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9INTERNATIONAL NEWS E-WIRE SERVICE WEEKLY WEEK OF 1/16/959                INTERNATIONAL NEWS E-WIRE SERVICE WEEKLY-                              ISSN 1080-3149.                            DISTRIBUTE FREELY-                             WEEK OF 1/16/951INFO/GENERAL INFO ON INEWS DAILY - INEWS@AOL.COM5TO REACH EDITOR ------------------ INEWSEDIT@AOL.COM$CLICK THE INDEX BUTTON FOR THE MENU.UNITED STATES,USA.LATIN AMERICA,LATIN AMERICA.EUROPE,EUROPE.RUSSIA  FORMER REPUBLICS,CIS.ASIA,ASIA.AFRICA,AFRICA.MIDDLE EAST,MIDDLE EAST.PACIFIC NATIONS,PACIFIC .INEWS DAILY FREE TRIAL,SUBINFOUNITED STATES+        \FEATURES-CURRENT EVENTS\FEATURES\/        \FINANCIAL-ECONOMY-BUSINESS\FINANCIAL\        \MEDICINE\MEDICINE\        \POLITICS\POLITICS\%        \SCIENCE-TECHNOLOGY\SCIENCE\.           CLICK TRACK TO RETURN TO THIS MENUFEATURES-CURRENT EVENTS?   \ALL-WOMEN TEAM WIN 1ST ROUND FOR PLACE IN AMERICA'S CUP\1\I   \MULTIMEDIA EDUCATION VENTURE HOPES TO CHANGE THE WAY PEOPLE LEARN\6\G   \PILOT SAYS NTSB AND BOEING COVERED UP DEFECT IN 727'S AND 737'S\7\G   \US SENDS MORE TROOPS TO AREA OF KILLING OF AN AMERICAN SOLDIER\30\9   \CLINTON PROVIDES MEXICO WITH ANOTHER AID PACKAGE\48\   \DEREGULATING EDUCATION\62\3   \RODNEY KING POLICE BEATING SENTENCE UPHELD\78\I   \DAUGHTER OF MALCOLM X CHARGED PLOT TO MURDER BLACK MUSLIM LEADER\79\8   \CLINTON EXPRESSES CONFIDENCE IN MEXICO'S FUTURE\92\F   \SUPREME COURT HEARS SCHOOL DESEGREGATION CASE ORAL ARGUMENTS\107\J   \US TO TEST NEW MISSILE DEFENSE, CONCERNS IT COULD VIOLATE TREATY\109\;   \BOMBING CONSPIRACY TRIAL JURY SELECTION CONTINUES\112\)   \PROGRESS AND FREEDOM FOUNDATION\125\?   \CIA DIRECTOR EXPRESSES CONCERN OVER RUSSIAN STABILITY\128\D   \CIA DIRECTOR SAYS IRAN IS ACTIVELY SEEKING NUCLEAR WEAPONS\129\1   \AMERICAN ACADEMIC ON TRIAL IN SINGAPORE\143\1   \SUPREME COURT TO HEAR CIVIL RIGHTS CASE\144\2   \U.S. AND VIETNAM TO OPEN LIAISON OFFICES\145\   \UNUSUAL TOWN NAMES\161\I   \PROGRAM SEEKS IMPROVED RELATIONS BETWEEN BLACK AND JEWISH YOUTH\171\   \JOBS VS. ENVIRONMENT\185\L   \AUSTRIAN WOMAN UNDER ARREST IN OREGON FOR SHIPPING LUMBER TO LIBYA\186\   \MARILYN MONROE STAMP\189\8                    \CLICK HERE FOR MORE SELECTIONS\M1\.           CLICK TRACK TO RETURN TO THIS MENUA   \BOUTROUS GHALI ADMITS POST COLD WAR PEACEKEEPING ERRORS\193\   \TICKETLESS FLYING\196\>   \U.S. SAYS NORTH KOREA HAS FROZEN ITS NUCLEAR PROGRAM\197\H   \HALL SAYS HE DOES NOT KNOW HOW HIS HELICOPTER GOT OVER N.KOREA\198\@   \INCREASED FUNDING FOR ANTI-ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION PROGRAM\200\"   \THE UNITED NATIONS AT 50\210\K   \CLINTON ORDERS CREATION OF AN ABORTION CLINIC VIOLENCE TASK FORCE\218\C   \BOUTROS-GHALI SAYS HE WANTS TO STREAMLINE UN PEACEKEEPING\231\6   \U.S. DEFENSE DEPT. COMMENTS ON ITS READINESS\232\2   \WORLD BANK REPORT GNP OF VARIOUS NATIONS\245\+   \STUDY SAYS U.S. SCHOOLS IMPROVING\252\#   \GULF WAR RESULTS IN SALES\256\"   \NEW, MORE DEADLY BULLETS\258\6   \OPPOSITION TO US CLUSTER BOMB SALE TO TURKEY\259\G   \EGYPTIAN GRAND MUFTI SAYS ISLAM IS UNFAIRLY PORTRAYED BY MEDIA\64\*   \PROFILE: SHEIK OMAR ABDEL RAHMAN\127\)   \WHO'S IN CHARGE IN NORTH KOREA?\147\,   \MT. VAUGHAN'S 89-YEAR-OLD EXPLORER\170\K   \REPORT SAYS NO CHEMICAL WEAPONS WERE NOT USED BY IRAQ IN GULF WAR\182\A   \U.N. SEEK WAYS TO ENFORCE BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS CONVENTION\211\.           CLICK TRACK TO RETURN TO THIS MENUFINANCIAL-ECONOMY-BUSINESS$   \TWO NEW TELEVISION NETWORKS\38\   \GM STRIKE AVERTED\51\J   \CHICAGO MERCANTILE EXCHANGE SEEKS TO OFFER MEXICAN PESO CONTRACTS\76\   \APPLE COMPUTER RUMORS\163\!   \U.S. ECONOMIC CHALLENGES\83\   \1994 CAR SALES\165\   \HOLIDAY RETAIL SLUMP\168\'   \CHRYSLER REPORTS RECORD SALES\202\#   \KRAFT FOOD REORGANIZATION\205\<   \U.S. TREASURY DEPARTMENT RELEASE ECONOMIC FORECAST\212\   \CEO COMPENSATION\247\5   \ITT SELLS FINANCE BUSINESS TO DEUTSCHE BANK\257\/   \LOS ANGELES #1 IN INTERNATIONAL TRADE\260\H   \GREENSPAN AND VOKER URGE CONGRESS NOT TO USE "DYNAMIC SCORING"\120\   \IBM EXECUTIVE CHANGES\138\.           CLICK TRACK TO RETURN TO THIS MENU	MEDICINE   \NEONATAL ETHICS ISSUES\37\J   \NEW STUDIES SHED LIGHT ON HOW HIV SPREASD THROUGH THE BLOODSTREAM\86\=   \ACETAMINOPHEN AND ITS EFFECTS ON KIDNEYS AND LIVERS\142\#   \NURSES & ASSISTED SUICIDE\158\   \TRACKING NEW DISEASES\229\   \HANTAVIRUS SPREADS\251\=   \U.N. REPORTS ON THE NUMBER OF AIDS CASES WORLD WIDE\230\.           CLICK TRACK TO RETURN TO THIS MENU	POLITICS   \CLINTON'S RADIO ADDRESS\4\&   \FARRAKHAN/MALCOLM X CONNECTION\5\4   \CLINTON DEFENDS N. KOREAN NUCLEAR AGREEMENT\20\.   \CONGRESS' NEW FOREIGN POLICY ATTITUDE\22\)   \BAKER CALLS FOR FOREIGN AID CUTS\25\?   \U.S. HAS SPENT 1-BILLION TO RESTORE HAITIAN GOVERNMENT\29\N   \US SAYS RIGHTS IN CHINA HAVE DECLINED SINCE GIVEN MOST FAVORED STATUS\44\E   \SENATOR DODD NAMED TO HEAD THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE\49\E   \BAKER CALLS CLINTON TIMID AT HOUSE INT'NL RELATION COMMITTEE\52\:   \BAKER CRITICIZES U.S./N. KOREAN NUCLEAR AGREEMENT\53\<   \DOLE MAKES FIRST STEP TO POSSIBLE RUN FOR PRESIDENT\63\%   \SENATOR HELMS WARNS YELTSIN\108\"   \ANTI-REPUBLICAN CAMPAIGN\110\E   \CHRISTOPHER DENIES REPORTS HE IS PLANNING TO LEAVE HIS POST\116\B   \TREASURY SECRETARY NOMINEE RUBIN CONFIRMED BY THE SENATE\126\F   \SEX CRIMES ACCUSATIONS AGAINST CONGRESSMAN REYNOLDS RECANTED\134\C   \GORE SAYS THERE IS NO DOUBT YELTSIN IS IN CONTROL OF ARMY\154\L   \CLINTON AND GINGRICH AGREE MEDIA IS DESTRUCTIVE BUT REASONS DIFFER\156\I   \PERRY ASSURES EGYPT THAT THEY WILL CONTINUE TO RECEIVE U.S. AID\157\F   \DEMOCRATS WON'T SUPPORT A BUDGET THEY FEEL WILL END RECOVERY\166\!   \PROFILE: STROM THURMOND\175\6   \WORLD OPINION OF THE NEW REPUBLICAN CONGRESS\176\/   \NEWT GINGRICH AND THE ONLINE CONGRESS\191\8                    \CLICK HERE FOR MORE SELECTIONS\M2\.           CLICK TRACK TO RETURN TO THIS MENUI   \REPUBLICAN NEW YORK GOVERNOR EXPLAINS HOW HE WILL RESHAPE STATE\207\K   \DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS ISSUE CONFLICTING REPORTS ON WHITEWATER\228\0   \CONGRESS, TAX CUTS, AND INTEREST RATES\237\.   \FINANCING FEDERAL ELECTION CAMPAIGNS\248\/   \CONGRESS TO WORK ON PLAN TO AID MEXICO\21\F   \SOME CONGRESS MEMBERS FIND COMMITTEE AND STAFF CUTS DIFFICULT\60\J   \CHILDREN'S DEFENSE FUND ATTACK REPUBLICAN "CONTRACT WITH AMERICA"\90\H   \SOME HOUSE MEMBERS CALL FOR NAFTA REPEAL BECAUSE OF PESO CRISIS\93\D   \SENATOR KENNEDY SAYS DEMOCRATS SHOULD STICK TO CORE BELIEFS\94\K   \GORE SAYS LEGISLATION TO LIFT BOSNIAN ARMS EMBARGO WILL BE VETOED\146\K   \CONGRESSMAN KASICH SAYS NO GOVERNMENT AGENCY WILL ESCAPE SCRUTINY\150\5   \DOLE QUESTIONS WHETHER YELTSIN IS IN CHARGE\151\K   \GINGRICH HOPES TO END FUNDING OF U.S. PUBLIC TELEVISION AND RADIO\221\J   \EX-FINANCE CHAIR SAYS THERE WON'T BE TAX RELIEF FOR MIDDLE CLASS\243\SCIENCE-TECHNOLOGY;   \RESEARCHERS REPORT ETHANOL PRODUCTION BREAKTHROUGH\12\'   \SOBERING STATE OF WORLD REPORT\13\   \WORLDWIDE WEATHER '94\15\&   \RUBBER DUCKY RESEARCH UPDATE\250\   \SHARK OVERFISHING\194\    \MASS EXTINCTION THEORY\223\L   \TEEN HACKER BREAKS INTO PENTAGON COMPUTERS, PUTS FILES ON INTERNET\225\.           CLICK TRACK TO RETURN TO THIS MENULATIN AMERICA%   \ECUADOR/PERU BORDER CONFLICT\24\9   \NEWEST MEMBERS OF HAITIAN POLICE TRAIN IN CANADA\31\=   \PEREZ IN ARGENTINA TRIES TO HEAD OFF TERRORISM FEARS\39\   \COLOMBIAN AIR CRASH\59\4   \5 CUBANS WHO HIJACKED BOAT TO CUBA INDICTED\61\F   \WORLD OPINION ROUNDUP ON MEXICO'S ECONOMIC WOES AND U.S. HELP\72\I   \STATISTICS SHOW BRAZIL'S INFLATION REDUCED DESPITE RISING PRICES\87\>   \ECONOMIST URGE ZEDILLO TO QUICKLY TAKE BOLD MEASURES\101\?   \ANALYST PREDICT THE SPLITTING OF THE SANDINISTA FRONT\102\E   \10 POLICEMEN ARRESTED PLOTTING TO KILL PRESIDENT BALLADARES\103\D   \COLOMBIAN COCA GROWERS OFFERED A CROP SUBSTITUTION PROGRAM\133\@   \MEXICO'S FINANCIAL CRISIS EFFECTS CALIFORNIA EXPORTERS\159\?   \HAITIAN REFUGEES RETURNED TO HAITI AGAINST THEIR WILL\155\&   \ANALYSIS OF MEXICO'S ECONOMY\190\C   \COLOMBIAN GOVERNMENT OFFER PEACE NEGOTIATIONS WITH REBELS\203\7   \PELE SWORN IN AS BRAZIL'S MINISTER FOR SPORTS\224\>   \CUBAN REFUGEES CALM BEFORE THEIR RETURN TO GUANTANAMO\75\C   \CONTROVERSIAL ARGENTINE BOXING GREAT CARLOS MONZON KILLED\140\:   \PROFILE: FERNANDO H. CARDOSO PRESIDENT OF BRAZIL\239\.           CLICK TRACK TO RETURN TO THIS MENUEUROPEG   \UN SAYS SERBS RENEGED ON AGREEMENT TO OPEN SARAJEVO AID ROUTES\11\H   \EAST EUROPEAN AIRLINES ATTEMPT TO COMPETE WITH WESTERN AIRLINES\23\D   \FRANCE RE-ESTABLISHED FULL DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS WITH RWANDA\26\@   \NEW LEADER OF ITALY'S 54TH POST WAR GOVERNMENT SELECTED\34\%   \UNPROFOR'S FUTURE IN CROATIA\45\1   \UN EXTENDS SANCTION RELIEF TO YUGOSLAVIA\47\9   \FRANCE CALLS FOR EXTENDING TERM OF EU PRESIDENCY\65\2   \GERMANY SAYS ITS ECONOMY IS GROWING AGAIN\66\1   \BRITAIN EXPELS RUSSIAN ACCUSED OF SPYING\88\7   \GERMANY TO REPATRIATE REFUGEES BACK TO VIETNAM\95\1   \POPE TRIES TO BRIDGE GAP WITH BUDDHISTS\104\J   \BOSNIAN AMBASSADOR WILLING TO HAVE UN LEAVE IF EMBARGO IS LIFTED\113\(   \UNEMPLOYMENT RISING IN GERMANY\119\*   \FRENCH RELATIONS WITH IRAQ WARMS\167\;   \U.S. CRITICIZES FRANCE FOR WARMING RELATIONS IRAQ\177\'   \HUNGARY DEVALUES ITS CURRENCY\204\E   \POLAND POLITICS: POSITIONING FOR FALL PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION\206\J   \FORMER CZECH COMMUNISTS OFFICIALS CHARGED WITH TRANSFERRING ARMS\219\K   \CZECH REPUBLIC REJECT COMPLAINTS ON ITS NEW RUSSIAN NUCLEAR PLANT\220\>   \EASTERN EUROPE'S FIRST ENGLISH LANGUAGE DAILY CLOSES\226\&   \GERMAN INCOME TAX SUPPLEMENT\238\M   \86 TURK ISLAMIC RADICALS CONVICTED OF ARSON FIRE, 37 WRITERS KILLED\262\%   \U.N. CONVENTION ON LANDMINES\82\8                    \CLICK HERE FOR MORE SELECTIONS\M3\.           CLICK TRACK TO RETURN TO THIS MENUD   \MORE FORMER EAST GERMAN LEADERS WITH BERLIN WALL SHOOTINGS\136\2   \SERB DEMANDS MAY HINDER BOSNIA CEASEFIRE\148\C   \TURKEY EXTENDS MANDATE OF US FORCE PROTECTING IRAQI KURDS\253\3   \GOVERNMENT TAKEOVER OF BELGRADE NEWSPAPER\254\.           CLICK TRACK TO RETURN TO THIS MENURUSSIA/FORMER SOVIET REPUBLICS;   \UN FACES OBSTACLES TO DELIVER AID CHECHEN CIVILIANS\3\3   \UN EXTENDS MANDATE OF OBSERVERS IN GEORGIA\28\D   \RUSSIAN PARLIAMENT UNABLE TO TAKE ACTION ON CHECHNYA CRISIS\40\*   \CAN CHECHNYA BREAK RUSSIA'S BACK?\54\   \ONE DAY IN GROZNY\55\)   \OSCE TO SEND MISSION TO CHECHNYA\56\8   \RED CROSS INCREASE AID TO CIVILIANS IN CHECHNYA\57\7   \STRENGTH OF U.S. CRITICISM OF RUSSIA INCREASES\58\#   \CHECHNYA MILITARY TACTICS\131\)   \THE BOSNIAN LESSON FOR CHECHNYA\153\   \CHECHNYA REFUGEES\89\L   \YELTSIN'S HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSIONER, OPPONENT OF CHECHNYA INVASION\180\.           CLICK TRACK TO RETURN TO THIS MENUASIAJ   \BHUTTO REITERATES PLAN TO CREATE A NUCLEAR FREE ZONE IN SOUTH ASIA\8\E   \PAKISTAN CRITICIZES SWEDEN FOR KILLING HORSES GIVEN AS A GIFT\9\L   \POPE TELLS CHURCH OFFICIALS TO OPPOSE GOV'T FAMILY PLANNING PROGRAM\10\G   \FORMER AFGHANISTAN PRIME MINISTER LIFTS ROAD BLOCKADE TO KABUL\16\I   \REPORTS SAY RETIRED CHINESE LEADER'S HEALTH IS RAPIDLY DECLINING\19\#   \INDONESIA/EAST TIMOR TALKS\33\<   \KARACHI SHOOTOUT DURING POLICE RAID TO FREE HOSTAGE\35\C   \JAPANESE SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY ON BRINK OF A MAJOR SPLIT\71\*   \MONGOLIA STILL LACKS A FREE PRESS\74\(   \POPE ARRIVES IN THE PHILIPPINES\77\$   \VIETNAM ECONOMIC CHALLENGES\84\@   \CHINA REPORTS DRAMATIC INCREASE IN NUMBER OF CAR THEFTS\91\J   \BANGLADESH COURT SAYS FEMINIST WRITER CAN BE TRIED FOR BLASPHEMY\111\B   \CHINA WILL BEGIN CONSTRUCTION ON NEW NUCLEAR POWER PLANT\114\   \KHMER ROUGE TODAY\201\(   \VIETNAM ARREST BUDDHIST LEADER\213\A   \CAMBODIAN KING SIHANOUK SAYS HE WILL RETURN TO CAMBODIA\214\K   \JOINT CHINA AND HONG KONG OPPERATION SMASH CREDIT CARD FRAUD RING\215\5   \CHINA PLANS PENSION PLAN FOR ELDERLY PEOPLE\216\K   \CHINA CALLS FOR STRICTER ENFORCEMENT AGAINST INCOME TAX AVOIDANCE\217\%   \MORE KHMER ROUGE DEFECTIONS\235\I   \CHINA PLANS FOR MORE NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS HAMPERED BY FINANCING\236\4   \CHINA LOOKS FOR NEW WAYS TO FUND EDUCATION\255\8                    \CLICK HERE FOR MORE SELECTIONS\M4\.           CLICK TRACK TO RETURN TO THIS MENUE   \PERRY DOES NOT SEE POSSIBILITY OF A 4TH INDIAN/PAKISTANI WAR\32\C   \AFGHANISTAN COMMANDER BELIEVES THERE IS A CHANCE FOR PEACE\85\(   \INDIA'S NEW CURBS ON PESTICIDES\96\C   \CHINA ISSUES STRICT ORDERS TO ARMY TO OBEY ITS DIRECTIVES\132\*   \HONG KONG POLICE RAIDS ON TRIADS\137\C   \CHINA TARGETS U.S. AUTO INDUSTRY FOR POSSIBLE RETALIATION\149\H   \U.S. SAYS CHINA HAS DONE LITTLE TO PROTECT AMERICAN COPYRIGHTS\160\   \SINGAPORE HANGING\173\G   \CHINA TELLS HONG KONG PAPER TO STOP PRINTING MAINLAND EDITION\183\I   \CHINA SUPPLIES INDIA WITH URANIUM FUEL FOR NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS\183\2   \TAIWAN ALLOWS DIRECT SHIPPING WITH CHINA\195\E   \RELIGIOUS TENSIONS RISE IN SRI LANKAN AHEAD OF POPE'S VISIT\100\J   \GOODS SMUGGLED TO CHINA FORCES SOME DOMESTIC INDUSTRIES TO CLOSE\115\.           CLICK TRACK TO RETURN TO THIS MENUAFRICAC   \BURUNDI SPEAKER'S VOWS RECONCILIATION BETWEEN RIVAL PARTIES\2\B   \ALGERIA DISMISSES PEACE PLAN OFFERED BY OPPOSITION GROUPS\14\8   \NEW ORGANIZATION SEEKS "TRANSPARENCY" IN AFRICA\17\B   \ALGERIAN OPPOSITION GROUPS ISSUE PLAN TO END CIVIL STRIFE\18\<   \PROTEST AGAINST UPPROOTING OF KENYAN CLASH REFUGEES\36\A   \POSSIBLE UN/RWANDA AGREEMENT ON SITE OF WAR CRIMES TRIAL\42\$   \RWANDA CROSS-BORDER ATTACK\105\5   \SCHOOLS OPEN IN POST-APARTHEID SOUTH AFRICA\106\D   \2 EGYPTIAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR ATTACK ON NOBEL LAUREATE\117\5   \EGYPT SECURITY FORCES RAID MILITANT HIDEOUT\152\D   \MILITANTS MAKE GOOD ON PROMISE TO KILL ALGERIAN JOURNALIST\162\   \JOE SLOVO 1936-1995\174\    \MALARIA RAVAGES AFRICA\187\C   \FORMER MALAWI PRESIDENT BANDA ARRESTED, ACCUSED OF MURDER\188\4   \RWANDAN REFUGEE CAMP ENDANGERED BY VOLCANO\192\C   \ALGERIAN EXTREMIST GROUP SENDS THREATS TO FOREIGN EMBASSY\199\.   \S. AFRICAN UN AMBASSADOR CONTROVERSY\208\L   \SWAZILAND SPLIT BETWEEN TRADITIONAL AND MODERN POLITICAL STRUCTURE\209\0   \KENYA OPENS STOCK MARKET TO FOREIGNERS\222\I   \S. AFRICA PLANS SHAKE-UP OF POLICE FORCE TO COMBAT RISING CRIME\227\"   \UGANDAN DEBT RELIEF PLAN\233\6   \EGYPT CONTINUES TO ALLOW FEMALE CIRCUMCISION\244\"   \SOUTHERN AFRICAN DROUGHT\261\8                    \CLICK HERE FOR MORE SELECTIONS\M5\.           CLICK TRACK TO RETURN TO THIS MENU<   \ALGERIAN FORCES KILL 13 SUSPECTED MUSLIM EXTREMISTS\50\I   \HOUSE TO HOUSE SEARCH IN KIGALI NETS CACHE OF MILITARY EQUIPMENT\41\3   \SOMALIA DEADLINE SET BY AID WORKERS PASSES\80\H   \DOCTOR CONVICTED IN RACIALLY CHARGED HOMICIDE CASE IN ZIMBABWE\130\M   \GIA CLAIM RESPONSIBILITY FOR KILLING OF CATHOLIC PRIESTS IN ALGERIA\246\.           CLICK TRACK TO RETURN TO THIS MENUMIDDLE EAST2   \ISRAELI/PALESTINIAN JOINT PATROLS IN GAZA\27\3   \IRAQ BUILD DAMS TO "DRY OUT" SHITE MUSLIMS\43\6   \UN DECIDES NOT TO EASE IRAQI SANCTIONS REVIEW\67\D   \ISRAEL DENIES IT WILL TAKE DIPLOMATIC ACTIONS AGAINST EGYPT\68\7   \RABIN VISITS ISRAELI OCCUPIED SOUTHERN LEBANON\69\E   \ISRAELI MINISTER HOLDS SECRET MEETINGS WITH PROMINENT SYRIAN\70\4   \AGREEMENT ON A MIDDLE EAST DEVELOPMENT BANK\73\J   \ISRAEL SAYS IT WILL NOT SIGN THE NUCLEAR NON-PROLIFERATION TREATY\98\F   \ISRAELI TROOPS CLASH WITH PALESTINIANS PROTESTING SETTLEMENTS\99\"   \IRAN'S NUCLEAR POTENTIAL\121\K   \US GIVES UN DOCUMENTS AIMED AT PROVING IRAQI MILITARY IS A THREAT\122\!   \IRAQI SANCTIONS DISPUTE\123\/   \ISRAELI ARMY FORCIBLY REMOVE SETTLERS\124\4   \KING FAUD DEFENDS THE SAUDI ARABIAN BUDGET\141\H   \ISRAEL DENIES REPORT IT TRANSFERRED AVIONIC TECHNOLOGY TO CHINA\68\D   \18 ARAB INTERIOR MINISTERS DECLARE WAR ON MUSLIM TERRORISM\179\&   \SAUDI ARABIA'S BUDGET CRISIS\240\8   \SAUDI ARABIAN FORCES ATTACK YEMENI BORDER POST\241\-   \IRANIAN BANNING OF SATELLITE DISHES\242\6   \ISRAEL RETURNS ARCHAEOLOGICAL FINDS TO EGYPT\249\G   \DEBATE OVER IRANIAN OPPOSITION GROUP "THE PEOPLE'S MUJAHIDEEN"\81\I   \IRANIAN MINISTER SAYS U.S. IS TRYING TO STIR UP TROUBLE FOR IRAN\97\J   \US AND ISRAEL SAYS IRAN COULD DEVELOP NUCLEAR WEAPONS IN 7 YEARS\139\&   \RUSSIAN IMMIGRANTS IN ISRAEL\178\.           CLICK TRACK TO RETURN TO THIS MENU;   \AUSTRALIAN WAR VETERANS DISPUTE NAME CHANGE VJ DAY\46\A   \GALAPAGOS ISLAND RESEARCH STATION ATTACKED BY FISHERMEN\118\K   \NEW ZEALAND POLICE BUST LINK IN AN INTERNATIONAL COUNTERFEIT RING\135\6   \AUSTRALIAN INTELLIGENCE ADVERTISES FOR SPIES\164\K   \WEALTHY HONG KONG CITIZENS MAY BECOME PERMANENT RESIDENTS OF FIJI\181\J   \CATHOLIC GROUP WITHDRAWALS SUPPORT OF POPE'S VISIT TO NEW GUINEA\172\5   \UN BACKS AUSTRALIAN DECISION ON BOAT PEOPLE\234\.           CLICK TRACK TO RETURN TO THIS MENU   ---------------;   ALL-WOMEN TEAM WIN 1ST ROUND FOR PLACE IN AMERICA'S CUP   ALAN SILVERMAN   LOS ANGELES?   The first all-women's team to compete for the America's Cup9yachting trophy has won the first race in the defender'selimination series.B   America-3 [America-cubed], with U.S.-born New Zealand resident@Leslie Egnot at the helm and a crew of 15 other women outsailed9Dennis Conner's Stars-and-Stripes-95 in round one of theAelimination series, delayed one day by rough seas off San Diego.@   America-3 won the start and held the lead over the entire 20@nautical mile course to finish one-minute-nine seconds ahead of@Stars-and-Stripes for a 1-0 lead in the elimination series. TheAwinner of this race will represent the United States in the 29thAchallenge for the sporting world's oldest continuously contestedtrophy.A   Young America, a third defender entry, was damaged last week,5but its crew hopes to be ready to sail this weekend.:   Boats from seven international syndicates are vying to6challenge for the America's Cup in the finals in May.   ---------------   ---------------?   BURUNDI SPEAKER'S VOWS RECONCILIATION BETWEEN RIVAL PARTIES   SONYA LAURENCE GREEN   NAIROBI9   Burundi's newly-elected speaker of parliament, Leonce?Ngendakumana, says he will work to reconcile the country's two=main political parties. A bitter standoff between the ruling@Frodebu Party and opposition Uprona Party was resolved when Mr.@Ngendakumana was elected Friday as a compromise candidate to be)the country's new parliamentary speaker.B   Burundi's new speaker of parliament, Leonce Ngendakumana, said9on state radio that his priority now is to reconcile the?country's two main political parties, and restore the peoples'"faith in the national parliament.@   He said representatives of both the ruling Frodebu Party andAopposition Uprona Party must fulfill the mandate they were given@by the people, not just their own wishes, and that they will do+everything to restore honor to parliament.@   The election of Mr. Ngendakumana, a moderate ethnic Hutu andAformer secretary-general of the Frodebu Party, ended a political6crisis which had threatened Burundi's stability.  Mr.@Ngendakumana was chosen parliamentary speaker on Friday by both?Frodebu and Uprona representatives by an overwhelming 67 of 69votes cast.5   Mr. Ngendakumana replaces Jean Minani, the former@parliamentary speaker, whose six-weeks in office sparked bitter=controversy and threatened to tear apart Burundi's coalition=government.  Ethnic fighting flared up between the country's6majority Hutus and minority Tutsis during the crisis.@   The opposition Uprona Party, made up mostly of ethnic Tutsis=who control the military, accused Mr. Minani of being a Hutu?extremist and ordered the ruling Frodebu Party to dismiss him.>But Mr. Minani denied the charges, and refused to resign.  InAprotest, Uprona members of parliament walked out of the national;assembly, and then Uprona's government ministers also quit	working.8   After much behind-the-scenes negotiating, Mr. Minani8eventually resigned this week, clearing the way for Mr.?Ngendakumana to set a new conciliatory tone.  Already, cabinet@ministers from the Uprona Party have returned to their offices,?and members of parliament are expected to return to work soon.?   Mr. Ngendakumana said parliament ranks second in importance@only to the presidency, and that he will do everything possibleAto ensure  that neither the government nor the parties interferewith its work.   ---------------   ---------------7   UN FACES OBSTACLES TO DELIVER AID CHECHEN CIVILIANS   DOUGLAS ROBERTS
   GENEVAA   Officials of the U.N. high commissioner for refugees say they=are continuing to face obstacles in efforts to aid civilians<displaced by the conflict in Chechnya. An airlift of relief*supplies is scheduled to begin on Sunday.@   The U.N.H.C.R operation to aid the Chechen refugees has been?dogged by bureaucratic and other delays since Russia requested)the assistance at the end of last month.?   Russian authorities finally allowed an emergency assessment@team from the U.N. agency to travel to an area near the Chechenborder earlier this week.B   But spokesman Ron Redmond said Saturday the team has still not6received clearance to go on to Ingushetia where about$100-thousand refugees are encamped:@   "Now that we are on the ground, our people are getting a bit@irritated because they say they do not have complete freedom ofAmovement.  They want to get out in the field and start doing theBwork that they were invited to do, but so far have been unable to
do that."?   Mr. Redmond said Russian authorities have cited a number of:reasons including security concerns for their decision to@restrict the U.N. team to an area near the town of Vladikavkaz.<   He said a chartered  cargo plane with blankets, heaters,;medical kits and other supplies is scheduled to land there?Sunday.  He said the U.N. agency has hired trucks to transport?the supplies on to Ingushetia as soon as Russia authorizes themove.   ---------------   ---------------   CLINTON'S RADIO ADDRESS   DAVID BORGIDA   WHITE HOUSE=   President Clinton says his administration has made a goodAstart in its first two years.  Mr. Clinton pledged in his weekly?radio speech to do more to help middle class Americans who, in1his words, are "still working harder  for less."<   The president is continuing to promote what he calls hisAMiddle Class Bill of Rights, a combination of tax deductions and@job re-training programs that he hopes will give more financial<security to average Americans and ultimately more political(security for him. According to Clinton:A   "It gives Americans the chance to arms themselves for the new:economy and to lift their incomes.  It gives middle-classBfamilies the opportunities they need to raise their children, payBfor college, save money for the things families need, and get the+training and skills they need to prosper."A   The president urged the new Republican-controlled Congress toBapprove his plan and says he is open to negotiation.  However, he=said he will oppose any proposals that do not promote family(values while strengthening the economy.7   The president is already on a collision course withAcongressional Republicans over items in their so-called Contract=with America, including plans to balance the federal budget.?   In the Republican response to the president's radio speech,=House Republican Christopher Cox of California countered the@president's defense of his Middle Class Bill of Rights with hisBown sharp attack against any administration plan that would raisetaxes:A   "We cannot and will not balance the federal budget by busting@your family's budget with new taxes.  Martin luther king, whose>birthday we celebrate Monday, reminded us that every American@deserves a piece of the American dream.  But unless we act now,Bthe federal government's legacy to every American will be nothing=more than a  huge share of debt.  President Clinton says, weBcan't afford to balance the budget.  We Republicans say, we can'tafford not to."@   Congressman Cox also questioned the president's appreciation@of the increasingly conservative political mood in the country,?saying President Clinton, in his words, "still has not grasped:what happened in the last election."  He was referring to<Republican victories in the November mid-term congressionalelections.=   The president is spending this weekend at camp david, the@presidential retreat.  He travels Monday, first to Colorado andAthen to California to commemorate Martin Luther King Day.  He isBto deliver speeches about the slain civil rights leader's legacy.;He is also expected to tour areas in California damaged byfloods.   ---------------   ---------------"   FARRAKHAN/MALCOLM X CONNECTION   PAUL FRANCUCH   CHICAGO@   The daughter of slain black Muslim leader Malcolm X, Qubilah>Shabazz, was indicted last Thursday on charges she plotted toAhave another black Muslim leader assassinated.  It is the latestAincident in a long bizarre tale of acrimony among members of the:African-American Muslim community. Several leaders of the9African-American community are skeptical of the charges,>believing the daughter of Malcolm X is a victim of governmententrapment.B   A nine-count federal indictment was handed down by prosecutors;against Qubilah Shabazz in the Midwest city of Minneapolis:Minnesota, the city where Ms. Shabazz is now living afterBallegedly moving there to hire a gunman to assassinate "Nation of?Islam" black Muslim leader Louis Farrakhan.  Mr. Farrakhan was@first the mentor and then rival of Malcolm X.  He has also longAbeen suspected by members of Malcolm X's family of having a roleAin the 1965 murder. Mr. Farrakhan has consistently denied having!any connection with the killing.B   The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation says Ms. Shabazz made<telephone calls to the gunman she wanted to hire and made a?partial payment for the killing.  The FBI says it informed Mr.>Farrakhan of the plot. Ms. Shabazz voluntarily surrendered toBauthorities in Minneapolis and was released on bond. Her attorney<says she is innocent of the charges, adding that the as-yetBunnamed hired gunman is actually a one-time friend of Ms. Shabazzand a government informant<   This past Friday, representatives of the Nation of Islam9joined the chorus of disbelief among some members of theBAfrican-American community.  They suggested Ms. Shabazz's role isBpart of a government "conspiracy," to use the word of a Nation of>Islam attorney, to disrupt a growing unity movement among theAblack community in the United States.  Mr. Farrakhan has not yet5commented publicly on the indictment of Ms. Shabazz.>   Qubilah Shabazz was at the New York City theater where herAfather, Malcolm X, was speaking when he was gunned-down by threeAmen said to be followers of former Nation of Islam Leader Elijah=Muhammad.  The three were convicted of the slaying.  But the;family of Malcolm X and some authorities believe more wereAinvolved.  Malcolm X's wife, Beatty Shabazz, has publicly stated1she suspects louis Farrakhan was in on the plot.:   Mr. Farrakhan, a former New York City entertainer, was>attracted to the nation of islam by Malcolm X.  The religious@movement, which is generally not recognized by orthodox IslamicAsects, was founded more than 60 years ago in Detroit by the lateBFard muhammad.  The group later moved its headquarters to Chicago>under the leadership of Elijah Muhammad, the son of a baptist
