts   1,358 1,415 1,474 1,549 1,628 1,716 1,807 1,903;Outlays    1,518 1,578 1,655 1,713 1,777 1,846 1,903 1,966	Deficit/; Surplus    -160  -163  -179  -161  -146  -125   -91   -58#OMB ECONOMIC ASSUMPTIONS 1995-2002<Gross domestic product (GDP) and consumer price index (CPI)=measured as percent change fourth quarter to fourth quarter,5unemployment rate measured as annual average percent8                1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 20028GDP              1.9  2.5  2.5  2.5  2.5  2.5  2.4  2.48CPI              3.2  3.2  3.2  3.2  3.1  3.1  3.1  3.18Unemployment     5.8  5.9  5.8  5.8  5.8  5.8  5.8  5.891-day8 T-bill rate     5.7  5.4  5.2  5.0  4.8  4.6  4.6  4.410-year8 Treasury note   6.6  6.5  6.6  6.4  6.2  6.0  5.8  5.6   ---------------   ---------------+   EUROPEAN REACTION TO CROATIAN OFFENSIVE   CHRISTINE FURNELL
   LONDON>   European leaders have strongly condemned Croatia's assaultAagainst the Serb-held Krajina region of Croatia early Friday. InBa statement, the British foreign office expressed the widely held?fear that the offensive threatens to ignite a wider war in theregion.B   The British statement urged Croatian authorities to stop their=military action immediately and return to negotiations which<began Thursday in Geneva. Britain said civilians and United>Nations troops stationed in the region will be put at risk if.Croatia persists with its military offensive.:   Germany also condemned Croatia's action, but expressedBunderstanding for Zagreb's frustration that the U.N. has not been@able to restore Croatia's territorial integrity. The Serbs have>long refused to negotiate on Zagreb's demand that the area bereintegrated into Croatia.A   France too was forthright in its condemnation of the Croatian9assault and called on Serbia not to retaliate. The Paris:statement added that European Union trade and cooperationAnegotiations with Croatia would be suspended until the offensive
was stopped.B   As Croatian government forces advanced across cease-fire lines@into Serb-held areas, NATO issued a stern warning to Croatia to>leave U.N. peacekeepers alone. The NATO statement also warned1croatia to stay clear of the safe area of Bihac.@   In Geneva, the United Nations refugee agency, the U.N.H.C.R,Asaid it feared tens of thousands of people could flee Krajina if;fighting continues. In a brief statement the International?Committee of the Red Cross expressed concern for the safety of@civilians. The ICRC demanded immediate access to all combatants/and civilians captured by all warring parties.   ---------------   ---------------   CROATIA REFUGEES   GORDON MARTIN
   GENEVA>   The Croatian assault on the Serb-held Krajina region couldBcause a large-scale exodus of civilians fleeing the fighting, andAplace a further strain on the resources of humanitarian agenciesAlike the U.N. high commissioner for refugees, U.N.H.C.R, and the0International Committee of the Red Cross, ICRC.<   The Red Cross has voiced what it calls acute concern for:civilian populations in the combat zones, and appealed toAcroatian military authorities and all others involved to respect international humanitarian law.<   A spokesman for the UNHCR, Ron Redmond, said that in theBkrajina, occupied for the past four years by the Serbs, the UNHCR;had been providing regular assistance to more than 100,000people:>   "We don't know the exact population of the Krajina, but we?would assume it's somewhere between 100,000 and 200,000. So we>could be seeing tens of thousands of people coming out of the?Krajina if this fighting continues. And as usual, U.N.H.C.R is=going to be left with the humanitarian consequences of this,<working in conjunction with the other agencies, with ICRC."@   Mr. Redmond said emergency relief supplies would be going to<the area from U.N.H.C.R offices in Zagreb and Belgrade, and%warehouses are now on standby alert.   ---------------   ---------------   EAST EUROPEAN STOCKS   BARRY WOOD
   PRAGUE>   Eastern European stock markets were generally subdued this=week with only Budapest showing vitality, as the main market5index there reached 1995 highs four times this week.A   Brokers say the action on the Budapest exchange this week wasBexciting. The BUX index gained two more points Friday to close at=15-hundred-ten. Improving corporate earnings drove hungarianstock prices higher.@   In Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia the markets were?down. In Warsaw shares lost 50 points on the week with the wig>index ending at 8,341. Brokers detect some positive trends as<volume increased amid signs some investors are accumulatingstocks.@   In Prague, the market moved sideways. The big companies that?account for most trading volume, CEZ, the electricity company,>the SPT phone company, and Komercni Banka, all were unchanged@Friday. The market index closed at 404, a one point drop on theweek.@   In Bratislava, there were also few changes. The 12-share sax>index lost two points Friday to 161. Volume was down because,=brokers say, investors are beginning their August vacations.   ---------------   ---------------'   FRENCH SUBWAY BOMBING INVESTIGATION   JULIAN NUNDY	   PARIS<   The investigation seems to be going slowly into the bomb>explosion ten days ago on a Paris subway train, killing sevenpeople.A   So far, French scientists have not even been able to identify=the type of explosive that ripped through a regional express=subway train at Paris' saint Michel station. This is because=chemicals from extinguishers smothered the explosive, makinganalysis very difficult.@   Although there is still no credible claim of responsibility,5police believe the explosion was the work of Islamicfundamentalists from Algeria.?   The Algerian government has sent France a list of people it@believes belong to the armed Islamic group, or GIA, that is the;main suspect for the bombing. This is the first time since:Algeria gained its independence in 1962 that its security<services have voluntarily helped their French counterparts.@   Scientists say a gas bottle used as the bomb's container was=purchased in Belgium. Police say this tends to confirm their@theory that the GIA is responsible, because it is known to have"bought other material in Belgium.>   As for the actual culprits who placed the bomb, the police?have published three composite drawings of North African Arabs?based on information provided by subway passengers. But police@say they are not satisfied with the quality of the drawings and)do not believe they are true likenesses.A   One serious lead was uncovered by Italian police. In the city@of Trieste where they have detained a 21-year-old Moroccan. The;moroccan, named Madid Abdellah, attracted police attention?because he crossed into Italy from neighboring Slovenia with aAfalse French passport. During a search of his luggage they foundBa computer disk containing instructions on how to make bombs. The@young man claims he was carrying it to deliver to another North@African in milan. French police have flown to Italy to question	the man.A   In Paris, meanwhile, police also picked up a Tunisian who wasBcarrying a written guide to bomb-making. They later ruled the manBout as a suspect and let him go since he has diplomatic immunity.B   Police say they are looking for a man named Abdallah Krountel.:They say they believe even this is a false name. The only?photographs they have of him were taken several years ago whenthe suspect was an adolescent.   ---------------   ---------------*   ANALYSTS ON GROWING WAR IN THE BALKANS
   ED WARNER   WASHINGTON@   With Croatia's offensive in Serb-held Krajina, analysts says<there is a possibility the Serbs could suffer a significantAdefeat. There is also the possibility that Serbia itself will be>drawn in, widening the war. Once again, western policy makers>must cope with new conditions in an already complex struggle.@   The immensely complicated and fratricidal war in the BalkansBhas perplexed western policy makers and prevented forming a clearconsensus as to what to do.<   Noting the Croatian attack on Serbian forces in Krajina,<military analyst Anthony Cordesman says there are confusingcross-currents:B   "It's important to remember that this fight is not really over?Bosnia and never really has been over Bosnia. It's not a state@that ever had any historical existence. What we are watching isAreally a battle for greater Serbia and greater Croatia, with the'Muslim minority caught in the middle."<   Mr. Cordesman, a former top military adviser to the U.S.?Senate and now a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic andAInternational Studies, says outside military intervention is too-uncertain a tool in such a complex struggle.@   But Sabrina Ramet, professor of international studies at the>University of Washington and author of the much praised book,A"Balkan babel," says the arms embargo on Bosnia should be lifted5and arms sent to the Bosnian Muslims and to Croatia:B   "Of course, military measures can work. The opposite argument,Awhich unfortunately has been argued seriously in the press to my:great amazement and in public forums, is that the west is=helpless and can do nothing effective whatsoever against theASerbs. How this notion started to circulate, that the Serbs were?some enormous power that even NATO could not combat, is reallybeyond me."@   Professor Ramet says sufficient military force must be used.>What she calls "pinpricks" do not impress or deter the Serbs.A   Sam Dickens is a retired U.S. Air force colonel who commandedBa fighter squadron in Vietnam, and is now chairman of the CouncilBfor the Defense of Freedom, a private military research group. He@agrees military force, in particular air power, can resolve the.conflict provided there are clear objectives:>   "I'm greatly concerned that those objectives have not been9clearly made. Once they're made, then the military or an?application of air power can be employed to attempt to achieve@those objectives. That's one of the big questions about the use@of air power, because certainly in the Bosnia situation, you'reBnot out to win a war. So you're not ruthlessly applying air powerBto completely defeat an enemy. There's no question that air power:can deliver munitions extremely precisely, but I would be>hesitant to use air power in that limited way unless one knew.precisely what we were trying to accomplish."@   Colonel Dickens says striking limited targets like artilleryAand anti-aircraft is not enough. To be effective, air power must=hit command and control centers of the political leadership.<   What then?, Asks Anthony Cordesman, remembering the U.S.involvement in Vietnam:B   "We could halt military action in Vietnam for a while. But the@fact is that everybody who lived there was going to stay there,Aand we weren't. In this particular case, the problem gets to be:BWill the Serbs retaliate? Will we end up with more hostages? Will?we end up with U.N. And foreign civilians being taken prisonerAall over the area? If they halt, how long will they halt and for?what end? What are we going to do next? What scale of fighting&are we really prepared to deal with?"?   Colonel Sam Dickens agrees bombing has its price, but asks,@are we willing to pay it? Drawing on his Vietnam experience, heBnotes that the military cannot do its job without a clear policy,/but then is blamed for the subsequent failure.<   As Croatian and rebel-Serb forces clash in the breakawayAkrajina region, western policy makers continue to debate what to?do, to what extent they should or should not intervene. In thesecond of two reports,@   Along with many others in the west, Sabrina Ramet says there)is a clear aggressor in the Balkans war:>   "Serbian atrocities have exceeded atrocities by both otherAsides by just an enormous extent, and the Serbs still occupy farAmore area than their population could conceivably justify. Aside>from just pushing the Serbs out, there has to be some sort of@punishment, whether it is in the form of reparations or whether<that should be reflected in the territorial apportionment."<   Sabrina Ramet, professor of international studies at the;University of Washington, says justice must be tempered by@practicality. So she would allot the Serbs about one quarter ofbosnia when the war is over.A   However, Anthony Cordesman, a senior fellow at the Center for@Strategic and International Studies, thinks moral judgments are*hard to make in this particular conflict:>   "The fact is that in civil wars, winners always commit farBmore acts of violence, far more atrocities than losers do. That's?because they have the power, the weapons, and the control overBpopulations. That doesn't mean that losers are somehow more moral?or more legitimate or will act with any more restraint if theyAwin. What we are talking about is not governments in the typicalAsense. You have Serbian warlords versus Croatian warlords versusMuslim warlords."7   Professor Ramet says it is all very well to talk of@longstanding rivalries in the Balkans, but maintains these were=deliberately enflamed by the current Serbian leadership. She-blames Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic:B   "What Milosevic was telling the Serbs was that they had always>been exploited, that they had always been held down, they had?always been kicked around, that they had been treated the mostAunjustly of any people, that (former Yugoslav leader Josip Broz)@Tito had been anti-Serb, and that various lands that were givenAto other republics all should belong to Serbia. Within about twoByears, most Serbs were convinced of these things, and you started>to get increasing hatred of the other peoples of Yugoslavia."<   Anthony Cordesman says that whatever the ferocity of the?Serbs, he doubts they plan much further conquest. He says they?would then have to absorb still more embittered minorities and?face increasing protest from the world community. Even if they:win what they want, he says, there will be no easy peace.<Resentments will remain, doubtless backed by force of arms.:   Mr. Cordesman says the war has its own cruel momentum:A   "It will probably work out with more and more fighting, until=facts are created on the ground that all sides are forced toAaccept. There have been some civil wars which have been resolvedAvery quickly. But when a civil war becomes institutionalized, as@it has in Bosnia, as it has in Ulster (Northern Ireland), as itBhas in Sudan, when it becomes an endemic amount of ethnic or clan;fighting, as is the case in Somalia, there is no point, no9predictable point at which the fighting actually stops."<   Anthony Cordesman says it may be better to live with the@current level of warfare, agonizing as it is, than to move to a?wider war with all that may entail in the combustible Balkans.   ---------------   ---------------   POLAND ECONOMY   BARRY WOOD
   PRAGUE@   Polish authorities say they may add up to 170 more companies9to the mass privatization program that began last month.<   Four-hundred-thirteen medium sized companies are already<participating in the mass privatization. An official in the?privatization ministry says the managers of 300 more companiesAhave been asked if they would like to participate. More than 100Bhave reportedly said yes and another 60 are said to be leaning inthat direction.:   The Polish mass privatization began last month when 15@national investment funds took part in a lottery that gave each8fund an ownership interest and management control in 28>companies. The privatization ministry wants more companies to;participate in order to add value to the funds' investmentportfolios.<   The 15 funds themselves eventually will be listed on the@Warsaw stock exchange and citizens will get ownership shares inBthe funds. The fund managers, many of whom are professionals from@London, New York and Vienna, have their salaries linked to fund
performance.?   The program is intended not only to get state assets out of:the public sector, but also to spark investor interest inBfinancial markets. The Warsaw stock exchange has already educatedAPoles into the vagaries of a market economy. The value of shares@listed on the exchange soared 800 percent in 1993 and then fellback 50 percent in 1994.A   Already one of the national investment funds says it wants to;place five of the 27 firms it controls on the Warsaw stockAexchange. National investment fund number three says it wants to@list the companies in order to increase share value. Only about:50 companies are currently listed on the Warsaw exchange.   ---------------   ---------------/   BOUTROS GHALI CRITICIZES CROATIAN OFFENSIVE   LAURI NEFF   NEW YORK>   The secretary general of the United Nations criticized the5Croatian military offensive Friday and condemned the>   U.N. secretary General Boutros Boutros Ghali says Croatian:President Franjo Tudjman launched the assault despite the?secretary general's personal appeal for restraint. Mr. Boutros=Ghali says he had spoken to the Croatian leader by telephoneThursday evening.<   The secretary general, meanwhile, is condemning what the@United Nations calls the deliberate targeting of U.N. positions8by the croatian army which led to the death of a Danish@peacekeeper. Mr. Boutros Ghali says peacekeeping troops are not>involved in the conflict and should not be targeted by eitherside.@   The secretary general says war will not resolve anything and>he is urging the parties involved to return to the bargainingtable.B   UN mediated talks between Croatia and the rebel Serbs ended inGeneva Wednesday.>   The U.N. Security Council, which Thursday urged both sides;back to the negotiating table, is holding consultations on=Croatia. However, Security Council members will not say whatAactions they are considering in response to the latest crisis inthe former Yugoslavia.   ---------------   ---------------<   U.N. WARNS OF REFUGEE FLOW FROM CROATIA'S KRAJINA REGION   WENDY LUBETKIN
   GENEVAB   "Tens of thousands" of people could flee the Krajina region of=Croatia if fighting continues there, the United Nations High3Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) warned August 4.A   "UNHCR offices throughout the region in the former YugoslaviaAare preparing for a possible large new influx of people from the?Krajina region, possibly toward Bosnian-Serb territory," UNHCR=spokesperson Ron Redmond said at a press briefing in Geneva.=   As of August 4, the only indication UNHCR had received of;movement from the region came from Sector North, where its?Topusko office reported seeing about 100 civilian cars heading>south toward Serbian-held territory in Bosnia, Redmond noted.@   UNHCR does not know the exact population of the Krajina, but@it estimates between 100,000 and 200,000 people live there. "WeBcould be seeing tens of thousands of people coming out of Krajina+if this fighting continues," Redmond said.7   UNHCR assumes most of those who flee will head into;Bosnian-Serb territory, but some may also go into Croatian=government-held territory. "We would expect Croatia to offer=protection to the civilian population if they should do so,"Redmond said.B   Redmond also noted that some Muslim refugees from Zepa, mostly>men and boys fearing capture by the Bosnian Serbs, have begun&crossing over the border into Serbia.;   "The first report we got of this was on August 1 in the;afternoon when we were informed by the Federal Republic of?Yugoslavia Commissioner for Refugees that about 200 or 250 men#from Zepa had showed up," he said.<   UNHCR staff from Belgrade traveled to the border town of@Mitrovac and, after some negotiation, were allowed to interview@about ten men who were being held on one of two closely watchedtrucks.<   "They were all men between 35 and 40 years old," Redmond=recounted. "They were soaking wet because they had just swum@across the river at the border. They were extremely tired. Some?of them were crying. They were very, very, fearful of what wasgoing to happen to them."=   The men said it had taken them four or five days to reach?Serbia, and they had headed in that direction because they didBnot want to go through Bosnian-Serb territory to the North. "They@did not want to surrender because they feared for their lives,">Redmond said. "They also said they did not want to go back to;(Bosnian) government territory for fear that they would bemobilized into the military."A   UNHCR and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)?are trying to determine the total number of refugees from ZepaBwho have fled to Serbia. "It is somewhere between the ten that we?have seen and possibly more than a thousand, but we don't knowexactly," Redmond said.B   Redmond noted that there are now a total of 3,715,000 refugees/or displaced persons in the former Yugoslavia.   ---------------   ---------------F   BEYOND BOSNIA: DIPLOMATS MAY NOT BE UNHAPPY WITH CROATIA OFFENSIVE   PAMELA TAYLOR   WASHINGTON<   The 1991 war between Serbia and Croatia, which spread toBBosnia-Herzegovina the following year, is now threatening to draw?both Croatia and Serbia back into direct conflict. then as now@the spark that ignited the fire was the demand for independence:by the ten percent Serb population of Croatia in the area=bordering Bosnia-Herzegovina known as the Krajina. The rebel?Serbs have taken control of about one-fourth of this territory>which the government of Croatia wants back. When negotiationsBfailed to resolve the issue, the Croatian government took matters@into its own hands and recaptured a sliver of contested land in;an area called Western Slavonia in a well-planned military=offensive which sent thousands of Serb civilians fleeing theAarea. The heavily-armed Krajina Serbs retaliated by shelling theCroatian capital, Zagreb.>   Diplomatic negotiations have failed to convince Croatia to@pull back from around Krajina and U.N. officials say once again,Serbs and Croats are positioned for battle.?   Last week's Croat offensive against Serbs in western Bosnia@was ostensibly to ease pressure on the besieged Bosnian enclave@of Bihac. But few analysts believe its real purpose was to help?the Bosnians. Giandominico Picco [john-doh-men-eeko peek-oh] a@former U.N. assistant secretary general, says the war in Bosnia@is in fact a tragic consequence of a power struggle between two(men, the leaders of Serbia and Croatia:<   "We have forgotten that the war started as a war betweenBPresident (Slobodan) Milosevic and President (Franjo) Tudjman. So@it is essentially between the Serbian the Serbian president and>the Croatian president. The Bosnia events of the last 3 years?have been a kind of accident in what was a basic fight betweenAthese two gentlemen to divide the country and I think that stillAis the plan. And I make the prediction that this will be the end>of Bosnia with a very symbolic unit, perhaps Sarajevo and notAmuch more which will be a Bosnian entity. Defacto first and then@economically and then later Bosnia will be divided by the SerbsAand the Croats. I have no doubt in my mind that that is the plan?and that it will be pursued. Frankly I don't think anyone will(oppose it, except the Bosnian Muslims."B   Mr. Picco, who is now in private business, defended the UnitedBNations role in the former Yugoslavia, again reminding that it isBindividuals, not ethnic groups or institutions like the U.N., whodetermine history.8   Barry Posen, a professor of political science at the<Massachusetts Institute of Technology, says that in a sense>Bosnia has been only a sideshow in the real conflict. He saysArecent events in Krajina remind him of a saying he heard once in>Bosnia: That Serbs and Croats have always fought, down to the
last Muslim:=   "It may be that the facts on the ground are moving things<toward a division of Bosnia between Croatia and Serbia. TheArecovery of Croatian military power and their willingness to use?it doesn't only suggest that the Croats are just interested in9getting the Krajina back, it also suggests they might beBinterested in helping the Croatian parts of Bosnia (Herzeg-Bosna)?finish their own secession from that country. So it's entirelyBpossible that the facts on the ground are moving in the directionBof in effect splitting the best parts of Bosnia between the Serbsand the Croats.A   Professor Posen thinks the only viable solution for Bosnia atAthis late date is what is known as enforced partition, something@the international community is reluctant to advocate because it)implies cooperation in ethnic cleansing:A   "If we had tried this two or three years ago, outsiders wouldBhave had to actually move lots of populations around and commit a@lot of resources. But they might have saved a lot of lives. Now;warfare has moved lots of people around and in a sense hasBcreated the defacto partition. But no one wants to quite agree toAit. People still want to fight about who gets what piece of land@so even now with the addition of some western power and western>leadership, it might be possible, to bring about an equitable?distribution of land and a fair divorce of these populations."B   Professor Posen thinks Serbia might not come to the defense ofAthe Krajina Serbs if Croatia agrees to stop its military support=for the Bosnian government. David Rieff, author of the book,@'Slaughterhouse: Bosnia and The Failure of the West', says from6the very beginning the British and the French opposedBintervention in defense of the Bosnians and as the countries with;the most troops on the ground there, their view prevailed:A   "All I can say is that 100 years from now people are going to@look back on this period they're really not going to understand>why the Bosnian Muslims had to under this Holocaust when this?enormous, powerful world knew exactly what was going on, could=have intervened because the Serbs couldn't have taken on the?massed power of the western alliance. But (they) chose not to.-That's going to be very puzzling to people."@   Mr. Picco thinks one explanation for this indecisiveness may@be that European diplomats decided geopolitical strategies must?be based on the long term implications of a wider war. He says?sometimes, as history has shown, this has meant that lambs aresacrificed:<   "During World War II Winston Churchill got access to the?German secret codes although Hitler was unaware of it. He knew@the Luftwaffe was going to bomb Coventry, a city of 27 thousand?people in England. He had two choices. He said 'I can tell the?people to evacuate the city and by doing so Hitler will know I?know his codes, he will change his codes and then he will comeBand bomb the rest of England. Or I can let them go ahead and bomb?Coventry and then defend the rest of England and save it.' andBthat is what he did and 27 thousand people in Coventry lost their=lives so their government could save the others. In a way in<Europe one could say that western Europe is using Bosnia as>Churchill did with Coventry. They will save a larger group of9people in 20 years but today, the Bosnians have to die."   ---------------   ---------------+   EARLY RELEASE OF STASI CHIEF IN GERMANY   DAGMAR BREITENBACH   BONN>   The release earlier this week of the last jailed member of:former East Germany's communist regime, Erich Mielke, hasBoutraged many people who say justice has not been done to make up>for decades of dictatorship. Mielke headed the powerful state;security police, the Stasi, probably Eastern Europe's most;effective security and espionage apparatus. But, some East@Germans appear indifferent to the fate of their former leaders,=none of whom remains in jail six-years after the fall of the