minister.>   While outside estimates of the group's official membership;have varied widely over the years, the Nation of Islam has:attracted much wider attention and support of the African?American community than its official membership suggests.  But?the religious group has also been criticized for its teachings?that white people are devils and that whites and blacks shouldremain separate.A   Malcolm X was once a leading voice within the Nation of Islam%and a spokesman for Elijah Muhammad.?   Originally named Malcolm Little and reared in cities of the@American middle west, the man who was to be named Malcolm X sawBhis boyhood home burned to the ground by the racist Ku Klux Klan.@A troubled youth whose father was murdered and whose mother was>institutionalized for mental illness, Malcolm X turned to the>Nation of Islam for spiritual guidance while serving a prison>sentence for burglary.  After his release, Malcolm X moved to1Chicago to formally join Elijah Muhammad's sect.?   Malcolm X's eloquent speeches against black exploitation byBwhites won him the widespread attention and admiration of AfricanAAmericans. But in 1964, Malcolm X left the Nation of Islam.  The<group suspended him after he made derogatory comments about;president John F. Kennedy's assassination the year before.<Malcolm x's popularity also was said to have caused rivalry@within the nation of islam.  After leaving the group, Malcolm XBformed his own organization which rivaled the Nation of Islam. Hewas murdered a year later.>   Before the killing, however, there were signs of impending:violence.  Malcolm X had charged that Elijah Muhammad had@extra-marital affairs.  Bitter charges and counter-charges were@leveled.  And in a now much-quoted event, Elijah Muhammad's new>spokesman, Louis Farrakhan, wrote an article in the Nation ofBIslam's newsletter prior to Malcolm x's murder suggesting that he"was worthy of death."@   Division between black Muslims here in the United States has@lingered on since the death of Malcolm X.  When Elijah Muhammad?died, his son, Wallace Dean Muhammad formed a more traditional?Islamic sect while Louis Farrakhan inherited the leadership ofAthe Nation of Islam. News reports quoting anonymous black Muslim=sources say the two leaders are constantly protected against#violence from one another's group.   ---------------   ---------------E   MULTIMEDIA EDUCATION VENTURE HOPES TO CHANGE THE WAY PEOPLE LEARN   GREG FLAKUS   CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA:   A small start up company near San Diego, California is?launching an interactive education program with the backing of9some of the biggest names in the software and mass media<industries.  The product could revolutionize the way peoplelearn.<   The interactive games produced by Lightspan Partnership,<Incorporated are designed to involve students in a learningBprocess that is both entertaining and intellectually stimulating.@The programs for elementary school children are currently being1tested in three San Diego area school districts.@   Although the company was founded only a year ago and has yetBto mass market its products, it has attracted millions of dollars<of investment money from some of the biggest players on the?scene. Software giant Microsoft and cable television companies=TCI technology ventures and comsat corporation have together*invested 35 million dollars in Lightspan.<   While there are other companies entering the interactiveAeducation field, Bernice Stafford, school marketing director for2Lightspan, says her company has clear advantages:?   "The management of Lightspan comes out of Jostens Learning,=which is the most successful educational software company to<date.  John Kernan, the founder of our company, who was theAchairman and CEO of that company, took it from start up to a 220Amillion dollar entity with the product being used in 14 thousandBschools.  We bring an expertise to this market unlike that of anyother company."=   Lightspan's interactive product is currently offered on a'CD-Rom and targets elementary schools.>   Ultimately, according to Lightspan's director of corporateBmarketing, Harrison Miller, the product will be made available toAschools through cable links, which will also carry entertainmentproducts into homes:@   "The programming will function identically on a CD-Rom drive<or on these emerging video servers that are being built andBdeployed for interactive television networks. We are working veryBclosely with all the leaders in the design of that infrastructureBto insure that our programming works as well, as fluidly and with@the same kind of compelling production quality over the networkas it does on a CD today."8   Mr Miller says Lightspan is currently completing its>elementary school kindergarten through sixth grade curriculumAprograms, but that eventually, the company will provide programsfor higher grades as well:>   "In the long term, we would love to go higher in the gradeBrange.  However, just developing a K-six curriculum with the kind@of design quality and production quality that we are doing here@is a massive undertaking.  It will take several years.  It will@take us about three years to build out this curriculum.  So, weAwill probably catch our breath a little bit then and take a looka look at the higher grades.">   Mr. Miller expects some 20 school districts to start using;Lightspan's interactive programs within the next year, butAexpansion will depend on the ability of districts to pay for theAproduct.  Lightspan investors are betting that the money will be@made available, since this hi-tech approach could prove to be a>cost-effective way of dramatically improving education in theUnited States.   ---------------   ---------------C   PILOT SAYS NTSB AND BOEING COVERED UP DEFECT IN 727'S AND 737'S   RICK NUNEZ   WASHINGTON;   A retired U.S. commercial airline pilot has filed legal<documents to force the National Transportation Safety Board>(NTSB) to reopen its investigation of an aviation accident in81979.  The pilot charges the NTSB collaborated with the?aircraft's manufacturer to cover-up a serious defect in two of)the best-selling airplanes in the world.=   Captain HG Gibson says the public needs to know the truthBabout how airplane crashes are investigated in the United States.BMr. Gibson, who flew with Trans World Airlines (TWA) for 30 years?before retiring in 1989, filed a petition Friday to compel theBNational Transportation Safety Board to continue its inquiry into@a bizarre accident which occurred over the state of Michigan inApril of 1979.@   Captain Gibson first filed a petition in 1991, but the court
rejected it.A   Sixteen years ago, the captain was piloting a Boeing 727 on a?flight from New York to Minneapolis, Minnesota.  The plane was?cruising at 11,700 meters when it suddenly rolled to the right?and spun out of control.  The aircraft plummeted almost 11,000 meters in less than one minute.=   Mr. Gibson tried to control the plane's rightward roll byAmoving the rudder, located on the tail.  However, the rudder did@not respond to the captain's maneuvers.  He finally stopped theAaircraft's plunge by deploying the landing gear.  Captain GibsonAthen made an emergency landing in Detroit, Michigan.  There wereno fatalities.B   Speaking to reporters in Washington, Mr. Gibson criticized the'government's handling of the accident:B   "This was treated like a fatal crash.  The crew was denied due-process; we have never been cross-examined.":   Captain Gibson says the same type of rudder failure he=experienced in the 727 is responsible for two recent crashesinvolving Boeing 737s.A   In March, 1991, a 737 went down while on approach to ColoradoBSprings, Colorado, killing 25 people.  In September of last year,?a similar plane crashed near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, killingall 132 people on board.@   Mr. Gibson claims the NTSB and Boeing agreed to cover up theAalleged rudder defect in the 727s and 737s by developing a false7explanation for his TWA jet's loss of control in 1979.=   At that time, investigators with both the NTSB and Boeing7suggested the plane's accident was the result of pilotmanipulation of wing flaps.<   Captain Gibson says none of his fellow pilots believe an>airplane dive like the one he survived could be caused by theposition of wing flaps.:   He charges that the head NTSB investigator in the 1979&accident fabricated that explanation.B   Mr. Gibson's attorney, Landon Dowdey, says Boeing and the NTSB<have concealed the defect in 727s and 737s to protect theirpublic image.=   A spokesman for Boeing says the two types of aircraft areAtheir best sellers.  Over 2,500 737s are currently in operation,,while just over 1,600d 727s are in service.@   Attorney Dowdey also criticizes the NTSB for its approach to%recent high-profile airline crashes:B   "The whole game of the National Transportation Safety Board is<to make itself seen after a big plane crash. So they are on?television, they say they are studying this and studying that.AAnd the public thinks something is going to be done, but nothing@is going to be done. Nothing has been done, and the planes keepfalling out of the sky."@   A spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board has8declined to comment on captain Gibson's legal petition.   ---------------   ---------------F   BHUTTO REITERATES PLAN TO CREATE A NUCLEAR FREE ZONE IN SOUTH ASIA   JENNIFER GRIFFIN
   ISLAMABADA   Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has reiterated a planBto end missile deployment and create a nuclear-free zone in SouthAsia.A   Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has proposed what she8calls a "zero-missile regime," which includes a nuclear@weapons-free zone in South Asia.  Ms. Bhutto mentioned the plan?during a recent meeting in Islamabad with the president of the9United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Zayed Bin-Sultan Al-Nahyan.<   The United Arab Emirates president was in Islamabad on a/two-day official visit when he met Ms. Bhutto.?   The prime minister's announcement comes after a trip to theBregion by U.S. Defense Secretary William Perry.  The U.S. defenseAsecretary was in Islamabad for two days this week and later went
to India.A   During a press conference in New Delhi, Mr. Perry said he had?urged Pakistan and India not to deploy ballistic missiles.  He?said that an arms race which included ballistic missiles would?greatly add to the tension that already existed in the region.?   India and Pakistan, which are both believed to have nuclearBcapability, have fought three wars since partition in 1947. IndiaAis thought to have developed the prithvi missile and Pakistan is?believed to have Chinese-made M-11 missiles. However, Pakistan?has repeatedly denied accusations by the united states that it#has purchased missiles from China.A   The Pakistani prime minister reiterated during her talks withBthe United Arab Emirates president her concerns that an arms race6including conventional and nuclear weapons could have!consequences outside the region.B   Earlier this week, Ms. Bhutto outlined plans for a five-nation=regional conference on non-proliferation.  Neither India nor>Pakistan has yet signed the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.   ---------------   ---------------A   PAKISTAN CRITICIZES SWEDEN FOR KILLING HORSES GIVEN AS A GIFT   JENNIFER GRIFFIN
   ISLAMABADB   Pakistani officials have criticized Sweden for its decision to@kill three thoroughbred horses that were given to Sweden by the?head of Pakistan's army.  Swedish law bans the import of Asian3animals as a way to control the spread of disease.?   Pakistani officials have expressed dismay at the killing ofAthree thoroughbred horses, which had been given as a gift to the3Swedish government by the head of Pakistan's army.@   In November, the Pakistani army chief, General Abdul Waheed,?sent a message to the head of the Swedish army, presenting theBthree horses as gifts.  General Waheed had travelled to Sweden on9an official trip in August, and reports said that he was+impressed by Sweden's royal mounted guard.B   The head of the Swedish army, General Ake Sagren, was informed>by experts on Islamic culture in the Swedish foreign ministry9that to refuse the gift would be seen as a grave insult.<   According to reports, the Swedish general knew about his:country's ban on the import of Asian animals. The ban was+designed to prevent the spread of disease.B   In order to avoid offending the Pakistani general, the Swedish?army arranged for the horses to be delivered to Estonia, whereBthey would be quarantined for six months.  But Estonia later said it would not accept the horses.@   Newspaper reports said the horses were then flown to Sweden,Awhere the agricultural board insisted that the animals be put to<death and then burned.  The horses were killed in December,7though they were not known to be carrying any disease.>   The Pakistan government said it did not wish to comment on?Swedish law.  But a spokesman at the foreign ministry said, in>his own words, "when laws are obviously so contrary to commonAsense, they ought to be reviewed in the interest of humanity, ifnothing else."   ---------------   ---------------G   POPE TELLS CHURCH OFFICIALS TO OPPOSE GOV'T FAMILY PLANNING PROGRAM   MARIE ORARA
   MANILAA   In the Philippines, Pope John Paul is urging church officials@to oppose the government's family-planning program. The pontiff1made his first statement about the controversialBpopulation-control issue during the third day of his visit to the predominantly Catholic country.A   The head of the Roman Catholic Church told Philippine bishops9to strenuously oppose all measures directed at promoting,abortion, sterilization, and contraception.B   The Pope made the comments at a private luncheon with Filipino>bishops, after celebrating mass with almost a million people.=   The church has harshly criticized the government's family=planning, sex education and aids awareness programs.  Church:leaders claim the government is promoting promiscuity andBartificial contraception, and failing to prevent abortions, whichare outlawed.@   The pope told the bishops it is an essential demand of their@pastoral duty to continue their stand.  About 65-percent of the)Philippine population is Roman Catholic.?   Since his arrival, millions of Filipinos have been flooding"the streets to greet the pontiff.A   Later Saturday the Pope is to meet with another massive crowd;at a youth vigil which is to include a question and answerperiod.>   Monday, John Paul will end his five-day stay in Manila and6leave for Papua New Guinea, Australia, and Sri Lanka.   ---------------   ---------------B   UN SAYS SERBS RENEGED ON AGREEMENT TO OPEN SARAJEVO AID ROUTES   DANIEL YOVICH   SARAJEVO=   U.N. officials say Bosnian Serbs have refused to honor an@agreement that would have allowed humanitarian aid and civilian4traffic passage between Sarajevo and other parts of9Bosnia-Herzegovina controlled by the Bosnian government.A   U.N. officials say Bosnian Serbs have reneged on an agreement>that briefly opened a land corridor into the isolated Bosnian8capital.  A united nation's protection force spokesman,?Lieutenant Colonel Patrick Declety, says Bosnian Serb soldiers<closed several key check points into and out of the Bosnian	capital.?   Shortly after, several vehicles passed unmolested through agauntlet of checkpoints.?   It appears United Nations officials decided to unilaterallyAopen the routes for humanitarian aid traffic without receiving a2formal go-ahead from the Bosnian Serb leadership.A   Colonel Declety says high-level negotiations between U.N. and?Bosnian Serb authorities are ongoing in an effort to solve the	problem.B   Earlier in the week, Bosnian Serb authorities promised to turn=over control of two overland routes to U.N. troops.  Colonel@Declety says he is not sure why the Bosnian Serbs changed their<minds, but he remains optimistic the problem can be quickly
resolved.   ---------------   ---------------6   RESEARCHERS REPORT ETHANOL PRODUCTION BREAKTHROUGH   DAVID MCALARY   WASHINGTON<   The U.S. Department of Energy says a genetic engineeringAbreakthrough at one of its laboratories promises to dramaticallyAreduce the cost of producing fuel from corn and other plants and<make the technology economically competitive with gasoline.AResearchers have adapted a bacterium used in liquor fermentationAfor duty in producing ethanol fuel more efficiently than currentprocesses can.<   Corn is currently the biggest source of ethanol, a clean9burning fuel which emits 90 per cent less carbon dioxide=pollution than gasoline.  The most common ethanol productionAmethod uses yeast to break down glucose, the major sugar in mostBplants.  But Department of Energy researchers report in "Science"@magazine [Jan. 13th issue] that they have genetically altered a>bacterium to break down glucose and other sugars yeast cannot	process.<   The ethanol project leader at the department's Renewable8Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado, Jonathan Mielenz?['my-lenz], says this means the organism can convert more cornAresidue into ethanol than yeast can.  It is also able to process;sugars in wood and other plants and plant wastes which had6previously defied such efforts. According to Mielenz::   "We're examining with a large number of industrial and:university partners a variety of grasses found within the?continental United States.  We're looking at tropical grasses,<sugar cane, hardwood sawdust. Additionally we're looking at>certain agricultural residues, wheat straw, grass straw, rice?straw.  And we're looking at the waste materials, waste paper,Apaper sludge from mills, and any sort of waste material than can;come through clean enough to be used in an ethanol plant."=   Mr. Mielenz says the bacterium was originally isolated in?South America, where it has been used for centuries to ferment=the glucose in fruit juices into the intoxicating ethanol of?liquor. The laboratory work extended its repertoire to includeBthe other sugars found in plants.  Another feature which makes it+economically attractive is its efficiency.B   Mr. Mielenz says it converts a given amount of sugar into fiveBto 10 per cent more ethanol than yeast does, and up to five timesfaster:B   "It uses less of the sugars for energy for its own maintenanceBcompared to a yeast organism, let's say a baker's yeast, the same@kind of organisms that are used to make beer and wines.  So the?more efficient you are in using all the sugars, the better the%cost of ethanol will be at the end.">   The researchers are now planning to take this breakthrough?from the laboratory to larger scale production to see if it isBcommercially viable.  The Department of Energy will apply the newAtechnology to the fermentation vats in its new 14 million dollarAalternative fuels test factory in Golden, Colorado.  The factory8can process one ton of dry plant material into ethanol.B   Mr. Mielenz says the material left over from fermentation will*be used to provide power to the facility:@   "So it will be dried and used as a boiler fuel. Calculations?have shown that we can produce steam and electricity from this7boiler and the ethanol plant will be a net producer of?electricity.  It will produce more electricity than it uses in9the process by using these waste materials from plants."A   The Department of Energy estimates that the new process couldBeventually cut the cost of producing ethanol in the United StatesAin half, from the current one-dollar-twenty-two cents per gallon@to sixty or seventy cents.  Agency officials say the fuel couldAbecome economically competitive enough to be more widely used inBa blend with gasoline or as an alternative to gasoline. They note@that ethanol could reduce U.S. oil imports, improve the quality@of air in cities, and be the basis of an expanded new industry.   ---------------   ----------------"   SOBERING STATE OF WORLD REPORT   SAM IKER   WASHINGTONB   In its annual "State of the World" report,  a Washington-basedAenvironmental research group says destruction of natural systems4is having an economic impact of global proportions.=   The Worldwatch Institute's 1995 State of the World Report=warns that widespread environmental destruction is affectingBeconomic trends such as output, employment and prices.  Economist;Lester Brown, who heads the institute,  says the impact of?pollution and over-exploitation is most evident in the drastic@decline of fisheries, in waters such as the Caspian Sea and the?Black Sea the once rich fishery off the coast of Newfoundland.?Mr. Brown says the world's forestlands, especially in tropicalBnations such as Nigeria, the Ivory Coast and the Phillipines, areAalso suffering from overexploitation, over-logging which has led:to a drop in exports and a decline the economies of these9countries.  Still another natural system under stress is;underground aquifers.   Groundwater supplies are decliningAbecause of over-pumping for intensive agricultural irrigation indry regions of the world.A   Economist Lester Brown says of the state of the world report,$these various trends are troubling:=   "In effect, what we have seen with fisheries, forests andAaquifers is that growing human demand, driven by both populationAgrowth and rising affluence, is simply exceeding the sustainable*yield of more and more of these systems."@   To reverse the trends of environmental destruction, economic@decline and social disintegration, the report advocates greater?international funding to support sustainable development and a%slowdown of world population growth.   ---------------   ---------------=   ALGERIA DISMISSES PEACE PLAN OFFERED BY OPPOSITION GROUPS   VICTOR BEATTIE   WASHINGTONA   Algeria's state-run radio has dismissed the latest opposition?plan to negotiate an end to Algeria's three-year violent civil?unrest. The U.S. position in the offer appears to be a serious@effort to resolve the North-African country's political crisis:@   The state-run radio broadcast says the plan contains nothing@new.  The government, which has promised presidential elections?later this year, has expressed a willingness to negotiate with!opponents who renounce violence.@   The plan, described as a national contract, was announced in?Rome by the banned Islamic Salvation Front and Algeria's legal;opposition groups.  Their proposal calls for a broad-based?transitional administration to prepare for elections.  It alsoAcalls for freeing jailed front leaders, lifting press censorship0and a panel to investigate human rights abuses.@   In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman David Johnson/called the Rome statement a significant event:@   "The results appear to be a serious attempt to contribute to@the establishment of a process that could lead to a non-violent<solution to the Algerian crisis and we hope that it will beBfollowed by concrete steps by all concerned to lower the level ofconfrontation."B   Mr. Johnson noted the parties involved represent 80-percent of;the votes cast in Algeria's 1991 election.  The government8declared that election invalid when it appeared Islamic)fundamentalists would emerge victorious.   ---------------   ---------------   WORLDWIDE WEATHER '94   JESSICA BERMAN   WASHINGTON>   U.S. Climate experts say that temperatures hit near record8levels around the globe last year, thanks to an unusualmeteorlogic event.B   If the weather seemed unusually mild last year, there's a good<reason. It was.  Officials at the U.S. National Oceanic and>Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA ('no-ah), say that globalBtemperatures from march through December 1994 were the warmest onrecord since 1951.9   Some countries felt the heat more than others.  DavidBRodenhuis ('roe-din-house) of NOAA's Climate Analysis Center says7temperatures in Central and Western Europe were in theBninety-seventh percentile.  The fiftieth percentile is considered	average.A   El nino ('neen-yo) is being blamed for the warming trend.  El=nino conditions are wind patterns in the central and eastern?Pacific that warm the surface of the ocean.  This warmer water:finds its way to the Equator, resulting in more mild landtemperatures.?   El ninos usually come every four or five years.  So, it was@surprise to see one again last year, since the previous el ninovisited in 1992.>   Vernon Kousky ('cow-sky) is a senior research scientist at>NOAA.  He notes that there was a quick succession of el ninosAback between 1911 and 1915, long before anyone was worried aboutglobal warming:@   "The question often comes up, is this part of global change?@Are we getting more frequent el ninos?  I doubt it seriously ifthat's the case."@   So, he says people shouldn't worry now.  Just enjoy the mild	weather!   ---------------   ---------------B   FORMER AFGHANISTAN PRIME MINISTER LIFTS ROAD BLOCKADE TO KABUL   JENNIFER GRIFFIN