Berlin Wall.?   One paper says Erich Mielke was one of the worst members of>the East German regime of injustice. The "Rheinpfalz" says heAabused East Germans' rights, he oppressed his fellow countrymen,1and he destroyed many people's entire existence.?   Commentators say Mielke's victims are outraged at his early@release. But, they also point out he is an old man of 87-years.?They say his release is justifiable because, under German law,>Mielke had to be treated the same as every other criminal. No(East German leader now remains in jail.A   The 87-year-old former Stasi leader left Berlin's Moabit jailBunder tight security, late Tuesday after having served two-thirds@of his six-year jail sentence. Mielke was convicted in 1993 for9having killed two policemen in 1931 while he was a youngAcommunist fighting Nazi gangs on the street. The ex-Stasi leader:had been ruled unfit to stand trial for complicity in the=shooting of East Germans trying to flee their country to the@west, across the heavily-fortified borders and the Berlin Wall.A   The association of former political prisoners in Berlin callsBMielke's early release an inexplicable leniency, and says it is a@slap in the face of all former political prisoners. As chief ofAthe state security police, Mielke was the communist government'sAsecond most influential person, after leader Erich Honecker. Mr.BHonecker died in exile in Chile last year after having been foundunfit to stand trial.=   East Germany's remaining former leaders now live tranquil=lives with limited financial means. Most of them are granted+pensions of less than 600-dollars a month.   ---------------   ---------------   TREATING BOSNIA'S WOUNDED   GARY THOMAS   TUZLA,BOSNIA1   The war in the former Yugoslavia has produced?hundreds-of-thousands of casualties. No one knows for certain,@but wildly varying estimates put the number of dead and wounded:from as low as 100,000 people to as high as 300,000 since%Yugoslavia splintered apart in 1991.B   The work encountered by doctors at the Gradina Clinical CenterBin Tuzla, Bosnia, is a bit different than that found at hospitalsBelsewhere in the world. For example, the doctors must cope with a8case like that of Suada Husakovic and her two children.=   Mrs. Husakovic, who resides in a village not far from the?battle lines, explains her two children were out playing three>weeks ago when a Bosnian Serb shell landed in their yard. Her=husband was killed, and the two children were badly injured.B   Merdina, six-years old, is recovering from nerve wounds to her<buttocks and stomach. Her 12-year-old brother, Elmir, fared:worse, for he is paralyzed. Doctor Emir Kabil, one of the*surgeons dealing with the case, explains:>   "  operated on her and my colleague operated on him. I did@operation of the belly. She had terrible injury to the buttock,?with injury of the nerves. I did a reconstruction of the belly@and I put colostomy on her stomach. She is doing very well, sheAis stable. But main problem, you see, is with him. He had injuryAof the spinal cord. He is paraplegic now and he has problem withthe stomach."A   In this hospital, it is man-made violence, not the effects of=nature, that dominate doctors' work. Here, the bed next to a?heart attack patient is likely to be occupied by someone whose;belly has been ripped by a mortar shell. Doctor Kabil says@80-percent of their patients in the intensive care unit are war	victims.B   The conflict sometimes comes right to the front door. HospitalBdoctors estimate about 150 Bosnian-Serb shells have landed around<the hospital during the past three years, the last being in@mid-July. Fortunately, these shells caused no fatalities in the
hospital.:   The hospital, say doctors, is about as up-to-date as a9hospital in a war zone can be expected to be. Tuzla is a@surrounded city, even though the Bosnian Serbs have been pushed?further back from the perimeter, so some equipment lies unused9for lack of spare parts. Medicines and supplies are alsoBdifficult to come by, although a convoy of supplies brought in by=the Americares Foundation last week helped replenish stocks.ADoctors also say they lack access to the latest medical journalsAwith up-to-date information on new techniques, so they feel they are operating behind the times.A   The doctors are proud they have been able to save lives, even;with all the obstacles. Doctor Kabil says they have had to@improvise, relying more on their skill than medical technology:>   "During this war, we learn very, very much. And I must say?that during the worst time, it was two-years ago, we used only=skill and some basic things and in spite of that we did (an)@excellent job. We save a lot of lives, a lot of lives, and I amvery proud because of that."@   Doctor Kamil laughingly describes the current period as likeBCalifornia for us, meaning it is relatively quiet. The last major=incident was when a shell landed in downtown Tuzla may 25th,?killing 71 and wounding several hundred more. Doctors operatedBthen for 24-hours straight. The latest battles for Srebrenica andBZepa sent more casualties to the hospital, and the intensive care=unit is filled with patients, many with wounds from shrapnel&fragments peppered across their body.@   The work keeps coming. With the war threatening to escalate,?Doctor Kabil and his colleagues will continue having to muster'skill and improvisation to save lives.   ---------------   ---------------   CZECH HOUSING   BARRY WOOD
   PRAGUEA   Nearly six-years after the collapse of communism, most people<in post-communist Europe continue to live in state-owned or controlled apartment buildings.;   Czech President Vaclav Havel frequently speaks of "Homo6Sovietus", angry, dispirited people whose initiative,9self-reliance, and character were worn down by a corruptcommunist system.?   Housing in the Soviet system was adequate, but spartan. TheBbest dwellings went to people with party affiliations. There is a?drab, depressing similarity to the rows of unsightly apartment1buildings found throughout the former east bloc.B   Western property developers think if people are given a chance8they will move out of their rent-controlled state-ownedBapartments into something newer and nicer. The problem, they say,,is mainly the absence of credit facilities.=   In the Czech Republic, there is another problem. PropertyBdeveloper Jitka Cihakova says Czechs have a deep reluctance to gointo debt:@   "We would rather save money month by month than to go to the?bank and ask for the loan. That is the Czech mentality. In theBpast, we had no possibility to ask for loans, so it is inside us.BMost people can not imagine that you (could) live in a house that/is not yours, that there is a mortgage on it."B   Ms. Cihakova believes public resistance to debt is part of the=reason the Czech government has not yet developed a mortgage>lending program. As of today, Czechs typically obtain housing>loans for no more than five-years. Half of the purchase price6must be provided as a cash down-payment. Longer term,/western-style housing loans are being planned.?   Steven Miller of Prague investments, a property developmentBcompany, says Czechs are not inclined to take financial risks. As?a result, says Mr. Miller, many Czechs whose incomes justify a-richer life style continue to live modestly:@   "There are really two very distinct societies here in Prague?right now. There is the society of the haves, and there is the?society of the have nots, do not wants, could not care, or are>being pressed down, or whatever else. And it is still there."B   By most measures the Czech Republic has made the most progress;of the transforming economies. The money is stable and theBeconomy is growing. Yet only slowly are people beginning to thinkBin a new way and become more willing to take control of their ownlives.   ---------------   ----------------   FRENCH PUBLIC OPINION POL ON NUCLEAR TEST   JULIAN NUNDY	   PARISB   An opinion poll shows that a majority of French citizens would>like their government to abandon its nuclear testing program.>France is facing growing pressure from other countries not to)resume its nuclear tests in the Pacific.A   The scale of the protests against France's decision to resume=nuclear testing seems to have taken the new government under&President Jacques Chirac by surprise.B   Since Mr. Chirac announced the resumption in June, he has lostA10 points in popularity ratings, dropping from 54 percent to 44.5The respondents in that poll last month blamed their9disillusionment on the decision to start testing after athree-year halt.>   Now, a new poll in the popular Le Parisien daily newspaper@shows that 60 percent of the French would like Mr. Chirac to goBback on his decision. And 56 percent believe he was wrong even to'consider starting nuclear tests again.@   The French military believes that it is essential for France;to conduct a series of eight more underground tests at its>Mururoa atoll in the Pacific, before it can move to simulated@experiments that would involve no actual explosions. The UnitedBStates, Britain, and Russia all now use (computer) simulation andAhave stopped live explosions. France, under the former president@Francois Mitterrand, announced a unilateral moratorium on teststhree years ago.A   But the daily Liberation suggests that Mr. Chirac should have;used more tact before announcing a resumption of tests. It>pointed out that his announcement came a few weeks before theA50th anniversary of the first use of the atom bomb at Hiroshima.A   It also said that Australia which, with New Zealand, has been@leading the anti-French protests, has bad memories of the earlyABritish nuclear tests that were conducted in the atmosphere over%the Australian desert in the 1950's.<   With a number of Asian countries strongly opposed to the?French decision, the biggest tension so far is with Australia.AAlready, France has withdrawn its ambassador to Canberra because?Australia decided not to consider a bid by the French Dassault?aircraft company for military training aircraft because of the9resumption. When asked, all French officials repeat thatBPresident Chirac's decision to begin a new, eight-month series of!tests next month is irrevocable.   ---------------   ---------------'   FRANCE RELEASE NUCLEAR TESTING DATA   JULIAN NUNDY	   PARIS@   France is publishing the results of all nuclear tests it hasBconducted since its nuclear weapons program began in 1960. France@is facing international protests for its decision to resume the	testing.>   France is expected to hear some tough words from the sevenBSoutheast Asian countries in the ASEAN group meeting this week inABrunei. The ASEAN countries are among many to criticize France'sBdecision to resume underground nuclear tests at its Mururoa atollin the Pacific.A   France has never published details of its testing program. It:has not confirmed tests picked up by monitoring equipmentelsewhere.@   But, the daily newspaper Le Monde says the French governmentAhas prepared a nearly 700-page detailed report of most 204 tests<France has carried out since 1960. France first produced an<atomic bomb during the administration of the late presidentCharles De Gaulle.?   The first tests were carried out in the Sahara desert. Some=early atmospheric tests were also conducted over the Pacific7Ocean. The Le Monde report says only three atmospheric=explosions, all over the Pacific between 1966 and 1973, gave;cause for environmental alarm. It said on those occasions,=radioactive debris had to be cleaned up from the test sites.@   Perhaps the most surprising figure to emerge from the report8is the number of tests carried out by successive FrenchAadministrations. Although the socialist Francois Mitterrand, who=retired from office in May, declared a testing moratorium inB1992, a total of 86-tests were carried out during his 14-years inoffice.@   This compares with 30 during the nine years up to General De=Gaulle's retirement in 1969. It was President Mitterrand who=declared a unilateral halt to testing in 1992 for an initialAperiod of six months. He said then France would not resume tests:if other countries stopped their test programs after thatsix-month period.:   In those months, the United States, Britain and RussiaAdeveloped techniques needed for simulated testing, a method that@requires no explosions. So they did not give France the pretextto resume.@   President Jacques Chirac, who succeeded Mr. Mitterrand, says9France needs a series of eight tests before it can begin;simulation. The new French tests are expected to resume at2Mururoa in September and continue until next May.B   Suggesting President Mitterrand's original 1992 moratorium was@an unwise decision, Le Monde said he took it without consultingAhis government, his military chiefs, or scientists. Before this,?Le Monde said, Mr. Mitterrand demonstrated a marked enthusiasm&for France's nuclear weapons program.   ---------------   ---------------;   HUMAN RIGHTS GROUPS CALL FOR MILITARY ACTIONS IN BOSNIA   LAURI NEFF   NEW YORK<   A coalition of humanitarian organizations is calling for=allied military action to halt so-called ethnic-cleansing in?Bosnia-Herzegovina. The groups say that is the only way to end3the killing of civilians in the former Yugoslavia.?   The 27 human rights, humanitarian, and religious groups say@they have banded together because individually they have failed>to stop what they call, the massacre of innocent civilians in@Bosnia-Herzegovina. Kenneth Roth, executive director of the NewAYork-based organization Human Rights Watch, admits it is unusualAfor organizations dedicated to humanitarian purposes to call for<military action. But, he says what is going on in Bosnia is@genocide, and the groups feel they have to do whatever they canto stop it:A   "We realize that continued inaction, continued failure to use?military force to stop genocide was ultimately doing much moreAharm to the basic values that we believed in than with the risks@associated with the actual use of force for the limited purposeof stopping genocide."?   The coalition says force must be used to protect and supply6the remaining U.N. declared safe areas in Bosnia. The:organizations say military means should be used to secure<immediate access to detainees from Srebrenica and Zepa, two@so-called safe areas that fell to Bosnian-Serb forces in recentweeks.?   Mr. Roth is also urging continued sanctions against Serbia,Awhich the groups say has been uncooperative in the international3investigation of war crimes in Bosnia-Herzegovina:8   "Particularly, we call on Washington to disclose all:information available to it, including intelligence, that=implicates the Serbian government in Belgrade in the ongoing>supply, assistance, or direction of the Bosnian-Serb troops."B   The coalition has not outlined specific strategies for meeting;its goals. The groups say they are appalled at the lack ofBpolitical will among the western allies to do something about the9humanitarian crisis in Bosnia. The say the internationalBcommunity should do whatever is necessary to protect civilians inthe former Yugoslavia.   ---------------   ---------------:   LATVIA STOCKS RE-OPENS AFTER BEING CLOSED FOR 55 YEARS   BARRY WOOD
   PRAGUEA   Latvia last week re-opened its stock exchange, which had been)closed for 55 years. the eastern Baltic.A   What is significant about the re-opening of the Riga exchange;is that has taken place only months after a banking crisis?threatened to undo Latvia's substantial progress in building a>market economy. Quick remedial action by the central bank hasAapparently overcome the crisis. Remarkably, the Latvian currency?has not lost any of its foreign exchange value even though theBcountry and the region's largest commercial bank had to be closedless than three months ago.?   Located in its original building on Riga's old town square,Bthe stock exchange initially is operating only one day a week. In;addition to government bonds being traded, four privatized?companies are listed. They include a transport company, an oil9storage facility, a fish canning company, and a brewery.9   The head of the exchange, Karlis Cerbulis, says he isAsatisfied with the results of the first week of trading. Supply,Bhe says, was greater than demand and about eight thousand dollars;of business was done. Mr. Cerbulis says development of theAexchange is a step-by-step process which will proceed slowly. HeBsays participation in trading is restrained by the effects of thebanking crisis.?   It is expected that 13 companies currently being privatized=will be listed on the exchange over the next several months.9   Eastern Europe's stock markets have been developed inBdifferent ways. In the Czech Republic the market was built on the@foundation of the 1,400 companies which were privatized in 1992?and 1993. Most of their shares were listed on the Prague StockAExchange when it re-opened in April 1993. Today the market value;of the 1,700 companies traded in Prague exceeds 12 billion@dollars. Poland, with a much bigger economy, has only two dozen@companies traded on the Warsaw exchange, with a market value of=less than five billion dollars. The Hungarian exchange has a>market value of one point six billion dollars, and Slovakia's;exchange [trades the stock of companies worth] one billion	dollars.   ---------------   ---------------   ROMANIA ECONOMY   BARRY WOOD
   BUCHAREST7   After years of delay, Romania is beginning its mass<privatization program, which during the next nine-months isAintended to get 2,500 state enterprises out of the public sectorBand into the hands of private individuals. The mass privatization?in Romania is critical to the development of a capital market.B   Romania is nearly the last country in post-communist Europe to@open a stock exchange. In Bucharest, a rudimentary exchange for>trading ownership shares in corporations has technically beenBopened. Located temporarily in the handsome neo-classical centralBbank building, Romania's stock exchange is intended to facilitate"the building of a market economy.A   A state-owned enterprise has to be substantially restructured;before its shares can be issued and traded. Romania's mass<privatization is meant to get assets out of state hands andBrestructure companies along western lines. A first step is making:public a profit and loss statement as well as other basicAinformation like the number of employees, details of operations,Anames of senior management. In the communist period, and in many@cases currently, particulars of company operations were secret.B   In Romania, 90-percent of industry is in state hands. The mass?privatization will allow up to 16-million Romanians to bid forAshares in state enterprises. The Bucharest representative of the>European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Mike hicks,Asays it will be a long time before the privatized companies will@be listed on the stock exchange. Nonetheless Mr. Hicks says the0opening of the Bucharest exchange is important:?   "The stock exchange formally exists, but during August they@are doing trial trading of ghost stocks with the intention that?they will list (only) a small number of companies. They (stockBexchange) are presently analyzing a whole number of proposals for?how many stocks will trade and whether those will be companies9that have been partially privatized or (only) purely new@companies. I think they do not want to dump the whole number of?privatized companies onto the exchange because you could wreck@the whole finely tuned machinery before it gets up to speed. So@what I would guess is that they are likely to list four or five8companies over the next six months or so. And, OK, have?relatively quiet trading of those to train brokers to see what!goes wrong and what goes right."B   The non-transferable privatization certificates that will soon>be issued have a nominal value of about 500-dollars, far moreAthan the average Romanian makes in a month. But some experts say=the value of that asset will decline once the certificate is@exchanged for stocks in privatized companies. That possibility,7says the experts, makes the mass privatization a risky:undertaking for a government that is facing parliamentary@elections in 1996, just as the privatization is scheduled to becompleted.   ---------------   ---------------   PANAMA LABOR UNREST   ERIN BRUMMETT   SAN JOSE, COSTA RICAA   A Panamanian labor strike has degenerated into street clashes?with police that have left one person dead and dozens injured.?Authorities have arrested 52 people involved in the protest in>Panama city against the government's plan to change the laborcode.@   Thousands of disgruntled workers, mainly from the banana and@construction industries, streamed into the streets on the first<day of an indefinite general strike. The protesters blocked?traffic, broke car windows and used sticks and rocks to resistpolice.A   Authorities used teargas to break up the demonstration in theBcapital's financial district. It is one of the worst outbreaks of?street violence since those against the military government of#Manuel Noriega in the late 1980's.@   Police have erected barriers around the legislative assemblyBbuilding, where lawmakers were discussing proposed reforms to the>labor code. The strike was timed to coincide with the special8legislative session convoked by President Ernesto PerezBalladares.?   Strikers fear their jobs will be at risk if the changes are?approved. Their first hint at mass action against the proposedAreforms was a peaceful march to the national assembly last month
(July 18th).<   The government says the reforms are necessary to attractBinvestment and make Panama more competitive. The proposed changesAare the first since the current labor code was instituted in the8early 1970's under the regime of General Omar Torrijos.?   Protest organizers are calling the strike a success, though@little support was reported outside the construction and banana?industries. The director of public transport is threatening to6suspend service if buses are damaged in the violence.;   The government is accusing strike leaders of initiating8violence to attract attention. Officials are warning anAindefinite work stoppage could have disastrous economic effects.:   This is the first indefinite strike called against theBgovernment of president Perez Balladares, who completes his firstyear in office next month.?   The president says he will not put off (postpone) the tough6decisions that will make life better for Panamanians.   ---------------   ---------------'   PARAGUAY RETURN TO DEMOCRACY REPORT   GEORGE MEEK   ASUNCION, PARAGUAY@   Six years ago democratic rule was restored to Paraguay after:the 34-year reign of General Alfredo Stroessner. But some;Paraguayans say the changeover to democracy is incomplete,?because the current president, Juan Carlos Wasmosy, belongs to/the same Colorado party as General Stroessner.<   President Wasmosy is widely praised for working with the@opposition-controlled Congress to reform the Supreme Court. TheBjustices of the court have lifetime appointments, and nearly half@are opposition party members. Some lawyers call it the greatest&breakthrough in Paraguay in 70 years.9   Mr. Wasmosy is also praised for permitting a free andBoutspoken press. But deputy Luis Alberto Mauro, of the opposition@National Encounter, says things have really not changed much in