   ISLAMABAD?   Former Prime Minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar lifted a blockade<Thursday on roads leading into the war-torn Afghan capital,7Kabul.  The blockade is to remain lifted for one week.9   Rival faction leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar has lifted a=year-long blockade of roads leading into the war-torn Afghan>capital.  Mr. Hekmatyar's spokesman in Islamabad, Haji Mangal?Hussain, said the end to the blockade began Thursday and wouldlast one week.>   Other reports held a temporary ceasefire in and around the>beleaguered capital would accompany the opening of the roads.?During the past month there has been little fighting in Kabul.B   Observers say the un-precedented move by former Prime Minister@Hekmatyar is designed to pressure President Burhanuddin RabbaniBto leave office and hand over power to a neutral interim council.3The president's two-year term expired December 28.@   The president's spokesman in Islamabad, Masoud Khalili, saidBMr. Rabbani is waiting for the U.N. special envoy to Afghanistan,@Mahmoud Mestiri, to create a mechanism for a transfer of power.?   The president's spokesman said the move by Mr. Hekmatyar toBlift the blockade is welcomed, but Mr. Rabbani and his allies areAwaiting for a U.N. guarantee the transfer of power to an interim&body would be respected by all sides.B   Mr. Khalili said Mr. Rabbani would step down as president when;he is assured by the U.N. envoy there is a mechanism for aBpermanent ceasefire, a permanent opening of roads, and a means toevacuate forces from the city.A   Mr. Khalili said, in his words, four times we had agreements,?but all were rocketed.  He was referring to the numerous times<past ceasefires and agreements between the rival groups hadfailed.B   Nine separate factions have been battling one another in a bidAto control the country since 1992, when the communist Najibullahgovernment was toppled.B   Mr. Hekmatyar and Mr. Rabbani have been arch-rivals since thatBtime.  Aid agencies estimate more than seven-thousand people were)killed last year in the fight for Kabul.   ---------------   ---------------3   NEW ORGANIZATION SEEKS "TRANSPARENCY" IN AFRICA   WILLIAM EAGLE   WASHINGTON>   A commonly used watch-word among African policy makers and:international donors these days is "transparency", public=accountability for both political and economic transactions.=Political analysts say that greater transparency should help=prevent corruption, which often siphons off funds marked for?economic development.  One such group involved in the fight isBcalled Transparency International.  The Berlin-based organization<is recruiting political and community leaders in developing/countries to work together to curb corruption.<   With less financial assistance coming in from industrial>countries, African officials are looking for ways to make the?most of what they receive.  They're also trying to attract newAinvestment to promote growth and reduce unemployment.  Observers;say attacking corruption is a key element of the strategy.=   Transparency International is directed by many well knownApolitical leaders.  The group's advisory council includes former<U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Andrew Young; AmnestyAInternational's former secretary general, Ian Martin; and formerBMauritanian Foreign Minister Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah.  The group isAled by former chairman Peter Eigen, a former World Bank regional@director for East Africa.  Jeremy Pope is the managing directorAof Transparency International.  He says the end of civil war and?democratic elections may offer African leaders a new chance tocontrol corruption.9   Pope mentioned two countries, Ghana and Uganda, where+anti-corruption drives are making headway:A   "One of the questions is how will a government (can) clean upBa corrupt state where it has inherited one. You had the situation?in Ghana where a very authoritarian technique was used.  I was?speaking to now president (of Ghana) Jerry Rawlings some years>ago and he said that the only mistake he made (upon coming toBpower in a military coup) was that he should have shot a few more>[corrupt officials].  But then you contrast that with what isBhappening in Uganda, where under a democratic regime and a regime@that is very sensitive to suggestions of authoritarianism afterAthe recent history of Uganda, where they are weeding out corruptApeople and sorting out institutions in a much less authoritarianand much less brutal way."<   Mr. Pope says Transparency International is working with?Ugandan officials, and with community and business leaders, toBforge a coalition against corruption.  Participating in the fight@are professional organizations, religious leaders, accountants,lawyers and businessmen.8   Mr. Pope says a recent mission to Uganda worked withBgovernment leaders to streamline their crime fighting effort.  An?important goal of the mission was to improve coordination, and?reduce duplication, among the main anti-corruption elements ofBthe government.  They include the ombudsmans office, the director<of public prosecution, the courts, and the auditor general.>   Mr. Pope mentioned some of the other countries struggle toAcontain corruption.  One is Nigeria, which has been ruled by the@military for most of its 34 years of independence.  Critics say=Nigeria's military governments are among the most corrupt in>Africa  And in one of the latest scandals, critics accuse the@military of misspending billions of dollars in windfall profits0from the sale of petroleum during the Gulf War.A   Mr. Pope says Nigeria's chances for curbing corruption depend6on its ability to guide the country to civilian rule:@   "Well, there are a lot of good things about Nigeria. Most of>all the Nigerians themselves, their energy, their exuberance,<their creativity for which the country is very famous.  The?downside is that these traits are sometimes applied to corrupt@acts as well as ethical ones.  They have forces pulling them in;different directions.  There certainly is a lot of good in?Nigeria which holds hope for the future, but there has to be a7fundamental shift in power, the army has to get out of=government, and the people have to govern in a somewhat more>responsible fashion than they have in the past, because we've=seen in the past civilian governments in Nigeria as in other@parts of Africa which have simply plundered public funds to theApoint where the people have literally danced in the streets when1the army has come and pushed the civilians out.";   Standing in contrast to Nigeria is the neighboring WestAAfrican country of mali.  In 1992, the country ended 23 years of@military control with multi-party elections, and the assumptionBof President Alpha Oumar Konare [al'-fah oo'-mar koh'-nah-ray] as=head of state.  Transparency International credits President@Konare for progress made in reducing corruption in the military'and in the public and private sectors.A   Omar Makalu [mah'kah'-loo] is the president of the center forBresearch on democracy and on economic and social development. Its,headquarters are in Mali's capital, Bamako.B   Makalu describes some of the government's efforts made to curbcorruption:@   "Just last week, the council of ministers (the cabinet) tookBthe decision to counter public corruption.  First, all high-levelBcivil servants involved in contracting with third parties have toBdeclare their belongings before taking office, like the president?himself and members of the government are doing now.  They are9also (reforming) the military, to (keep them) out of theApolitical arena.  They just eliminated the coordination of lowerBlevel officers and foot soldiers which (acted like) a trade unionwithin the army.">   Mr. Makalu says that public vigilance is also important ifAcorruption is to be controlled.  This, Makalu says, is where thepress comes in:@   "All people are corruptible if there is not transparency, no@watchdog, no counter-power.  The press is the watchdog in mali,?we have a very extensive free and private press.  It is really=the written press and also (privately owned and independent)@radio (stations).  We have more (radio stations) than any otherAcountry in West Africa and they speak out freely in the official?language - French - and in national languages.  They broadcast0information, news and music and entertainment."B   Observers say some African countries like Mali and Uganda have=made a good start in curbing corruption.  But they say other>issues will also have to be addressed, like low pay for civil7servants, which can lead to corruption.  More open andAaccountable business procedures could also inhibit corruption in7private contracts.  While not a panacea, observers sayAanti-corruption measures could have a measurable economic impact4on Africa, and in some cases, even balance budgets.   ---------------   ---------------=   ALGERIAN OPPOSITION GROUPS ISSUE PLAN TO END CIVIL STRIFE   PEGGY POLK   ROMEB   Eight Algerian opposition groups meeting in Rome have issued aBjoint plan to end civil strife in Algeria. The proposal calls for<negotiations with the military government on a transitional2legislature to prepare for multi-party elections.9   The opposition groups, including the outlawed Islamic@Salvation Front, drew up the plan at a five-day meeting in Rome@sponsored by the Sant'Egidio Community, a Catholic organization5that helped to end the long civil war in Mozambique.B   In their plan, the opposition groups call on the government to@release all political prisoners and on the military to withdrawAfrom politics.  This would pave the way for negotiations between9the government and all opposition parties to establish a:broad-based transitional legislature to prepare for free,5multiparty elections in as short a time as possible.<   The opposition parties condemned the seizure of power by@violence, any form of dictatorship, and military involvement in=government.  They pledged to respect human rights, religiousBfreedom, the shifting of power through multi-party elections, and?the separation of legislative, executive, and judicial powers.;   The Algerian government refused to take part in what it@charged is interference in the country's internal affairs.  But>the opposition leaders warned that Algeria risks a full-scale?civil war unless urgent action is taken to reach a "global andequitable solution.">   The conflict broke out three years ago when Algeria's armyBhalted elections expected to bring the Islamic Salvation Front to'power and ordered the party disbanded.>   The government has reported more than 11,000 deaths due toAcivil strife since then, while foreign sources put the number ofAdead at up to 30,000, including more than 70 foreigners. TensionBheightened further last month when militants hijacked an airliner4to France and threatened to kill western diplomats.   ---------------   ---------------D   REPORTS SAY RETIRED CHINESE LEADER'S HEALTH IS RAPIDLY DECLINING   DAVID DYAR   BEIJING?   There was no immediate reaction from Chinese officials to a;New York Times newspaper report retired senior leader Deng*Xiaoping's health is deteriorating daily.B   The newspaper report came one day after Chinese officials made:a special effort to try to ease concerns about Mr. Deng's?condition when they said the Chinese leader is in good health.>   But, the newspaper Friday quoted Mr. Deng's daughter, Deng=Rong, as saying the 90-year old former communist party chief@could not walk or stand.  She was quoted as saying her father's>health is declining day by day, but she denied Japanese press#reports he had entered a hospital.:   The state of Mr. Deng's health is a constant source of@speculation in China.  Prior to the publication of her remarks,=stock prices were being affected by reports about Mr. Deng'scondition.=   The intense attention paid to his health is fueled by the@belief of some analysts a battle for Mr. Deng's succession will@begin after he dies.  But, Chinese officials and many diplomats9say the leadership has already settled that question and:President Jiang zemin is Mr. Deng's designated successor.A   Mr. Deng's daughter said in the interview she will be leaving@for New York and Paris next week to promote a biography she has>written about her father.  Analysts say his daughter's travel<plans give some indication he is not critically ill as somerecent reports have suggested.<   Thursday, a Shanghai newspaper printed a three-month oldBpicture of the patriarch watching a firework's display on China's>national day.  The caption to the picture said Mr. Deng is in
good health.B   The last time Mr. Deng was shown in the Chinese press prior toAthe publication of the picture Thursday was nearly one-year ago,=when he made his annual appearance on television to mark thelunar new year.=   Officials Thursday indicated he may not make a televisionAappearance to mark the upcoming new year's observance at the endof January.   ---------------   ---------------/   CLINTON DEFENDS N. KOREAN NUCLEAR AGREEMENT   DAVID GOLLUST   CLEVELAND, OHIO@   President Clinton, speaking Friday in the Midwestern city of4Cleveland, Ohio, defended the nuclear agreement his<administration concluded with North Korea last October. The?nuclear deal has been under heavy Republican attack in the new
congress.;   Mr. Clinton says the nuclear accord with North Korea is?bringing that country's suspected nuclear weapons program to a?complete halt, and is, in his words, clearly and profoundly inthe United States' interest.@   The president's comments came in a foreign policy address in@Cleveland ,  and followed charges by key Republicans, includingBformer Secretary of State James baker, that the nuclear deal is agiveaway to North Korea./   Mr. Clinton insisted the critics are wrong:@   "The deal stops North Korea's nuclear program in its tracks.@It will roll it back in years to come. International inspectors=confirm that the program is frozen and they will continue toBmonitor it.  No critic has come up with an alternative that isn't!either unfeasible or foolhardy."9   Under the accord, North Korea is to phase out nuclear@facilities believed part of the weapons program in exchange for>billions of dollars in energy-related aid from the west.  TheBfirst installment of that assistance is to go forward in the nextfew weeks.   ---------------   ---------------*   CONGRESS TO WORK ON PLAN TO AID MEXICO   PAULA WOLFSON   CONGRESSB   Members of the U.S. Congress are expected to move quickly on a?plan to help Mexico through its financial crisis.  The plan is;expected to include 40 billion dollars in loan guarantees.B   Congressional leaders admit it will be tough to win passage of8a big loan guarantee package.  However, they say if theAlegislation is crafted carefully, and the deal poses little risk4to the U.S. treasury, the measure will be approved.=   Many members say they are worried about the details.  But9Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle says there is general:agreement in the legislature that something must be done::   "I think what consensus there is that the situation is@serious, that there ought to be prompt attention, that whatever?we do ought to be done in a bipartisan way and we are deciding what course of action to take."B   The task of devising acceptable legislation is in the hands ofAa team of about a dozen lawmakers, including several from states9along the Mexican border.  They are expected to set firm$conditions for the loan guarantees.@   Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, a Texas Republican, is workingon the panel:A   "I am very positive about our getting a program together that5will be acceptable to Republicans and Democrats, the%administration as well as Congress."B   But it will not be an easy job. Some lawmakers think Mexico is@a bad risk, while others still carry scars from the battle over)the North American Free Trade Agreement.>   Congressman Bill Richardson, a New Mexico Democrat,led the8fight in the House for passage of the hemispheric pact:B   "This is going to be another NAFTA battle.  Hopefully, it will5be approved because it is in our national interest."A   Congressional concern is high.  Mr. Richardson was among moreBthan 100 senators and congressmen who attended an initial meeting?on the loan guarantee proposal on Capitol Hill (at the Capitol?Building) with treasury secretary Robert Rubin and the head of<America's central bank, Alan Greenspan.  After the session,Bseveral members outlined the conditions they want attached to theloan guarantees.>   Senator John McCain, a Republican from the border state of@Arizona, echoed sentiments expressed by many of his colleagues:=   "I want to know especially what the Mexican government isAgoing to do to make sure that their economy is on a sound basis.?And that means sacrifice on the part of the Mexican government=and people. I also want to know the exact amount of exposure@(financial risk) there is for the American taxpayer. And I alsoBwould fully expect other nations such as Japan, which has sizable?interest in Mexico, to pick up some of this burden rather than6the united states picking up the entire brunt of it."A   The Mexican government is expected to use the loan guarantees@to borrow money from commercial banks to meet current financial>obligations and restructure some of its short-term debt.  TheBUnited States would, in effect, co-sign the loans. Some lawmakers@predict the loan guarantees, if approved by Congress ,  will be?allocated incrementally, matching the ace of Mexican financialBreforms.  Others, including Senator McCain , indicate Mexico willAbe asked to put up billions of dollars in projected oil revenuesas collateral.A   For his part, Treasury Secretary Rubin will say only that theBloan guarantee package is a work in progress.  When asked about a@possible deadline, he said the United States must move quickly,@adding he is convinced Congress understands the danger posed to@the United States, and the international economic community, by(the shaky state of the Mexican economy.   ---------------   ---------------)   CONGRESS' NEW FOREIGN POLICY ATTITUDE   PAULA WOLFSON   CONGRESSA   United States foreign policy will come under greater scrutiny?in the months ahead in the U.S. Congress, now that Republicans?control both the House and Senate.  The fireworks began at the>first hearing of the House International Relations Committee,(formerly the Foreign Affairs Committee.@   With a Democrat in the White House and Republicans in charge@of congress, confrontation at times could be consider the orderof the day.7   You could sense it in the hearing room as the House@International Affairs Committee welcomed its first witness, the7Bush Administration's Secretary of State, James Baker.=Republicans were lavish in their praise, Democrats were morerestrained.@   Some of the most vocal committee members at the hearing werenewly elected Republicans.B   Among them was David Funderburk, whose North Carolina district@is home to thousands of soldiers and airmen stationed at nearby?military bases, including many men and women who served in the/Gulf War and Somalia. According to Funderbunk:>   "Seventeen soldiers from Fort Bragg, some probably from my@district, were killed in Somalia in pursuit of something calledA'nation building.' We are lurching from crisis to crisis withoutAanyone in the White House bothering to identify our own national?security interests.  I don't know of an administration in this?century which has so thoroughly misunderstood the use of forceand diplomacy."=   His words brought an immediate response from Democrat TomLantos of California:>   "For the record, of the 17 U.N. peacekeeping operations in?which the United States is currently participating, three were>commenced prior to the Bush-Baker Administration, twelve were;commenced under the Bush-Baker Administration and two were-commenced under the Clinton administration."B   The debate over peacekeeping is likely to dominate the work ofBthe international relations committee over the coming weeks. Only@one of the ten bills in the Republican legislative agenda deals9with foreign policy.  It is called the National SecurityBRestoration Act, and includes a provision that would require U.S.<forces engaged in peacekeeping to serve under United States	command.B   Committee consideration of the peacekeeping measure is sure to=provide Republicans with numerous opportunities to challenge@recent decisions to send U.S. troops to places like Somalia andHaiti.A   Congressman Chris Smith of New Jersey says the various voices9coming out of Washington should not be seen as a sign of+weakness, but rather a symbol of strength:B   " Sometimes dictatorships speak best with one voice.  What the;dictator says is what happens.  Thankfully, there are more>democracies and emerging democracies.  And one of the lessonsBthey can glean from this kind of disagreement is dissent, even at!the highest levels, is healthy."A   Mr. Smith says when members of Congress have differences with=the White House they should express them in a reasonable andresponsible way.A   Smith notes that half a world away, Russian lawmakers are now?following the American model, with their outspoken response toevents in Chechnya:B   "They are doing it without fear of being rounded up and thrown@into prison.  I think it is showing a durable strength of theirBparliament, that they are not fearful of dissenting or that there?is going to be a knock at their door or a dissolution of their@parliament.  And they are saying "we are going to look at this"Aand they are probably going to look at defunding it if they haveAtheir druthers.  (If they have the choice) They are showing whatAwe do here routinely and are going to do even more of these next>two years.  And I think that shows a step on the evolutionaryApath towards full fledged democracy with institutions that serve
the people.";   The Senate has traditionally taken the lead in the U.S.?Congress on foreign policy matters.  That is, in part, because@the United States Constitution says only the Senate can confirmBhigh level diplomats and ratify treaties.   But in this Congress,9with its cost cutting fervor, the House will also play a@significant role since all spending bills, including those that@fund things like peacekeeping and foreign aid, originate in theHouse of Representatives.   ---------------   ---------------C   EAST EUROPEAN AIRLINES ATTEMPT TO COMPETE WITH WESTERN AIRLINES   BARRY WOOD
   PRAGUEA   Eastern Europe's state-owned airlines are engaged in a fierceAcompetitive battle as they go head-to-head for business with the3much richer and bigger airlines of western Europe.@   Visit an airport in an Eastern European capital and you will?see rows of used Soviet-built airliners waiting to be sold. At<Prague's Ruzyne airport six long-range ilyushin 62M's stand;forlornly on the tarmac, unsold after being withdrawn fromservice last year.;   The first thing Eastern European airlines did after theAcollapse of communism was to withdraw their Soviet aircraft from>routes to the west.  Western passengers resisted flying on th@noisy, uncomfortable Soviet planes and the companies complainedAthat their Soviet equipment burned twice as much fuel as westernAplanes.  Today, all Eastern European airlines have at least somewestern aircraft.<   But despite new equipment, the airlines are still losingBmoney. They are, in the words of airline analysts, too small, too<poor, and too fragile to succeed in one of the world's most:competitive industries.  The eastern carriers have sought1partnerships with stronger western air carriers.;   Lot, the Polish state airline, and the region's largest;carrier, has just concluded a cooperative arrangement with=American airlines.  Malev, of Hungary, cooperates with Delta<Airlines and has sold almost one-third of its shares to the!Italian state carrier, Alitalia.>   Tarom of Romania, Balkan of Bulgaria, and CSA of the CzechBRepublic have no western partners.  Although CSA had a disastrousBrelationship with air France that ended a year ago when the Czech@government angrily bought back air France's 20 percent share inCSA.>   Antonin Jakubse is the chief executive officer of CSA.  HeBbelieves the Czech airline can survive without a foreign partner.B   Mr. Jakubse, CSA chairman for just over one year, says most of%his company's problems are internal:B   First of all, we have to provide our staff with good training,@to explain and persuade them that the only way to survive is to<provide very good service.  Service that is competitive and?comparable with Lufthansa, KLM, American airlines, and British	airways.B   Mr. Jakubse says training people to smile, to be friendly, and@helpful is not easy since for 40 years communism had the effect0of making people very rude even to one another.B   CSA, like Malev and the company, lot, continues to lose money.@But the losses narrowed in 1994 and will fall further this year>as uneconomic routes are abandoned.  CSA sees its future as a@small carrier, capitalizing on the Czech Republic's tourist andAbusiness potential and serving the short to medium haul European;market.  Mr. Jakubse believes CSA will eventually be fully;privatized.  Currently, the Czech government owns about 60!percent of the airline's shares.   ---------------   ---------------    ECUADOR/PERU BORDER CONFLICT   ROGER WILKISON   RIO DE JANEIROA   Ecuador has issued a strong protest to Peru over what Ecuador@says was the violation of its territory by Peruvian soldiers on@two occasions this past week.  But, Peru says Ecuadorian troops$twice crossed the border into Peru.;   First word of the trouble along the always tense border;between Peru and Ecuador came Thursday when the Ecuadorian?defense ministry issued a communique describing its version of>what had happened.  The ministry said Ecuadorian and Peruvian?troops exchanged fire Wednesday on Ecuadorian soil in a jungleAarea near the border.  The communique said that, when Ecuadorian<soldiers ordered the Peruvian troops to halt, the Peruvians>opened fire and the Ecuadorians responded.  But there were nocasualties.@   The defense ministry said that, two days earlier, Ecuadorian?troops captured four Peruvian soldiers who had wandered across>the border.  But it said the Peruvians were released the nextday.A   Peru at first denied that soldiers from the two countries had=exchanged fire.  But it later acknowledged the incidents andAclaimed they happened on Peruvian territory.  Peru also asserted>that Peruvian forces responded to shots fired against them byEcuadorian troops.@   The border has been tense since a brief conflict between theAtwo countries in 1981.  But the trouble rally goes back to 1941,<when Peru invaded Ecuador.  Ecuador lost 40 per cent of its@territory under the Rio de Janeiro protocol that was signed theAfollowing year.  Ecuador Renounced the agreement in 1960, saying=it had been imposed by force.  Most of the subsequent border@skirmishes have taken place along a 70-kilometer strip that hasnot been demarcated.   ---------------   ---------------$   BAKER CALLS FOR FOREIGN AID CUTS   GARY THOMAS   WASHINGTONA   Sentiment is strong in the new U.S. Congress to slash foreign?aid and disband the office that administers it, the Agency for=International Development.  Just this past week, former U.S.;Secretary of State James Baker became the latest prominent$Republican to call for such action.=   The Agency for International Development is, according to@analysts, an endangered bureaucratic species.  With a budget of@almost 13-billion dollars, it is a tempting target for the army1of congressional budget cutters on Capitol Hill.@   Within the Clinton administration, Secretary of State Warren>Christopher has proposed putting the agency and its functions%directly under the State Department.=   With its survival at stake, the agency, known commonly asA"USAID," is not going down without a fight.   It has launched an8ambitious public relations campaign complete with radioannouncements.9   It has even enlisted in its campaign the voice of theBpresident who founded it, the late John Kennedy. In an ad Kennedyis herd saying:?   "To those people in the huts and villages across the globe,Astruggling to break the bonds of mass misery, we pledge our best=efforts to help them help themselves, for whatever period isBrequired, not because the communists may be doing it, not because/we seek their votes, but because it is right."B   But, according to analysts, none of this may be enough to saveBUSAID.  A continuing drumbeat of criticism about foreign aid, led?by Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jesse Helms, istaking its toll.@   The U.S. foreign aid program was designed at the outbreak of>the cold war to promote economic freedom as a bulwark againstAcommunism.  The agency for international development was founded?by president John Kennedy in 1961 to consolidate aid programs.=   Some critics say the program and the agency have outlived@their usefulness with the collapse of communism.  But, ideology;aside, they also it is simply wasteful.  Senator Helms has+labeled it "pouring money down a rathole."A   The criticisms heard are very similar to those made about the5welfare system, another program high on the list for;congressional overhaul.  Critics charge the aid program is>riddled with waste, does not promote economic freedom, and in>fact, retards development by making nations dependent on U.S.aid.<   Bryan Johnson, an analyst with the conservative research9organization the Heritage Foundation, says the countriesAthemselves must create conditions for development, and no amount)of aid from abroad can do that for them:@   "For less developed countries to become developed countries,=the first and foremost responsibility is on those countries.=They have to create the type of economic conditions that areBconducive to long-term economic growth.  If they don't have those>kind of conditions, those kind of conditions do not exist, it=doesn't matter how much foreign aid we send over there. It's(going to continue to go down ratholes."?   Proponents of the program say USAID is already changing theway it does business.?   The agency's assistant administrator for policy and program8coordination, Colin Bradford, says USAID has made majorBinstitutional reforms, such as focusing on specific problem areas0rather than the wholesale doling out  of funds.@   Bradford says the agency is becoming more of an intermediaryAor conduit for corporate aid to nations, in a sense, privatizing