Paraguay.?   He says General Stroessner fell in 1989, but the system for?governing the country that Stroessner established is the same.8This system is based on corruption of public employees,Bcontraband, and drug trafficking. He says the Paraguayan state is@one and the same with military officers and the ruling ColoradoBParty. The radio station with the largest audience in Paraguay isBRadio Nanduti. Its news chief, Mina Feliciangeli, agrees with Mr.AMauro that the triumvirate of government, military, and Colorado>party still runs the country. She says the chief of the armed7forces, General Lino Cesar Oviedo, has too much power.A   She says, in reality, I think that the one who has more powerAthan the president of the republic is General Lino Cesar Oviedo.>Although Mr. Wasmosy is nominally commander in chief, GeneralOviedo wields more power.<   The senate has asked President Wasmosy to retire GeneralAOviedo, but the president refused, saying the more people demandBthe general's removal, the more he is determined to let him stay.<   The deputy chief of the U.S. embassy in Asuncion, Gerald9McCulloch, says the United States is helping consolidateParaguayan democracy:8   "We brought in experts from Chile that work with theBlegislature in Chile to talk to their Paraguayan counterparts who8have now organized themselves into a professional staff=organization, and as the congress here becomes more and more:involved this is working out to be an important program."=   Mr. McCulloch says the United States has also helped with:organization of Paraguay's new supreme court and judicialtraining programs.   ---------------   ---------------   TRINIDAD STATE OF EMERGENCY   LINDSEY MCCOON   TRINIDADA   A state of emergency has been declared in the Caribbean state8of Trinidad and Tobago, and the speaker of the House of:Representatives there has been placed under house arrest.3   The speaker of the Trinidad and Tobago House of>Representatives, Occah Seapaul, was placed under house arrestAearly this morning by police, shortly after a state of emergency$was declared here in Port-Au-Spain.?   The country's acting president, Emmanuel Carter, signed the%declaration of a state of emergency.9   Speaker Seapaul was due to preside in parliament this@afternoon, for debate on a constitutional amendment put forward;by the government in an effort to force her out of office.B   Since July third, the government has been attempting to remove@the speaker, following the outcome of a court case in which she;was the plaintiff. She had brought charges against a local?businessman whom she accused of defrauding her of about 20,000?U.S. dollars. The charges were dismissed by a central Trinidad>magistrate in June. The speaker has insisted she has not doneanything wrong.?   Ms. Seapaul has rejected a government request that she quitBoffice, and ruled that a no confidence motion brought against her(by the government was unconstitutional.A   Information minister Gordon Dreper said this morning that the@government was forced to take the decisions because the electedAgovernment found it difficult to govern and run the country. But=the main opposition party in parliament, the United National;congress, described the latest situation as total madness.@   In a statement, the party said the arrest of the speaker and:the declaration of a state of emergency by the government?demonstrated that the government was unfit to run Trinidad andTobago.   ---------------   ---------------H   HONDURAN MILITARY CHIEF CRITICIZES PROSECUTION OF MILITARY OFFICIALS   ERIN BRUMMETT   SAN JOSE=   The chief of the Honduran armed forces is criticizing the=government's unprecedented prosecution of current and former?military officials charged with human rights abuses during the>anti-communist campaign of the 1980's. The military leader is/vowing to defend the honor of his institution.>   After analyzing the charges with senior military advisors,Barmed forces chief Luis Discua spoke up in solidarity with the 11Amen, saying their rights are no less important than those of anyother Honduran.A   The men are accused of illegal detention and attempted murder8in 1982. Most of the suspects belonged to the notorious@intelligence unit called battalion three-16. General Discua was@the unit's first leader and says he was replaced before all thetrouble started.B   He says the armed forces is looking for a case that is handled=with decency, professionalism, and transparency. This is the?first time the Honduran government is charging senior military/officials and police with human rights abuses.?   The military has hired a team of lawyers to represent those<held responsible for abducting and torturing six universityBstudents during the government campaign against suspected leftist>guerrillas and activists. Human rights groups are holding the?battalion three-16 most responsible for what is being called a@dirty war that resulted in torture, murder, and disappearances.@This week, the Honduran human rights commission appealed to the=United States for more information on the intelligence unit,6which was trained by the Central Intelligence Agency.>   The CIA is looking into its relationship with the HonduranAarmed forces. A spokesman has said the review should be completeby the end of the month.A   Honduran President Carlos Roberto Reina says General Discua's>expression of solidarity with those facing the justice system;should not be misinterpreted as an indication of intent toviolate the law.:   Mr. Reina recently called for the prosecution of those=responsible for human rights violations committed during the1980's.@   Human rights activists are speculating the armed forces will/attempt to use an amnesty as a legal maneuver.B   In 1991, the Honduran congress issued an unconditional amnestyBfor those subject to judicial action for political wrongdoing andrelated common crimes.   ---------------   ---------------B   FORMER MEXICAN ATTORNEY GENERAL TESTIFY AT EXTRADITION HEARING   EDIE SMITH   NEW YORK?   A magistrate in Newark New Jersey is considering whether toAsend a former Mexican deputy attorney-general back to Mexico fortrial.B   Former Mexican deputy attorney General Mario Ruiz Massieu took>the witness stand in a crowded Newark, New Jersey court room.?Speaking through an interpreter, he denied charges that he had>embezzled two and a half million new pesos, the equivalent ofBabout 800 thousand dollars while in office. Mr. Ruiz Massieu said?he had tried to tighten accounting procedures while in office,@and put the blame for any irregularities on a former assistant.?   The Mexican government, which is seeking Mr. Ruiz Massieu's>extradition, must prove to U.S. magistrate Ronald Hedges that>there is substantial evidence that he committed the crime. In=June the same magistrate turned down the Mexican governmentsBearlier attempt to extradite Mr. Ruiz Massieu. That requested wasBon grounds that he had obstructed justice in the investigation of:the murder of his own brother in order to protect another@prominent Mexican, Raul Salinas De Gortari, brother of a former?Mexican president. Raul Salinas De Gortari is now charged with<organizing the assassination of Jose Francico Ruiz Massieu,Bsecond in command of the ruling political party in Mexico who waskilled in September, 1994.>   The defendant Mario Ruiz Massieu was arrested in Newark in/March for violating U.S. currency regulations.B   U.S. magistrate Hedges turned down a defense motion to dismiss9the extradition request outright because of insufficientBevidence. But at the same time he said he is not yet convinced of=the prosecution's case. On Wednesday he denied a prosecutionBproposal that he turn the case over to a more senior U.S. federal>judge. Magistrate hedges has not yet said when he will make a)final ruling on the extradition request.   ---------------   ---------------8   COLOMBIAN DEFENSE MINISTER RESIGNS OVER DRUG SCANDAL   PAMELA MERCER
   BOGOTA8   Colombia's defense minister resigned Wednesday, amidAallegations that he had misused confidential judicial testimony,>and had played a role in procuring the financing of President?Ernesto Samper's campaign by drug traffickers. The resignationBappeared to heighten the political crisis produced in Colombia by-investigations into drug-related corruption.@   Saying that he wished to confront allegations against him onBhis own, Fernando Bortero resigned his post as Colombia's defense
minister.B   Mr. Bortero, one of President Ernesto Samper's closest allies,Aleft his post after testimony by the president's former campaign?treasurer, Santiago Medina, implicated the defense minister as;one of those, who, as campaign manager for Mr. Samper, has4ordered him to procure funds from drug traffickers.>   Mr. Bortero's resignation comes amid the most far-reaching;probes into drug-related corruption in Colombia's history.7   This April, the chief prosecutor's office has begun?investigation against at least a dozen members of Congress and:senior officials, including the attorney general. All are:suspected of having received money from drug traffickers.=   Mr. Medina was arrested last week on suspicion of illicit?enrichment. Prosecutors found that he had endorsed a check forA50,000 dollars sent by a Cali drug cartel's front company during?last year's presidential campaign. In his testimony, which was<partially disclosed by Mr. Bortero in a press conference on9Monday, Mr. Medina said that he received money from drug@traffickers under instructions from Mr. Bortero and Mr. Samper.&Both men have denied any wrong doing.@   The chief prosecutor's office, which is part of the judicial>branch, and, therefor, separate from the attorney general, isAconsidering investigating Mr. Bortero for revealing confidentialjudicial information.A   In addition, chief prosecutor Alfonso Valdiveso has asked theAsupreme court to consider evidence against Mr. Bortero regarding!Mr. Samper's campaign financing.>   As the crisis deepens, conservatives, threaten to withdraw@their representatives from the liberal party Samper government,<unless both Mr. Bortero and Interior Minister Horacio SerpaBresign. Yet, Mr. Serpa said Wednesday that he had no intention ofleaving his post.8   The investigation, as well as the defense minister'sBresignation, appeared to deepen the political crisis that has hit;the country's ruling liberal party in the past few months.?   Businessmen, journalists, and politicians have increasingly?begun to call for more action against drug-related corruption.A   And a congressional committee has begun investigating whetherAPresident Ernesto Samper is liable for any of the irregularitiesin his June, 1994 campaign.   ---------------   ---------------:   GUATEMALAN REBEL LEADER DEATH INVESTIGATOR RESIGNATION   ERIN BRUMMETT   SAN JOSE, COSTA RICAB   The special Guatemalan investigator in the controversial death?of a rebel leader has resigned, amid stepped up efforts by the;rebel leader's wife, a U.S. lawyer, to gain access to more@information on the case. The lawyer's associates are expressing8disappointment over the resignation and over Guatemalan(government efforts to resolve the case.@   Without giving details, the investigator, Julio Arango, says?he is leaving the case of Efrain Bamaca Velasquez for personal	reasons.B   Mr. Arango has been under death threats since he took over the>Bamaca investigation from another official. The first specialBinvestigator (Leonel Machuca) was removed from his post after the<Guatemalan attorney general (Ramses Cuestas) accused him offavoring the armed forces.=   Despite the threats, Mr. Arango remained steadfast in hisAdetermination to find out what happened to Mr. Bamaca. But after>recently escaping a gun attack, Mr. Arango threatened to step<down from the case. When he resigned (Tuesday evening), Mr.BArango was working to obtain an excavation at a remote Guatemalan0army base, where Mr. Bamaca is believed buried.?   Mr. Bamaca's American wife, Jennifer Harbury, discusses Mr.*Arango's situation in a recent interview:=   "The special prosecutor in my case has in fact been under?death threats for a month, as has his family. He was shot at a?couple of weeks ago, just to drive home (emphasize) the point.BAnd someone else in his office was murdered this weekend (of July;8-9), someone working on a different case. His funeral wasByesterday (July 11th) morning.  Death threats are not to be taken@lightly down here, and he (the prosecutor) is still alive, I amBquite sure, because the (US) Congress people were so insistent to.the Guatemalan government on his protection."@   A spokesman for Ms. Harbury says she is not surprised by theAArango resignation, adding it confirms what was always suspected?that, in his words, there is no hope of getting the Guatemalan@government to act unless pressured by the United States and the:Organization of American States. The spokesman called the"Guatemalan justice system a joke.:   Guatemalan government officials were not available for@comment. U.S. officials in Guatemala City have said they remain@supportive of Ms. Harbury's efforts and have been continuing toBseek assistance from the Guatemalan authorities, but must respect0the autonomy of the Guatemalan judicial system.A   The Guatemalan military claims Mr. Bamaca was killed during a@clash with troops in 1992. But Ms. Harbury and others say there@is strong evidence he was captured alive and then murdered. Ms.<Harbury's quest to find her husband has drawn international9attention and helped spark a U.S. investigation into the<activities of the Central Intelligence Agency in Guatemala.9   This week, Ms. Harbury filed a lawsuit demanding more@information from the CIA. A summary of a report by the agency's9inspector general acknowledges the CIA did not keep U.S.@lawmakers and diplomats properly informed about the Bamaca case;and another one. CIA director John Deutsch is promising to<dismiss any employee who deliberately withheld information.   ---------------   ---------------=   CHILE GENERAL LOSES APPEAL TO STAY OUT OF CIVILIAN PRISON   GEORGE MEEK   RIO DE JANEIRO<   A Chilean general convicted of the 1976 assassination of@former foreign minister Orlando Letelier has lost another legal:battle to delay his transfer to a special prison north of9Santiago. General Manuel Contreras has not exhausted hisresources.;   Lawyers for Contreras have five-days to appeal Monday'sBadverse ruling to the supreme court. His transfer to prison could>be delayed further if he undergoes an operation for a hernia.@   An appeals court ruled in a two-to-one decision Contreras is;not too ill to be moved. The court gave more weight to the:medical reports of the prison service than the reports of>Contreras's doctors at Talcahuano naval hospital, who said he.suffered from high blood pressure and stress.>   The former chief of Chile's secret police has been in that@hospital, 500-kilometers south of Santiago, since June 13th. HeBofficially began to serve the five-and-one-half years left in his?sentence June 29th, when guards of the National Prison Service&replaced navy guards at the hospital.A   Contreras's deputy, Pedro Espinoza, who was also convicted inAthe car-bomb slaying of Mr. Letelier in Washington, has begun to*serve his sentence in the special prison.<   The transfer of Contreras to civilian prison authorities@calmed fears the armed forces would block the detention. Former4dictator Augusto Pinochet still heads Chile's army.=   Last month, hundreds of military officers held a peacefulBdemonstration outside the hospital to show support for Contreras.BThe next week, human rights groups demonstrated there to urge hisprompt transfer to the prison.   ---------------   ---------------$   MALE INFERTILITY: GENETIC FACTOR   DAVID MCALARY   WASHINGTON@   U.S. and Finnish researchers have found that the most severeBform of male infertility is caused by genetic factors rather than?some physical defect. The next step is identifying the gene or=genes responsible for the disorder before a treatment can besought.A   Scientists at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical ResearchAin Cambridge, Massachusetts, the University of Helsinki, and theAFamily Federation of Finland have narrowed down the inability of@some men to produce sperm to a defective region on the male sex chromosome, the "Y" chromosome.A   Chromosomes are the tightly coiled microscopic strands of the?genetic material DNA found in the nucleus of every cell in our?bodies. A team led by Whitehead Institute physician David Page?produced a complete genetic map of the "Y" chromosome in 1992.ANow, he and his U.S. and finnish colleagues have used the map as=a guide to chromosome samples from 89 men with the conditionknown as azoospermia.B   Dr. Page says 12 of the men were missing roughly the same tiny fragment of the "Y" chromosome:?   "The chunks of the "Y" missing overlapped substantially. We=then found that these infertile men's fathers had intact "Y"Achromosomes. This told us that each of these infertile men had a@newly-arising abnormality on the "Y" chromosome. Therefore, theAchunk of the "Y" missing appeared to be the cause of the failureto produce sperm."?   Dr. Page's group reports in the August issue of the journal;"Nature Genetics" that the 12 infertile men were otherwiseBhealthy and showed no signs of obstructions in their reproductive=tracts. The Whitehead Institute says the study is one of the:first to show that genetic defects can cause infertility:@   "In most cases, infertility specialists have been looking to>infections or chemical exposures or varicose veins around theBtestes or a number of other environmental factors as the cause of:infertility in otherwise healthy men and women. With thisAprecedent in hand, infertility specialists will now, I think, beBtaking more seriously the possibility that genetic or chromosomal?defects can result in severe infertility, at least in men, andprobably also in women."<   The discovery could eventually lead to a new infertilityBtherapy. But before that happens, scientists have to find out whyBthe missing segment of the "Y" chromosome plays such a vital rolein making sperm.>   "We now need to understand the intricacies of that missing>chunk. We need to identify, for example, the critical gene or@genes within that region and the protein that they make. Can weBfind a particular protein that is playing a very critical role in;the making of sperm? Then we would have an even more sound9scientific basis for contemplating therapeutic options."B   Scientists have long suspected that the "Y" chromosome carries=a factor required to make sperm, and the Whitehead group has=identified a candidate gene called DAZ. It is present in the:segment of normal "Y" chromosomes which correspond to the?sections missing in the 12 men. Studies are underway to see if3the gene is specifically damaged in some patients.:   But even before the gene or genes are found and a cure?devised, Dr. Page says his work is still clinically useful formen who cannot produce sperm:B   "It will be possible for a precise diagnosis to be made in oneBin seven cases, whereas in the past, in none of these cases could%cause be determined with certainty."B   David Page of the Whitehead Biomedical Institute in Cambridge,Massachusetts.   ---------------   ---------------   THE PHYSIOLOGY OF MARIJUANA   BRIAN CISLAK   WASHINGTON=   Participants at a recent conference on marijuana researchBsponsored by NIDA, the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse. The;gathering's purpose was to examine what is currently knownAscientifically about marijuana and its effects. Derived from the>flowers and leaves of the hemp plant (cannabis sativa), it is:probably one of the most ubiquitous and accessible of theso-called "drugs of abuse."B   A symbol of rebellion among American and European youth during?the sixties and early seventies, marijuana use declined during>the 1980's and early nineties. But over the last two or three<years, observers have noted an uptick in use among Americanteenagers.@   Lloyd Johnston of the University of Michigan's Institute for@Social Research tracks drug use patterns among America's youth.According to Johnston:B   "The increase is extremely broad. In just abut every sector of@the country, every type of community, youngsters from all sorts@of social class backgrounds, all of the ethnic groups, are also=showing an increase. So this is a very broad cultural change=which is occurring. It suggests that there are forces in theAlarger culture which are contributing to this. It is not a local
phenomenon."@   Professor Johnston suggests that geographic mobility, weaker>family ties and affluence play a role in adolescent drug use:?   "American young people have a lot of discretionary money toAindulge their interests in drugs. We are a mass society and manyAof our institutions have been weakened over time. Because peopleAare so mobile they don't have extended families, they don't have=the same neighbors that maybe they had three years ago. So I>think there's less strength in the social fabric to constrain"deviant behavior among children."@   The increased use of marijuana among American youngsters has@rekindled the debate over legalization, or "decriminalization,"?of what some see as a "soft," or rather benign, drug, and what=others see as an "entry-level" drug into a lifestyle of more?dangerous substance abuse. The debate has fueled research intoBmarijuana's physiological effects, with the result that we know a9lot more about marijuana now than we did in the sixties.B   For instance, it was only in the past three-to-four years that?scientists isolated specific chemical receptors, or attachment2points, in the nervous system for delta-nine THC,:tetrahydrocannibinol, the active ingredient of marijuana:;   Peter Fried (pron: "Freed"), a psychologist at Carleton:University in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada has been studying aBphenomenon called "executive function." This involves the ability@to plan ahead, keep pace with change, deal with frustration and:control one's impulses. It has nothing to do with generalAintelligence, but a lot to do with one's ability to get along inAthe world. Professor Fried and his colleagues tested pre-teenageAchildren and found some interesting results for those kids whose9mothers smoked marijuana daily while pregnant with them.According to Fried:;   "Though they're certainly found in many areas, one area=certainly appears to be the frontal cortex. So marijuana mayAimpact there. In these children born to regular marijuana users,>we found that there was no effect on general intelligence, no@relationship between exposure in utero to marijuana and general@intelligence. The underlying domains appeared to be unaffected.;But one aspect of executive function was highly related toBmarijuana use, and that is what I would call 'strategic planning'Aand 'flexibility'., The ability to plan ahead in problem-solving+and the ability to benefit from feedback."?   These qualities were measured by having the children play a8computer game, and seeing how they responded to various-challenges posed by the program, says Freid:9   "Another aspect where the marijuana seemed to have an@influence was in what I suppose we could define as frustration.=That is, if the children did not get a reinforcement, eitherAverbal or generated by our apparatus, if they didn't get it whenAthey expected it, how did they respond to it? Were they rigid orwere they flexible?B   "We are looking at memory, and the particular aspect of memoryBthat falls under executive function is something called 'working'>memory. If I would recite numbers to you, numbers from one toBten, but I'm going to leave one number out, and your object is to?determine which number I leave out, I would say 3, 1, 9, 6, 10@and so on and so forth; and at the end of my nine digits, which@number did I leave out. Then I'd repeat it over and over again.B   "This is an example of working memory. Not only do you have to@keep in mind what's in your head, but you also have to remember:what's coming in and you have to dovetail the two. That's='working' memory, as opposed to if I asked you to recite the>ten-times (multiplication) table, which is sort of drawing on@things that exist in there. And that is the sort of aspect that0we propose to look at in these older children."B   Professor Fried emphasizes that these data are preliminary and8that the effects of marijuana on such things as memory,>frustration tolerance and planning ability need to be studied@further. He says that the effects found so far are subtle ones:B   "I want to emphasize that I would not label this as a profound?effect. But if it was my child, the way I would feel is if the<mother was smoking marijuana on a regular basis, there is aBpossibility, not a probability, a possibility, that it may impact7on preventing the child from achieving his or her fullpotential.....?   "It's obvious that we're speaking about regular use. Again,BI'm not condoning just taking it once or twice in a lifetime, butAthe point is my evidence, the scientific evidence, is only found;amongst those children who have been exposed in utero on a-regular basis, which is more or less daily."B   These results are not that surprising, given some of the prime@locations of cannabinoid, or marijuana, receptors in the brain.>Doctor Billy Martin of the medical college of Virginia, says:@   "The most obvious one is the cerebellum. The other very highBarea is in the hippocampus, and of course the hippocampus is very8much involved in neural processing, sensory processing,:cognition. So again, high levels are very consistent withmarijuana effects."=   Similar marijuana receptors are found in the cells of the>immune system. These include the macrophages which engulf and9destroy disease-causing organisms; and the all-importantAT-lymphocytes that coordinate the immune response. This begs the:question: Why do our white blood cells have receptors forBmarijuana and its active molecule, THC? Guy (pron: "Geye") Cabral>(pron: Kuh-brahl) of the medical college of Virginia has been(looking into this. According to Cabral:A   "Obviously the good lord didn't put receptors there so people6could get high. We now know that there are endogenous?cannabinoids. These are thc-like molecules that are natural toAthe body. They apparently play a very important role in cellular:function. These receptors for cannabinoids, the marijuana=receptors, are also found in the brain. They're found in the=immune cells. And they're found across mammalian species. So:apparently endogenous cannabinoids play a very important,*homeostatic regulatory role in the body."=   Doctor Cabral adds that the study of marijuana, the drug,?should eventually shed light on these marijuana-like chemicalsBfound naturally in the body, and the role they may play in immune=regulation. In the meantime, Doctor Cabral and his team haveBfound that marijuana's main component, delta-nine-thc, can play a@strong immune suppressive role. They found this out with Guinea@pigs that are very susceptible to the virus that causes genitalherpes:A   "This animal model goes through the full spectrum of disease.>It goes though a stage of erythema, which is reddening of theBskin, to the formation of lesions, which are highly infested with8herpes viruses, and then there is a recovery period andBeventually these animals will go into a latent state so that they*can get reinfected from the latent virus.B   "So it was a good model for assessing the effects of marijuanaBcomponents. And what we did with this model we then exposed these>animals to doses of thc, which is the major immunosuppressive:component of marijuana, doses which could be achieved andBrealized in humans. And it became quite evident based on the data?that animals which were exposed to thc experienced a much more@severe disease. Not only did the disease appear quicker, but it>was more severe in the sense that these animals had many more+ulcerations and they shed much more virus.@   "So the take home message was that in a carefully-controlledBstudy, the information suggested that thc, at doses achievable in7humans, could worsen herpes genitalis and render those#individuals much more infectious.">   Doctor Cabral says the same immune suppressive role of thc<could make regular marijuana users more susceptible to lung;cancer. First, thc and related compounds block the signals>between immune cells needed to coordinate an attack on cancer?cells. Also, he says, components in marijuana seem to directly(damage killer cells called macrophages:>   "Apparently in thc-exposed animals,  and we think the sameAthing may be operable in humans, these macrophages which home in=and target on cancer cells, have a problem recognizing theseBcells as cancer cells. And even in those cases where they do find>a cancer cell, they can't deliver certain molecules which the@macrophages make which would kill the cancer cell. So there's a=breakdown in the ability for the macrophage to recognize the@cancer cell, and then to kill it so it protects you from cancerspreading."?   The effect of marijuana smoke on the lungs is a key area of@study for Donald Tashkin, professor of medicine at UCLA MedicalASchool. He says the macrophage damage cited by Doctor Cabral can>be seen in electron microscope images of macrophages obtained<from biopsies of lung tissue from marijuana smokers. Doctor>Tashkin studied tissue from the lungs of group of Los Angelesmarijuana smokers:=   "When we biopsied these cells lining the airways of these?individuals using a flexible bronchoscope that we were able to<insert into the airway, we did find microscopic evidence of@tissue damage that would be consistent with chronic bronchitis.AThe microscopic changes that we found also included some changesAthat are the precursors for the development of lung cancer. That?is to say that they don't necessarily lead to lung cancer, but<they indicate an increased risk for the development of lung	cancer.">   Doctor Tashkin says that marijuana smoke contains the same<carcinogens in its "tar" phase as does tobacco, and in much<higher concentrations. He says that, all things considered,Amarijuana is probably a more potent cancer promoter than tobacco>because it does the same amount of cellular damage as tobaccowith less exposure:?   "In our sample, the effects of marijuana were equivalent to<those of tobacco, both in terms of symptoms and in terms of?pathology to the airways. This is a rather surprising finding,8because many people feel that since marijuana is smoked>relatively infrequently relative to tobacco smoking, a couple?joints a day versus a pack of cigarettes a day, that one wouldAexpect fewer abnormalities in connection with marijuana smoking.0And yet we find similar kinds of abnormalities.A   "We believe that these observations are due to the following:?Marijuana is more loosely packed than tobacco and is generally@not filtered. That results in about a two to three-fold greater=tar yield. The tar contains irritating substances as well as9cancer-promoting substances. Also marijuana... Is smoked=differently from the way tobacco is smoked. The smoker takesAdeeper puffs, he holds the puff longer in his lungs, much longer?in his lungs. He inhales the smoke more deeply into the lungs,>   "This results in a four-fold greater deposition of the tarAfrom a single marijuana joint compared to a tobacco cigarette of=the same weight. That amplifies the exposure of the lungs of@marijuana smokers to the irritants and carcinogens in marijuanaBsmoke compared to smoking a comparable amount of tobacco. I thinkAthat's the reason why we see so many of these marijuana smokers,?despite the fact that they're only smoking, in some cases only8one, few marijuana joints a day, are exhibiting changes<comparable to those of smoking several times that amount of
tobacco.";   Doctor Tashkin says that clinical studies of people whoAdevelop lung cancer at an abnormally young age seem to implicatemarijuana as a risk factor:B   "For example, an investigator in Florida found that, of all of@the people under the age of 40 who developed cancer of the lung=or the upper respiratory tract whom they could identify at a@single medical center, there were ten of them; seven of the ten9were either heavy or regular marijuana users, and in twoAadditional individuals the use of marijuana was possible. That'sAa much higher prevalence of marijuana use than is present in the:general population. It implies that, in that series, thatBmarijuana was playing a role in the development of their cancer."B   Doctor Tashkin adds that, in his studies of marijuana, efforts@were made to distinguish the mutagenic effects of the drug fromAthose of tobacco, also a potent cancer-causing agent. That's not9always easy to do, since many of the same people who use?marijuana also smoke cigarettes. But the UCLA researcher feelsBthe early onset of lung cancer in the under-age-40 patients showsAhow two cancer-causing behaviors can potentiate each other, with:the whole effect being greater than the sum of the parts:>   "Most of these individuals with cancer who smoke marijuana@regularly, but not all, also smoke tobacco which is also a risk;factor for respiratory cancer, but rarely causes cancer inAindividuals under the age of forty.. So the likelihood is strong;that marijuana and tobacco are acting synergistically. TheAchances of developing a lung cancer are far greater if you smokeAboth substances. But there were some individuals who smoked onlyBmarijuana and developed these cancers. And in those individuals I1believe marijuana was an important risk factor.";   Doctor Tashkin says future research is going to look at<effects of thc, marijuana's active ingredient on cytokines.?Cytokines, natural immune system proteins like interleukin andAinterferon, are the chemical messengers between the cells of theBimmune system. They carry the signal from one white blood cell to@another either to keep up the attack against a disease organismAor a cancer cell, or to shut it down. Research will examine moreBclosely what seems to be an immunosuppressive role for marijuana:A   If the active ingredients of marijuana are immunosuppressive,Ais it possible that some derivative of thc might one day be used>to treat autoimmune diseases like juvenile diabetes, lupus orArheumatoid arthritis by directing an overactive immune system toBslow down and stop attacking healthy tissue? We asked the medical"college of Virginia's Guy Cabral:A   "There is that possibility. Whenever a scientist or physicianAexamines a particular type of compound, he's also looking at its>potential therapeutic effects. And so scientists keep an open<mind, and clearly there might be the probability that if we<understand enough about the mechanisms of marijuana and its=components, if we study enough, if we learn enough about its?particular biochemical and molecular structure, then one might/possibly derive some beneficial uses from it."   ---------------   ---------------0   SCIENTIST FINALLY DISCOVER HOW ASPIRIN WORKS   DAVID MCALARY   WASHINGTON@   Aspirin has been used to alleviate pain and inflammation for<nearly as long as history has recorded human suffering. The?familiar pill form is less than 100 years old, although people@sought relief for ages by chewing the natural form, the leaf ofBthe willow tree, or by drinking a tea made from willow bark. Only>now, however, have scientists figured out exactly how aspirinBworks. But as long as it makes us feel better, why should we carehow it works?A   It took more than two-thousand years, but the tools of modern@molecular biology have given U.S. and French scientists a clear>picture of how aspirin does its job in the cells of the body.@   This was not an idle exercise to employ researchers with tooBmuch time on their hands. There is practical value in knowing theBmolecular pathways of aspirin therapy, according to University ofBChicago molecular biologist Michael Garavito ['gare-uh-'vee-toe]:?   "One could now build a better aspirin if you understood how<aspirin works. It will not be more efficacious, it will not<relieve more pain, reduce more swelling. However, you won'tsuffer the side effects."A   Ironically, aspirin's side effects are the result of the same,chemical behavior that causes its benefits.A   It has been known for some time that the drug blocks the body;from making natural compounds called prostaglandins. These@compounds have several effects on the body. Some cause pain andAswelling in damaged tissue, but others protect the lining of the=stomach and small intestine and make the kidneys, heart, and9blood vessels work well. Since aspirin works against all=prostaglandins indiscriminately, using it to reduce pain and+swelling can also remove organ protection.A   "Those two effects give rise to some of the side effects thatBwe feel are somewhat unpleasant," says Garavito, "stomach ulcers,?stomach bleeding, slightly increased risk for hemorrhaging and=strokes that come from that. Those are the side effects that>really make aspirin an unattractive drug for many millions of	people."@   But Mr. Garavito and colleagues at the University of Chicago=and the institute of physical-chemical biology in Paris have@published a study that may help pharmaceutical companies remove=the side effects from aspirin. It may also help build better2drugs which work like aspirin, such as ibuprofen.:   Their paper in the August issue of the journal "NatureBStructural Biology" describes precisely how aspirin interferes on;the molecular level with the protein enzymes which are the"precursors of all prostaglandins.A   It obstructs the two forms of the enzyme, one which makes the?prostaglandin associated with pain and swelling, and the other?which creates the benign prostaglandins. Mr. Garavito says his<work hints that a drug could be designed to target only thedesirable enzyme.?   But that drug would not necessarily be aspirin according to
Garavito:@   "Aspirin, if produced today, would not be approved. It's not8the most desirable drug if you look at it from a modernBperspective because it chemically modifies the enzyme, which most7pharmacologists would rather not do. However the newer@aspirin-like drugs, ibuprofen, which just bind very tightly andBprevent the enzyme from working, sort of like breaking a key in a=lock of a door, that strategy is what people will build on."?   so instead of building a better aspirin, says Mr. Garavito,,drug firms might create a better ibuprofen.   ---------------   ---------------0   STUDY SAYS SOY REDUCES RISK OF HEART DISEASE   DAVID MCALARY   WASHINGTON:   A new U.S. medical study finds that a diet rich in soyAprotein, commonly used in Asia, is a good way to reduce the riskAof heart disease. The vegetable protein lessens the threat posed#by cholesterol in the bloodstream.B   Animal studies have clearly shown that soy protein lowers highBlevels of cholesterol, which can cause a heart attack by blocking9blood flow to the heart. But studies on humans have beenBinconclusive, with some showing a positive effect of soy protein,and others showing none.?   Now, researchers at the University of Kentucky in lexington@have re-evaluated those human studies and concluded that soy in?place of animal protein does fight high cholesterol after all.0University dietician Margaret Cook-Newell says:B   "It shows that the soy protein does have a positive effect for?persons with hypercholesterolemia, or high cholesterol levels,>and that the person with higher cholesterol levels may have a>better chance of lowering his cholesterol by following a dietBrich in soy protein, which includes foods such as soy milk, tofu,-textured soy protein, even tempeh, or miso.">   The Kentucky researchers suggest that the previous studies9examined too few people and lacked statistical power. By=combining and adjusting the data from 38 of the papers, they7created a super-study with more than 740 subjects. Ms.'Cook-Newell explains the main finding:B   "Looking at studies across the country and internationally, we?have found that soy protein itself lowers total cholesterol byabout nine per cent."B   The nine per cent drop was the average among all subjects, who:consumed an average of 47 grams of soy protein a day. But<dietician Cook-Newell and her colleagues report in "The New@England Journal of Medicine" [August 3rd issue] that the higherAthe total cholesterol level to begin with, the more the soy dietlowered it.A   The effect was insignificant for those with total cholesterolAlevels below 259 milligrams per deciliter of blood, in the range@just above what is considered acceptable. But those with levels=higher than 335 milligrams had better than twice the average3total cholesterol reduction, or about 19 per cent.;   Ms. Cook-Newell and her colleagues are not sure how soyBprotein counteracts high cholesterol, but they cite previous workAwhich suggests that a vegetable form of the hormone estrogen may%account for 70 per cent of the drop.?   Because of the results, the American Heart Association will>reevaluate its conclusion two years ago that substituting soy@proteins for animal proteins does not reduce human cholesterol.AThey had come to that position based on the mixed results of theearlier studies.<   How much soy protein a day do the University of Kentuckyresearchers recommend ?B   "On the low side," says Cook-Newell, "we're saying about 20 toB25 grams of soy protein a day, which can be accomplished by minorAchanges such as using soy milk or soy beverage in cooking, or in@using products such as tofu, a half a cup of tofu, or in adding@one quarter cup of soy flour in place of regular flour when youBbake. On the other extreme for more effects, going to 50 grams ofAsoy protein a day which would require approximately two servingsBof soy milk and another additional two servings of soy products."B   A "New England Journal of Medicine" editorial accompanying the@research calls for more studies to assess precisely what amount>of soy protein has the desired effects, what its impact is on8various ethnic groups, and how well it works with othercholesterol reduction methods.   ---------------   ---------------E   RESEARCHER SAYS THE LIMITS OF STARVATION RECOVERY CAN BE EXTENDED   DAVID MCALARY   WASHINGTON@   A British physician working with adult victims of the Somali>famine in 1992 reports, with proper care, people can be savedBfrom a worse state of malnutrition than previously thought. As we?hear from The research has implications for how relief workersshould treat starving adults.A   Children are the usual focus of famine relief work, receivingAspecial medical care normally not available to adults. Dr. Steve@Collins, a Welshman working with the Irish relief organization,>concern worldwide, says research has overlooked the plight ofBmalnourished adults, and he is trying to do something about that:>   "For the past 30, 40 years, research into malnutrition has8been dominated by this desire to help children and this@consideration that children are much more vulnerable and die in!famines, much more than adults."=   During the peak of the Somali famine in 1992, Dr. Collins4found adults were highly vulnerable, too. Among theBtens-of-thousands of people who migrated to the regional capital,@Baidoa, in search of food, 75-percent of the deaths were adults<or adolescents. So "concern worldwide" established an adult%therapeutic center to care for them.>   From that experience, Dr. Collins learned proper attentionAwill save a starving adult who has reached a state of emaciation-at which survival was not believed possible:>   "It focuses attention on the fact famine affects adults asAwell as children. That is extremely important. It indicates thatApeople can survive, even if they are very emaciated, so it gives:people more hope and more motivation to get involved with	adults.">   Early studies had proposed a malnourished person would die<with a body-mass index below 12, the equivalent of a person7one-and-three-quarters meters tall, weighing less thanA36-kilograms. But Dr. Collins reports in the August issue of the@journal "Nature Medicine", adults being cared for at the BaidoaAtherapeutic center survived with a body mass index of just nine,#25-percent below the former limit:;   "But this is a very selective data set because we couldBmeasure body mass index only on those who could stand. There wereBpeople much thinner than that who survived but could not stand to?be measured or weighed. So I think people can actually survive4and recover at body mass indexes even below those."B   The exception was people suffering from edema, or swelling, anBindication the body's chemical processes have broken down too farfor rehabilitation.B   Dr. Collins says his patients would not have remained alive in3such an emaciated state without special attention:;   "If they had been forced to cue and compete with other,=stronger, adults in just general feeding cues, waiting for aAcooked meal once a day, I do not think they would have survived,3because they would not have had the medical care."?   Dr. Collins believes there were special factors in favor ofBthe starving that might not apply to famine victims in some other?parts of the world. One is Somalia's warm climate. Much of theAprevious data on the limits of starvation was obtained in colderBregions. Another factor is previous food deficits and the gradualAdecline in food intake in the two-years prior to the last famine4may have allowed Somalis to slowly adapt to hunger.7   Because there is no classification for severe adultAmalnutrition, the "concern worldwide" physician recommends using=the body mass index as a standard when possible. If weakened@people cannot stand up to be measured, Dr. Collins suggests the0less accurate gauge of upper-arm circumference.@   As he points out, the low fatality rates he found at extreme@states of emaciation highlights the need for more adult feeding!and care centers during famines.   ---------------   ---------------   REPRODUCTIVE RISK STUDY   NANCY STEINBACH   WASHINGTON?   A new report says more than one-million women in developing?countries die each year from reproductive health problems. The@study was done by the private American group, population action8international. It describes women's reproductive health?conditions in one-hundred-eighteen countries around the world.?   Countries are placed on a list that shows the risk of women=dying from causes linked to pregnancy, childbirth and unsafeBoperations to end pregnancy. Countries are listed from those with@a low risk of death on top down to those with a very high risk.@   The group says women in western Europe are the safest. Italy;has the best reproductive health in the world. Only one in:seventeen-thousand women there has a chance of dying from8pregnancy and childbirth. Other countries with the best9reproductive health records are Denmark, Norway, Sweden,ASingapore, Canada and Australia. The United States is eighteenthfrom the top of the list.;   Women in southern Africa suffer from the most dangerous@reproductive health conditions. Study officials say women thereAhave many children and begin having them at a young age. They do@not use family planning measures. Operations to end pregnanciesAare illegal or permitted only to save a woman's life. And only a1few women get any medical care during pregnancy.8   The study says that women in countries with the best?reproductive health have small families, use birth control and;get good medical care. But some countries with good family:planning programs and high use of birth control have poor>reproductive health. For example, in Indonesia and Bangladesh6many women still die during pregnancy and childbirth.;   The report says, however, that some poor countries have>improved their family planning and heath care. In Cuba, Costa7Rica and tunisia, women's health has improved greatly.A   In East Asia, women in China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and@Taiwan have the best reproductive health. China is twenty-sixth@on the list. Most countries in Latin America were considered to;have good reproductive health generally. Yet many women in@Honduras and Guatemala still die from problems during pregnancyand childbirth.   ---------------   ---------------+   YET ANOTHER ALZHEIMER'S GENE DISCOVERED   DAVID MCALARY   WASHINGTON@   U.S. scientists have added another gene to the list of those8which contribute to the form of old age dementia called?alzheimer's disease. The researchers say their work proves the@theory that the brain disorder is the result of the interactionof several genes.B   Scientists at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center haveAdiscovered that two forms of a gene called ACT profoundly affect7a person's risk of developing alzheimer's disease, the=combination of tangled nerve fibers and protein plaques that&interrupt nerve signals in the brain.B   The gene is involved in the non-inherited type of the disease,Bwhich affects 90 percent of all alzheimer's patients. One form of@the gene increases an old person's risk for the disorder, whileAthe other form decreases it. Dr. Steven Dekosky, a member of theBresearch team, says the two forms also have a similar effect on aApreviously-discovered gene predisposing a person to alzheimer's,7one form enhancing it, the other subduing it somewhat:>   "This first proof of an interaction of genes means that weAshould stop thinking about alzheimer's disease as a disease thatBis a matter of bad luck or the action of one specific gene. It is;a disease like heart disease. This disease has a number ofdifferent determinants."<   Dr. Dekosky estimates that the two forms of the ACT gene@affect about 20 percent of all people with alzheimer's disease.:   He and his colleagues base their findings on a geneticAcomparison of more than 200 living and dead alzheimer's patients1with more than 300 who did not have the illness.:   They report in the August issue of the journal "Nature=Genetics" that the bad form of the newly-discovered ACT geneBboosts a person's chances for alzheimer's one-and-a-half times ifBit is inherited from both parents. If a person has these combined<with double copies of the well-established alzheimer's geneAcalled APO-E-4 ['ay-poe-ee], he or she is 34 more time likely to@develop the dementia. This is opposed to 11 times the risk withjust the APO-E-4 genes alone.?   In contrast, the researchers found that the good version of=the ACT gene slightly lowers the risk of alzheimer's diseaseAalone and in combination with the APO-E-4 gene. Dr. Dekosky saysBthe 11-fold higher risk of alzheimer's associated with two copies=of APO-E-4 declined to four-and-a-half times when the benign&version of the ACT gene was involved:B   "The finding of an affect of the ACT gene on the expression of;alzheimer's disease either directly or in interaction with>another gene gives us new insights into the mechanisms of the@disease and also allows us to speculate about new mechanisms by@which we could develop medications which would slow or stop theprogression of the disease."?   The University of Pittsburgh team got the idea that the ACT=gene was involved in alzheimer's disease because the protein=which the gene produces shows up in larger quantities in the=brains of patients, particularly in regions that develop the/protein plaques characteristic of the illness.=   But Dr. Dekosky warns that genetic testing to predict who@might get alzheimer's is pointless at present because no proven=treatment exists. Furthermore, there may be more alzheimer'sgenes yet to be found:@   "Not only is this part of a puzzle, but I regret to tell you?that the new discoveries about the genetics will probably justget more complicated."A   Nevertheless, says Dr. Dekosy, when treatments do come along,?knowing who has devastating alzheimer's gene combinations will7allow the therapies to be given to those most at risk.   ---------------   ---------------   MEDICAL BRIEFS   ROBIN CROFT   WASHINGTON?   Medical research uncovers a genetic link to weight loss. An?anti-fat injection may soon be available. A U.S. Food and Drug@Administration advisory panel recommends approval of a new drug@designed to prevent the bone disease, osteoporosis. U.S. health>officials are looking again at polio vaccines after 15 years.ADoctors have discovered a link between folic acid deficiency andAheart attacks. U.S. Medical community hopes that combinations of@new drugswill make AIDS more manageable. Study shows that fewer?blood transfusions are better for sickle cell anemia patients.?American and French scientists have obtained a clearer picture=of how aspirin works. New hope for poison ivy and poison oaksufferers.   ===============A   It may soon be possible to take an injection and lose weight.BResearchers hope this may be a promising new approach to treating?obesity. U.S. scientists have discovered a hormone which makes<overweight mice rapidly lose body fat. This hormone, calledBleptin, regulates body weight by determining the amount of fat to>be stored, says an article published in "Science", the weekly7journal published by the "American Association for theAdvancement of Science."@   Humans produce a version of leptin, called OB protein, which=is so similar to the leptin in mice that when OB protein wasAgiven to overweight mice, the mice lost weight. Researchers hope@that a weight-loss drug could be developed from OB protein. ButBit is too early to tell, cautions Dr. Ruth Harris, a physiologist9at "Pennington Biomedical Research Center" in Louisiana.B   Obesity is defined as being 20 percent over ideal body weight,Baccording to the National Institute of Health in Washington, D.C.;In the past decade, the number of overweight Americans has@increased from 25 to 34 percent. Obesity is a major risk factor@for diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, sleep:apnea, gallstones and some forms of cancer and arthritis.?   The current research being done with mice shows that the OB9protein has a dual action, it decreases the appetite and>increases their energy consumption which makes them burn fat.AThese promising results do not necessarily translate to the sameAresults in overweight humans, but companies like "Amgen Inc.", aAbiotech firm in California, hope that they will in time. "Amgen"@paid 20 million dollars to Rockefeller University for exclusive1rights to develop products based on the OB gene.>   If the research leads to a safe weight-loss drug, it could?significantly improve the overall health of millions of peopleworldwide.   ===============?   Post-menopausal women may soon have another option, besidesAhormone replacement therapy, for preventing osteoporosis. A U.S.@Food and Drug Administration advisory panel has recommended theAapproval of a new drug which can prevent the development of thisApainful, bone-thinning disease, without the use of hormones. The?new drug is alendronate sodium, marketed as "Fosamax" by Merck