foreign aid:?   "This is a very different kind of program.  It's one that'sAmuch more focused on policy reform and institutional development<than it is on financing broad, nationwide economic growth."B   Mr. Bradford says he is worried Congress will act prematurely,1before the agency has a chance to make its case:B   "I think the kinds of first cuts that are likely to take place>in the budget committees early on in the process are the onesBthat really could be draconian (severe). And we could end walking?around with our head in our hands before we've even started to4tell the Congress what it is we're actually doing."B   However, analysts says the issue of cuts in foreign aid is  noBlonger a question of "if", but just one of how much and how deep.   ---------------   ---------------?   FRANCE RE-ESTABLISHED FULL DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS WITH RWANDA   LARRY JAMES	   PARIS<   France has re-established full diplomatic relations withARwanda and will soon resume economic and humanitarian aid to the@Central African nation.  The move marks a major shift in French?relations with the former rebels who now hold power in Kigali.=   French cooperation Minister Bernard Debre said France has<decided to elevate the current diplomatic representative to:kigali to the rank of ambassador and will soon resume aid@payments to Rwanda.  He called it a complete overhaul of Frenchpolicy.@   Mr. Debre said the initial aid payments will total some four@million dollars but will likely be increased very soon to aboutBsix and a half million.  Eighty-five tons of educational material>are to be sent as well, with the first shipments scheduled tobegin next Tuesday.:   He made the announcement in a meeting with journalistsThursday night.@   Mr. Debre said the Kigali government has agreed to allow 200Aforeign observers to go to Rwanda to supervise how the aid moneyAis used.  He also said France remains concerned about the returnBof mostly Hutu refugees who fled to neighboring countries fearingBa massacre by the tutsi-led rebels forces which had taken control>in Rwanda.  Mr. Debre said, however, that he believes the new8government has a genuine desire to resolve the problem.@   French relations with the new government in Kigali have been=markedly cool.  Rwanda was not invited to the franco-African?summit in Biarritz last November, the first time since 1975 ithad been left out.>   France has been criticized for its coolness toward the new=government, especially in view of its long-term military and:economic support for the former government blamed for the=genocide that claimed as many as one million live last year.<   Mr. Debre said the French government had no reason to be?ashamed because of its Rwanda policy.  And he said he had told?Rwanda's new leadership it must stop what he called its facileAcriticisms of France.  As he put it, "we are not resuming aid tobe vilified."B   In the past few months, the new Tutsi-dominated government has;accused Paris of trying to destabilize it and of hampering@efforts to bring those responsible for the genocide to justice.   ---------------   ----------------   ISRAELI/PALESTINIAN JOINT PATROLS IN GAZA
   AL PESSIN   GAZA STRIP?   While Israeli and Palestinian negotiators struggle over the>next stage of their peace agreement, hundreds of soldiers andApolicemen from the two sides have been thrust together and asked9to work side-by-side to implement the first stage of theAagreement.  There have been problems.  But officers and soldiers@involved say that, overall, their joint patrols are a startling3success story in the often troubled peace process.A   Information and orders crackle through the two-way radio in aBPalestinian jeep on this joint patrol with the Israeli army.  The@Palestinian police lieutenant and his two young colleagues have>made their rendezvous with their Israeli counterparts and setAoff, with their special orange flags flying, to patrol a stretchBof beach and fruit orchards in southern Gaza.  It is sunny, windy(and, they are pleased to report, quiet.<   They stop for a break along a small pond, with a herd of@camels grazing in the distance.  There is not much conversation@as they stand around with their automatic weapons at the ready,=but one of the Palestinian policemen offers everyone a small<snack, fesh fried felafel balls from a nearby Arab village.B   Israeli Lieutenant Colonel Kobi Michael is co-commander of theBDCO, the District Coordination Office, command post for the jointpatrols. According to Mochael:A   "The joint patrols and the DCO's are the success point of allBthis agreement. Seven or eight months ago, we were enemies.  TheyAtook a share in terrorist activities and we fought them and they>fought us.  And suddenly, we are sitting here together in the@same office, at the same table and we drink coffee together and8we eat together.  It was something very, very unusual.">   The Palestinian co-commander, Colonel Abu El-Farid, in his:identical office 20 meters away, puts it a different way::   Colonel El-Farid says the peace agreement has made the;impossible possible.  He says he never dreamed he would be:working with an Israeli officer, but now, when they go on=inspection tours they ride in the same car, just to prove to<anyone who sees them that they are in this effort together.A   The joint patrols operate in areas shared by Palestinians andAIsraelis following the withdrawal of Israeli troops from most ofBthe Gaza Strip.  They arbitrate disputes between Palestinians and?Israeli settlers and between Israeli troops at checkpoints andBPalestinian civilians who sometimes have trouble getting through.B   The troops involved are constantly being changed, or switching@to different shifts or areas, so relations on patrol are not so<close. But at the command post, both colonels say they haveBdeveloped a unique friendship and a mutual commitment to make theconcept of joint patrols work.=   The Israeli commander, Colonel Michael, puts it this way:?   "We are the same officers in the same place 24 hours a day.BWe are eating together.  We are sleeping together. We are sitting?together a lot of times in his office or in my office.  And we@are talking not only about the work problems.  He asks me about?my daughters and he tells me about his daughters and about hisAfamily.  And with time, we built a very close connection betweenAus. And the friendship and the informal connection between us, I>think causes a very strong mutual commitment between us.  The>relationship here is a very unique relationship.  We are moreAthan colleagues; we share the same aims. And  I think that I can&say that there is a friendship here.">   And that is a startling thing to say about men who were on:opposite sides of a conflict little more than a year ago.?   The friendship between the Israeli and Palestinian officersAwas put to a severe test earlier this month.  There were severalBshooting incidents between Palestinian police and Israeli troops.@   In the most serious three Palestinian policemen were killed.BThe result was that the trust between the soldiers and policemen,8built up over many months, evaporated almost overnight.<   Soldiers on both sides were reluctant to go on the jointBpatrols, fearing the other side would stage an ambush in a remoteBlocation.  Once out on patrol they stayed far from each other and"could no longer work effectively.A   Colonel Michael says he had an emergency meeting with Colonel
El-Farid:=   "We got together to understand that we have here a common<problem.  And Abu Farid and I went out and we made a commonApatrol in Abu El-Farid's vehicle to all the joint patrols and we=joined them and we talked with them and we tried to calm thetension between them."?   After a few days, the situation eased, and the two colonelsAsay it was crucially important to ensure that what they call theAstrongest bridge between the Israeli and Palestinian forces  notbe irreparably damaged.:   Not  everyone is quite so enthusiastic about the joint?patrols. Both Palestinians and Israelis have their complaints.A   Israeli settlers in Gaza worry about having armed Palestinian>police so close by.  They fear that if one of them decides to?attack a settler, his Israeli colleagues might be reluctant to>open fire fast enough.  Some Palestinians in Gaza believe the@joint patrols help extend the Israeli military presence in what(is supposed to be autonomous territory.3   Colonel El-Farid has a response for both sides.B   The colonel says when there are problems the joint patrols are:blamed.  But he says when they actually manage to solve a?dispute, they gain a lot of respect for themselves and for theentire peace process.5   His Israeli counterpart, colonel Michael, agrees:<   "The strongest bridge between the two sides, between the?Israelis and the Palestinian side, are the DCO's and the joint>patrols because after all the crises, and there were a lot of=crises here in eight months, after all the crises, the joint5patrols didn't stop, didn't stop at all.  It works."=   After a morning of work, the two colonels go out to lunch=together.  They leave Israeli and Palestinian communications@officers behind at the command post.  And nearby, men from both<sides put on their flak jackets and sunglasses, sling their:rifles over their shoulders and head out on joint patrol.   ---------------   ----------------.   UN EXTENDS MANDATE OF OBSERVERS IN GEORGIA   ELAINE JOHANSON   UNITED NATIONS<   The United Nations Security Council Thursday unanimously=extended the mandate of 136 military observers in the former<Soviet republic of Georgia until May 15th.  But the councilBexpressed concern over a political stalemate between the Georgian&government and Abkhazian separatists.?   The small group of observers, sent at the urging of Russia,Bwas given another three months.  But the security council said it@would review the entire Georgian situation before two months isBup to see if any progress has been achieved.  The council will beBlooking for movement toward a political settlement and the return7of tens of thousands of refugees displaced by the war.@   Secretary-general Boutros Boutros-Ghali has reported Georgia=is at a standstill.  He told the council there have been few?results of any substance since negotiations on a comprehensive"settlement began over a year ago.>   Mr. Boutros-Ghali also predicted that the intensity of the<present crisis between Russia and the Chechen Republic will<probably distract attention from the Georgian problem.  The8implication is that Moscow is pre-occupied for now with"separatists on its own territory.A   Russia leads a peacekeeping force in Georgia and has played acentral role in negotiations.   ---------------   ---------------:   U.S. HAS SPENT 1-BILLION TO RESTORE HAITIAN GOVERNMENT   JIM TEEPLE	   MIAMIA   According to administration figures released to congress, the=U.S. Government has so far spent nearly a billion dollars toBrestore democratic government to Haiti and house Haitian refugeesat Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.A   According to an administration report the U.S. Government has?so far spent more than seven-hundred-and fifty million dollars@over the past fifteen months to restore president Jean-Bertrand;Aristide to power, and house more than 20-thousand HaitianBrefugees at the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The costs@average out to one-point-eight million dollars a day, with most=going to support the U.S. Military presence in the caribbeannation.B   That amounts to over 100 U.S. Dollars for every man, woman andBchild in Haiti, a country with a population of seven million. The;figures do not include costs for the months of December or	January.<   Between October first and November 30th of last year theBClinton administration spent 346-million dollars on its troops in9Haiti, 173-million dollars to house  Haitian refugees at?Guantanamo Bay, and 116-million dollars on rebuilding  Haiti'sBinfrastructure. According to the report, the U.S. Also spent more>than 68-million dollars to enforce economic sanctions against?Haiti's de-facto rulers who ousted President Aristide in 1991.@   The figures are expected to generate controversy in the U.S.ACongress, now dominated by members of the Republican Party, many,of whom opposed U.S. intervention in Haiti.?   The two committee chairman in the U.S. Congress responsible@for foreign affairs, Senator Jesse Helms of North Carolina, and@Congressman Benjamin Gilman of New York, have reportedly sent a;letter to Secretary of State Warren Christopher asking for?documents which allegedly outline human rights abuses by three>top military advisors to President Aristide.  A congressionalAfact-finding mission will be in  Haiti this weekend to meet with=parliamentary leaders, U.S. Officials and representatives of!private voluntary organizations.?   Even though the United States plans to withdraw half of its<six-thousand troops from  Haiti by mid-march, and shift the?remaining three-thousand to a U.N. force under a U.S. military?commander, the costs associated with rebuilding  Haiti are notexpected to decline.<   The international community has pledged more than half a?billion dollars to rebuild the country's infrastructure but so?far the World Bank has only approved 40-million dollars in new@loans. The United States has pledged 200-million dollars in aidto  Haiti for 1995.B   Much of the U.S. Aid is expected to take the form of insurance?guarantees for U.S. Investors to rebuild their assembly plants?which were closed during the embargo.  Many of those investors<have expressed a reluctance to return to  Haiti, citing theApotential for political instability.  To lure them back, some ofAHaiti's top businessmen are scheduled to arrive in Washington on<Monday to make their case for investing in  Haiti's future.   ---------------   ---------------B   US SENDS MORE TROOPS TO AREA OF KILLING OF AN AMERICAN SOLDIER   DAVID SWAN   PENTAGON?   The U.S. army is sending more troops to the Haitian city ofAGonaives, in the wake of a gunfight Thursday that left a soldierand a Haitian dead.B   Defense officials say an infantry company is going to GonaivesAas a show of strength and an effort to keep things calm. So far,Bthere are no reports of further violence since gunfire erupted ata checkpoint Thursday morning.>   The military says two Haitians in a truck tried to run theBcheckpoint and one of them shot at U.S. troops.  The gunman and aAspecial forces sergeant were killed and another soldier wounded.?This is the first U.S. death by hostile fire since the missionbegan in September.>   State Department spokesman David Johnson says the shooting<does not appear to have been a planned attack on Americans:A   "We don't have any evidence to indicate that the incident wasApremeditated.  An it was just something that happened because ofBthe circumstances at hand.  We believe that the level of violence#in Haiti has certainly gone down."<   The dead Haitian gunman is identified as the owner of an@import-export business in Port-au-Prince.  Officials say he was@also a former army officer but not one of those recently ousted%by President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.   ---------------   ---------------4   NEWEST MEMBERS OF HAITIAN POLICE TRAIN IN CANADA   JOHN PITMAN   WASHINGTONB   The newest members of Haiti's reformed police force are now inAtraining in Canada, with the first recruits set to begin duty in@Haiti sometime next month. Many of the trainees are emigres who.have spent much of their lives outside Haiti.B   Back in August of last year, a call went out to young Haitians>living in Canada and the United States.  It offered a way for?Haitian exiles and expatriates to return home, and perhaps, dosome good.<   About 250 men and women responded to the  Haitian police:force's recruiting announcement.  Ninety-nine cadets were@selected by the Aristide government, and were sent to the Royal=Canadian Mounted Police Academy in Saskatchewan province for=training.  Among other innovations, it is the first time the+Haitian force will include women officers.?   The training program is the product of an agreement betweenACanada's External Affairs Minister, Andre Ouellet, (ooh-yay) and?Haiti's representative in Canada, Emmanuel Ambroise.  A former>victim of police violence himself, 82-year-old representative?Ambroise has said he wants the program to teach the new policeforce "to respect people."?   The program is modeled after the rigorous three month basic8training course given to Canada's own state police, theBmounties."  Cadets learn basic first aid, how to maintain and use=fire arms, and advanced driving techniques.  But the Haitian@cadets must also take classes in international human rights law:and seminars on how police forces operate in a democracy.@   Program coordinator Sergeant Gary Oberg says the courses are%complimented by real-life scenarios:=   "Through those scenarios, they are required to go out andBinvestigate a particular incident.  And where we really get heavy@(what we emphasize) is that the integrity and the rights of the@individual, whether that individual be a witness, a victim or a1suspect, has to be held paramount at all times."B   The cadets say they want the new police force to be completelyAdifferent from the old one, which terrorized the people of Haitifor years.A   Cadet Marlon Dure (doo-ray), who has lived in Florida for the?last 10 years, but whose family still lives in Haiti, says the;cadets are optimistic that their return to Haiti will be apeaceful one:>   "The main thing that I am hoping (is that) we will bring a?change in the country, which the country is basically starving?for.  Teach people to respect the law, follow the law; that isBone of the main things that will definitely bring a change in the>country, you know, we should tell people how to respect otherApeople's rights. Educate the people and tell them if they follow>the law, it will make something positive out of the country."A   The first troop of cadets has already graduated from the RCMP?academy and is preparing to join international police monitors&already in Haiti in the coming weeks.   ---------------   ---------------@   PERRY DOES NOT SEE POSSIBILITY OF A 4TH INDIAN/PAKISTANI WAR   MICHAEL DRUDGE
   NEW DELHIA   U.S. Defense Secretary William Perry says he does not see the=prospects of a fourth war between India and Pakistan despite#their bitter dispute over Kashmir.A   Mister Perry is playing down the chances of a new war between@India and Pakistan despite the often aggressive rhetoric spoken(by political leaders in both countries.A   Mister Perry, who is in India after a visit to Pakistan, said>there is no interest by either government in another war.  He8says both countries are committed to working for peace:B   "I saw no evidence in my visit here of any increased threat ofAa war between India and Pakistan and I would state as clearly as?I can that I do not believe that there is a prospect of such aAwar and I believe both governments are committed to take actionsto avoid that."=   Hindu-led India and Muslim-dominated Pakistan have fought=three wars since 1947, two of them over the disputed Kashmirregion.=   Politicians in both countries routinely issue belligerentBstatements about Kashmir, while bi-lateral talks to work on their*differences have been dormant for a year.@   Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was quoted this week9saying a third war over Kashmir could break out if India8continues to ignore the rights of self-determination ofKashmiris.?   Indian Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao told the most recentAindependence day ceremony that India's unfinished task is to end:Pakistani control over its section of the divided region.@   Defense secretary Perry also is playing down Indian concernsAabout its neighbor China. He says the United States does not seeChina as an aggressor:>   "It does not represent in my judgment a significant threat?either on a global scale or a regional scale. Nor do I believe@the Chinese government has aggressive or offensive intentions."@   India fought a war with China in 1962 over a border dispute.AIndia today always mentions China in arguing against giving up anuclear option.   ---------------   ---------------   INDONESIA/EAST TIMOR TALKS   DAVID BUTLER   BANGKOKB   Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas said Friday the leading?East Timorese independence campaigner in exile can join a U.N."sponsored dialogue on East Timor.A   Foreign Minister Alatas and his Portuguese counterpart agreedBMonday in Geneva to the U.N. sponsored talks among East Timorese.@   After meeting with President Suharto Friday, Mr. Alatas told>reporters Jose Ramos Horta could join the talks so long as he@does not raise political issues.  Mr. Horta is the leading east+Timorese independence fighter not in jail,;   Mr. Alatas said the talks, to be held somewhere outside:Indonesia, will discuss only the issue of reconciliation.B   Foreign Minister Alatas made similar comments after the Geneva8meeting.  Diplomats and other analysts said then it was=unrealistic to think any gathering of informed East Timorese>would not discuss political issues and possible independence.<   Mr. Alatas said the United Nations will not organize the>meeting among East Timorese, but will facilitate it.  He said2details of the meeting have not yet been settled.=   Indonesia invaded the fomer Portuguese colony in 1975 and=annexed it in 1976.  The United Nations has never recognized+Indonesian sovereignty over the territory.A   Portugal maintains the people of the territory should vote inBa referendum about their status.  Indonesia insists East Timor is#and will remain its 27th province.A   Indonesian officials in the past have ridiculed Ramos Horta's)campaign for East Timorese independence.   ---------------   ---------------;   NEW LEADER OF ITALY'S 54TH POST WAR GOVERNMENT SELECTED   PEGGY POLK   ROME@   Italian President Oscar Luigi Scalfaro has named former bankBof Italy director-general Lamberto Dini to form Italy's 54th postAworld war two government. Mr. Dini, an economist and banker with@no formal party affiliation, served as treasury minister in the outgoing Berlusconi government.B   The Italian president announced his choice after a closed-door<meeting with Mr. Dini that lasted for more than 90 minutes.>   Mr. Dini got a vote of confidence from the financial worldBeven before the appointment was official.  The Milan stock market?rallied and the value of the Italian currency, the lira, began@rising from record lows against the German mark on word that he*had been summoned to the Quirinal Palace.9   The 63-year-old economist worked for 20 years for the?International Monetary Fund before becoming the second-highestBofficial at the bank of Italy in 1979.  He left the bank last May3to serve as treasury minister in the government of0multimillionaire businessman Silvio Berlusconi.@   Mr. Berlusconi submitted his resignation December 22nd afterBNorthern League leader Umberto Bossi pulled out of the right-wingAcoalition and co-sponsored a motion of no-confidence against thegovernment.@   Mr. Dini said he would move immediately to form a governmentBof technocrats and seek broad support in parliament.  He said hisAmain goals are to complete electoral and economic reform, and heBmade no mention of the early elections demanded by the Berlusconiforces.   ---------------   ---------------7   KARACHI SHOOTOUT DURING POLICE RAID TO FREE HOSTAGE   JENNIFER GRIFFIN