and Company.;   Studies show that hormone replacement therapy, HRT, canAprevent osteoporosis. Some women, however, have been hesitant toBtake HRT because of the possible increased risk of breast cancer.;   A three-year clinical trial of Fosamax was conducted by=Creighton University scientists and sponsored by Merck. They:found that the drug reduced the development of new spinalAfractures by nearly 50 percent in women taking fosamax, comparedBto a control group who took a placebo containing no medicine. The<study involved almost 1000 women in 16 countries. About six>percent of the control group suffered new vertebral fractures=compared to about three percent of the women taking fosamax.=   Women in the control group lost an average of one inch in;height compared to those on fosamax who lost an average of:one-quarter of an inch.  Women taking fosamax and calcium?supplements increased spinal bone density by 8 percent and hip@bone density by 7 percent. Women taking the placebo and calciumAsupplements actually lost 1 percent of bone density in these twoareas of the body.>   Barbara Kukert, director of the Osteoporosis Clinic at the?University of Kansas in Kansas City, stated that fosamax looks@good for increasing bone mass while decreasing the incidence offractures.   ===============A   Polio has virtually been conquered in the United States since?1979. However, U.S. public health officials are taking anotherBlook at the U.S. polio vaccination policy. There are two types of>polio vaccine, the injectable salk vaccine and the oral sabin?vaccine.  In 1955, America began using the vaccine produced by7Dr. Jonas Salk. This vaccine is made with "killed", or?inactivated, virus strains and is injected into the body. This=dead vaccine cannot give its host polio. In 1961, Dr. Albert@sabin developed a vaccine made from weak strains of live virus.@This vaccine is taken orally.  Since the 1960's, the oral sabin3vaccine has practically replaced the Salk vaccine.?   For more than a decade, the only polio cases originating in:the U.S. have come from one source: Sabin's oral vaccine.<Government statistics indicate that eight to ten people areBstricken with paralytic polio each year from the oral vaccine. ByA1992, approximately 152 Americans had contracted polio this way.@Dr. Samuel Katz, a pediatric disease expert at Duke University,Aargues that, in a polio-free nation, there is no excuse for 8 toB10 people to be paralyzed every year when there are alternatives.AAs a result, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices ofBthe Federal Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta is calling for."a greatly enhanced role for Salk's vaccine."@   There are certain advantages to the sabin vaccine. It's madeAof live, weakened virus so it can confer some immunity to people>who are close to the immunized person. It spares children the?pain of a shot and it is less expensive than the salk vaccine.AThe advantage to the salk vaccine is that it cannot transmit theBdisease since it is not made from a live virus. However, the salk<vaccine has no ability to spread immunity to others through!contact with the immunized host.?   The World Health Organization is concerned that if the U.S.AChanges its policy, other countries may also switch and lose the=benefits of the oral vaccine in areas where polio is still aAthreat. World health officials also fear that a U.S. switch will@make it difficult to obtain U.S. government funding for the 6.5Abillion doses of oral polio vaccine that they believe are needed.to wipe out polio worldwide by the year 2000.:   A spokesman for the Advisory Committee on Immunization=Practices has said that the committee will probably choose a:strategy using both vaccines, each to its best advantage.   ===============B   Folic acid is a vitamin known for its ability to prevent birth:defects. Pregnant women are often told to take folic acidBsupplements which cut the risk of birth defects by one half. Now,?new research shows that folic acid may also provide protectionAagainst heart attacks and strokes. Dr. Judith hall, a geneticistAat the University of British Columbia, reports that deficiencies@in folic acid may trigger up to 40 percent of the heart attacks1and strokes that American men suffer every year.@   Dr. Jacob Selhub, whose article appeared in the "New England>Journal of Medicine", was more conservative in his estimates,@stating that folic acid deficiencies may cause up to 20 percentof heart attacks and strokes.8   Folic acid works by reducing the levels of a proteinAbuilding-block called homocysteine. When homocysteine levels are?high, they can scar the inner walls of blood vessels which mayAlead to clot formation and the narrowing of arteries.Researchers@urge people to continue to control fat and cholesterol in theirAdiets since these factors pose separate risks for heart disease.@Folic acid will not counter the effects of cigarette smoking, a(high-fat diet or a sedentary lifestyle.B   Folic acid is found in Grren, leafy vegetable, such as brussel=sprouts, spinach, and lettuce, and in many fruits, includingapples and oranges.@   Aids was identified as a deadly disease nearly fifteen years?ago and there is still no cure in sight. However, U.S. Medical?researchers might have some good news for people infected withBHIV. It's not a cure, but it may slow damage to the immune system@enough to turn infection with the AIDS virus into a serious but?manageable ailment. Several new, experimental treatments, when@used in combination, might enable people to live with the virus+for a long time in relatively good health.=   When treating HIV infection with a single antiviral drug,>[such as AZT], the virus quickly develops a resistance to the=drug. Medical researchers are hoping that different types ofBdrugs, working together, can lessen the strength of the virus for;awhile. The experimental treatments may serve as temporary?bridges to keep people healthy until more drugs are developed.@This strategy of treatment is not new in the medical community.BOther diseases, such as tuberculosis, have been treated with drugcombinations for years.B   There are four anti-HIV drugs now on the market in the U.S. ByAthe end of 1996, there may be 10 or more AIDS drugs available to:the public. The challenge in the next several years is toBevaluate if and how these new drugs are effective. It also has to@be determined in what order, combination, and at what stages of"the illness they should be taken.   ===============?   Researchers have found that less is better when it comes to>blood transfusions for sickle cell anemia patients undergoingAsurgery. A study published in the (July 27) "New England Journal?of Medicine" reports that fewer blood transfusions resulted in?fewer transfusion complications, less costly time spent in the<hospital, and were just as effective in preventing surgicalcomplications.A   Sickle cell anemia afflicts more than 70,000 americans. It is<an inherited blood disorder, most common among people whose?ancestors came from Africa, the Middle East, the Mediterraneanand India.?   Sickle cell patients produce an abnormal form of hemoglobin@which causes the cells to stiffen and take on distorted shapes.<The sickle-shaped cells clog blood vessels and cause oxygenAdeprivation that can damage bone, joints and organs. Many sickle;cell anemia patients require surgery to repair the damage.ADoctors often transfuse red blood cells into the patients beforeAsurgery in order to prevent complications. But because there was>no agreement on the amount of blood required, the researchersconducted the study.B   In the five-year study, funded by the national heart, lung and?blood institute, researchers at 36 medical centers tracked the?rates of complication for 551 sickle cell anemia patients. The9patients ranged in age from 5 months to 60 years and the.researchers studied a total of 604 surgeries.<   Half of the patients were assigned to receive aggressive9transfusions and the other half were assigned to receiveBconservative, limited transfusions.  Aggressive transfusion meant?that patients were given enough blood to correct anemia and to@reduce the amount of sickle hemoglobin to 30 percent or less of?total hemoglobin. Conservative transfusion meant that patientsAwere only given enough blood prior to surgery to correct anemia.AThe researchers found that there were no significant differences2in surgical complications between the two groups.@   Dr. Claude Lenfant, director of the National Heart, Lung and?Blood Institute, says the study provides "the first scientific@evidence that conservative use of blood transfusion will reduceAcomplications, save lives, and simultaneously reduce health carecosts."   ===============>   Researchers have obtained a clearer picture of how aspirin9works to block out pain in the human body. With this new@knowledge, the medical community may be able to develop a safer@aspirin which will minimize side-effects. In a report published@in the August issue of "Nature Structural Biology", Dr. Michael?Gravito of the University of Chicago Medical Center and FrenchAscientists at the Institut De Biologie Phisico-Chimique in Parisexplain how aspirin works.A   Aspirin has been used by humans for thousands of years, first9as an herbal preparation from willow tree bark, and then*synthesized into pure form a century ago.<   Aspirin interferes with the activity of an enzyme called=prostaglandin H2 synthase, or Pghs, which aids production of6pain-signalling prostaglandin hormones. Through X-rayAcrystallography, the research team discovered that the enzyme isAa crystal with a hollow tube running through its center. AspirinAgets inside the tube and blocks the path of the chemical signals>which would pass through the tube and alert the body to pain.B   The problem with the current aspirin is that it blocks another>chemical signal, [prostaglandin h1, pghs-1] which also passes@through the enzyme. This other signal is what protects the body=from side-effects, such as erosion of the stomach lining andAbleeding. The current aspirin cannot distinguish between the two:signals which pass through the enzyme and it blocks both.?   Scientists now believe that they will be able to produce an;aspirin which will be more specific to the pain-signallingAprostaglandin. They foresee a safer aspirin on the market within
a few years.   ===============?   Spring, summer and fall are the seasons when poison oak andAivy abound and can cause a great deal of misery for many people.@In a new study published in the August "Journal of the American:Academy of Dermatology", researchers report that they seeBpromising results from a new drug called quaternium-18 bentonite.:A controlled clinical lab experiment was conducted on 211@patients with a history of allergic contact dermatitis who were<susceptible to poison oak and ivy. Each patient applied the<quaternium lotion to one arm, leaving the other arm free of:medication. After one hour, the scientists put a patch of@urushiol on each arm. Urushiol is the active chemical in poison?oak and ivy that causes blisters and other skin reactions. The=arms were compared after two days and again after five days.?   "The differences were huge", says one of the investigators.:One hundred forty four of the 211 patients reacted to the;urushiol. In 98 of the 144 patients, quaternium completely<prevented reaction. Those who did react had mild reactions.<   At least half of the American population is sensitive toApoison oak and ivy. The typical reaction of blisters and itching5can be terribly uncomfortable and most steroidal and-hydrocortisone creams do not work very well.B   The manufacturer of the new drug is Enviroderm PharmaceuticalsAin Louisville, Kentucky. Their next step is to get approval from>the federal Food and Drug Administration before it can become!available to the general public.   ---------------   ---------------D   HEAD OF UN COMMISSION OVERSEEING IRAQ WEAPONS LEAVES FOR BAGHDAD   PEYMAN PEJMAN	   CAIRO:   The head of the United Nations commission charged with@destroying Iraq's weapons of mass destruction travels Friday to	Baghdad.?   Before leaving Bahrain for Iraq Friday, the chairman of theAU.N. special commission on Iraq, Rolf Ekeus, said he expected he=would get all the information the commission needs on Iraq'sbiological programs.@   Iraq needs to receive a clean bill of health (a good report)@when Mr. Ekeus presents his report to the U.N. Security Council:on how far Iraq has cooperated in destroying its nuclear,Achemical, biological programs. The Security Council said this is@required before it will vote to end the economic sanctions that;were imposed against Iraq after it invaded Kuwait in 1990.A   Iraq says it has cooperated with the U.N. ceasefire terms and<wants the sanctions removed. But the council, influenced by@objections from Washington and London, says it needs more proofof Iraqi cooperation.A   Until recently, Iraq had insisted that its biological program;was limited to defensive research. Last month, however, itAadmitted that it produced large quantities of biological warfareAagents between 1989 and 1990 and has stored them in concentratedform.   ---------------   ---------------(   SYRIA'S LOOMING DOMINANCE OF LEBANON   PATRICIA GOLAN
   BEIRUTA   Lebanon is rebuilding itself after 16 years of civil war. But?Syria still dominates the country. And Israel still occupies apart of Southern Lebanon.>   Lebanon has seen peace for nearly five years. If a booming;nightlife, flashy cars, Parisian fashions in the shops and=ubiquitous cellular phones are indications of normalcy, many-Lebanese are enjoying their new-found peace.A   But the process of rebuilding this shattered country after so:many years of civil war has barely begun. For every fancy@restaurant and nightclub in Beirut, there are still hundreds of4bombed-out buildings, many taken over by squatters.A   Last month, workers took to the streets to protest a tax riseAon gasoline. But the government moved in quickly, sending in the@army to break up the demonstrations. Officials defended the use7of force, saying that in the fragile peace of Lebanon,Ademonstrations could easily erupt into battles and escalate oncemore into civil war.A   When billionaire prime minister Rafik Hariri assumed power inB1992, he was widely perceived as the nation's savior. He launched<dozens of multi-million dollar projects to rehabilitate the8country after the desolation of the war. But the recent5demonstrations reveal profound public discontent and0disillusionment with the reconstruction effort.B   Some progress is evident, and it is impressive. The government=has begun laying the groundwork for rebuilding Beirut's once@beautiful downtown and port area. But people are impatient thatthe process is taking so long.@   Rima Husseini and her husband Ali run a hotel in the tourist8town of Baalbeck. Rima says that the Lebanese system of?apportioned religious power-sharing, known as confessionalism,#seems to be as entrenched as ever:?   "It's a cancer that has spread, and in order to cure it, weBneed the dosage system for curing, so it will take a lot of time,9everybody is against confessionalism, everybody wants to(eradicate it. And this will take time."@   But for now, Rima Husseini sees only palm-greasing (bribery)Band corruption in the new government, the armed militias replaced1by what she refers to as the financial militias.9   Adnan Iskandar, a political scientist at the American<University beirut, says prime minister Hariri, with all his>connections and resources, has not been able to eliminate the+pre-war feudal political patronage system:>   "We seemed to have entered an era of organized corruption.@It's widespread, it's of unprecedented proportions, really. Now@many of these politicians have a lot blood on their hands which;was not the case before. These militias leaders now are in3government positions when they should be in jail."?   Meanwhile, in the south of Lebanon, a nasty ten-year war of>attrition continues with Israel and its south Lebanese alliesAagainst the Iranian-backed Hizbollah guerrilla movement. Israeli6troops occupy a self-declared security zone along the2Lebanese-Israeli border to prevent infiltrations.?   Israel is demanding that Lebanon disarm Hizbollah before itAwithdraws its troops from Lebanon. Lebanon insists Israel shouldwithdraw first.;   Prime minister Hariri maintains the solution is simple:@   "So what Israel is asking us is an impossible question. They<know we can not do it, but what we are asking is a possibleBaction from Israel to withdraw. So when they withdraw, it will be=our responsibility, to assure the security in the south. But?sitting there and asking the Lebanese government to disarm theAresistance, it will look as if we are making the occupiers' life easier, which is not our duty."B   But no one believes, least of all the Lebanese, that Hizbollah?can be disarmed, or even neutralized, without help from Syria.@The reconstructed Lebanese army is still far from being able to%extend its authority over Hizbollah.=   On the streets of Beirut, Syrian soldiers are everywhere.0There are about 40,000 troops, and an estimatedAone-and-one-half-million Syrians living in Lebanon, a country ofAonly three-million. Pictures of Syrian President Hafez Assad are=the first photos which greet visitors arriving at the Beirut	airport.;   No one denies that the Syrians have played an important?stabilizing role in Lebanon, which is why they were invited in7the first place. Most Lebanese say that without Syrian=intervention, the civil war could not have been stopped, the<militias could not have been disarmed. And within Lebanon'sAinternal affairs, there is a high degree of Syrian intervention.BIt is common knowledge that no one becomes prime minister withoutthe approval of Damascus.A   But there are aspects of the Syrian presence that no one will<go on record to detail, Lebanese sitting unaccounted for in?syrian jails, the economy ravaged by Syrian industrialists andmiddlemen.;   Syria has been representing Lebanon in peace talks with=Israel, talks which have made little progress in four years.A   Return to any true normalcy in Lebanon depends on the currentBpeace process. But political scientist Iskandar is skeptical that?even a Middle East peace accord will change Lebanon's internalsituation:?   "Things could improve economically, I think, politically. I@don't think that a peaceful settlement between Israel and SyriaAand (between) Lebanon and Israel is going to solve our politicalproblems.";   Only a few years ago Lebanon was being written off as a>nation. The forecast then was for Bosnia-like fragmented miniAstates. Lebanon does again have a functioning central government@and a reconstructed army. But the question on the minds of mostBLebanese these days is whether the state can keep itself together%without a permanent Syrian presence.   ---------------   ---------------<   MIDEAST PEACE NEGOTIATIONS SCHEDULED TO RESUME NEXT WEEK
   AL PESSIN
   JERUSALEM?   Senior Israeli and Palestinian leaders are expected to meetBearly next week to try make progress on issues which have stalled@talks on expanding Palestinian autonomy. If the meeting happens@as expected, it could come amid a promised intensification of a@protest campaign by Israeli settlers on the occupied West Bank.?   Palestinian officials say their leader, Yasser Arafat, will;meet with Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres on Monday.?Israeli officials say there will likely be such a meeting next>week, but they say the exact time and place have not yet beenagreed on.;   According to Israeli officials, Israeli and Palestinian;negotiators spent the week making progress on a variety ofBissues, but they acknowledge Palestinian complaints that progressBis slow on two key points, water rights and security arrangements=on the West Bank after a further Israeli withdrawal. ForeignBMinister Peres told Israel radio on Friday there are issues which(need to be discussed at a higher level.A   Mr. Peres and Mr. Arafat had an all-night meeting a month agoAwhich officials said resulted in important understandings on key=issues. But predictions made at that time, that an agreementAwould be ready within a few weeks, proved to be false. Mr. PeresAsaid Friday an agreement can now be expected "within weeks," buthe did not say how many weeks.>   Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin met Friday<morning with leaders of the Israeli settlers movement for a@session which apparently involved an exchange of opposing views2but no agreement, except to meet again next week.B   The settlers held four consecutive days of protests this week,@occupying hilltops on the West Bank and refusing to leave untilBpolice carried them away. One settler group has already indicated6it plans an increased schedule of protests next week.A   The settlers say all of the West Bank is Jewish land and theyBare trying to block the government's plan to give control of much=of it to the Palestinian Autonomy Authority. On Friday, theyBasked Mr. Rabin to at least limit the armaments and activities of:the Palestinian police when their deployment is expanded.<   Settlements housing about 135,000 Israelis are scatteredAthroughout the West Bank among the cities and villages which are@home to more than one-million Palestinians. The government says;it will not allow settler protests to change its policies.   ---------------   ---------------=   ISRAELI/PALESTINIAN NEGOTIATORS END LATEST ROUND OF TALKS
   AL PESSIN
   JERUSALEM>   Israeli and Palestinian negotiators have concluded anotherAdifficult week of talks Thursday, saying significant differences;remain on key issues blocking the expansion of Palestinian
autonomy.B   Frustrated Palestinian negotiators ended a meeting about waterArights early Thursday, prompting fears of a crisis in the talks.;The Israeli foreign ministry says despite problems on some#topics, there is progress overall.A   Still, the two sides remain far apart on the water issue, and;on the other key issue in the talks, security arrangementsAsurrounding an Israeli withdrawal from much of the occupied West?Bank. A month ago, officials said agreement was close, but now@they will not predict when the talks might end. One Palestinian3negotiator said it could be another month or more.<   The agreement for expanding Palestinian autonomy and the<holding of Palestinian elections is already one-year behind@schedule. Officials say if there is no agreement this month, itAwill be difficult to hold the elections by December, as had beenAhoped. The talks are expected to be in recess for at least three@days, after which the lead negotiators are to consult about howto proceed.   ---------------   ---------------#   RELIGION AND POLITICS IN ISRAEL   ADAM PHILLIPS   WASHINGTONA   Host for billions of people the world over, Jerusalem is bothBcity and symbol. As a city, its inhabitants include Jews, Muslims=and Christians. Like any city, Jerusalem has its businesses,Bschools and bustling markets. But as a symbol, the name Jerusalem@can evoke awe, mystery and reverence seemingly at odds with itsBmodern edge. Clearly, it is Jerusalem's unique blend of spiritual@reality and earthy life that make it unique among internationalcities.<   The many subtle and sometimes incomprehensible ways thatApolitics and religion have intertwined there over the past three>millennia constitutes the major theme in Jerusalem's history.>This was true in the time of the Israeli monarchy of Solomon,<through the eras of babylonian, Greek and Roman empires. It@continued during the time of the Christian crusades in the 11th@century AD, through the period of Turkish rule and now with the"Jewish presence in the holy land.>   Even though religion has long since ceased to be a primaryAmotivation in the statecraft of western nations, it is very muchAa factor in the world attention focused on Jerusalem. Even ArabsBand Israelis have tended to de-emphasize the religious aspects of<their claim to the land. But for fundamentalist Christians,AMuslims and Jews, the city of Jerusalem retains all the holinessBit had when God chose it as the site for his temple, as recounted@in the Jewish bible, or torah. These writings, which Christians7call "the old testament," mention the city repeatedly.B   Ruth Heflin, director of a Christian group in Jerusalem called$the Zionist Peace Fellowship, says:?   "Jerusalem is special because God has chosen it. Of all the=cities of the world. It's true that his blessing is upon allAmankind, but there's no place in the scriptures that says he has?chosen New York or Washington or Paris or Sydney, Australia or-any other city. He's only chosen Jerusalem.";   According to her, it is scriptural differences over the=meaning of Jerusalem that lies at the heart of the political=tempests both within Israel, and between Israel and its Arab@neighbors. Her insights are politically relevant because MuslimBand Jewish elements often express their claim to the city through>violent ways that threaten the Mideast peace accords. Because=these accords were couched and implemented in secular terms,:those who believe as Ms. Heflin does say they avoided theultimate issues at stake:9   "The battle is spiritual. I mean, why would they want8Jerusalem? Why would all of the nations in the world beBinterested? Why has there been such a battle over this city if it>were not spiritual? And it's a spiritual battle that's taking<place and nothing else. And people that don't see it in itsBspiritual context are totally missing the point. It's because GodAhath chosen Jerusalem for his habitation. The main battle is for@the city. In fact the scriptures speak about the controversy ofzion.B   "And many times, spiritual people, if they travel and come andBtravel in some other parts of Israel, and then come to Jerusalem,=they feel the spiritual pressures here! There's a glory. But>we're going to see that Jesus will rule, a righteous and justBrule, and he's going to rule the world from Jerusalem and he will=rule from Mount Zion, and of course Mount Zion is the TempleMount."?   For both Jews and Muslims, the holiness of Jerusalem itself=radiates from the Temple Mount on the biblical Mount Zion, a>humble enough looking hill of just over 16 hectares, close by?Jerusalem's ancient city walls. On top of the Temple Mount sit-the dome of the rock and the Al Aqsa Mosque.A   Muslims say that the prophet Mohammed ascended to heaven from;this spot in order to receive the Koran from Allah after a=miraculous one night journey from his home in far-off Mecca.?According to legend, Mohammed made this trip astride a magical@horse named Barak (buhr-ukk), which had the face of a woman and>the tail of a peacock.  For Abdul and Achmed, two Palestinian@Muslims who own a little tourist shop next to the Temple Mount,%this night flight is a living truth.>   "Mohammed was ascended to heaven from the rock outside theBdome. That's why they say "Dome of the Rock." The Koran came down?to Mohammed and all the other prophets. God took him from thatArock, from the mosque and then he went up. So this is from God.">   The Arabic name for the mosque built on the site, Al Aqsa,@means "the furthest edge". This reflects the Muslim belief thatAall the land Mohammed traversed on his journey between Mecca andBthe place of his heavenly ascent in Jerusalem became Islamic landBby divine will. That is the scriptural basis for the Muslim claimBto what they call "Palestine" and the reason why Jerusalem is the?third holiest site in Islam, after Medina and Mecca. The Koran+itself does not mention Jerusalem by name.;   In the shadow of the Temple Mount, Jews pray facing the@sunbaked ancient stones of the western or "Wailing" Wall. It isAall that remains of the first and second holy temples. The firstBtemple was built by King Solomon in 950 B.C. but was destroyed in?586 B.C. by the babylonians who carried the Jews into exile. AAsecond temple was built 50 years later by the Jews who returned.,But the romans destroyed that one in 70 AD.A   Orthodox Jews believe that what really made them holy was the>space inside the temple called "The Holy of Holies", which inAKing Solomon's time contained the tablets of the law, or the ten?commandments. For two and a half thousand years, the Jews have<considered this spot the one inherently sacred place in all?creation. It is the one place, they believe, that God can make@tangible contact with humanity through the priestly function ofthe Jewish people.A   Yaakov Fogelman, an orthodox Jew who emigrated to Israel from@his native Boston, Massachusetts, is often seen passing out hisAbiblical commentaries at the western wall, just below the MuslimBshrines. He has a homespun way of explaining why the Temple Mount6is holy to him, to all Jews and to humanity at large:7   "The temple is that place where one can most easily@internalize an intense experience of God. We have two verses inAthe bible that seemingly contradict each other. One is that 'the=whole world is full of his glory' and the other is that "God?dwells in Jerusalem. And I would compare it to a multinational>executive. His glory, his offices may fill the world. You can@meet him in Singapore, in Tokyo, Alaska, wherever. And it's hisBplace! But if he invites you home to the land of Israel, that's a@different experience. And if he actually takes you into his den?where he sits with his pipe and slippers, the temple, then you?get to know him in a wholly different way, and a wholly easierway."B   The specific way that Jews "got to know" God while the temples=were still standing was through the various animal and plantBsacrifices. These sacrifices were made for purposes of communion,Apurification and redemption and were performed by Jewish priestsBjust outside the temple's "Holy of Holies". It was there that the=priests would sprinkle the blood of lambs and other animals,;according to arcane ritual procedures overseen by the highpriest, or Cohen.B   The Temple Mount is still so holy to orthodox Jews like Yaakov@Fogelman that ritual law does not permit them to set foot thereBfor fear of defiling it. Still, during the one thousand-925 yearsBthat have passed since the second temple was destroyed, Jews haveAfaced Jerusalem and the Temple Mount to pray several times a day?for God to send the king and messiah to rebuild the temple and reinstitute its sacred rituals.;   They believe that the building of the third temple will?inaugurate a messianic era of peace for Jews and all humanity,Bwhich Yaakov Fogelman is sure must someday come to pass, in spite6of the tenacious presence of the Muslims on the site:?   "...And I can see that happening in one of two ways. EitherAGod suddenly reveals himself and says 'boys. We gotta build it."@And the Arabs will certainly go along with that. Who could deny?it? Or more likely, in my opinion, the Jews will finally shape;up, we're just starting the state of Israel, and be a trueBkingdom kingdom of priests and a holy nation. Then the Arabs will>understand that we are their leaders and teachers and help usAbuild it. So much as happened already, why shouldn't the rest ofAit? This is a holy land, not a normal land, a holy people, not a<normal people. And holy means it transcends all the rules.">   In contrast to the Jews, most modern Christians, includingBdeeply religious ones, no longer see the need to reconsecrate the=physical space where the temple once stood. This is because,?according to Christian theology, Jesus Christ was both God andAmessiah and combined within himself the temple, the high priest,#the king and the sacrificial lamb.>   But for Muslims and Jews, it is prophesied that the TempleAMount one can actually see and touch is bound up with the end of;history as humanity has always perceived it. But since the@Muslims believe that the Jews have lost their special status as:God's chosen people and that the supreme being now favors8Mohammed and his followers, this history turns out very=differently than the Jewish conception. A young Muslim named?Ibrahim has been taught to eagerly await the day when the Jews?attempt to destroy the Muslim shrines on the mount and rebuild9their temple, because this, says Ibrahim, will spark theapocalypse:A   "All Islamic [people are] waiting for this moment. Because in=our Koran it says the last war is going to be in the mosque.>That's what the Koran says. It says that Jewish, one day theyAwill come, they will try to go into the mosque and they will try@to do their temple there. Muslims, they will fight, and MuslimsAthey will win. The Jewish people, they will be hiding behind the@stone, and the stone will say, 'behind of me there is a Jewish,=come and kill him.' birds, stones, trees, people, everybody.>Wherever he will hide, the thing he is hiding behind will say>'behind of me is a Jewish guy. You Muslim, come and kill thatBJewish.' that is what in Koran is written. And we [are] sure that'what the Koran said it must be right."@   Some predicted the world would end during the six day war ofB1967, when Israeli troops stormed the old city, which had been in=Jordanian hands, and claimed the western wall and the Temple>Mount, with its two Muslim shrines. The Jordanians had always8barred Jews from praying at the western wall. But, in a?controversial decision, the Israeli cabinet decided to let the>supreme Muslim council continue to administer the dome of theArock and the Al Aqsa Mosque, while beautifying and expanding the western wall area for the Jews.=   This resulted in an ambiguous arrangement whereby Israeli@soldiers protect Muslim shrines that are administered by Jordan@and paid for by Arab countries, some of which are sworn enemies=of the Jewish state. Ever since, the violent efforts of both@fundamentalist Jews and fundamentalist Arabs to wrest clear-cut?control of the Temple Mount, as well the city of Jerusalem and:the West Bank, has been a harsh fact of life in the area.A   Mordecai Gur became an Israeli national hero as the commander?of the Israeli brigade which took the old city, and, until his<recent suicide, was Israel's deputy minister of defense andBsecurity. During an October 1994 interview,  Mr. Gur outlined theBspecial security problems posed by religiously motivated violenceBsuch as the suicide bus bombings against civilians carried out by.extreme Palestinian Muslim groups like Hamas.B   He said that protecting a population against religious martyrs>poses a totally different challenge than he faced as a leaderduring Israel's many wars:A   "We are talking about people who are ready to commit suicide.:Now there is no military doctrine against it, because all=military doctrine is based on the assumption that your enemy<would like to stay alive, and if you put him in a difficultAsituation, he will try to avoid it. He will run away, of he will>hide or whatever. This is not the case with people who try to@commit suicide. You can do whatever you want, they don't give a9damn. I mean they are volunteering to die. Then there is>practically no measure you can take to insure 100 percent any?success. Because if you give in, there is no end to it. If you?fight it, you put in danger almost everybody. Because they are2ready to die anyhow. It's only a matter of will."@   Radical Muslim activists like Sheik Nah-Eff Fajoub of Hebron<say the Jews must be banished from the land they believe is<Muslim by divine right. The sheik is one of the hundreds ofBPalestinian activists deported to the wilderness of South Lebanon@by the Israeli government. Though he was permitted to return to@Israel, the religious leader remains firm in his belief. And he@is unmoved by the fact that the two shrines on the Temple Mount?are in Muslim hands while the land that surrounds them sproutsAsettlements filled with Jews, whom he views as usurpers from theEuropean west.B   Sheik Fajoub says that secular Palestinian leaders like Yasser;Arafat are traitors for making peace with Israel, and that0democracy itself is a poisonous western import:=   "The Jews want to arrogate all of Palestine, the whole of;Palestine, and they also want to go farther, to dominate a9geographic area extending from the nile to the euphrates9[rivers]. Moreover, they want to dominate the Arab worldBeconomically, socially and intellectually. Democracy is a westernBand an American monopoly they won't export it to us. Democracy is<not compatible with Islam. Because in [a] democracy, people$decide, but in Islam, God decides."A   According to religious settlers on the West Bank, God alreadyAdecided in favor of the Jews thousand of years ago. Both Muslims?and Jews agree that the land that came to be called Israel wasApromised by God to the patriarch Abraham thousands of years ago.@But Abraham had two sons, Ishmael, from whom Arabs say they areBdescended, and Isaac, from whom Jacob and the Israelites say they?are descended. The inter-religious debate over which son, and,@therefore, which nation, was given Abraham's inheritance is yet?another scriptural dimension to the conflict between Arabs andJews.A   It is clear that Noam Federman, the spokesman for the radical>rightwing Kach Party, and a protege of the assassinated Rabbi1Meir Kahane, knows where he stands on the issue:A   "I open the bible and I see that's written there that this is?the promised land of the Jews and for me this is what matters.<It's written in the bible that Abraham threw Ishmael out ofAIsrael and he promised by the agreement of God that Isaac shouldAbe the successor. No nation, no other nation should be in Israel>and other populations like the Arabs today should be in their=states. And the Arabs have 22 states. They should go there."?   Mr. Federman lives in the hotly contested West Bank city ofAHebron. That is where, in 1994, another settler, allied with the>followers of Rabbi Kahane, opened fire on 400 worshipers in a?mosque on the land both Jews and Muslims say Abraham bought as>his burial place. Mr. Federman believes that the Arab-IsraeliBpeace process is a betrayal of Jewish heritage and destiny in the;area, and he says he wants to fight to the end rather thannegotiate with his opponents:A   "But for me, Judaism is not only to pray, or to wear a "kepa"A[skullcap] on my head. For me, Judaism means what the kingdom ofADavid was. He was a himself chief general of the army and by the?other hand, he was the head of the rabbis that decided what is;right for the Jews to do and what is not. This is the real	Judaism.A   "If I was prime minister of Israel, I will call all the Arabs<to leave Israel immediately. And if someone doesn't want to$leave, I will force them to leave."<   As frustration among Palestinians mounts over what theirBsecular leaders have promised but have yet to deliver, the appeal=of radical Islam and its violent tendencies also grows. When>violence does erupt as in the recent bus attack in Tel Aviv a:sense of outrage and betrayal among fundamentalist JewishBsettlers and some more moderate sectors of the Israeli population<then threatens the peace process.  In an effort to calm the@Israeli public, the government clamps down on all Palestinians.4And the cycle of resentment and violence continues.@   For many Americans, raised as they have been in a culture of?tolerance, the religious dimension to the Middle East conflict;seems difficult to understand. Why can't both peoples justBrespect each other's differences and live and let live, they ask,@even if they don't agree on the specific and ancient challenges)they believe God has asked them to meet?@   But according to Amos Oz, the Israeli novelist, intellectualAand peacemaker, this fundamentally optimistic American attitude,<however well-intentioned, is out of place in the holy land:>   "Namely, if only Israelis and Palestinians spent more time@together, drank coffee together, got to know each other, they'd>like each other. They'd realize that no one is a monster. Too:simple. There is no misunderstanding between Israelis andAPalestinians. We want this land because we think it's ours. They@want it because they think it's theirs. Rivers of coffee cannotAsettle this dispute. It's not a question of getting to know each=other. It's like a couple that had been married unhappily, a?couple that must break in divorce because they give each other@hell and they have had enough of each other. Unfortunately theyAboth live in same little flat, the same little apartment, and noBone is willing or able to go away. Painful as it is, absurd as itAis, very little had changed since the days of the bible in humanAnature. Jealousy and fear, ambition and loneliness and death andcompetition are still there."9   But there are those who feel that such assessments of?Jerusalem's history and possibilities miss the true message of8zion, which is that practical politics will ultimately,;inevitably, be reconciled with the divine ground where all8meaning has its source. Perhaps there was some implicitBrecognition of this fact when Palestinian and Israeli negotiators?decided to put off discussion of the future of Jerusalem until=later, when the other aspects of the peace accords have been>agreed to or successfully implemented. As obstructive as some>religious activists have already been and continue to be, the=fact that Palestinians and Israelis continue to talk to each?other at all remains a sort of ongoing miracle in itself. ThatBboth sides will take risks for peace is remains a cause for hope.   ---------------   ---------------1   REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK: BEIRUT DIGS OUT FROM WAR   PATRICIA GOLAN
   BEIRUTB   This is not what I expected to find in the heart of Beirut, an?American-style Tex-Mex restaurant with waiters dancing to rockBmusic. It's so American, in fact, you can't find anything written@in Arabic. Our waiter says, "have a nice time, guys." Peace has=prevailed in Lebanon for nearly five years. And if a booming@nightlife, flashy new BMW's, Parisian fashions in the shops and;ubiquitous cellular phones are signs of normalcy, a lot of7Lebanese are certainly enjoying their new-found peace.>   But after 16 years of civil war, rebuilding this shattered?country will take a long time. We drive along the infamous old@"green line", the unofficial dividing line through Beirut which;separated west from east Muslim from Christian. Devastated?building after building, it still looks like the Beirut of the>newsreels. For every fancy restaurant and nightclub in Beirut>there are still hundreds of such bullet-pocked and pulverized<buildings. In front of many of the bombed-out buildings are@billboards in French and English advertising European fashions,4French champagne and posh new housing developments.8   Peace may be fine but there seems to be great public?discontent and disillusionment with government promises in theBreconstruction effort. Last month [July] Lebanese workers took toAthe streets to protest a tax rise on gasoline; the army was sent8in to break up the demonstrations. In one city, several0demonstrators were killed and soldiers wounded.@   That evening billionaire Prime Minister Rafik Al-Hariri went;on TV for a live press conference carried by nearly all of?Lebanon's TV stations. He blamed what happened on PalestiniansAand other outside agitators. I asked johnny, the night reception<clerk at our hotel, about the prime minister's accusations.@"Sure", he said sarcastically, "it's either the Palestinians orBthe Israelis, it's never himself, never the government. Why can'tApeople demonstrate for their rights?" We went to see minister of9culture Michel Edde in the mountains overlooking Beirut.>   Mr. Edde described the view to us from his palatial house,<decorated with Oriental rugs and Chinese furniture. Edde, aBmember of Lebanon's old Maronite Christian aristocracy, greets us?wearing blue pajamas and a white and gold robe. He resembles a?portly Charles De Gaulle.  This is indeed a bizarre interview.8Still in his pajamas, the minister offers us coffee and?chocolates, while stressing the need for austerity in Lebanon.@There is no choice but to raise taxes, he says. he talked to us?about the recovery from the war, the resettlement of refugees,!the continuing turmoil in south:;   "All this requires a political stability, it requires a=rebuilding of the infrastructure, roads, water, electricity,<telephones; everything was destroyed, as you noticed, eh?."@   There is political stability here; most of the militias have;been disarmed. But something else has replaced the warring@Christian, Muslim and Druze factions, Syrian soldiers. They areAeverywhere, as are pictures of Syrian President Hafez Assad. HisBis the first photo you see when you arrive at the Beirut Airport,?President Assad and his son, basil, killed in a car crash lastAyear. And if seeing the head of one state in another state isn't@unsettling enough, the road from the airport to Beirut is lined=with enormous portraits of the late Iranian religious leader@Ayatollah Khomeini, and the present leader, Ayatollah Khameini.=Just what country am I in, I wonder. This is a stronghold ofAHizbollah, I'm told, the militant Islamic "Party of God". It was=three days before I saw a picture of Lebanese Prime MinisterARafik Hariri, this despite the fact that when Mr. Hariri assumed?power in 1992, he was widely perceived as the nation's savior.A   Hassan sabra, editor of the political weekly As-Shiraa, spokeBto us in his office. It was Mr. Sabra who in 1986 broke the storyBon the Iran-Contra affair. He survived an assassination attempt aAfew months later, carried out by Iranian agents. At the entrance?to the Mr. Sabra's office there is a ceiling-high photo of the>late Egyptian president Gamal Adbel Nasser. Feeling even moreAdisoriented than ever, I asked Mr. Sabra how he feels having the@symbols of another country displayed everywhere in Lebanon? The?Lebanese, he said, have always looked beyond their own country>for their inspiration. The pictures of assad express LebaneseBemotions, because Syria has helped liberate Lebanon. If it wasn'tBfor Syria's intervention, he insists, the war here would be goingon forever.A   There are still no street lights or traffic lights in Beirut.@Government-supplied electricity is six hours on, six hours off.@So everyone has their own generators. Everywhere huge clumps of?electrical wires hang in the streets, suspended just above car:level like crazy cats cradles. Some progress in Beirut is?evident, and it is impressive. in the city center known as Ras@Beirut, an army of bulldozers is leveling the wasteland left by>the war. Then the reconstruction of what was once a beautiful>city can begin. The reconstruction has turned up a fortune in@archaeological finds. May Zouain works for the public relations>department of the private real estate firm Solidere, which is#carrying out the development here.B   Solidere is actually financing many of the digs here, normally?developers and archaeologists are sworn enemies. May walked usthrough what streets remain.>   I was struck by the holes knocked out in the walls betweenBbuildings. They were made by the militias so they could pass from=one building to another to avoid sniper fire. Prime Minister;Rafik Hariri is one of the world's richest men. Dubbed Mr.AMiracle, he has launched dozens of multi-million dollar projects@to rehabilitate the country from the wreckage of the war and isAthe principle shareholder in Solidaire. Lebanon, or at least itsAcurrent prime minister, is selling something, the reconstruction@of a country many people wrote off as a lost cause. Still, manyALebanese are afraid that only a privileged few will benefit fromBthe new Lebanon. Rafik Hariri may be performing miracles with his?connections and resources, but most of the Lebanese citizens I?met complained that the same old political system of sectarianpatronage is still in place.;   Adnan Iskandar is a political scientist at the AmericanUniversity in Beirut, says:9   "This political system, more and more appears to be aBcontinuation of the old system. In fact, a worse version in termsAof the extent of corruption. We seemed to have entered an era of=organized corruption. It's widespread, it's of unprecedented=proportions..and the more money is spent the more corruptionthere is."<   In the Middle East this kind of freedom of expression is:astonishing, and encouraging. it may well be that Syria'sAall-pervasive influence here means the Lebanese don't have a say@in anything that is happening in their country, that everythingBis imposed on them, but a free-wheeling press, a dozen private TVAstations show the Lebanese to be as articulate and irrepressible	as ever.   ---------------   ---------------2   IRAQ CELEBRATES ANNIVERSARY OF KUWAIT INVASION   LAURIE KASSMAN	   CAIRO<   Iraq has marked the fifth anniversary of its invasion of=Kuwait with editorials that glorify the action and blame theAUnited States and Kuwait for the war that followed. The official=media, at least, has stopped referring to Kuwait as an Iraqi
province.<   The state-run Al Jumhouriya newspaper describes the 1990=invasion as a natural reaction to American and Kuwaiti plots=against Iraq. As far as the official media is concerned, the"United States is the evil empire.?   It was the U.S. led coalition that ended Iraq's takeover of>Kuwait six months after it started. The U.N. Security Council;also implemented stiff economic sanctions against Baghdad.>   During the past five years, the Security Council has voted?again and again to keep the crippling sanctions in place untilAU.N. inspectors show proof that Iraq has fully complied with allthe Gulf War resolutions.<   The cease-fire terms include demands that Iraq scrap its@weapons of mass destruction, accept long-term monitoring of itsBmilitary systems, officially recognize Kuwait's borders and cleanBup its human rights record. Iraq has met some of the requirementsBand some of the Security Council permanent members have suggestedBeasing the oil embargo to encourage Iraq to do more. The U.S. and$British governments are against it.?   Iraq continues to lobby for lifting the sanctions, which anAeditorial in Al-Jumhouriya suggests will happen sooner or later.AThen, it warns, Kuwaiti leaders better watch out because nothing/but good relations with Iraq can protect them.<   Last year, massive Iraqi troop movements near the border@sounded the alarm bell in Kuwait. U.S. and allied troops rushed@to Kuwait to help defend it against any potential Iraqi attack.=Even though Saddam Hussein has officially recognized the new@border now, Kuwaitis acknowledge their security remains fragile&as long as Saddam Hussein rules Iraq.   ---------------   ---------------2   ISRAELI SECURITY FORCES FORCIBLE MOVE SETTLERS
   AL PESSIN
   JERUSALEMB   Israeli security forces moved a small group of Jewish settlers?from a hilltop in the West Bank on Wednesday. It was the third=consecutive day of such action, but also the smallest of theseries of hilltop incidents.>   There were only about 100 settlers on Dagan Hill, south ofABethlehem on Wednesday. Police and soldiers moved in and carriedBthem away, in scenes reminiscent of larger confrontations on that'hill and others on Monday and Tuesday.>   The settlers are trying to take control of more land in an<effort to block the government's plan to expand Palestinian?autonomy on the West Bank. The settlers have vowed to continueAtheir protests, and say they will intensify the campaign becauseBof the arrest on Wednesday of two of their leaders, one of them asenior rabbi.<   Meanwhile, at the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks in theAsouthern city of Eilat, Israeli negotiators said they are makingBgood progress. But their Palestinian counterparts complained of a;lack of progress on key issues. Israel's cabinet postponed<discussion of handing over control of eight more aspects of=civilian administration to the Palestinians because the lead@Israeli negotiator (Uri Savir), who was supposed to present the=plan, said he wanted to stay in Eilat to continue the talks.   ---------------   ---------------   SAUDI CABINET SHUFFLE   LAURIE KASSMAN	   CAIROA   Saudi Arabia's King Fahd has reshuffled the cabinet and, in a;surprise move, replaced his oil and finance ministers. ButBmembers of the royal family still hold key posts in the 28-member	cabinet.=   The new oil minister, Ali Bin Ibrahim Al-Nuaymi, had been?running the Saudi Aramco oil company. He replaces Hisham Nazer'who held the post for nearly a decade.?   King Fahd also replaced his finance minister, naming former=commerce minister Sulayman Bin Abdel-Aziz Al-Sulayyim to the