   ISLAMABAD?   Six political activists have been killed in a shootout with?Pakistani police during an early morning raid Friday to free akidnapped businessman.>   Six members of a Sindhi Nationalist Group were killed in a<shootout, when police in Karachi raided their hideout early:Friday.  The political activists had been holding a local#businessman hostage for five days.B   On Monday, armed gunmen kidnapped 60-year-old Haroon Dada fromAhis office in Karachi and demanded almost 600,000 dollars ransomfrom the businessman's family.<   Friday morning, members of an elite anti-terrorist squad@raided a rented house in Karachi where Mr. Dada was being held.>According to officials who coordinated the rescue, the police@seized automatic weapons, hand grenades, and pistols during theraid.?   The six captors who died in the shootout were identified byApolice as members of a breakaway faction of a Sindhi NationalistAGroup known as Jeay Sindh Qadir Magsi Group.  The group has been?involved in conflicts with the Mohajir Qaumi Movement, or MQM,@which is made up of Muslims who migrated to Pakistan from indiaduring partition in 1947.9   In 1988, members of the Jeay Sindh Qadir Magsi Group,Aincluding the group's leader, were arrested in connection with aAshooting in the southern city of Hyderabad.  Ethnic Mohajirs had=been the target of the attack, in which more than 200 people9died.  The case is still pending in the Pakistan courts.=   Kidnapping for ransom has plagued the country's financialBcapital since 1985.  Analysts say that political groups sometimes3finance their activities by kidnapping for ransom.?   Ethnic, political, and religious violence has paralyzed the>city of Karachi in recent months.  Thursday, four people were<killed in a shooting attack at a Sunni mosque in the city'scentral district.>   Hundreds of worshipers had gathered outside the mosque for?prayers, when the shooting occurred.  Reports said the victims@belonged to the hard-line Sunni group, Sipah-E-Sahaba Pakistan,Aor SSP, which has clashed with minority Shia groups in the past.?   This is the first major attack at a mosque in the new year.>Last year, unrest in Karachi claimed more than 700 lives.  InBDecember alone, 193 people died.  Attacks escalated when the army(withdrew from Karachi in late November.   ---------------   ---------------6   PROTEST AGAINST UPROOTING OF KENYAN CLASH REFUGEES   SONYA LAURENCE GREEN   NAIROBI;   Criticism is mounting against the Kenyan government for9recently uprooting hundreds of ethnic clash victims from>temporary camps and failing to resettle thousands more, yearsBafter they were driven off their land. A group of church leaders,Aaid workers, and human rights activists said Friday that Kenya'sAgovernment has not done nearly enough to help the clash victims.?   Anger and frustration filled the conference room in nairobi=Friday where relief workers, church officials, and legal aidAexperts, members of the ethnic clashes network, gathered to talk3about the problem of Kenya's ethnic clash victims.B   According to conservative estimates, at least 800 Kenyans haveBbeen killed in the clashes, and 300,000 more made homeless in the4past several years.  Some aid workers believe up toBone-half-million Kenyans have been driven from their land, mostly)in Kenya's fertile Rift Valley province.B   Of those, only about one-thousand Kenyans have later been able>to return to their original homes.  The rest have begged helpAfrom relatives, huddled at squalid displaced camp dotted throughAthe country, or vanished into the slums surrounding the capital,Anairobi.  Many are believed to have died from hunger or disease.A   An American priest, father John Kaiser, who worked with clash>victims at a camp in Maela, lays the blame for all the misery?squarely on the Kenyan government, accusing it of practicing aform of ethnic cleansing.;   Kaiser said most of the displaced people are not really?victims of ethnic clashes, but of a larger government purge to=remove some people from their land for political or economic	reasons:?   "What is going wrong is very simply that for many years, inBKenya, the people have been forced off of the land that they have?legally purchased in the Rift Valley area.  And the main agentAbehind that is the government, and the people who've been blamedBfor that are the members of the various ethnic groups but that isAnot true.  There is no great animosity between the Masai and theBKikuyu, or the Nandi and the Luhya, and lets say the Kisi and the?Masai.  It is primarily people in government who want to clear?out people from the Rift Valley, except for their own groups."=   Father Kaiser said the fact that so many people have been4uprooted in the clashes is a "monstrous injustice."=   News of fresh outbreaks of fighting regularly filters in.@This week at least ten Kikuyus were killed by Masai warriors atBMahi Mahiu Village in the western Nakuru district.  That prompted;the U.S. Embassy to urge Kenyan authorities to prevent any&further outbreaks of ethnic violence.A   The forcible removal of about two-thousand clash victims from<the Maela camp during the Christmas holidays has also drawnAcriticism.  About 1,200 of them were resettled on two-and-a-half>acre plots, though the land is too dry to grow maize and beanstaple crops.@   But about 800 others were dumped first at three locations in<central province, then uprooted again and scattered furtherAafield without food, water or shelter, accused by the government?of having  no  rightful claim to any land.  About six-thousand;displaced people remained behind at Maela, and the charity?doctors without borders says it has not been granted access tothose people in need.9   The coordinator of the ethnic clashes network, Irungu?Houghton, said the  Maela resettlement project had been a test?case, but that the botched way in which it was handled has set(back relief efforts by at least a year:B   "Maela gave Kenyans a great deal of hope, that the damage thatBwas done by the ethnic clashes could somehow be resolved in a way:in which people could be resettled and be able to be madeself-sufficient again.":   But Mr. Houghton said that hope was now dashed.  Other9displaced Kenyans have recently been forced to move from;temporary camps in Eldoret and Thassalia, both in the Rift@Valley.  Mr. Houghton said that by dispersing Kenyans with land>titles all over the country, it has made it more difficult tohelp them get justice.   ---------------   ---------------   NEONATAL ETHICS ISSUES   VALERIE GARTSEFF   WASHINGTON,D.C.A   Agonizing questions over medical ethics are being raised over:the rights of parents to make medical decisions for their+premature or severely handicapped infants.B   Ryan Nguyen (pron: Win) was born six weeks premature at SacredBHeart Hospital in Spokane, Washington with severe health problems<including kidney failure and a brain injury. After weeks of;treatment, doctors there decided that Ryan's condition wasAhopeless and that keeping him on life support would only prolongBhis suffering. Ryan's parents disagreed, and in early December, a<hospital in Portland, Oregon agreed to treat baby Ryan. The?baby's mother Darla Nguyen (pron: Win) fought hard to have herinfant's life sustained:>   "It's a relief to know that Ryan is in the hospital," says@Nguyen, "where people care about him and there's a doctor who's=willing to give him a chance and that's all that we wanted.">   The battle over this baby's future illustrates some of theAtough ethical questions facing parents and medical professionals@who work with infants that are premature or have serious health@problems. When should treatment be withdrawn? Who should decide<the infant's fate? Should there be restrictions on how much?society will pay to save an infant's life? What kind of limitsBshould there be on the pain and suffering an infant endures while!undergoing intensive treatments?>   Public debate about ending life has largely focused on theAelderly. But medical advances have enabled physicians to be much>more vigorous in attempting to save the lives of thousands ofBpremature infants born in the U.S. Each year. Also, advocates for?people with disabilities and right to life groups have lobbied<for a federal law that has restricted the right to withholdtreatment.>   According to Dr. Ellen Clayton, a practicing physician and@lawyer who teaches in the medical and law schools at Vanderbilt$University in Nashville, Tennessee:A   "I think one reason we are in this debate is the history thatAled to the enactment of the child abuse protection and treatment?amendment, namely that there was a history in this country of,Bfor instance, not treating children with down's syndrome who have<a variety of medical problems. And we now realize that most=children with down's syndrome have a substantial capacity to<interact with those around them and to function, and we now?acknowledge that those children need to be treated. There are,@however, some conditions that the prognosis is so grim that theAmoral obligation for physicians to provide and parents to assume@the responsibilities of taking care of those children no longer>exist. I think we have a sort of unclear line where that is."@   The national failure to reach consensus was illustrated lastAyear when the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear a case in whichBan appeals court had ordered continued life support of a VirginiaAinfant born in 1992 without most of her brain. The girl's mother;had fought the hospital's efforts to end life support. The?appeals court said such treatment was required even though the8child's doctors thought it was medically inappropriate.>   Cindy Rushton is a neonatal (newborn) intensive care nurse@ethicist at Johns Hopkins University. Rustone says difficultiesAabout deciding when to sustain the lives of severely ill infantsBare largely due to value differences between parents and doctors:?   "In many ways, (medical) professionals approach this from a@scientific rational perspective of trying to gain more concreteAinformation about what the possibilities might be for this child<and trying to define what, in fact, all their problems are.>Parents, I think, approach this from a much more emotional asBwell as contextual viewpoint, that is, they are focused much more@on, 'what does this mean for my child's life, what does it mean9for my family's life, how can I be a good parent in thissituation?' ";   While courts have ruled that medical treatment be in an@infant's best interest, it's clear, as in the Nguyen case, thatBpeople can disagree about what that means. But it's not clear whoBshould have the final decision, parents or physicians. So how canthey come to agree?/   Dr. K.N. Siva (pron: See-vuh ) Subramanian,@(soo-bruh-mahn-ee-un), chief of neonatal medicine at GeorgetownBUniversity, says reaching consensus on these matters is essential4to the future medical care of newborns in the U.S.:A   "(For the) majority of the babies this is not a problem. Over=90 percent of the situations of babies that are born (in theAU.S.) this is not a problem. They are either full-term babies or<pre-term babies who are doing fine. So we are talking aboutAsituations where actually less than ten percent actually hit the?special care nurseries, and even in that, there is only one to>three percent where you reach a situation of needing critical@decision making of this nature. You know, we are really talking?about a very small number. Out of four million babies that areBborn every year in the United States, we are really talking about&probably less than a few dozen cases.B   In an era of health care reform, the need to cut medical costs<also enters the debate over sustaining life. 1993 financial?estimates show that intensive care of newborns costs about two'billion dollars a year across the U.S.@   Therefore, Dr. Subramanian believes that society as a whole,Bas well as parents and doctors, must enter the discussion on when=to sustain the lives of infants with extremely severe health
problems:A   "In those grey areas, it is not purely a medical decision. It7is an ethical decision, and that ethical decision is a?prerogative of not only the physician, but also of the parentsBand of the larger society. So such debates should take place. ForAexample, the state of new york, after public debate, did come up7with a law suggesting that any baby born over 24 weeks>(gestation) and (weighing) 500 grams must be resuscitated. So=that is a product of a discussion of the medical people, the@public at large, which includes the parents and the government.@And it may not be the right decision ten years from now. But at=this point the best we can make with the information we have;keeping the dynamism in mind that the expanding scientific?research giving better opportunity for many of these babies to@survive usefully would make those decisions subject to revisionlater on."@   Doctors Subramanian and Clayton as well as Nurse Rushton are?saddened when conflicts over sustaining treatment for severelyAill infants are so contentious, as in the Ryan Nguyen case. TheyBall say that continued discussion between doctors and parents and>the larger society in these situations is essential if mutualagreement is to occur.   ----------------   ---------------   TWO NEW TELEVISION NETWORKS   BRECK ARDERY   NEW YORKB   Millions of Americans who watch television are being given new;viewing options with the establishment of two new nationalbroadcast networks.>   In the evening of January 11th, the Warner Brothers, or WB#Television Network made its debut.A   Following the inauguration of the WB network by a few days isAthe new United Paramount Network. Both of the networks are owned<by motion picture studios, WB by Warner Brothers and UPN byParamount Pictures.@   Historically, those two studios have been major suppliers ofBtelevision programs for the so-called "major" American television!networks, ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox.?   But later this year, the federal government is scheduled to>change regulations which have barred U.S. television networks@from producing and owning a substantial portion of the programsthey carry.@   Dennis McAlpine, who follows the television business for the@Josepthal, Lyon and Ross Investment Company, says that expectedBchange in regulation is the chief reason that Warner Brothers and0Paramount decided to launch their own networks:B   "This is really a reaction on the part of Paramount and WarnerAto the change in the rules. They are afraid the networks will do=more programming on their own, programming that they own andBcontrol. So, they are trying to make sure they have an outlet for@their own programming. So it is somewhat of a defensive posture&in the case of Paramount and Warner."@   At first, the two new networks have a modest schedule. WB is:offering programming just one night a week. Paramount has@scheduled two nights, including a program named "Voyager" whichAis based on the extremely successful "Star Trek" science fiction?series. The new networks' programs are being aired by existing@television stations not already affiliated with the establishednetworks such as ABC or CBS.A   Although the schedules of the two new television networks areBtiny compared to the seven-day a week offerings of the four majorAcommercial networks, Mr. McAlpine says the new operations shouldnot be dismissed:A   "Really what you have with Warner and Paramount networks is aBcross between typical first-run television syndication and a real<network. So they are not full networks yet, it is a limited<amount of time. But they are following pretty much the sameAblueprint (pattern) that fox established when they started out."=   The Fox network, which began in 1986, was initially givenBlittle chance of success by most analysts. But they turned out to?be wrong. With programs that appeal to young adults, the primeBtarget group of most television advertisers, Fox has become fully+competitive with the three older networks.?   Even before the advent of the Warner Brothers and Paramount>networks, the level of competition in the American television@industry had become more intense. The traditional networks were>not only competing among themselves, they were also competingAagain networks which are delivered on cable television services.BMany of them, such as the CNN news network, the CNBC business and?financial network and the Music Television network, have largeand loyal audiences.B   The two new networks are going after basically the same target=audience that fox, and to a lesser extent ABC, already have.B   Television industry analyst Dennis McAlpine says that leads to>questions about whether the American television audience will=become so fractured that it will be difficult for any of thenetworks to earn a profit:@   "Certainly, if you have a fixed supply of advertising money,>this (the new networks) will split it up into smaller pieces.BBoth the Paramount and Warner networks seem to be reasonably soldAout for their starts, but at pretty low prices. It will fragment
the market."B   The two new networks have both on-the-air and cable televisionBaffiliates and each is available to about 80 percent of the total;television audience in the United States. That is a strong>potential audience. But analysts point out that people do notAreally care what television network they are watching, they care8about the programs they are watching. So most analysts,?especially after being wrong in initial predictions about Fox,?are cautious about the warner brothers and paramount networks.:The American television audience will ultimately make theAdecision, and it may take some time before that choice is clear.   ---------------   ---------------8   PEREZ IN ARGENTINA TRIES TO HEAD OFF TERRORISM FEARS   DAWN MAKINSON   BUENOS AIRESB   Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Perez is trying to allay fears>of another terrorist attack in Argentina.  Mr. Perez met withAArgentine President Carlos Menem, and said Argentina's terrorist?investigations are on the right track.  But, almost six monthsAafter a terrorist bombing destroyed a Jewish community center inBBuenos Aires and killed almost one hundred people, investigationsare at dead ends.B   Under heavy security, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Perez in@Buenos Aires said Friday he feels safe in Argentina.  Mr. Perez5also praised for Argentine terrorist investigations.=   Two men are being held in connection with the most recent=bombing of a Jewish center, but neither appears to have been@directly involved.  Investigators are concentrating on suspects>in neighboring countries, and accusations by the local Jewish@community that government investigators do not want to dig into=local Nazi networks, which is reportedly link to terrorists.;   Meanwhile, recent incidents at Argentine airports, have?highlighted the fact national unidentified ham radio operators>were able to fake air traffic control instructions, and cause6near misses at both local and international airports.@   President Menem admitted poor security such as that provoked@the last bombing, simply because it made Argentina such an easytarget.   ---------------   ---------------?   RUSSIAN PARLIAMENT UNABLE TO TAKE ACTION ON CHECHNYA CRISIS   ANDRE DE NESNERA
   MOSCOW>   The Russian parliament is still considering what course of>action to take in the Chechen conflict. Russian lawmakers are)still bogged down in procedural matters.<   Every day, Russian lawmakers entering the lower house of=parliament, or Duma, have to face irate Muscovites demandingBaction to bring an end to the Chechen conflict.  One elderly lady?Friday urged lawmakers to, in her words, throw out the bums in
the Kremlin.?   However, inside the Duma, lawmakers were unable to take any<concrete action despite the fact that the Chechen crisis is@officially on their agenda.  One veteran observer said the Duma:has become like the old-time Soviet legislature, simply adebating society.A   Most of the Duma's factions, from communists to nationalists,Aoppose the Chechen war.  But earlier this week, its conservativeAmajority rejected a proposal to debate laws that would limit useof the army inside Russia.2   On Friday, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, leader of theBultra-nationalist Liberal-Democratic Party, urged Duma members to@simply end all debate on Chechnya and focus only on legislative<matters.  The vote was defeated, but most lawmakers did notBbother to cast votes.  A Russian journalist said:  "It is amazingAthat at a time when the country is going through a major crisis,Beither Duma members refuse to vote or even do not show up for the	debate."<   During the session, Mr. Zhirinovsky unleashed a virulentAattack on the Russian Independent Television Network, NTV, which@has aired reports critical of President Boris Yeltsin's actions
in Chechnya.;   "I am demanding," said Mr. Zhirinovsky, "that we pass a@proposal asking President Yeltsin to take away the broadcastinglicense granted NTV."<   He accused the network of airing anti-Russian and biasedAreports. Lawmakers rejected the proposal, but again most of themAdid not  cast ballots.  Another Russian journalist said they areBshowing the same fear as the former Soviet-era deputies, they are#afraid to stand up and be counted.?   Russian lawmakers are also expected to debate amendments to9the Russian constitution which would limit the powers of@president Yeltsin and maybe, as one lawmaker said, help prevent:similar conflicts like the one in Chechnya.  However, any?amendment to the Russian constitution would need a two-thirds'@majority of the 450-member Duma, and many lawmakers feel it maybe a nearly impossible task.@   In responding to criticism that the Duma has not done enough:to prevent or limit the Chechen crisis, one lawmaker saidBdefensively, "at least we are trying to talk about it."  He addedBsarcastically that the upper house has not even opened its debate?on the matter.  That debate is expected to begin sometime nextweek.   ---------------   ---------------D   HOUSE TO HOUSE SEARCH IN KIGALI NETS CACHE OF MILITARY EQUIPMENT   ALEX BELIDA
   KIGALI>   Rwandese authorities say they confiscated an assortment of@military equipment during a major security sweep in Kigali thisweek.?   The director of Rwanda's national information office, MajorAWilson Rutayisire, says soldiers seized hand grenades, automatic=weapons, ammunition, and military clothing during Thursday'shouse-to-house searches.;   The major says the equipment could have been hoarded byAsaboteurs linked to Rwanda's ousted hutu-led government.  But he5says it also may have belonged to deserters from theATutsi-dominated Rwandese Patriotic Front, or possibly by bandits5involved in a recent series of carjackings n Kigali.9   The capital was calm Friday, bustling with commercial?activity, and there was no indication of any tension lingering;from the unprecedented military security sweep.  Some U.N.Aofficials had linked the searches to an attack earlier this week<in western Rwanda, along the shores of Lake Kivu, an attack-blamed on soldiers of the ousted government.>   But Major Rutayisire joined top U.N. civilian officials in:downplaying the significance of that incident.  The major>described the attackers as bandits and said former government;forces do not pose a major security threat to Rwanda's new
authorities.A   Several Rwandan fishermen were captured during the attack butAwere all later released unharmed.  A U.N. security report FridayAdisclosed one of the fishermen was sent back with a note warning=that the attackers, who were based in Zaire, would return to=kidnap officials of the new government and wealthy Rwandans.@   The United Nations has dispatched additional troops into the$region where the attack took place.   ---------------   ---------------<   POSSIBLE UN/RWANDA AGREEMENT ON SITE OF WAR CRIMES TRIAL   ALEX BELIDA
   KIGALI?   The U.N. special representative to Rwanda says a compromise>agreement may be near that will allow the trials of suspected@Rwandan war criminals to begin later this year at a location inAfrica.?   U.N. special envoy Shaharyar Khan says that while no formalBdecision has yet been reached, an agreement is very close between<the Rwandan government and the United Nations to select the>northern Tanzanian town of Arusha as the site for the trials.@   In an interview in Kigali, Mr. Khan says the Kenyan capital,=Nairobi, was the other main contender after U.N. and Rwandan4authorities decided to choose a location in Africa.=   Rwanda rejected the U.N.'s original proposal to stage the@trials in The Hague, a European city deemed too far away.  U.N.9officials in turn rejected Rwandan requests to try those@suspected of responsibility for last year's genocide in Kigali.=They said the atmosphere in the Rwandan capital would be tooemotional.@   In the meantime, Mr. Khan says a special prosecutor has been?named to head the actual team that will handle the cases.  The?U.N. envoy says the prosecutor's office will open in Kigali by?the end of this month and formal investigations will get underAway in February.  Mr. Khan believes the judges who will hear theAcases will be in place by June and the first trial could open inthe second half of the year.A   Mr. Khan believes the start of the war crimes process will be@psychologically very important for the Rwandan people.  He saysBthe process has been a slow one.  But he says it is in motion now@and has sent a clear signal to Rwanda's new government that the=international community has not forgotten the massacres thatBclaimed half a million or more lives, mainly members of the tutsiethnic minority.@   Nevertheless, at least one top Rwandan official, speaking on@condition of anonymity, is expressing some skepticism about the9expected decision to hold the trials in Arusha.  In thisBofficial's words, everything that has happened in Arusha has cometo nothing.<   The Tanzanian city is the same site where the Rwandanese9Patriotic Front or RPF reached a peace-and-power sharing@agreement in 1993 with Rwanda's then Hutu-led government.  That=accord was never implemented and its collapse, marked by theAstart of the killings last year, led to renewed fighting and the6eventual ouster of the old hutu-led government by theTutsi-dominated RPF.   ---------------   ---------------.   IRAQ BUILD DAMS TO "DRY OUT" SHITE MUSLIMS   DOUGLAS ROBERTS