position.?   A cabinet shake-up had been expected, but not necessarily aAchange in the two key economic posts. One observer has suggested;a new emphasis on the private sector was behind the moves.A   Since the 1991 Gulf War, Saudi Arabia's economy has been hardAhit by falling oil prices and rising debts. Along with new price=hikes and reforms, the government has also made moves to get/private business more involved in development.;   Members of the royal family will still run the defense,Aforeign affairs and interior ministries. Both the prime minister-and deputy prime minister are royal princes.   ---------------   ---------------?   SYRIAN RESPONSE TO RABIN ASSESSMENT OF STALLED NEGOTIATIONS   LAURIE KASSMAN	   CAIRO:   Syria's official media is not put off by Israeli Prime?Minister Yitzhak Rabin's pessimistic assessment of the stalledBnegotiations. The leading state-run Al Baath newspaper says Syria=will not be rushed into a peace agreement no matter who runsIsrael.=   The state-run newspaper suggests both the labor and Likud>parties in Israel have the same goals when it comes to making@peace with Syria. So, the newspaper says it does not matter who@runs Israel as long as the two parties realize peace depends on1Israel returning all the Golan Heights to Syria.@   Israel seized the Golan Heights during the 1967 Arab-Israeli:war and later annexed the territory. Negotiations between@military officers from both sides have snagged on what security=system to put in place on the strategic heights once a peaceagreement is reached.A   Each side is blaming the other for delays. Earlier this week,?Israeli Prime Minister Rabin indicated they are still far fromagreement.B   U.S. and Israeli officials had believed the threat of a change?of government in Israel after next year's elections could giveAnew impetus to the peace talks. Syria does not appear willing tobe rushed.   ---------------   ---------------E   HUMAN RIGHTS GROUPS DEMAND INFO FROM IRAQ ON 1000 MISSING KUWAITI   JOHN PITMAN   WASHINGTON?   Human Rights Watch, Middle East has sent a letter to Iraq'sBambassador to the United Nations, demanding information about the>fates of nearly one-thousand Kuwaitis missing since 1991. TheAletter to Ambassador Nizar Hamdoon calls on Iraq to provide more?information about Kuwaitis believed to be held in Iraqi jails.5Iraq says it has already released all its prisoners.:   Human Rights Watch says Iraq detained more than 10,000?Kuwaitis following its invasion of Kuwait in August, 1990. The@letter to Ambassador Hamdoon acknowledges that Iraq released or@exchanged most of these prisoners following the end of the Gulf@War in February, 1991. But it also says that up to one-thousand;of the prisoners who were sent to Iraq have still not beenaccounted for.:   Chris George is the executive director of Human Rights=Watch-Middle East. He says reports from former prisoners andAdocuments gathered by Kuwaiti human rights groups show that many9of these missing people were last seen in Iraqi custody.A   Iraq has denied charges that it continues to detain Kuwaitis.9But Mr. George says his group has proof that the Baghdad%government is not telling the truth:?   "We know for a fact that they have much more information on<these thousand people than they are admitting. Records were@seized when Iraq fled from Kuwait, records that show that theseBpeople were arrested; records that show the names of officers who=interrogated them and where they were held.  So we know that=they've got information. We don't know exactly where in Iraq?they're being held. We don't know what their condition is. But>Iraq certainly has much more information on these nearly 1000%people than they're sharing with us.B   According to Human Rights Watch, Iraq did account for about 70?prisoners in 1994, saying they had all died, escaped or simply?disappeared in the chaos following the Gulf War. The letter to>Ambassador Hamdoon calls on Iraq to accept responsibility for<these people, and provide as much information about them as
possible.=   The letter also mentions a memo Iraq sent to the Security@Council in July of this year promising to assist the search forAmissing Kuwaitis. Human Rights Watch says the fact that Iraq has?agreed to help look for missing people indicates that it does,%indeed, have information about them.@   However, Ambassador Hamdoon says the memo only promised thatAIraq would provide information about soldiers missing in action,>not civilian prisoners. And he repeated that Iraqi prisons no&longer contain any Kuwaiti prisoners:=   "Iraq has no interest whatsoever to keep any detainees or?people from Kuwait within its territory. All the POW's that weBhad during the hostilities were handed over immediately after theBwar. There are people who are missing in action, just like in any@other conflict. And we have agreed with the ICRC (internationalBcommittee of the Red Cross) which is the authorized international?organization to handle this issue according to their standards=and procedures. We are abiding by that and attending all the activities and doing our best.">   However, the Human Rights Watch letter calls on Iraq to doAbetter. In addition to requesting more information about missingAKuwaitis, the letter also calls on Iraq to permit an independent;commission to question Iraqis believed responsible for the$disappearance of Kuwaiti civilians.   ---------------   ---------------.   IRAQ INVASION OF KUWAIT - FIVE YEARS LATER   LAURIE KASSMAN	   CAIRO@   It has been five-years since Iraq invaded Kuwait. Tough U.N.;sanctions remain in place and so does Saddam Hussein. IraqBremains a pariah state and there are few signs the situation will#change dramatically any time soon.B   Economic sanctions against Iraq have not eased during the past@five years. Since the end of the 1991 Gulf War, U.N. inspectors@have been shuttling to Baghdad to check on compliance with U.N.@ceasefire resolutions aimed at preventing Iraq from threateningits neighbors again.<   The inspectors' mission is to verify the dismantling and@destruction of Iraq's nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons>and to install long-term monitoring equipment. The inspectors'have not yet given Iraq the all clear.B   So, sanctions remain. The economy is in shambles. Reports have@multiplied about political unrest, cabinet reshuffles, and evenAsmall mutinies within Saddam Hussein's power base, the army. But!Saddam Hussein remains in power.A   His opponents outside the country say the crippling sanctionsAare beginning to erode the loyalty of his inner circle. U.N. and@other aid officials report the most suffering is among ordinaryBIraqis who find it hard to pay the high prices for smuggled goods&that find their way into the country.:   Opposition parties outside the country are divided and?disorganized. Rebellions by the Kurds in the north, and Shiite=communities in the south after the Gulf War did not succeed.A   Even under the protection of the no-fly zone, northern Iraq'sAKurdish factions continue to spar with each other. To the south,>Saddam Hussein's move to drain the marshes has helped cut the!force of the Shiite communities.A   Kuwait has flourished. Since the U.S.-led coalition liberated<Kuwait early in 1991, Kuwaitis have rebuilt the country andregained their confidence.@   Massive Iraqi troop movements near the border late last year?set off alarm bells. U.S. and other allies quickly shipped out@troops to help defend Kuwait against possible Iraqi aggression.@Kuwaitis acknowledge their peace and tranquility remain fragile,as long as Saddam Hussein remains in power.@   The Iraqi military moves soured any chances for getting U.N.>sanctions lifted, even though Russia suggested easing the oil<embargo to encourage Saddam Hussein to cooperate more. Even?Iraq's decision to finally recognize the border with Kuwait, a:ceasefire requirement, did not persuade the U.N. Security	Council.?   In recent months, U.N. inspectors have found Iraq was still@holding back information on its biological weapons program. The>U.N. Security Council once again decided to keep sanctions inplace.8   Last month Baghdad offered to provide details on the@controversial program. Then, Saddam Hussein issued a pardon for;all convicted army deserters and another one for political+dissidents inside and outside the country.?   Top Iraqi officials have started traveling again to various?Arab capitals to lobby for lifting the U.N. sanctions ahead ofthe next review in September.9   The U.S. and British governments remain adamant about?maintaining sanctions against Iraq for the foreseeable future.@   They say Iraq's human rights record and its treatment of the<Kurdish and Shiite minorities must be considered too. Other;ceasefire demands also remain unanswered, including Iraq's@accountability for hundreds of Kuwaitis still listed as missing-during occupation and the war that followed.   ---------------   ---------------4   JORDAN MOVES CLOSER TO ENDING ITS ISRAEL BOYCOTT   LAURIE KASSMAN	   CAIRO?   Jordan moved one step closer to ending its participation in:the Arab boycott against Israel when the Jordanian Senate?approved, as expected, a law allowing bilateral business dealswith the Jewish state.A   The Senate approved the bill by an overwhelming majority. AllBit needs now is King Hussein's signature, which is expected later
in the week.<   The new law will end a long-standing statute that forbid7business dealings with Israel. That will put Jordanian>legislation in line with the peace treaty signed last OctoberAwith Israel. The new law will also allow Israelis to buy land in$Jordan on condition of reciprocity.?   Removing restrictions to bilateral business deals in effect?removes Jordan from the Arab boycott of Israel. The other Arab=state conducting business openly with Israel is Egypt, which7signed its peace treaty with the Jewish state in 1979.9   Jordanian, Israeli, Palestinian and Egyptian businessBexecutives have been holding a series of meetings during the past=year to figure out ways to improve trade and cooperation. InACairo Monday, they agreed to set up a regional business council.   ---------------   ---------------   AUSTRALIA/FRANCE RELATIONS   ROBIN POKE   CANBERRA:   Diplomatic relations between Australia and France haveAdeteriorated, following the withdrawal of France's ambassador to@Australia. The French action followed an Australian decision to8bar a French aircraft manufacturer from competing for aAmulti-million dollar contract, a decision reflecting Australia's<anger at French intentions to resume nuclear testing at its#mid-Pacific site at Mururoa Atoll.;   The decision not to allow the French to compete for the=contract was made by Defense Minister Robert Rae. The FrenchAforeign ministry in Paris described the decision as hostile, and>announced France's ambassador to Australia, Dominique Girard,would be recalled.9   The foreign ministry also claimed the decision by the?Australian defense minister was one of several actions against=France. These include preventing mail delivery to the French:embassy, allowing demonstrators to obstruct access to the8embassy, and delaying French ships in Australian ports.?   Defense minister Rae said he was glad the French ambassadorBhad been recalled. He said this meant the French government wouldBreceive a direct account of Australian hostility towards France's>decision. He also called for Australia's state governments toAconsider the nuclear tests plan when deciding on French bids forBprojects. Acting Foreign Minister Gordon Bilney said the decision;by France proved Australia's protests were being heard. He@regretted relations between the two countries had deteriorated,Abut said the situation would only improve if France reversed its
decision.@   Prime Minister Paul Keating says Australia will continue its?protests. Australia has frozen other defense ties with France,@and recalled its ambassador to Paris, but Mr. Keating has ruled<out sending an Australian naval frigate to Mururoa atoll infurther protest.B   Meanwhile the Australian medical Association has denounced theBFrench plan. Association President Dr. David Weedon says there is?evidence cancers and birth defects have increased in the SouthAPacific since atmospheric testing in the 1970's. Dr. Weedon says@physicians are also worried the underground tests due to resume>in September might cause radiation to leak from Mururoa atollinto the ocean food chain.B   France has said it plans to conduct eight underground tests at=Mururoa between September and may as part of maintaining its=security. It also says this series of tests will be the last?before it joins other major nations in signing a comprehensivetest ban treaty.   ---------------   ---------------9   AUSTRALIA CONTINUES PROTEST OVER FRENCH NUCLEAR TESTS   NICK SIMEONE   WASHINGTON@   Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating says his country willBcontinue protesting the French decision to resume nuclear testing:in the South Pacific which is set to begin next month. In@Washington, Australia's ambassador met with several influentialBcongressmen Wednesday urging them to pass a resolution that would(call on France to reconsider the tests.=   Ambassador Don Russell and representatives of nations and?territories from oceania went to Capitol Hill Wednesday to askAcongress to send an unequivocal "no" to the French government onthe issue of nuclear testing.;   Australia chairs the South Pacific forum which includesBnations near the Mururoa Atoll where France plans to carry out as?many as eight nuclear tests beginning in September. AmbassadorBRussell stressed the French decision smacks of arrogance and willhave repercussions worldwide::   "They have by their actions jeopardized the chances of@securing a comprehensive test ban. They have made it easier for;nations to develop nuclear weapons. They have made it more>difficult for the non-proliferation treaty to work. That they1have endangered in a sense all of our security.">   Leading members of Congress he said, were sympathetic. But>with lawmakers heading for a summer recess, there has been no@guarantee that a vote calling on France to reverse courses will?be scheduled. But Ambassador Russell made clear Australia will@continue to press Paris to not go ahead with the nuclear tests,Awhich the Clinton Administration has already spoken out against:?   "This is an issue which touches Australians very deeply and@it's to do with a perceived arrogance on the part of the French@in testing devices which they obviously could not do in Europe.?And for them to say that this is important for French securityBand we are going to test it in your part of the world because youAdon't matter very much just gets up the nose of Australians in adreadful way."@   Joining the ambassador was Eni Faleomavaega, the delegate toCongress from American Samoa:?   "I think the policy stinks. It's absurd. It's shameless and>outright arrogance on the part of the French government to do<something like this to the detriment and welfare of some 28=million men, women and children who live in this part of theworld."B   The delegate from Samoa is vowing more protests at the MururoaBatoll where the tests will take place. But any attempt to protestBat the site is likely to be met by resistance. Last month, French:naval vessels boarded a ship from the environmental group>Greenpeace and tear gassed its crew as the vessel entered thetest site region.   ---------------   ---------------)   RUSSIAN REACTION TO CROATIA OFFENSIVE   PETER COLLINS
   MOSCOW9   Russia has condemned the Croatian attack against Serb<separatists in the Krajina region. Moscow says the Croatian-offensive risks spreading the war in bosnia.=   The foreign ministry here in Moscow said Croatia's attack8could cause a radical change in the conflicts in formerYugoslavia.?   In a toughly-worded statement, Russia implicitly blamed theBwest for encouraging Croatia to try to crush Krajina Serb forces.AIt urged Croatia's western allies to persuade Zagreb to halt its9attack on the Serb-held town of Knin begun early Friday.@   The statement added, in these words, "those countries which,?despite weak protests, have in fact thrown their weight behind?the Croat action have obviously failed to predict the possibleconsequences."@   Earlier, Russian foreign minister Andrei Kozyrev said it was:tragic Croatia had resorted to force at the moment when a=political alternative had emerged. This was a reference to a>promise Thursday by Serb separatists to discuss reintegrationBinto Croatia, provided strong autonomy was granted. The Serbs andAUnited Nations mediators said later the talks had been positive,&but the Croats discounted their view.?   Mr. Kozyrev said there could be no military solution to the@problems in the former Yugoslavia, only a political settlement.A   Russia is a traditional ally of Serbia. It said during rising=tensions last week it might ask the U.N. Security Council to?intervene. So far, it has not done so, and Russia has given no>hint of what practical step it could take to halt the Croats.   ---------------   ---------------   RUSSIA/CHECHNYA UPDATE   PETER COLLINS
   MOSCOW?   Fighting in Chechnya appears to have diminished somewhat in=the aftermath of a new military agreement between Russia andAChechen rebels. President Boris Yeltsin hopes it is a first step#toward a comprehensive settlement.A   A Russian military spokesman in Chechnya says small groups of@Chechen rebels attacked army posts at least 15 times overnight.@But he said the attacks were less intensive than earlier. ThreeRussian soldiers were wounded.@   Under an agreement signed last Sunday, the rebels are to lay:down their arms in exchange for the withdrawal of all butBtwo-thousand Russian troops from Chechnya. Since the signing, the?Russians and Chechens have exchanged a handful of prisoners ofwar.=   In a national television speech Thursday night, President:Yeltsin promised an end to the eight-month-old war in the=breakaway Chechen Republic. He appealed to Chechen rebels to<abide by the terms of the military accord, and said Russian9forces would withdraw as soon as the Chechens disarm. He>insisted, however, that Chechnya would remain part of Russia.@   Although Sunday's agreement covers military issues, it fails9to with Chechnya's key demand, independence from Russia.2   Further talks on political issues are planned.@   It remains unclear whether Chechnya's leadership can control@all the rebel groups spread across the small region in southern<Russia. Chechen leader Dzhokhar Dudayev has fired his chiefAnegotiator for making too many concessions to Russia and, as the<continuing skirmishes indicate, tension between Russian andChechen fighters remains high.   ---------------   ---------------   SPACE SHUTTLE STILL ON HOLD   NICK SIMEONE   WASHINGTONB   U.S. space agency officials say they need more time to examine>possible problems with critical seals attached to the booster@rockets of America's Space Shuttles. A NASA officials are still=looking into why nozzle seals known as O-rings were slightly4singed by heat during the last two shuttle flights.<   Shuttle Endeavour was set to blast off Saturday but that>flight and all others remain on hold as the U.S. space agency+continues to inspect O-ring nozzle joints.=   After the two most recent shuttle flights by Atlantis and?discovery, tiny burn marks were found on O-ring seals on solid?fuel boosters used to propel the aircraft into orbit. It was a<problem with a different type of O-ring nine years ago that@caused the shuttle Challenger to explode shortly after liftoff,'killing all seven astronauts on board.=   NASA says the slight erosion of the O-rings did not placeAshuttle crews in any added danger. But space agency officials do>not want to take any chances and on Friday shuttle operationsBdirector Brewster Shaw was not yet ready to set a launch date for!Endeavour, also known as STS-69:@   "Right now, it looks like if we are successful to the degree@we think we will be in the time frame, it looks like we will be?able to deal with the STS-69 this month and conceivably fly in	August."B   The investigation into the O-ring damage has taken longer than@the space agency had predicted. But officials still say they do@not expect the problem to delay the timetable for other shuttle	flights.   ---------------   ---------------.   DRAMATIC FOSSIL FIND IN SOUTH AFRICAN CAVE   MALLORY SALESON   JOHANNESBURGB   One of the most dramatic fossil finds in recent years has been>revealed in South Africa. The latest bone discovery sheds newlight on the evolution of man.=   The dramatic discovery of four ancient tiny foot bones in>South Africa's Sterkfontein Caves is the stuff of a detectiveBnovel. The bones were first pulled out of the deepest part of the>cave nearly 15-years ago, but at the time thought to be bonesBbelonging to a baboon, labeled, put into a box and set on a shelfAin the paleo/anthropology research unit of the University of TheWitwatersrand in Johannesburg.B   It was only when the unit's director, Phillip Tobias, receivedAenough financing to again dig deep into the oldest levels of the?cave his assistant, Ron Clarke, decided to re-examine material;already excavated from the same site. This time Mr. Clarke?recognized the same four tiny foot bones as those belonging tothe family of man.@   Phillip Tobias considers the bones the most important fossil?hominid discovery during the past 18-years, and perhaps one of?the most exciting of his 50-year career. He said it was almostBmiraculous to find the bones together, fitting perfectly, as even9one missing piece would have prevented the unprecedented/discovery the human foot evolved from the ape:7   "They have told us a story which is little short of@astonishing. We were never sure, until now, of the exact stages?by which our presumably four-footed ancestors changed to being6two-footed members of the family of man. We knew that>uprightness, or bi-pedalism as we call it, was an early human?accomplishment. Indeed some people regard it as the very firstBhallmark of the family of man. But we did not know how, was thereBa sudden jump, a giant leap as it were, from the four-footed kind@of chimp-like foot to the two-footed modern human foot, or werethere transitions."?   Mr. Tobias said the discovery of the so-named, little foot,Aresolves the debate about the issue fairly and squarely. He saidAthe little foot combines human-like features at the ankle end of>the foot with chimpanzee-like features at the big toe end. HeAdescribed it as a blend of human-like and ape-like features that shows a clear transition stage.=   Mr. Tobias and his assistants have subjected the bones to?detailed study and have compared them with other fossils. They2have estimated the age of little foot to be about@three-and-one-half-million-years old, making it nearly the same9age as the fossil footprint discovered by Mary Leakey inATanzania. Mr. Tobias says the discovery for the first time gives?scientists the kind of fossil foot that would have made such afootprint.8   Mr. Tobias said he expects to find more specimens asBexcavations continue. He said the biggest thrill would be finding'more fossils belonging to little foot:A   "I would love to find a bit more of the same leg. But perhaps=even more useful might be to find the other end of the body.;Because we tend to recognize and identify species from the?features of teeth, jaw, face and scull. If we had a nice lowerBjaw bone with all its teeth, or an upper, or a brain case, we may>be able to say, "ah", it is this particular species or that."@   Older hominid fossils have been discovered in other parts of>Africa. The latest fossil find clearly shows the same type of?humans that lived in East Africa well over three-million years@ago appeared in southern Africa at the same time. The four foot@bones are the earliest evidence of members of the family of man+moving south into the sub-tropical region.;   Mr. Tobias hopes the discovery, and perhaps more in the?future, will help turn the caves of South Africa into a magnet8for, what he calls, archeo-tourism in the same way that+ecological tourism has become fashionable:@   "We know there are great numbers of members of the public onAboth sides of the Atlantic and in the far east who would welcome@travels to southern Africa being conducted from cave-to-cave by@local experts, shown, demonstrated, explained what has come out>of there, and finally before returning to home base, having a?privileged showing of the original fossils themselves, which I'like to think of as our crown jewels.":   The Sterkfontein caves, not far from Johannesburg, are@considered the world's single richest ancient hominid site. The@first specimen of an adult apeman was discovered there in 1936.?Remains at the caves are beautifully preserved and hundreds of?fossils have been found since Mr. Tobias and his research team>started their dig in 1966. Mr. Tobias hopes and expects South=Africa's own cradle of humanity to continue to yield new and1exciting discoveries about the evolution of man.   ---------------   ---------------   COMPUTER DIGEST
   DAN NOBLE   WASHINGTON>   Apple's teenage computer expert, Chrysler's paperless toolAdesign, war-games in cyberspace, trying to control the Internet,and, waiting for Windows 95.	   APPLE9   Tom Williams, of Victoria, British Columbia, told the@Christian Science Monitor that he "was sick of dealing with theBprincipal and all those bureaucrats" at his secondary school. So,<the 16-year old computer whiz left and got a job with Apple@Computer in Cupertino, California. The newspaper says that "his@age makes him a one-of-a-kind employee there." Tom says that he@taught himself how to use a computer and learned how to programBhis own games. In fact, he even started his own software company.?According to Tom Williams, his "dream now is to set up a place<for kids to use computers outside of school, kind of like avirtual hang-out."   CHRYSLER;   The Wall Street Journal reports that America's Chrysler;Corporation, and Dassault Systems, a French company, "have@developed a computer-aided manufacturing system that will allow:the car maker to slash by 20% the time it takes to retool@factories." The digital manufacturing process "allows engineersBto create a 'virtual' factory so that they can more easily design?the costly manufacturing tools needed to produce a new model."?Chrysler officials say that using the new computer program, it?will take the company "about 24 months to retool its factories>after approving a design for a new model, down from 30 months
previously."