   GENEVA9   U.N. officials say small groups of Iraqi refugees are9continuing to cross into Iran, fleeing the marshlands of?southeastern Iraq that have been intentionally devastated in a$campaign by the Baghdad government.@   Iraqi government engineers launched a campaign to dry up theAsoutheastern marshlands after Iraqi government forces put down a>rebellion by Shiite Muslims in nearby districts following the1991 Gulf War.@   Many of the defeated rebels fled into the marshes, and IraqiBengineers subsequently constructed a series of dams to dry up theBentire area.  Experts say that campaign has already significantly9altered the delicate ecological balance of the wetlands.=   U.N. officials estimate that about 50,000 of Iraq's MarshAArabs fled the area in the immediate aftermath of the rebellion,and the exodus has continued.>   At a news briefing here Friday, U.N. high commissioner for?refugees spokeswoman Sylvana Foa said Iraqi refugees have been@crossing into Iranian territory at the rate of 15 to 20 per dayfor the past several weeks:B   "Since June of 1993, we have seen more than 12,000 Marsh Arabs>and Shias from the neighboring towns coming into Iran at thisAarea of Shatt-E-Ali.  It is very difficult for us to get to thisBplace.  It is a sensitive military area, and we have to negotiate:with the Iranian authorities to get in there every time."=   Ms. Foa said the Iranian government this week allowed theBU.N.H.C.R to deliver blankets and plastic sheeting to about 4,000?of the refugees, camped along a dirt road at Shatt-E-Ali, justinside Iranian territory.?   It was the first time the U.N. has been given access to theBarea in more than 18 months.  It is, said one U.N.H.C.R official,Ba rough and remote region, considered highly sensitive by IranianAauthorities because of its proximity to what were the frontlines(during Iran's eight-year war with Iraq.A   The official said the U.N.H.C.R has asked Iran for permission>to send a medical consultant to the border camp to assess the needs of the arriving refugees.=   He said there is a definite danger of malnutrition in the?Iraqi marshlands where water levels are continuing to drop andvegetation is dying out.B   The official described the Marsh Arabs as a tough people.  But<the situation they are facing, he added, is bad and gettingworse.   ---------------   ---------------I   US SAYS RIGHTS IN CHINA HAVE DECLINED SINCE GIVEN MOST FAVORED STATUS   RON PEMSTEIN   STATE DEPARTMENTB   The State Department says China's human rights performance hasBdeteriorated since President Clinton's decision last year to give?China most-favored nation trading status without regard to its9human rights record. The statement was made as Assistant8Secretary of State John Shattuck begins talks in China.B   The State Department says Assistant Secretary Shattuck will beAcontinuing detailed discussions with Chinese officials following9on talks President Clinton and Secretary of State Warren<Christopher have held with their counterparts. These topics<include calling for the release of prisoners of conscience,=medical paroles for prisoners, access to Chinese prisons for?humanitarian organizations and for direct discussions with the9Dalai Lama on Tibetan issues.  Mr. Shattuck will also be3discussing Chinese legal reforms during his talks.>   At the same time, spokesman David Johnson says the Chinese:human rights performance has not improved since President@Clinton's decision last year to grant China most favored nation?trading status without regard to its human rights performance:?   "We believe that frankly, it has deteriorated since the MFN?renewal of last May.  While China has recently hosted the U.N.9rapporteur on religious intolerance and released several@dissidents. It has harassed an imposed harsh sentences on otherAdissidents and more generally done little that would demonstrate:a more serious commitment to universally recognized human	rights.">   At the end of last year, Tong Yi, the assistant to China's?most well known dissident, Wei Jingsheng, was sentenced to two@and half years at hard labor. She had been charged with forging;an official seal on her application to study at New York's?Columbia University.  At least 13 Chinese dissidents have been:given labor camp sentences in recent months.  Mr. Wei was:arrested last year and there is no report about his fate.=   Assistant Secretary Shattuck is expected to inquire about;these cases.  The State Department spokesman has expressedBconfidence bilateral relations with China will not be affected by?the death of senior leader Deng Xiaoping.  Mr. Deng's daughter?has told the New York times her 90-year old father cannot walkand is approaching death.>   Mr. Johnson says Mr. Deng's successors have been in senior?government positions for some years and United States conducts?its relations with this group of leaders. Mr. Johnson says the>United States hopes any change in Chinese leadership will not6interfere with improvement in U.S. Chinese relations.   ---------------   ----------------    UNPROFOR'S FUTURE IN CROATIA   DANIEL YOVICH   SARAJEVO>   U.N. military officials say Croatia's decision to ask U.N.Aforces to leave could adversely affect U.N. peacekeeping effortsin Bosnia-Herzegovina.;   The commander of U.N. forces in Bosnia says if CroatianBauthorities make good on their threat to ask U.N. forces to leave>Croatia, it will seriously complicate peacekeeping efforts inBosnia.B   Lieutenant-General Michael Rose told reporters in Sarajevo theBU.N.'s peacekeeping operations depend upon infrastructure alreadyestablished in Croatia.>   Alternatives may have to be found for the more than 24,000BU.N. peacekeepers that heavily rely on the logistical support and=supply facilities based in Zagreb and other Croatian cities.@   General Rose says he hopes Croatian President Franjo Tudjman=will reconsider his decision not to extend the U.N. militarypresence past March 31st.A   General Rose says that if U.N. troops are forced to leave, he#believes it will be a catastrophe.   ---------------   ---------------6   AUSTRALIAN WAR VETERANS DISPUTE NAME CHANGE VJ DAY   ROBIN POKE   CANBERRAB   Australian war veterans and their representatives have reacted?bitterly to a decision by the government to change the name of@the day marking the end of the war against Japan.  They say theBdecision has been made to avoid further offending a major trading	partner.>   Japan surrendered to the allies on August 14th, 1945. Ever>since, the day has been commemorated in Australia and in many?other countries as Victory Against Japan, or VJ Day.  But, the=Australian government has decided this year to mark the 50th@anniversary of the end of hostilities, on what is being called,#Victory in the Pacific, or VP day.:   The decision has angered veterans of the conflict, and<organizations representing them.  A former president of the@Veteran Services league, Brigadier Alf Garland, has accused the;government of attempting to re-write history.  He says the7official Australian war history refers only to VJ day.A   Brigadier Garland accused the government of being subservient<to Japan, which, he said, will not acknowledge it committed<brutal atrocities against thousands of Australian and other@allied prisoners of war.  He says Japan should accept defeat in@the war, admit its mistakes, and undertake to ensure history isnot repeated.B   But, other groups have been more supportive of the government.BColonel Colin East, of the Royal United Services Institute of New@South Wales, said the decision made sense.  He said it was partAof Australia's diplomatic approach to a former enemy that is nowBa major trading partner.  Colonel East said by continuing to call@the occasion VJ day Australia risked prejudicing major markets.A   Japan is Australia's largest trading partner.  It buys almostAa quarter of Australia's mineral and agricultural exports, while=Japanese products make up 18-percent of Australia's imports.@Total two-way trade is worth 21-billion dollars, with Australia9enjoying a three-point-two-billion dollar trade surplus.@   The government has defended its decision by saying the eventAwill now refer to a region, rather than an individual nation.  A?spokeswoman for Veteran's Affairs Minister Con Sciacca pointedAout Britain will commemorate VE or Victory in Europe day, not VGAor victory against Germany day.  But, the government has invited;neither Japanese nor German representatives to Australia'scommemorations.   ---------------   ---------------,   UN EXTENDS SANCTION RELIEF TO YUGOSLAVIA   ELAINE JOHANSON   UNITED NATIONS@   The Security Council Thursday agreed 14 to nothing to extend<sanctions relief to Yugoslavia for a second 100-day period,ABelgrade's reward for halting military supplies last year to the9Bosnian Serbs.  Russia, looking after Serbian interests,Babstained on the resolution, which also called for tighter border<controls on Yugoslav oil shipments to the Serbs of Croatia.<   The sanctions eased on Yugoslavia are minimal.  BelgradeBairport is open to civilian traffic, ferry service re-established@with Italy and a ban lifted on sporting and cultural exchanges.9But council members hope the incentive will keep SerbianAPresident Slobodan Milosevic engaged in peace efforts.  Belgrade$is under a crippling trade embargo.@   The Bosnian government protested even this limited move.  ItAargued, among other things, that Belgrade still fosters the idea=of a "Greater Serbia" that would unite all the Balkan Serbs.<   Bosnian Ambassador Mohammed Sacirbey accused Belgrade of=having hood-winked (fooled) the international community into@believing that it has given up its ultra-nationalist ambitions:?   "The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Serbia and Montenegro,8should not be allowed in the future to benefit from theAself-serving claim that it is promoting peace with its neighbors?until it recognizes the sovereignity and territorial integrity=of its neighbors, the republic of Bosnia-Herzegovina and the"other former Yugoslav republics."?   However, the resolution the council adopted also recognized=some loopholes in supply routes from Belgrade.  It calls forBstricter controls over refined oil Serbia ships back to the Serbs<of croatia.  U.N. monitors have permitted the transshipment>through Bosnia-Herzegovina for humanitarian reasons.  But theABosnian government is protesting, saying the amount is excessive<and used to support the siege of Muslim enclaves in Bosnia.?   The concern comes with renewed vigor, as Croatian President?Franjo Tudjman announced he wants U.N. peacekeepers out of his=country by this June.  Diplomats fear the Croatian war could<flare up again and Serbia  might be tempted to intervene onbehalf of rebel Serbs.=   Russia last month vetoed a similar measure to control oil=shipments from Belgrade.  It was forced to abstain this timeBbecause a veto would have canceled the easing of sanctions.  Even>so, Russia's ambassador complained that Yugoslavia needs more:incentives and additional sanctions should have come off.   ---------------   ---------------4   CLINTON PROVIDES MEXICO WITH ANOTHER AID PACKAGE   DAVID BORGIDA   WHITE HOUSEA   The Clinton administration has decided to provide Mexico withBanother aid package, this one, made up of loan guarantees to help<Mexico cope with its current financial crisis.  Senior U.S.Aofficials  refused to estimate the value of the loan guarantees,?but news reports estimate the total at between twenty-five andAforty billion dollars. The announcement came at the White House,?after President Clinton discussed the aid plan with Republican&and Democratic Congressional leaders.B   Wednesday President Clinton said he was prepared to do more toAhelp Mexico survive what he called its "short term crisis."  One$day later, the president delivered.A   Clinton spokesman Mike McCurry offered this general statement;endorsed by the administration and the bipartisan group ofcongressional leaders:?   "We agreed that the United States has an important economic:and strategic interest in a stable and prosperous Mexico.AUltimately, the solution to Mexico's economic problems must come@from the people of Mexico, but we are pursuing ways to increase@financial confidence and to encourage further reform in Mexico.BWe agreed to do what is necessary to restore financial confidence8in Mexico without affecting the current budget t home."A   Senior U.S. officials said the loan guarantees are similar to>credit support provided to Israel by the bush administration.;   They described the amount in question as "limited," but@refused to be more specific until the package is fully preparedfor congressional approval.:   On January second, the administration announced it was5providing nine billion of an eighteen billion dollarinternational rescue package.<   The senior U.S. officials told reporters that while theyAbelieve the Mexican economy is fundamentally sound, this current@situation is very serious.  One with considerable experience in@watching financial markets said he had never seen anything likethis situation.A   That's why, he said, the president was presented with anotherproposal to help Mexico.@   President Clinton spoke to Mexican president Ernesto Zedilloabout the latest U.S. steps.=   Aware of the domestic political repercussions another aid;program represents, the senior officials stressed the loan>guarantees are not what he called "a blank check" because theBMexican government reportedly would have to cover the cost of the>guarantees.  He stressed this proposal is not a grant and not
foreign aid.B   But he said with the top congressional leaders agreeing to theBproposal, the administration would work at full speed to win fullBcongressional approval.  Just-confirmed treasury secretary robert-rubin was a key player in crafting the plan.@   The Mexican economy has been in turmoil since the government&devalued the peso December twentieth.   ---------------  ---------------@   SENATOR DODD NAMED TO HEAD THE DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE   DAVID BORGIDA   WHITE HOUSE@   President Clinton has made a long-awaited personnel decision4aimed at bolstering Democratic Party hopes in 1996.>   President Clinton issued a written statement late ThursdayBconfirming widespread news reports that Connecticut Senator ChrisADodd is his selection to head the Democratic National Committee.AIt is a key partisan post, especially given Republican victories0in November's mid-term congressional elections.;   The president describes Senator Dodd as one of the most;"eloquent and effective advocates for children and working=families" in congress, who also has been a leader in foreignpolicy and business issues.?   Senator Dodd will serve as general chairman of the DNC, andBwill maintain his Senate seat.  Under the president's plan, to be?formally  presented to party leaders later this month, veteran;party activist don fowler will serve as national chairman,@responsible for much of the daily work of managing the nationalparty.@   In December, the president began promoting what he calls hisAmiddle class bill of rights, aimed at winning back the political=support of average Americans.  His advisers hope this latest#decision will help in that effort.   ---------------   ---------------7   ALGERIAN FORCES KILL 13 SUSPECTED MUSLIM EXTREMISTS   KIM REID	   CAIRO=   Algerian government forces are reported to have killed atAleast 13 suspected Muslim extremists in the past three days. The@latest incident came Wednesday, when Algerian government forces'killed seven militants in the capital.;   The Algerian News Agency says the seven men were Muslim?guerrillas, hiding in a militant stronghold in the east end of@the capital, Algiers.  An official statement quoted by the news@agency says a number of guns were recovered at the hideout. The9statement says weapons include three pistols stolen from5policemen killed by suspected militants in the area.<   Algerian security forces have gunned down several Muslim>militants in raids over the past few days.  But they were notAable to prevent extremists from killing at least 16 civilians in3two eastern Algerian towns during the same period.B   The killings are part of the three year power struggle betweenBmilitant groups and the military backed government.  The violenceAbegan when the military blocked elections to head off an Islamic@political group's victory.  The Algerian government says 11,000>people have died in the conflict, but western experts say the death toll is closer to 30,000.   ---------------   ---------------   GM STRIKE AVERTED   PAUL FRANCUCH   CHICAGO@   A strike is averted at a key General Motor auto parts plant.=And as Japan's prime minister headed home after a meeting in@Washington with President Clinton, the U.S. ambassador to Japan=and President Clinton's special trade representative flew toADetroit to talk with automobile company executives about ways to'sell more American-made cars in Japan.@   While a meeting between President Clinton and Japanese Prime:Minister Tomiichi Murayama Wednesday reportedly made some9progress in opening up Japan's market to American goods.A   Mr. Clinton stressed that more must be done in the automotivesector:>   "Further progress must be made, especially in the areas ofBautos and auto parts, which make up the bulk of our trade deficit
with Japan."=   In fact, the automotive sector makes up 60 percent of the;deficit. Japan recently has been buying more American-madeBautomobiles and parts, but the amount pales in comParison to what#the United States buys from Japan.@   Negotiations designed to help open the Japanese market brokeBdown last October when Japan said it would not discuss the matter'under threats of U.S. trade sanctions.B   In an effort to find new ideas to revive the talks, U.S. tradeArepresentative Mickey Kantor and U.S. ambassador to Japan Walter?Mondale went to Detroit Thursday for private meetings with top:auto company executives and trade union leaders.  Several@industry analysts believe the bilateral talks will resume.  The0earliest sanctions would be imposed is October.B   Meanwhile, negotiators for General Motor and the united rubberBworkers union managed to reach tentative agreement late WednesdayAon a new contract covering workers at a key parts plant near theAMidwest city of dayton, ohio.  The plant makes instrument panels>and air bag components.  A strike could have caused shortages@throughout General Motors' North American assembly lines, which@are now running overtime to meet the strong demand for new carsand trucks.=   General Motors, however, faces another strike threat next=Wednesday at a parts plant in the Midwest state of Michigan,4where workers are complaining that their factory is7under-staffed, forcing them to work too much overtime.   ---------------   ---------------@   BAKER CALLS CLINTON TIMID AT HOUSE INT'NL RELATION COMMITTEE   DAVID GOLLUST   U.S. CONGRESS@   The key House International Relations Committee has held its>first policy hearing under Republican control, with testimony>from former U.S. Secretary of State James Baker. Mr. Baker, aBcabinet member in the Republican Reagan and Bush Administrations,@criticized what he called a timid Clinton Administration policyin Central Europe.@   The international relations committee has become a forum run>by Republicans for the first time in 40 years.  And Mr. Baker=used his appearance for sweeping criticism of the democraticAadministration's policy with regard to, among other things, NATO#expansion and the Balkan conflict.=   Mr. Baker said the United States wasted an opportunity toAconsolidate reform and security in Central Europe a year ago, at@the NATO summit, by not extending immediate alliance membership+to Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic.B   The former secretary suggested that the Clinton administration<was hesitant to act because of undue concern about what the@Russian reaction might be.  He said Moscow should not have veto@power over something he said was so important to U.S. interestsand European stability.B   On the Balkans, Mr. Baker was dismissive of calls from membersAof Congress of both parties for a unilateral U.S. lifting of the?arms embargo against the Bosnian government.  Instead, he saidAthe United States should lead an allied push for a formal end to@the embargo in the U.N. Security Council, even if it provokes aRussian veto.<   Mr. Baker also stressed the importance of Macedonia as a>potential Balkans flashpoint, saying NATO should send a clear?message, backed up by a credible threat of force, that it will#not permit the conflict to spread:B   "If this war should spread to places like Macedonia, and thereAis a real risk of that, then you will have a broader Balkan war.=And history teaches us that America cannot abide an unstable>Europe. And we will ultimately be back over there if we get a8broader European war going. And if something happens in@Macedonia, you're going to have Bulgaria and serbia, Macedonia,7Albania, Greece, a whole host of countries, involved.">   Mr. Baker said the rest of NATO should send an unambiguousBsignal to Greece that it will  no  longer tolerate what he called@its "uwarranted and illegal" embargo against Macedonia.  And he@said the Clinton administration should, as he put it, "stop its@toadying" (bowing) to domestic political concerns, and promptly"send a full ambassador to Skopje.@   The former secretary also accused the Clinton White House of>"grievous" policy mis-steps in Somalia and  Haiti, suggesting=that in both cases the United States tried to turn basically>humanitarian interventions into exercises in nation-building.<   The baker criticism did not go unchallenged by committee@democrats.  Virginia Congressman Jim Moran said there was irony;in the Baker remarks, since, in his view, the most notable>feature of Clinton Administration foreign policy has been its4continuity with that of its Republican predecessor.?   California Congressman Tom Lantos said the majority of U.S.Bforeign policy roles attacked by Mr. Baker, notably including the7Somalia intervention, had been initiated by RepublicanBAdministrations.  Mr. Lantos said that what is needed, as the new=Congress begins, is bipartisanship and not shrill posturing.   ---------------   ---------------5   BAKER CRITICIZES U.S./N. KOREAN NUCLEAR AGREEMENT   DAVID GOLLUST   U.S. CONGRESS=   Former Secretary of State James Baker, appearing ThursdayAbefore a congressional committee, sharply criticized the nuclear@accord reached last October between the United States and NorthKorea.A   Mr. Baker's comments came at the first policy hearing held by@the house international relations committee since it came under:Republican control (under the new name).  And he struck a<partisan tone, attacking a number of Clinton administration;policy initiatives, notably the North Korean nuclear deal.9   Under the accord, North Korea is to phase out nuclear>facilities believed part of a weapons program in exchange for9billions of dollars in energy-related aid from the west.A   Mr. Baker flatly stated that he does not think Pyongyang willkeep its part of the deal:@   "My basic problem with the agreement is I do not think their@word is any good.  We have taken their word now to do somethingAthat they promised us in 1991 they were going to do, and we have!given them five years to do it."@   Attacking what he called an Clinton administration flip-flop?on regard to North Korea, Mr. Baker said the agreement sends a>dangerous message to other would-be nuclear states like Iran,Libya and Iraq.8   Administration officials, citing information for the@International Atomic Energy Agency, say North Korea has already?halted activity at the nuclear sites identified in the accord.@The initial aid promised the north under the accord, a shipment7of U.S. oil, is to be delivered in the next few weeks.   ---------------   ---------------%   CAN CHECHNYA BREAK RUSSIA'S BACK?   MAXIM KNIAZKOV   WASHINGTON?   With the Russian military humiliated and bogged down in the=breakaway republic of Chechnya, Kremlin leaders are facing aAtortuous dilemma.  Should Moscow back down from what promises toBbecome an endless and costly quagmire? Or should it press forward>with the military campaign to quash the separatist rebellion?>Leading U.S. experts on Russian affairs say there are no easy:answers to either of those questions.  But they agree theBstumbling Chechen military operation has opened the door to major9problems that go far beyond the restive Caucasus region.B   Bodies of youthful Russian conscripts lying in mud can be seen>along the main thoroughfare in the Chechen capital of Grozny.?Much of the city is strewn with the charred remains of Russian@tanks and armored vehicles destroyed by savvy Chechen fighters.>And Russian servicemen, from generals on down, cuss their own0government and many refuse to fight as ordered.<   To many an outside observer these familiar images of the:month-old war in Chechnya send an unmistakable message of8Russia's weakness.  To Paul Goble, the former top State;Department expert on Soviet nationalities and now a seniorBassociate with the carnegie endowment for international peace, it is a matter of serious concern.<   Globe sees the Chechnya conflict as a sign that powerful?forces that have so drastically altered the eurAsian politicalBlandscape over the last six years may still be at work in Russia:B   "I think we still are very much in the middle of a revolution.8I think we need to recognize with regard to the Russian4Federation that its future is not all that bright."A   As Moscow's offensive into Chechnya becomes ever more brutal,>many in Washington warn of possible dire consequences for the<Russian Federation.  In an article published last week, Jim@Hoagland, the leading foreign policy analyst for the Washington<Post, points out that Russian nationalism appears not to be@"strong enough to hold together a successor state to the Soviet.Union that includes Moscow and the Caucasus."?   Other analysts agree the breakup of federation is possible,@especially since they do not see the Russian military as likely>to emerge as a rallying force.  They say that today's RussianAarmy seems to be just a wisp of the mighty Soviet military giant5that once inspired awe throughout much of the world.=   Years of budgetary cutbacks, neglect, corruption and poor?morale seem to have taken a heavy toll on the former red army,Band its early setbacks in Chechnya were seen by some observers as"a glaring example of its decline.?   But Paul Goble says it is this perception of a weak Russian'army that he finds the most troubling:?   "I'm very frightened that many people are overdrawing these>lessons from Chechnya, especially among Russia's neighbors. I;think anyone in the so-called 'near abroad', in the Baltic?countries, and central Asia, and in Ukraine, should not decide=that the Russian army is so weak that it could never be used=against them and that, therefore, they can go their own way,Aignore Russia's concerns and interests and that they could stand@up and just show Russia their backside, to paraphrase [Russia's@18th century Czar] peter the great...I believe that Mr. Yeltsin=and those around him thought that by coming down hard on the@Chechens that would intimidate others [thinking of independence@from Moscow].  Tragically, they've miscalculated and instead of@intimidating others they've only encouraged these other groups,?who we should remember constitute a total of 20 percent of the>Russian population, to think that they could be next and thatBperhaps they want to seek more radical solutions that any of them$had been thinking about up to now.";   For Mr. Goble and many other experts inside and outside@Russia, the bungled operation in Chechnya raises the specter of=dangerous internal and international instability.  Among the<potential hotbeds of separatism within Russia, they mention@Muslim-populated regions of the northern Caucasus and the Volga;River Basin.  They point to the simmering pro-independence?movement in Tatarstan, the vast oil region east of Moscow that1has already declared itself a "sovereign state.";   Farther to the east, separatist aspirations nurtured by@reawakened ethnic groups or a sheer desire by local politicians<to take control of local wealth are known to thrive in someregions of Siberia.?   Still, it is not the prospect of Russia coming apart at the:seams that Stephen Cohen, professor of Russian studies at>Princeton University in New Jersey, deems the most dangerous:@   "I have the impression that the historic and fragile attempt:to democratize Russia that was begun by [Soviet president<Mikhail] Gorbachev and once continued by [Russian PresidentABoris] Yeltsin is falling apart, that this is probably the death>blow to democracy in Russia.  I hope it isn't, but I think itis...">   Mr. Cohen raises another, and to him more serious, concernabout the Chechen conflict:>   "Let me say one other thing we haven't discussed.  I thinkAit's important for everybody to think about this: If Chechnya isBpart of Russia, then this is a civil war. And if that is true, itBis the first civil war in history ever to take place in a nuclear:country;  in a country that not only has tactical nuclear7weapons, and none of us know where all those so-calledBbattlefield nuclear weapons are, but a country that is laden with>nuclear reactors.  And since civil wars are fought behind theAlines and often involve terrorism, those nuclear reactors cannot?be considered to be safe. And we may have entered new and darkages here.">   Among the more far-reaching consequences experts fear willBresult from the Chechenya crisis is how a seemingly less-powerful<Russia might be viewed by countries along the former Sovietborder.?   Paul Goble, the nationalities expert, points to states like:China, Iran and Turkey that have traditionally feuded and/competed with their mammoth northern neighbor:>   "If the Chinese, the Iranians or the Turks should conclude=that Russia is so weak that they can move in and pick up the<pieces that very well could trigger a third world war.  And;that's why I think it's so important to recognize that theARussian state, even though it is much weaker than it has been in?this century, is still a very powerful entity and that getting=involved at this point on the basis of the Chechen operation>could trigger something much worse. Moreover, there is a viewBthat the Russian army itself is coming apart, which I think couldBbe true, that we could see a collapse of the chain of command. We@could see a variety of military commanders go out on their own,9making deals with local political authorities, a kind ofBwarlordism like we saw in china the 1920s and '30s.  And that too?could lead to disasters.  I hope that people will begin to payBattention to both the continuing strength of the Russian state aswell as its weaknesses."?   Experts say the extent of damage to Russia's world standingAbecause of the Chechnya adventure will largely depend on whether>or not the Kremlin will be able to find a quick and effectiveAsolution to the conflict. But so far, they add, the increasinglyAreclusive President Yeltsin has provided no indication that such!a breakthrough is in the offing.   ---------------   ---------------   ONE DAY IN GROZNY   ELIZABETH ARROTT