   WAR GAMES?   Fifty years after the end of World War II, some of the same>battles are being re-fought, this time in cyberspace. Reuters@says that "one World War II simulation called Panzer General by@Strategic Simulations inc., already has sold 100,000 copies and@made $3 million since its introduction last November." The news>agency says that "computers, via the Internet, have also beenBconnecting war gamers who struggled for years to find others with9the desire and patience to recreate the great battles of=history." For example, Jerald Tracy, a Wall Street trader in=Manhattan, "has battled with would-be generals in Australia,:Sweden and elsewhere by E-mail. His war simulations, withBcountermoves traded a few times a week, take three to nine monthsto complete."   INTERNETA   Nicholas Negroponte, founder and director of the Media Lab at<the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, says that "it isAundesirable and futile to try to control the Internet." As noted<in communications industries report, an industry newspaper,>Professor Negroponte commented on a case "of a California man@convicted for posting material on a computer in California thatAwas considered obscene in Tennessee. The material didn't violate:California law." But, the man was found guilty "because aATennessee resident downloaded the material via the Internet then=complained to authorities." Professor Negroponte argues that?"cyberspace doesn't have borders. It doesn't have a place, and9therefore it is not subject to the laws of any country."   WINDOWS=   Late this month, the Microsoft corporation is expected to>begin selling Windows 95, "the latest version of the software?that runs some 100 million of the world's personal computers."=The New York Times says that it will be "much more than justAanother new product." According to the newspaper, "Windows 95 is8a sign of the times, already creating a stir in marketsBworldwide, in Washington and on Wall Street, an indication of theBinroads the personal computer has made into contemporary commerceand culture."   ---------------   ---------------'   HIGH TECH TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT SYSTEM   STEVE HIRSCHBERG   CINCINNATI, OHIO;   Like people in many countries, Americans are constantly?searching for ways to reduce traffic congestion on their major=highways. Some heavily-travelled areas, such as the corridorAbetween Washington D.C. And Baltimore, Maryland, have electronicBsignboards alerting drivers to traffic problems. This summer, the>Midwestern city of Cincinnati, Ohio joined Boston as the only=major U.S. Metropolitan areas to install a system that gives=motorists up-to-the-minute, route-specific information about?traffic conditions. It's just the first step in a project that>will give greater Cincinnati one of the most advanced traffic$management networks in the country.<   People in the Cincinnati area no longer have to wait for?television or radio traffic reports that may not give them theAinformation they need about the specific route they use to driveBto or from work. Now, they can get that information on demand andAfree of charge, simply by picking up a touch-tone telephone or a@car phone, and calling Smart Traveler. Bob Bross is director of@Cincinnati operations for Smart Route Systems, the Boston-based1private company that operates the service, says:B   "If you want to find out the traffic information on Interstate@74, you dial 7-4-star and you get the information as we know it>at that time. If you want to find out for Interstate 75, it's=7-5-star. Now, because of the size of some of the interstateAruns, we do break them up into pieces. As an example, Interstate#75 is broken up into three areas."A   If you want information about traffic on the first section of>Interstate 75, you punch in number seven, number five, numberBone, and then the star button. If you're interested in conditions9on the second part of interstate 75, you follow the sameAprocedure, but punch in number two instead of number one, and soBon. Mr. Bross says the system is designed to react within minutes@of receiving new information about a traffic slow-down or other@roadway problem. To gather information and make it available to>callers as rapidly as possible, Mr. Bross has built a control;room crammed with computers, television monitors and other=equipment. And he says he has placed 15 remote-control video9cameras at strategic points along the expressways in theCincinnati area:A   "They're located on top of various buildings, telephone Poles;and other structures in the area. We can control them from>here... Pan, tilt, and zoom in on traffic information that we:want to see at key intersections. We get information also7directly from an aircraft that we have up mornings and@afternoons, from volunteer mobile, radio and cell phone probes,@direct from law enforcement, information from city bus drivers,"scanners, several other sources.":   Smart Traveler uses a digital audio system, capable ofBhandling 70 telephone traffic inquiries simultaneously. And thereAis room to increase capacity as demand for the service grows. By9October, 1996, Smart Traveler will become part of a new,A33-million dollar regional traffic monitoring network. Mr. BrossAnotes that such a network is needed because greater Cincinnati's6population is growing. And the area does not yet haveAtransportation alternatives to its existing interstate highways:@   "We have a lot of hills in the area. We can't build a subwayBsystem, it just won't work. There's gravity involved. Number two,@we rely heavily upon our interstates for travel. And we do have?the largest circular interstate (highway) in the entire United=States on I-275. And number thee, we don't have a light rail	system."A   The new traffic control system will operate on 141 kilometers<of expressways in southwest Ohio and northern Kentucky. The;system is called artimis. That acronym stands for advancedAregional traffic interactive management information system. It's=a cooperative effort on the part of the Cincinnati area, the?state of Ohio, and the neighboring state of Kentucky. The Ohio<department of transportation says Artimis will give greater>Cincinnati one of the most advanced and comprehensive trafficAmanagement systems in the country. Artimis is being installed in=the Cincinnati region because officials recognize the area's@growing traffic problems and have decided to take action before:the situation becomes any worse. Dory Montezemi is deputy?director of OKI, the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional council of@Governments, which is overseeing installation of the system. He;says the project will use a cutting-edge technology called+intelligent transportation system, or ITS:@   "There will be approximately 1,100 sensors. They're going toBbe embedded in the pavement. These sensors will pick up speed and@volume of traffic on a lane-by-lane basis, and convey that to a@regional traffic control center which is to be located on third@street in downtown Cincinnati. They actually will zoom in theirBcameras, they've got 60 video cameras, and pinpoint the nature of@the problem. And then, they will respond to it. Also, they have<electronic signs, 44 electronic signs, so they actually canAcommunicate. The control center can communicate with the driving<public. And if the re-routing of traffic is necessary, thatinformation will be conveyed."@   Five radio-dispatched vans will circulate on Cincinnati area@superhighways, they'll provide free assistance to motorists who=are out of fuel, have a flat tire, or are experiencing other?problems that are slowing traffic. The idea is to get crippled@vehicles off the roadway as quickly as possible. In addition, aAnumbered marker will be placed every 152 meters on the freeways,?so motorists can pinpoint the location of a collision or otherBproblem. Drivers who have car phones can then notify an emergencydispatcher to send help.>   Regional Council of Governments official Dory Montezemi is<confident the Artimis network will make the area's existing#highway system far more efficient:?   "And that will happen by mitigating congestion and reducingBdelay, actually reducing the number of accidents by 10-percent at?the very least. And in the process of doing that, fuel will be-conserved and air quality will be improved.";   Mr. Montezemi estimates that traffic congestion will be@reduced by one-point-six million hours a year. That means goods@will be delivered more quickly and people will be able to spend>more time at productive work, instead of sitting in a trafficAjam. similar state-of-the-art traffic management systems are now:being planned for two other Ohio cities: Cleveland in the=northern part of the state, and Columbus, the state capital.   ---------------   ---------------   CYBERPORN HEARINGS
   DAN NOBLE   WASHINGTON6   The Internet has become the electronic gateway for?information, education and entertainment. It's fast becoming a>fixture of our work and personal lives. Yet, as more and more>users connect or link on to the electronic network, it's alsoAbecoming a forum where children are being exposed to obscene andpornographic material.B   The United States Senate recently passed a bill to ban on-line?indecency and obscenity aimed at youngsters. But, some critics?charge that such legislation would be difficult to enforce and?might even infringe on the first amendment to the constitution?which provides freedom of speech. Recently, the basic research3and technology sub-committees of the U.S. House of;Representatives held a joint hearing on pornography on theBInternet and technologies currently available to restrict access.A   Among those testifying was Tony Rutkowski, executive directorAof the Internet Society, a nonprofit, international organization#active in more than 125-countries:A   "The Internet can be visualized as seven million computers of@all kinds, seamlessly connected around the world in a big cloud=of 60,000 largely private networks. It allows any one of the?computers to share information, or resources, with any other."<   Mister Rutkowksi says that the Internet today is "highly>distributed, largely in private hands, and about half locatedBoutside the United States." So he says U.S. legislation would notaddress the entire system:=   "Governmental regulation of the Internet, in conventional=terms, is probably not possible and fraught with enormously,Bcomplex international effects and difficulties.  Certainly makingBInternet service providers responsible for the content of traffic9would be utterly vicarious since they are simply passing5someone's digital bits from one point to the other."8   According to Tony Rutkowski of the Internet Society,?objectional material is just a minor part of the vast computer	network:B   "Access to, and distribution of such material can be addressed>with existing laws, emerging reader selectivity solutions and@effective industry action. The subcommittee and Congress should>be concerned that the near term focus on children's access to<information doesn't result in longterm adverse affects that!impact an open, global society."@   Tony Rutkowski offered the option of industry action to help?solve the problems of obscenity on the Internet. Steven Heiden>doesn't agree. Mr. Heiden is general counsel of Compuserve, a@Columbus, Ohio-based company which runs an information service.BCompuserve also provides subscribers with access to the Internet.AMister Heiden says that because his company, and others, are not@the soul source of computer-based information, "it is extremely@important", in his words, "to focus on the end-user computer asBthe central point for any truly effective solution to the problemof cyberporn.":@   "You can liken it to a wheel of a bicycle. The home computer8is the hub and each spoke a potential source or feed ofAcomputer-based information. Compuserve will represent one spoke.@The Internet another. A government database yet another, and so>on. Since information parents might find objectional can come=from any of these many sources, technical solutions are best8located at the hub so that they are effective as to all-information coming into the home or office."<   One company that is working to produce software to blockAobjectionable material is Surf-Watch Software, Incorporated. AnnBDuval, president of the California company, says that she and herAhusband developed the product with parents and children in mind:@   "Surf-Watch is an easy to install, easy to use product, evenBfor unsophisticated computer users. It sits on one's own personalBcomputer. If you attempt to access a location that is believed to<obtain inappropriate material, you get a message that it is=blocked. This does not interrupt your Internet connection orAimpede the access of other Internet users. In addition, a simpleAon-off switch controlled by a parental password allows access to=any location we have blocked. surf-watch identifies sites by<using specially developed pattern matching techniques and a>database of known sites. If a site is on the list, surf-watchwill block it.">   Mrs. Duval of Surf-Watch told the House of Representatives?basic research and technology committees that, in her opinion,@the software option is preferable to any federal legislation toblock cyberporn:B   "Information from millions of sites around the world is easily@accessible over the Internet, especially through the world wide?web. In fact, we have found in fact 30-percent of the sites weBblock originate in places outside the United States. There is notAa simple, national solution to the problem of children accessing=inappropriate material on the Internet. Excessive government;regulations might jeopardize private-sector opportunities.@Surf-watch firmly believes that the technology industry can andAmust respond to these socio-technological issues. We also affirmAthat parents must be involved in any solution. Surf-watch is not;a total solution. Parents must become educated about their;children's use of the computer, teach their children to beAnet-street smart and provide guidelines for behavior in this newInternet community.":   Ann Duval of Surf-Watch was among the industry expertsBtestifying in Washington before the basic research and technology?sub-committees of the U.S. House of Representatives. The jointBhearings are part of an effort to find ways to restrict access by)children to pornography on the Internet.   ---------------   ---------------   FLYING CLIMATE LABORATORY   ROBIN CROFT   WASHINGTON?   Is there a connection between pollution and the weather? Is>the planet earth going through a global warming process? SomeBAmerican scientists are looking closely at climate patterns in an+effort to find answers to these questions.@   For two decades, a team of scientists from the university of>Washington in Seattle has been doing research in an "airborne?climate laboratory", known as CAR, which stands for the "Cloud;and Aerosol Research Group." Clouds are symptomatic of how:man-made and natural polluting elements, such as volcanic@eruptions, affect the general health of the atmosphere. The CAR8Group purchased a B-23 aircraft which they remodeled toAaccommodate their equipment. The scientists fly over the Pacific%northwest to conduct their research.<   The idea for this method of study was initiated by PeterAHobbs, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Washington:A   "This is an aircraft instrumented for doing a wide variety ofAwork related to the atmosphere, effects of human activity on the>atmosphere and how they affect both weather and climate. ThisBcould be agricultural practices, for example, changing the natureBof the land causing erosion and therefore more particles going upBin the atmosphere than would otherwise be the case. Deforestation=is of particular interest to us, burning of forests and also<burning of fields in order to clear debris away. Of course,<industries, emissions from various industries such as power>plants, electric power plants, refineries, paper mills, etc."?   The aircraft is perfectly suited to research because of its?capacity for handling large quantities of ice, which are oftenBfound in clouds. In the flying climate laboratory, scientists can9look at specific elements affecting the earth's climate.According to Hobbs:;   "We're trying to understand mechanisms. We're trying toBunderstand, for example, exactly what types of particles and what<sizes of particles and from what sources might diminish theAradiation of the sun reaching the earth. How do particles change=the structure of clouds and in that way affect the amount of?radiation that the clouds absorb and whether or not the cloudsprecipitate."@   Dr. Hobbs and others in the cloud and Aerosol Research Group@work closely with scientists from the U.S. National Aeronautics?and Space Administration, NASA. The NASA scientists use remoteAsensing to monitor climate change. Remote sensing is a method of;looking at satellite imagery to measure global data and to!compare it to previous patterns.?   "We will be doing the actual measurements in a cloud at the>same time the satellite is viewing that cloud and then we canBcompare the deductions made from both sets of measurements to seeif they agree.":   Dr. Hobbs says that although major climate changes are;difficult to predict at this point, the CAR Group has someexpectations:A   "In terms of global climate, the effect that we're expecting,6based on theoretical studies primarily, and also someBobservations, is what's called global warming, that is, increases:in temperature and if this is happening, that will becomeAapparent over the next five to ten years, just through measuring<the temperature of various places around the world, it willBbecome obvious that the temperatures are increasing way above thenatural fluctuation."B   The University of Washington scientist stresses the importance"of this type of climate research:B   "Human life only developed on this planet because we happen to:fall within a very narrow range of conditions in terms of>temperature and the availability of water. And all the things@that sustain life as we know it and that is a very narrow rangeBof conditions when you look at temperatures and other planets and=how they are totally inhospitable to our needs. And we couldBeasily drift away from the range of conditions that are conducive@to the maintenance of life. So, it's sort of difficult to think<of anything more important to study than the climate of the5earth, particularly if it's undergoing any changes."=   Dr. Peter Hobbs believes that if we are undergoing globalAwarming, we need to know as soon as possible in order to prepare%for a totally different way of life.   ---------------   ---------------5   SOUTH AMERICAN MOTH HORMONE USE IN INSECT CONTROL   DAVID MCALARY   WASHINGTON<   The South American tomato pest, a very small moth, is no?friend to farmers in Latin America. But a chemical produced byAthe female moth promises to be. Scientists at Cornell University=in Ithaca, New York, have created a synthetic version of theBcompound so farmers can use it to control the troublesome insect.B   The substance is one of a class of hormones called pheromones.@Organisms release them into the environment as specific signals=to other members of their species, to attract mates, to mark4trails, or promote social coordination in colonies.>   In this case, the pheromone which Cornell researchers have>isolated and copied is the major sex scent of the female leaf5miner. Cornell chemist Athula Attygalle [ah-'too-luhBah-'tee-gahl-leh] says the leaf miner is a ruthless pest which in0some cases completely devastates tomato fields:A   "It's called a leaf miner because it goes inside the leaf, so=the conventional pesticides, although they use in very largeBquantities, are not very effective because the larvae of the moth<is inside the leaves, inside the fruits, and sometimes eveninside the stem.">   Mr. Attygalle, a native of Sri Lanka, says the female moth@pheromone appears to be an excellent natural substitute for theApesticides. The idea is to spray it like a perfume so male mothsBthink they are finding love-starved females, but fall into a trapBinstead. This prevents mating. As they report in the August issueBof the journal "Tetrahedron Letters," the Cornell University team?found it to be a powerful tool in small field tests in Brazil.According to Attygalle:B   "We found that very small quantities of this compound attracts?a very large number of males. Normally we would be happy if we<see ten to 25 males in one trap. But our synthetic compoundBattracted about one-thousand males per trap per night. So we were
very happy."?   The finding means a safer way to control the South AmericanBtomato pest is at hand. Currently, Brazilian farmers use chemical?insecticides on about 70 per cent each year's tomato crop. Mr.AAttygalle expects that up to 90 per cent of that spraying can be+eliminated using this new artificial bait:=   "We have a very attractive pheromone which can be used to=control these insects in a very environmentally friendly wayAwithout having to use large quantities of insecticides which are#very damaging to the environment."B   Pheromones have long been used to entice and control moths and?beetles that threaten crops like cotton in the southern United9States. Researchers have even synthesized one to control>cockroaches in places like hospitals and schools where insectpoisons should be avoided.=   Identifying the new hormone was not easy. The female leaf8miner moth releases it in extremely tiny amounts, aboutBone-billionth of a gram, and only for about 30 minutes a day, and?only at a fixed time, five o'clock in the morning. Researchers@from Brazil's federal University of Vicosa [vih-'saw-zuh] could;obtain only minuscule amounts from the insects' glands for7chemical analysis by the Cornell chemists in New York.?   There, Mr. Attygalle and his colleagues found it unlike any=pheromone they had ever seen. It had a much more complicated>chemical structure and they had to devise a new technique for9determining it, all the time, working with less than one*millionth of a gram, an invisible amount.A   Mr. Attygalle says the process will make it easier to analyze-other pheromones from many other moth pests:?   "Now we have a technique available, so we should be able to"look at these type of compounds."B   The Cornell team has applied for a patent on its discovery andBthree chemical companies have expressed interest in producing it.;The next step is to make larger batches of the tomato pestApheromone and to undertake large field tests. Mr. Attygalle saysthey could start by next year.   ---------------    "CLIP" NEWS SERVICE0    INEWS DAILY IS NOW AVAILABLE THROUGH E-MAIL    FREE TRIAL8    LOW COST ROYALTY FREE REPRODUCTION RIGHTS AVAILABLE;   International News E-Wire Service (INEWS) is an English<language daily, covering news of the world.  INEWS provides;up-to-date and accurate world news.  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Most electronic mail systems can't:handle binary files.  Binary files are word processor andAspreadsheet data files, and files with a .EXE or .COM extension.AUUENCODE is a file conversion standard.  It will change a binary@file into an ASCII file, that can be sent through E-mail.  OnceByou receive the encoded file(s) through E-mail, you can decode it,to return the file back to its binary form.;   UUXFER20 is the program we recommend for decoding INEWSAencoded files.  UUXFER20 is shareware, if you continue to use it<after the 30-day trial period you must register it with its?author.  Public domain and freeware UUENCODE encoding/decodingsoftware are available.>   INEWS Daily can be mailed to almost any E-mail address on:?Internet, AppleLink, America Online, AT&T Mail, AT&T EasyLink,7BITNET, CompuServe, Delphi, FIDO Net, GEnie, MCI Mail,)SprintMail, and many local BBS services.;   A free two week trial can be received by sending E-mail0containing E-mail address, name and address to:   INTERNET: INEWS@AOL.COM   AOL: INEWS:   No reproduction is allowed until a signed reproductionagreement is mailed in.A   Specification should be made as to which version, plain text,<self-running DOS/VGA via America Online, or encoded DOS/VGABversion by E-mail, should be sent. Subscribers who do not have anAAmerica Online account can receive a free America Online sign up:kit with software and 10 hours of free usage. If used for2reproduction the plain text version must be sent.A ****HOW TO SEND E-MAIL TO INEWS FROM VARIOUS ONLINE SERVICE****?   Below are the addresses to use to send E-mail to INEWS from>various on-line services.  If you are unsuccessful in getting@E-mail to us, or your service is not listed below, contact your/service's E-mail administrator for assistance.    From Internet: inews@aol.com,   From CompuServe: >INTERNET:inews@aol.com#   From GEnie: inews@aol.com@inet#+   From AppleLink: inews@aol.com@internet#*   From AT&T Mail: internet!aol.com!inews%   From BITNET: inews%aol.com@cunyvm   From CONNECT: inews@aol.com(   From DELPHI: internet"inews@aol.com";   Remember to put quotes around the address inews@aol.com   From PRODIGY: inews@aol.com>   From SprintMail: (s:internet, "rfc-822":<inews(a)aol.com>)@   Remember to put the parentheses around the full address, and:   the angle brackets around the inews(a)aol.com address.B ******HOW TO CONVERT ENCODED FILES INTO SELF-RUNNING FILES******@   What is an encoded file?  Most electronic mail systems can't:handle binary files.  Binary files are word processor andAspreadsheet data files, and files with a .EXE or .COM extension.AUUENCODE is a file conversion standard.  It will change a binary@file into an ASCII file, that can be sent through E-mail.  OnceByou receive the encoded file(s) through E-mail, you can decode it,to return the file back to its binary form.;   UUXFER20 is the program we recommend for decoding INEWSAencoded files.  UUXFER20 is shareware, if you continue to use it<after the 30-day trial period you must register it with its?author.  Public domain and freeware UUENCODE encoding/decodingsoftware are available.?UUXFER20.ZIP can be found at the following Internet ftp sites:address: ftp.clarkson.edu'path: /pub/simtel20-cdrom/msdos/filutladdress: pc.usl.edupath: /pub/msdos/usenetaddress: plaza.aarnet.edu.aupath: /micros/pc/oak/decodeaddress: pc.usl.edupath: /pub/msdos/usenetaddress: medusa.k12.ar.us path: /pub/simtel2/disc2/decode=   We recommend that you use the shareware program UUXFER20.+If you receive the following encoded file:  INWS1231.UUE>   At the command line of the directory containing the encode$files and UUXFER20 you should type:   UUXFER20 -D<FILENAME>@   The file name is always the encoded file with the, UUE or .1)extension. In this case you would enter:   UUXFER20 -DINWS1231.UUE6   This would convert the encoded files into the file>INWS1231.EXE, the self-running December 31st edition of INEWSDaily.,If you receive the following encoded files:   INWS1231.1   INWS1231.2   INWS1231.3   INWS1231.4   INWS1231.5>   At the command line of the directory containing the encode$files and UUXFER20 you should type:    UUXFER20 -M -D<FILENAME>8   The file name is always the encoded file with the .1)extension. In this case you would enter:    UUXFER20 -M -DINWS1231.16   This would convert the encoded files into the file>INWS1231.EXE, the self-running December 31st edition of INEWSDaily.4               *****TERMS FOR REPRODUCTION USE*****EYou may edit, use, and publish an unlimited number of INEWS articles:royalty free, for commercial or non-commercial use, under*the following conditions and limitations:9---You may only reproduce articles sent directly to you.?---You may only reproduce entire INEWS issues on a BBS or LAN.>---Articles may only be used in an "end" product. You may not5resell articles for further republication by others.3---Articles may not be resold in an archival form.?---Reproduced articles must include the name of its author, ifsupplied with the article.A---You must include an "(INEWS)" id, INEWS in capital letters inBparentheses without quotations, at either the beginning or end ofeach reproduced article.=---Reproduction rights granted only for the period of a paid"reproduction rights subscription.5---Reproduction rights granted are non-transferable. ---Articles are provided as is..                 *****SUBSCRIPTION RATES*****PERSONAL USE/NO REPRODUCTION:1 month   $7.503 months  $17.506 months  $27.0012 months $39.00FOR REPRODUCTION:1 year via E-mail $69.001 year by mail-weekly $129.001 year by mail-monthly $99.00$Sample current month by mail $19.95-                           ***END OF FILE***