   GROZNY;   In Moscow, the war to end Chechnya's three-year-bid forAindependence is being carried out in the name of territorial andAconstitutional integrity.  In Grozny, the Chechen capital, it is@viewed as a final stand against a century-and-a-half of Russiandomination.A   On a square near the center of Grozny, a middle-aged man asksAfor a ride to the edge of the city.  In the car, he pulls out an
envelope.>   He found it this morning, he says, coming into the ChechenBcapital.  Russian soldiers were lying dead on the road, killed by?machine-gun fire from Chechen fighters.  The soldiers' weapons'and documents were gone, the man says.>   But on the shoulder of one young Russian was the envelope.<   The man, a Chechen, opens it, showing there is no letterAinside.  "It is the address," he says, turning the envelope over/to the front, "I used to live on this street."B   The street is called Karl Marx, the town is in central Russia.*The soldier was writing to a woman there.8   Maybe the letter was for his mother, the Chechen man@speculates, or maybe his girlfriend.  The Chechen man's brother>still lives on that street, and he has decided that when some<time passes, maybe a few months, he will contact the woman.0   He wants her to know he found the young man.=   The soldier was based in nearby Vladikavkaz; his name and8military address written on the corner of the envelope.=   He promises to do his best not to cause the woman further@pain. But he is afraid families of the dead are not always told(how their sons or husbands were killed.A   The man runs his finger over the address on the envelope.  HeAsays his heart aches that the soldier died in Chechnya, fighting:in the name of Russia, in the name of this town where he,himself, once lived.>   As he speaks, Russian shells explode nearby.  A relentlessbombardment is underway.B   "I am an average man, an average Chechen," he says.  "I am not:a politician.  There is a Russian president and a Chechen5president, and they are both very far away from me."?   He adds that he is against Russian aggression, but the mostAimportant point, he says, is that the soldier was a human being.=The Chechen man says he, too, was once a soldier in Moscow's?army.  He thinks the men who run the Russian military might be@able to convince others they are doing the right thing.  But he+adds, "I think no soldier likes this war."   He puts the envelope away.   ---------------   ---------------$   OSCE TO SEND MISSION TO CHECHNYA   WAYNE COREY
   VIENNA>   The organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe is=going to send a mission to the breakaway Russian republic of@chechnya.  But, the OSCE will not try to mediate a ceasefire or>peace agreement to stop the fighting between the Russians and
Chechens.B   The OSCE will begin to plan its mission to Chechenya followingBa meeting here to discuss what the organization can and should do#in the breakaway Russian republic.@   Sources say Russia agreed to the mission as long as the OSCEAwould not try to mediate an end of the Chechen conflict.  So, itBwill be largely a fact-finding mission that will explore possible?ways to improve the situation in Chechenya over the long term.B   In a statement after its closed meeting in Vienna on Thursday,Bthe OSCE called for an immediate cessation of hostilities betweenRussian and Chechen forces.B   The statement also called for respect for human rights and for8negotiations on a political settlement of the crisis in@Chechenya. The statement said a political settlement must fully8respect the Russian Federation's territorial integrity.B   An OSCE envoy, who has been in Moscow, told reporters there isAconsiderable confusion about Russian policy in Chechenya because>Russian officials are making contradictory comments about the
fighting.@   By sending a mission to Chechenya, the OSCE will be entering@uncharted territory as it tries to find a more substantive role%for itself in the post cold war era.B   The organization, formerly known as the conference on security<and cooperation in Europe, failed dismally to deal with theBcrisis in Bosnia-Herzegovina at a summit meeting in Budapest lastmonth.=   Summit participants could not agree what to say about the?Bosnian conflict, Europe's worst humanitarian crisis since theBsecond world war. So, the final summit declaration failed to evenmention Bosnia.>   It is still hoped that, by changing what had been called aAconference to an organization, the OSCE will be more influentialthan the CSCE was.A   At this stage, it looks as if the name change is not going to6make any difference.  But, OSCE officials realize theBorganization's future credibility will be very much at stake whenthe mission goes to Chechenya.   ---------------   ---------------3   RED CROSS INCREASE AID TO CIVILIANS IN CHECHNYA   DOUGLAS ROBERTS
   GENEVA?   The International Red Cross is stepping up aid to civilians;caught up in the fighting in Chechnya.  And after repeated<delays, the U.N. high commissioner for refugees has finally=succeeded in dispatching an emergency assessment team to theregion.?   The Red Cross says it was able to deliver emergency medical?supplies this week to the only hospital still operating in the@Chechen capital, Grozny.  But a statement issued from Red Cross>headquarters here Thursday says those with serious wounds are=being evacuated to hospitals in the relative safety of townssouth of the capital.?   The Red Cross now estimates that some 400,000 Chechens have>been displaced by the fighting.  It says most are facing very7difficult  living conditions, with a lack of water and&electricity in freezing temperatures.?   The statement says another convoy with food and other basicAsupplies is enroute to the area, and the Red Cross plans to step3up its assistance program over the next few weeks.=   Meanwhile, a spokesman for the U.N. high commissioner for>refugees says a 10-member team of experts has finally reached=southern Russia to assess the needs of the Chechen refugees.@Russian authorities  repeatedly delayed the mission even though3Moscow requested UNHCR assistance late last month.>   Spokesman Ron Redmond said the U.N. agency hopes to fly anAinitial planeload of relief supplies to the region sometime this	weekend.   ---------------   ---------------2   STRENGTH OF U.S. CRITICISM OF RUSSIA INCREASES   FRANCIS RONALDS   WASHINGTON?   For the first time, the United States has sharply denounced?Russia for violating international agreements in Chechnya, the>breakaway area in the Caucasus mountains which has been underBRussian attack since December 11th.  Spokesmen both in WashingtonBand in Europe have said that planned aid to Russia may be cut off@if the war continues.  In Moscow, there is talk of reorganizingBthe military by requiring the general staff to report directly to=President Boris Yeltsin, rather than through the ministry ofBdefense.  And in Chechnya itself, Dzkokhar Dudayev, leader of the@predominately Muslim republic, has proposed peace negotiations.@   The U.S. State Department has for the first time charged theARussian government with violating an international accord signed@just last month by President Yeltsin in Budapest.  At a meetingAof the organization for security and cooperation in Europe, heldAin the hungarian capital, Russia and the 52 other members of the?OSCE committed themselves to notify other governments of troop>movements of nine-thousand or more soldiers, as well as large:numbers of tanks and other combat vehicles.  Also, member?countries were committed to ease hostilities, create favorableAcondition for peaceful solutions, cooperate in letting in relief9aid and to alleviate civilian suffering.  In the case of?Chechnya, the State Department charged, the Russian governmenthas failed on all counts.6   Zbigniew Brzezinski, a vocal critic of the Clinton?administration's reaction to the Chechnya crisis, has welcomed@the statement, but says the U.S. position should have been made=clear much earlier.  According to Mr. Brzezinski, a national3security adviser to former President Jimmy Carter:B   "I do think that the administration has been delinquent in not>more explicitly stating, early on, to the Russians, that what:they're planning to do in Chechnya was counterproductive,@dangerous, and probably damaging to the east-west relationship.>I think we ought to join the Europeans in condemning what has?happened, making it very clear that this will affect adverselyARussia's relationship with the west, and we ought to endorse the?position of the Russian Democrats who deplore and condemn thiswar."?   In the U.S. Congress, the new chairman of the commission onAsecurity and cooperation in Europe, Republican Congressman Chris?Smith, strongly criticized Moscow for its actions in Chechnya:B   "Human rights abuses have been atrocious.  Many of us who have6been watching this have been very dismayed by our ownAadministration's perspective of calling this an internal affair.AMembers of the United States congress, Democrats and Republicans9alike, are very concerned about the loss of life and the<targeting of civilian populations, orphanages, schools, theAindiscriminate bombing that has occurred.  And it is time to endthis preventable tragedy."A   President Yeltsin has himself criticized the Russian military?for bombing the Chechen capital, Grozny, after he had called aBhalt to the bombing.  This may be a factor in reports from Moscow>that the general staff of the armed forces may be required to:report directly to the president, rather than through theminister of defense.B   Professor Charles Elliott, a specialist on military affairs at=the Sino-Soviet institute of George Washington University in=Washington, says that this would have the effect of making a-scapegoat of Defense Minister Pavel Grachev:@   "This would put Grachev, who is the minister of defense, out<of the loop (shunt him aside).  The chief of staff would no<longer be reporting through him to the president but rather@directly to the president.  Now this, in a sense, might open up:the idea of the minister of defense eventually becoming a&civilian as we have in this country."@   Professor Elliott notes that unlike many other generals, the<chief of the general staff, Mikhail Kolesnikov, has neither=criticized President Yeltsin nor has he defended the actions?taken in Chechnya. Professor Elliott points out that President;Yeltsin has also taken steps to improve his relations withparliament:B   "It is of course very interesting that the two speakers of the:two houses of the legislative body have now been added toBYeltsin's national Security Council structure and obviously, this>is a move of widening his support in the Russian legislature,?which is crucial for him to do. And one of these two speakers,>Shumeiko, has been a person who has been urged as a potential;civilian minister of defense.  So there are lots of thingsswirling around there."A   Economic losses caused by the Chechnya war, Professor ElliottAsays, may make it impossible for the International Monetary Fund;to grant a contemplated six-billion-dollar loan to Russia.A   Elliott notes that damage to oil refineries and oil pipelinesBare serious and that Grozny is a major transportation hub for the'whole oil-rich region of the Caucasus:B   "It's going to cost Russia enormously.  If Yeltsin has to jack=up financial rewards to the military as a part of a price of=continuing to get their support, that plus the huge costs of@rebuilding the city of Grozny and the whole complex down there,<there is really almost no way that they can stay within the?parameters of the budgetary deficit and inflation that the IMF>has set forth.  And if this cannot be done, this is extremely=serious because this is tied in to lots of other foreign aidpackages."?   At a briefing for the foreign press, U.S. Undersecretary ofBState Peter Tarnoff emphasized the great importance to the United2States of maintaining good relations with Russia:;   "The prospect that democratic reform in Russia could be@severely affected by events in that country, whatever they are,Bis of course a very sobering one for the international community,?and we have that very much in mind as we witness the events inAChechnya these days. The United States does not question whetherBChechnya is a part of Russia.  But the U.S.does question the ways?in which this operation have been mounted, the casualties that;have been occasioned by it. And we hope very much that the=Russians and the Chechens can open a dialogue with regard to@improvement in the atmosphere of resolution of the crisis.  AndAthis is a point that we have been making publicly and privately,;including in conversations with the Russians over the pastweeks."=   It still remains to be seen whether President Yeltsin and9Chechen leader Dzhokhar Dudayev can negotiate a mutually2acceptable compromise to end the war in Chechnya.   ---------------   ---------------   COLOMBIAN AIR CRASH   ROGER WILKISON   RIO DE JANEIROB   Search teams have gathered up the remains of the 51 victims of<Wednesday night's air crash in northern Colombia while navy<frogmen have located the black box that is expected to help:determine the cause of the disaster. The only survivor, a@nine-year-old girl, was in intensive care but is out of danger.@   Doctors who treated little Erika Delgado do not know how she5survived the crash of a DC-9 belonging to Colombia's@Intercontinental Airlines.  They think the child was catapulted?out of the plane when its fuselage broke into two and one partAlanded in the swamp where she was found minutes after the crash.>But the little girl, who was in shock when she was discoveredBlying on a bed of water plants, told one of her rescuers that her;mother had thrown her out one of the windows of the plane.A   Investigators hope the black box that was found in the middle?of the swamp will reveal clues to the cause of the crash.  TheAblack box contains recordings of conversations between the pilotAand ground controllers as well as other technical data that will9be useful in determining just what happened to the DC-9.;Colombian authorities have asked the U.S. Federal Aviation4Administration for help in analyzing the black box.A   Colombian civil aviation officials said Thursday the aircraftBwas in perfect condition,and that the pilot did not notify ground=controllers of any troubles.  The aircraft, on a flight fromABogota, had just begun its descent into Cartagena, on Colombia's@north coast, when, according to witnesses, it lost altitude andfell to the  ground.?   Relatives of the victims wondered why the plane's departure@from bogota was postponed for six hours and suggested the delayAmay have been due to a mechanical failure.  But Intercontinental<officials said the delay was due to bad weather at Bogota's	airport.@   Search teams made up of civil defense and Red Cross workers,=aided by farmers and fishermen from the area where the planeBcrashed, located the remains of all of the victims, including the@parents and brother of Erika Delgado.  Some bodies were withoutBheads or limbs and were beyond recognition, so technicians at the9makeshift morgue that was set up at a sports facility in=Cartagena are using fingerprint technology to identify them.<   It was Colombia's worst aircrash since May, 1993, when a>Boeing 727 belonging to Sam Airlines smashed into a mountain,killing all 132 people aboard.   ---------------   ---------------C   SOME CONGRESS MEMBERS FIND COMMITTEE AND STAFF CUTS DIFFICULT\\   JIM MALONE
   SENATE@   The new Republican-controlled U.S. Congress has made cutting?the federal budget a top priority in the early days of the new<congressional session.  Lawmakers have begun the process of?cutting their own staffs and committees. Actually implementing;the cuts is proving to be more difficult than some members
expected.@   Take the case of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Its@annual budget of five and one-half million dollars is minuscule@in comparison to the billions of dollars Congress must cut over:the next few years to balance the budget.  But all senate?committees are under orders to cut their budgets by 15 percentBthis year, even though members of the foreign relations committee>complain that they voluntarily cut their budget by 16 percentAlast year, when most other senate committees cut nothing at all.A   Democrat John Kerry says he understands the public demand for?budget cuts heard in the last election, but he warns lawmakers>not to rush to cut at the risk of undermining the work of allsenate committees:?   "We all understand what the public wants (budget cuts). But:the public also wants a good work product.  The public is?well-served, and dollars cut (from the committee's budget) arenot always dollars saved."?   At their opening hearing, senators on the foreign relations@committee spent nearly two hours on how they should address the>request from the senate rules committee for a 15 percent cut.B   At one point, committee members agreed they would propose that+their budget be accepted without any cuts.B   The committee's Republican staff director, former navy admiral@James Nance, thought he had an agreement until he was overruled@by committee chairman Jesse Helms who thought it might not look>too good if the conservative Republican head of the committee/appeared to be avoiding any budget cuts at allA   Nance said, "we (Senate Foreign Relations Committee) can send?in our proposal (for a budget cut) in this afternoon with zero>cuts (proposed).  And then make them (Senate Rules Committee)Bprove that we should come down in some manner (lose some funding)@and contribute to this eight million (dollars which must be cutBin total from all Senate committees), or  will do anything that Iam directed to do."?   Helms responded with, " I do not believe I want to do that.5(Laughter) that rubs against my conservative blood."B   After more debate and votes, it became clear the committee wasBunclear on how to proceed.  They know that more cuts in committee;staff are inevitable, but they still want to find a way to:minimize the impact.  This process is taking place within9virtually every Senate and House committee in the entire
congress.8   Finally, Democrat Dianne Feinstein, who narrowly wonAreelection in California in November, warned her colleagues thatBthey must be prepared to accept their fair share of cuts and makethe best of it:B   "We ought to set a figure based on what enables this committeeAto operate correctly, and present and then be able to defend it.AAnd if the view is that it is an eight percent, a ten percent or@a twelve percent cut, we ought to face up to it and let us justdo it."B   The committee finally agreed to offer a five-percent reduction@with the knowledge it will likely be more.  Those who were most=adamant in insisting on some form of budget cut included, in=addition to Senator Feinstein, two Republican members of the=committee who won election to the Senate last November, Fred=Thompson of Tennessee and Craig Thomas of Wyoming.  Both menBpledged in their campaigns to fight for spending reductions, both inside and outside of congress.>   But the lengthy debate within the senate foreign relations@committee on how much to cut demonstrates on a small scale just>how difficult it will be for Congress to tackle larger budget@reduction issues like entitlement programs, social spending andgovernment agencies.   ---------------   ---------------/   5 CUBANS WHO HIJACKED BOAT TO CUBA INDICTED   JIM TEEPLE	   MIAMI>   In Miami a federal grand jury has indicted five Cubans who@hijacked a boat to Florida last year. At the same time, federal;authorities have declined to press charges against a Cuban;coastguardsman who allegedly shot and killed a Cuban naval-officer during a separate hijacking attempt.=   In the first case of its kind since 1980 a U.S. Court hasBbrought criminal charges against Cubans for their attempt to flee>to the United States.  The five Cubans have been charged with=interstate transportation of stolen property for hijacking aBfishing boat after it left from the abandoned port of El Morillo,A100-kilometers east of Havana, last August and sailing it to keyBWest Florida.  The hijacking occurred in international waters and;the Cubans were arrested when they docked in Florida.  The<three-man crew on the boat chose to return to Cuba.  Willie=Fernandez, is special counsel to the U.S. Attorney in Miami.:   Fernandez says the case is intended to send a message:?   "The United States will not condone violence in any manner,=and therefore this is the type of message that you send thatBviolence is not going to be tolerated. Two, it sends a message to?people that there is a legal way to immigrate from Cuba to the?United States.  And third it was a prosecutable case.  It is aAcase where the evidence supports the charges that were filed and?we can prove, what the government contends which is that therewas a crime committed."B   The case is the first of its kind since 1980 when three Cubans?were found not guilty of similar charges. The indictments come@just a week before the United States and Cuba are due to resume<talks in New York, to review compliance with an immigrationBagreement signed last September which stopped a massive exodus ofACubans.  Part of that agreement calls for both countries to takeAmeasures to stop hijackings of boats and aircraft.  However U.S.BProsecutors deny any connection between the immigration talks andBthe indictments.  They say their case has been in preparation for<nearly six months, and is not intended to coincide with the?negotiations.  The indictments are being criticized in Miami'sCuban exile community.A   Ninoska Perez is a spokesperson for the strongly anti-Castro,$Cuban-American National Foundation:>   "Now all of sudden they are trying to try these people forBleaving Cuba and fleeing a dictatorship.  That's the hard part to>understand.  And if they are doing this before going into the7talks with Cuba, to try in some form appease the Cuban<government, let me tell you the United States will still be?facing the same problem tomorrow because they are not going to@the solution or the root of the problem which is Fidel Castro."B   In a separate development U.S. Prosecutors announced they will6not file charges against Cuban coastguardsman, Leonel=Macias-Gonzales, who allegedly shot and killed a Cuban naval@officer during a separate boat hijacking in the Port of Mariel.?The prosecutors say they do not have enough evidence to charge;Mr. Macias-Gonzales for either the alleged shooting or the?hijacking which occurred inside Cuba's territorial waters over2which U.S. Authorities have no jurisdiction.  Mr.>Macias-Gonzales, remains in detention in Miami on immigration-charges, awaiting a hearing on February 1st.   ---------------   ---------------   DEREGULATING EDUCATION
   DON HENRY   WASHINGTONB   The new House of Representatives has begun hearings on federal=education policy.  State and local leaders urged the federal?government to stop tying up education reform with bureaucratic
red tape.<   The House Education Committee's new chairman, Republican@William Goodling, says the goal of education policy hearings isAto identify ways in which the federal government can help reformand improve American schools.B   In a written opening statement, he said many federal education?programs have not produced the desired benefits, and he either%wants to revise them or repeal them.=   According to state and local government witnesses, repeal!would be the more likely course.A   Robert Schundler, mayor of Jersey City, (in the eastern state=of) New Jersey, declared that the federal role in regulatingBeducation should be ended.  In fact, he called for abolishing the;U.S. Department of Education.  But that was in his writtentestimony.A   While sitting next to U.S. education secretary Richard Riley,Bhe deviated from the text and toned down the message, but not his*criticism of federal regulation mandates:>   "Every mandate is the law, it's not optional.  You have to@hire people to enforce it.  And so what you do with all of that@(regulating) is you tie the teachers' hands (prevent them) fromAbeing able to use discretion to best serve the students, and you?take money away from the classroom to hire people to look over>their shoulder and make sure that they're keeping their handstied."?   A similar message wa  delivered by Wisconsin Governor Tommy
Thompson.>   While not calling for abolishing the education department,BThompson said federal red tape must be removed so state and local+leaders can apply funding as they see fit:@   "Right now the federal government provides about six percentAof education funding in this nation and yet, just think of this,?they provide six percent of the funding and yet in our (state)Adepartment of public instruction in madison nearly 50 percent of:the bureaucrats, or the employees of that department, are>federally funded.  Let's get the money down to the people who
need it."A   The governor and the mayor said giving families the chance toBchoose among public and private schools would improve educationalopportunities for everyone.;   Secretary Riley, himself a former governor, agreed that?operation of the schools is a state and local priority, but he<said there is a national role as well.  He said the federal9government can act as a clearinghouse for good ideas and>research.  It supports access to post-secondary education and<generally promotes excellence nationally, including throughremedial programs.@   Secretary Riley said flexibility is desirable, but there has@to be some way to ensure that local districts are using federal)funding for the benefit of all children:@   "I believe in increased flexibility from federal regulationsBand in the broad use of waivers, giving local decision makers the@power and the responsibility to achieve the basics and advanced@skills geared to high standards, in return for accountability."A   He said he supports public school choice and charter schools,9and is not opposed to local experiments with privatizing@education so long as teaching and learning are the focus of the@experiment. But he warned against what he called the siren callof new fads and magic bullets.@   Secretary Riley cautioned that a paradox of education reform?is that going slowly gets you there the fastest.  He said this>does not  imply rigidity or adherence to the old ways, merely>that reformers must keep focused on essentials and not flashydistractions.   ---------------   ---------------7   DOLE MAKES FIRST STEP TO POSSIBLE RUN FOR PRESIDENT   JIM MALONE
   SENATE>   U.S. Senate Majority lEader Bob Dole took a step closer to@officially announcing his candidacy for president Thursday. Mr.@Dole is one of several Republicans positioning themselves for a*possible run for the White House in 1996.=   Senator Dole has officially filed papers with the Federal8Election Commission establishing the Dole for President@Exploratory Committee. The move allows him to begin fundraisingAand is usually the step taken just before a candidate officially$announces a run for the presidency.=   Senator Dole is widely expected to run for the Republican@presidential nomination in 1996 and is seen by many Republicans?as the front-runner because he is much better known than other@potential candidates around the country and because of his long!service to the Republican Party.A   A statement from Senator Dole's office said he would formally@announce his decision on running by late march or april. But by>then, several other Republicans could already be in the race,Aincluding Ssenate rival Phil Gramm of Texas, who is preparing to4officially announce his candidacy in late February.B   Senator Dole has made two previous bids for the White House, a=short-lived campaign in 1980, the year Ronald Reagan won the@presidency, and a more serious effort in 1988, when he lost outto George Bush.<   Some Republicans have questioned whether the 71-year-old?Senate majority leader is too old to be president, but Senator@Dole insists on keeping a vigorous schedule, including numerous@fundraising events around the country for Republican candidatesand officeholders.@   Other Republicans likely to get into the race in addition toBsenator Gramm include former Vice President Dan Quayle and former7Tennessee Governor Lamar Alexander.  Others said to be>considering a bid include former cabinet secretary Jack Kemp,Bformer Secretary of State Jim Baker, conservative commentator Pat?Buchanan, Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, and perhaps a(few Republican state governors as well.   ---------------   ---------------B   EGYPTIAN GRAND MUFTI SAYS ISLAM IS UNFAIRLY PORTRAYED BY MEDIA   LISA MCADAMS   WASHINGTON9   The Grand Mufti of Egypt says Islam is being unfairly<portrayed by western media as supportive of terrorism.  The<Muslim cleric is wrapping up a nearly two-week visit to the=northeastern United States, during which he met with Muslim,@Christian and Jewish leaders. In an address to reporters at theANational Press Club in Washington Thursday, the Grand Mufti said;he is carrying a message of peace and religious tolerance.B   Grand Mufti MMuammad Sayyid Tantawi says he would be the first=to admit that Egypt, like many developing countries, has its;problems, social, economic and religious.  He says that is>understandable when one takes into account the fact Egypt has@been through four wars, the most recent of which ended in 1973.?   But in Mr. Tantawi's view, the primary problem plaguing hisBcountry is one of image.  He says the western media has succeededAin portraying Egypt as repressive and volatile, a land where the=majority of civilians are bent on destruction in the name of.religion, in this case, in the name of islam.A   The Grand Mufti said that misperception, in his view, is whatBbrought him to the United States.  Speaking through a translator,?he said there is something all the world should know about theIslamic faith::   "Islam rejects killing, denounces terrorism, Renounces?terrorism and oppression.  Another purpose of our visit to the;United States is to demonstrate to the American people thetolerance of religions.">   Mr. Tantawi said the highlight of his trip was a 20-minute>visit with Vice-President Al Gore.  The Grand Mufti described?their talks as cordial and productive and said they focused onEgyptian security.A   The Grand Mufti says the answer for Egypt and other countries=struggling to contain growing Islamic fundamentalism lies in;where the blame is placed.  He spoke through a translator:A   "It is absolutely necessary that a crime should be attributed?to the one perpetrating it and  not to the religion with which?one is affiliated.  For example, if the perpetrator is Jewish,=his crime should be attributed to hi and not (all) Judaism."B   In this way, the Grand Mufti says, perhaps an end will come toAthe days of revenge killings and claims and counter-claims.  And1all people, he said, can begin to work together.@   The Grand Mufti's comments come as the list of crimes linkedBto Islamic fundamentalism grows ever longer, crimes like the plotAto bomb several New York landmarks, including the United Nations
building.B   Egyptian Muslim cleric Sheikh Omar Abdel Rakhman and 11 of his:followers are currently on trial in U.S. federal court inBManhattan in connection with that plot.  They face life in prisonif convicted on all charges.B   Mr. Tantawi declined to comment on the trial when asked, other9than to say islam absolutely opposes attacks against the<innocent, carried out under the guise of religion.  He says,religion is about truth and divine justice.   ---------------   ---------------4   FRANCE CALLS FOR EXTENDING TERM OF EU PRESIDENCY   LARRY JAMES	   PARISA   French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe says the European Union's;six-month rotating presidency is too short and needs to be@extended. At a news conference in Brussels, France outlined the>priorities it will pursue during its term as president of the*European Union which began January first.A   Mr. Juppe said he believes that eventually the European unionAwill have to consider strengthening the presidency by prolonging@the mandate.  He said for now, the immediate past, present, and>future EU presidents, Germany, France, and Spain, are working@closely together to ensure greater continuity on policy issues.<But, Mr. Juppe said, this coordination is no substitute forextending the term of office.@   France assumed the presidency from Germany on January first.AMr. Juppe said that like Germany, France has set economic growth4and creating new jobs as top priorities for the EU.9   His comments on the issue, along with those of German@counterpart Klaus Kinkel, were published Thursday in the GermanBdaily Frankfurter Allgemeine and in Le Monde here in Paris.  Both@men stressed they are determined to keep coordinating on policy?issues without trying to impose their ideas on the rest of theEuropean Union.<   There was a hint of some discord, however, here in Paris?Thursday.  It came from British foreign secretary Douglas Hurd;who urged closer cooperation between Britain and France in*shaping the future of the European Union.A   Speaking to the French institute for international relations,BMr. Hurd said both Britain and France reject Germany's federalistBview of Europe.  He said there was a time when France and Germany@were taking the lead in shaping European policy and Britain was>on the sidelines.  He said the development of ideas in Europe5cannot be confined to two states, however important.:   Mr. Hurd also urged France to join Britain in fighting=excessive regulation and intrusions by the EU bureaucracy inABrussels in the affairs of member states.  He said such policieshad alienated many Europeans.   ---------------   ----------------   GERMANY SAYS ITS ECONOMY IS GROWING AGAIN   EVANS HAYS   BONN>   Germany says its economy is growing again, a sign that theBrecession is ending.  According to latest figures, gross domestic@production in western Germany grew last year by two-point-threeBpercent, and in the former communist East Germany the growth ratewas nearly nine percent.>   According to the federal office on statistics, exports andAhousing construction were the key elements in getting the Germaneconomy moving again.2   Exports from western Germany were up by nearlyAseven-and-one-half percent and exports from eastern Germany grewby nearly 23 percent.8   Construction was up throughout the country by nearly<seven-and-one-half percent, with much of the rise coming ineastern Germany.B   Statistics office president Hansguenther Merk said the figures@confirm that Germany's economy is on the mend, after struggling;through a recession that has hit most other industrializednations as well.B   His view was shared earlier in the week by German central bank?president Hans Tietmeyer, who said the recession appears to be:over.  Mr. Tietmeyer said the prospects for the growth toBcontinue are good.  But he said inflation in Germany is still tooAhigh.  He wants to see the figure drop to about two-and-one-half?percent soon.  Mr. Tietmeyer said that figure could be reachedthis month.B   Inflation in Germany at the end of last year was three percent=in the west and three-point-four percent in the east.  Those8figures were down substantially from the previous year.?   Germany's central bank, the Bundesbank, plays a key role in@fighting inflation by setting the main interest rates on loans.=At its last meeting in Frankfurt, the bank's central council>decided to keep interest rates at their present levels.  MostBobservers say this is a sign the bank believes inflation is beingbrought under control.?   The latest news about Europe's biggest economy is generally>good, but not completely.  The federal statistics office says@private consumption, a main component in the recovery, is stilllow.9   And earlier in the week the government announced that9unemployment was up in both western and eastern Germany.B   Experts say the jobless rate is not likely to improve any time5soon.  And private spending is likely to remain low.   ---------------   ---------------1   UN DECIDES NOT TO EASE IRAQI SANCTIONS REVIEW   ELAINE JOHANSON   UNITED NATIONSB   The United Nations Security Council has decided against easing?the sanctions on Iraq that were imposed shortly after the 1990?invasion of Kuwait.  The council Thursday conducted neither ofits bi-monthly reviews.A   Iraq's deputy prime minister, Tariq Aziz, has made a practiceBof being around New York for the 60-day reviews.  But the outcomeAis the same, with the Security Council agreeing that Iraq is not.yet in full compliance with all U.N. demands.;   The United States provided intelligence data to councilBmembers showing that Iraq has failed to return some nine thousand=pieces of military equipment it stole from Kuwait during theAoccupation. U.S. Ambassador Madeleine Albright said some of thatAequipment was used during an Iraqi build-up on the Kuwait border2last October. The incident caused a brief crisis.A   During the last review, the U.S. ambassador submitted another:set of pictures showing that president Saddam Hussein was@building lavish palaces for himself while the Iraqi people were%forced to endure economic suffering.=   The sanctions, including a ban on Iraqi oil sales, remain?intact.  Iraq says the United States is conspiring against it.   ---------------   ---------------?   ISRAEL DENIES IT WILL TAKE DIPLOMATIC ACTIONS AGAINST EGYPT
   AL PESSIN
   JERUSALEM?   Israel has denied a newspaper report that it is considering>taking diplomatic action against Egypt in response to several(Egyptian policies Israel does not like.=   One of Israel's leading newspapers, Ha'Aretz, says policy>planners have presented Foreign Minister Shimon Peres with anBoptions paper, recommending a series of actions Israel might takeagainst Egypt.=   They range from removing talks with the Palestinians from@Cairo to lobbying in Washington against U.S. aid to Egypt.  TheAnewspaper says the internal document also calls for a high-levelBIsraeli-Egyptian dialogue to air Israeli complaints about alleged<Egyptian efforts to slow the Middle East peace process, andAEgypt's public campaign to try to get Israel to sign the nuclearnon-proliferation treaty.A   The newspaper report says Foreign Minister Peres has rejected%suggestions of action against Egypt.B   The foreign ministry will not confirm or deny the existence of?the document, but says its policy planning department produces>many analytical papers and even if the options paper on Egypt;exists, it is not necessarily under serious consideration.@   The ministry issued a statement Thursday by foreign ministerBperes, who is traveling in South America.  Mr. Peres is quoted as?saying the newspaper report "does not reflect Israel's policy":and that Israel wants to base its relations with Egypt on"positive dialogue.":   Ministry spokesman Daniel Shek made a similar comment:=   "We are not in the business of retaliating.  If there are@problems between Egypt and Israel, we always have, and we still@consider we should try and resolve them in a positive sense andAtry and find diplomatic solutions to them.  We are in very close>diplomatic contacts with them.  There is a good and intensive@dialogue with Egypt, and if there are problems, this is the waythey will be resolved.">   Foreign Minister Peres held talks in Egypt last week in an<effort to pursue that strategy.  Mr. Peres is the leader of?Israel's effort to expand official and business relations withArab countries.>   Israeli leaders are concerned that Egypt, Syria, and Saudi:Arabia, after their summit in alexandria in December, are=pressuring other Arab countries not to pursue relations with>Israel until there is an Israel-Syria peace deal.  Israel hasBestablished some level of relations with Morocco and Tunisia, butBthe gulf state of oman has apparently postponed plans to joint hetrend.?   In another sign of Israel-Egypt tension, Egyptian PresidentAHosni Mubarak responded sharply to comments this week by Israeli@prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.  Mr. Rabin spoke of Israel's need?to prepare for a possible future war.  Mr. Mubarak called thatstatement "very serious."=   There have been frequent disagreements between Israel and<Egypt since they made peace 17 years ago.  But these latest;problems are somewhat ironic, with Egypt complaining aboutAJordan's separate peace with Israel, and apparently urging other;nations not  to pursue relations with Israel, which it hasalready done.?   Some reports say Egypt is concerned about being left behind;economically after so many years of limited relations withBIsrael, as business executives from other Arab countries begin to%develop trade with the Jewish state.   ---------------   ---------------2   RABIN VISITS ISRAELI OCCUPIED SOUTHERN LEBANON
   AL PESSIN
   JERUSALEMA   Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin made a rare visit to the4Israeli-occupied part of southern Lebanon Thursday.=   Prime minister Rabin met with Israeli commanders and with@Israel's Lebanese militia allies, the South Lebanon army.  At a<news conference in the Lebanese town of Marjayun, Mr. Rabin@praised cooperation between the militia and the Israeli army in<fighting what he called "terrorism" by the Hezbollah group.A   Fighting has intensified during the last month, and just this<week Israeli forces struck at a Hezbollah base north of theBoccupied area with artillery and air attacks.  Hezbollah launches>several attacks a week against Israeli and South Lebanon army	patrols.A   At his news conference, Mr. Rabin said there will be no peace/between Israel and Lebanon until Syria agrees:=   "So far, we understood from the Americans, the go-between=between Israel and Syria, that Syria does not intend to giveBfreedom to the Lebanese government to negotiate peace freely with	Israel.">   Prime minister Rabin described Israel's relations with its$southern Lebanon allies as "solid."   ---------------   ---------------@   ISRAELI MINISTER HOLDS SECRET MEETINGS WITH PROMINENT SYRIAN
   AL PESSIN
   JERUSALEMB   Israeli media reports say Foreign Minister Shimon Peres held aAsecret meeting this week with a Syrian businessman who has close@ties to the Syrian president. Both the foreign minister and theBministry spokesman do not want to discuss the report, but stoppedshort of denying it.=   Foreign minister Peres is reported to have had the secret>meeting in Paris, but news of it did not surface until he had@traveled on to South America.  Reports from Venezuela quote himAas saying he did not know anything about such a meeting, that heBdoes not have to report on everything he does, and that if he had?something to announce he would announce it.  Mr. Peres is also<quoted as saying he is not sure Syria wants such high-level
contacts.B   Israel has been calling for direct high-level talks with SyriaBfor many months, and particularly since negotiations through U.S.#mediators have become bogged down.=   Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Daniel Shek denied one@report that Mr. Peres had met with the Syrian defense minister,<but would not comment directly on reports of a meeting withbusinessman Otman Hadi:;   "There are meetings that you know about between Israeli<officials and Syrian officials.  That is no secret anymore.-Beyond that, I do not want to go into this."B   In the past, Syrian President Hafez Al-Assad has been reportedAto have gotten angry when news surfaced of talks between Israeli<and Syrian officials, which were supposed to have been keptsecret.   ---------------   --------------->   JAPANESE SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY ON BRINK OF A MAJOR SPLIT   JERRY MCKINNEY	   TOKYO:   Japan's Social Democratic Party, led by Prime MinisterBTomiichi Murayama, is on the brink of a major split, with a groupBmoving toward leaving the party to form a new party. Defection by8a large number of the party members could undermine Mr.AMurayama's coalition with the lIberal Democratic Party and theirsmall ally New Party Sakigake.?   The new democratic league, a group of the social Democratic=Party's right-wing and centrist members, led by former party>chairman, Sadao Yamahana, is working to form a new democraticliberal party.@   Mr. Yamahana says he hopes his planned new party can develop@into the third main force in the nation's political scene.  But<Mr. Yamahana's group has not defined its political goals inspecific terms.@   Prime Minister and Social Democratic Party Chairman Murayama=and his followers agree on forming a new party, but they are>cautious about an early launching.  And, the rift between Mr.'Murayama and Mr. Yamahana has widened.@   For the time being, Mr. Yamahana's group has decided only to:form a new parliamentary group before the next session of!parliament begins, January 20th.?   Supporters of Mr. Murayama are trying to keep the number ofBdefectors to a minimum.  The social Democratic Party is to hold a<party convention in February to discuss how to retain partyunity.A   Observers say the core of the trouble is a long-standing feudAbetween the right and left wings of the social Democratic Party.B   In September, 1993, Mr. Murayama, with the backing of the left@wing, was named the party chairman to replace Mr. Yamahana. The?left wing prevented Wataru Kubo, a leader of the party's right;wing, from assuming the post, thus making the long-running)antagonism between the two groups worse.B   In addition, the left wing, by definition Poles apart from the8liberal Democratic Party, joined hands with the Liberal9Democratic Party or LDP in forming the current coalitiongovernment last june.@   Mr. Yamahana's right wing opposed formation of the coalition=with the LDP.  Mr. Yamahana was the party president when the=Social Democratic Party joined the earlier non LDP coalitionAgovernment led by then Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa in 1993.=   Furthermore, the social Democratic Party has since had toAreverse its stand on such key political issues as the Japan/U.S.1security treaty and Japan's self-defense forces.8   Observers say the shift of policy blurred the socialAdemocratic party's reason for existence and almost wiped out its$chances of surviving in the future.@   Observers also say Mr. Yamahana's right-wing group believes,@if they are to survive under the new election system, they have=no choice but to walk out on the left wing and to form a new:party opposed to the LDP.  The new election system becameeffective in December.@   Mr. Murayama's left-wing group is seen to be seeking to keep=the current coalition government intact as long as possible.   ---------------   ---------------A   WORLD OPINION ROUNDUP ON MEXICO'S ECONOMIC WOES AND U.S. HELP   GARY EDQUIST   WASHINGTON?   President Bill Clinton this week provided some hope for the?beleaguered Mexican economy. Since late December, the peso has@dropped sharply in value, Mexico's stock market, The Bolsa, has;skidded and consumer prices have risen dramatically.  In aAstatement, President Clinton said Mexico's economic problems are@a short term matter and that he has confidence in the future of:the country.  He said Mexico can depend on continued U.S.>support.  Word of that support helped to bolster the peso andBMexican stock market.  But editorial writers around the world are,concerned about Mexico's economic problems.A   Throughout Latin American and into Europe, newspapers cautionBthat the economic difficulties that confront Mexico could spread..From Mexico, the newspaper "Excelsior" warns:?   "It is necessary to point out that Mexico's economic crisis=has gone beyond the country's territorial limits....The U.S.AGovernment's eloquent statements warn that renewed confidence in<Mexico's basic strength is a must in order to 'control' the;Mexican situation, which at the same time could lead to an?unprecedented and serious economic crisis in the rest of Latin
America."@   In Argentina, the business newspaper "El Cronista," comments4about the larger dimension of the Mexican problems:;   "The withdrawal of capital in Latin American markets byBinternational financiers is because they are aware that in MexicoBthere s not only a fiscal problem but also a political problem ofgreat breadth."@   In German, the "Handelsblatt" of Duesseldorf writes that the@Mexican financial crisis resulted in huge losses at other LatinAmerican exchanges:?   "The emerging markets which were highly praised by analysts4and stock brokers...have suddenly been brought intoAdiscredit....Thus the experience has been confirmed again that a>shock of confidence like the crash of the peso can be limited6even less to a 'crisis country' than in the past...."&   In Britain, the "Guardian" writes:A   "As the jitters spread to other Latin American stock markets,AMexico does appear to have one card in its favor.  The threat to<the region is of such dimensions that the United States and@Europe are obliged to stage a bail-out operation.  But there is?little sign of new ideas.  The only medicine... Seems to be to4keep on taking the dollars, and hope for the best."A   In France, the newspaper "La Tribune" takes note of PresidentAClinton's personal intervention in the Mexican economic problem:A   "[President] Clinton's personal intervention is accounted for8by the importance Mexico holds for his administration's?international economic policy.  A peaceful, wealthy Mexico has@become Washington's showcase in its efforts to push forward the>continent's economic integration....  Today, Washington fearsBthat (Mexico) might pull the rest of Latin America into prolongedBfinancial instability, which could affect growth, a real disasterfor the U.S. economy."   ---------------   ---------------/   AGREEMENT ON A MIDDLE EAST DEVELOPMENT BANK   STEPHANIE HO   WASHINGTON@   Representatives from the Middle East, Europe, Asia and North?America have agreed in principle to creating an institution toAfund inter-regional projects in the Middle East. The conclusionsAwere reached today Wednesday, at the end of a two-day meeting onthe issue.8   The meeting examined a proposal for a Middle Eastern?development bank jointly prepared by Egypt, Israel, Jordan andAthe Palestine Liberation Organization.  The two main goals under?consideration were funding inter-regional development projects$and promoting economic cooperation.A   The conclusions presented by one of the hosts of the meeting,?U.S. Undersecretary of State for economic affairs, Joan Spero,?were short on specifics.  However, Ms. Spero said the proposal>discussed this week in Washington calls for a bank that would<provide loans at market rates, co-finance projects with the<private sector, and work closely with international lending@organizations and other regional institutions.  She said a task5force has been charged with working out the details.A   There had been speculation that Saudi Arabia was reluctant to@support a Middle East development bank because it was concerned,about having to bear the brunt of the cost.=   But Undersecretary Spero said no country, including SaudiBArabia, has rejected outright the need for some kind of financingmechanism for the region:@   "All of the parties were very open to the consideration of a?bank.  Of course, everyone is going to want to see what a bankAwill look like.  And that is why this task force is charged withBlooking at capital, at funding and governance and membership, and?you name it, all those things that would have to be developed.>Nobody's going to sign on the dotted line, the Saudis are not;prepared, nor are any of the countries. And we, of course,?ourselves, as I said, would only be supportive of a bank if itAwere appropriately structured.  So, we'll have to wait and see."@   Although the creation of a regional financial institution is@being pursued in tandem with the Middle East peace process, Ms.>Spero said the bank could still go forward even if Israel and-Syria have not yet signed a peace agreement.A   However, in a reference to Arab boycotts of Israel, Ms. Spero@said the task force will consider a recommendation to limit the=activities of countries that maintain any direct or indirecteconomic boycotts:?   "I can tell you that the United States will be pushing veryBstrongly that those who support the peace process have absolutely#no reason to support the boycott.";   The idea of a Middle East development bank was formally?proposed at a summit in casablanca, Morocco last October.  The>task force will begin hammering out more details at its first?working meeting in Washington next month, and will meet once a@month after that.  It will make its final recommendation at the=next economic summit scheduled for October in Amman, Jordan.   ---------------   ---------------%   MONGOLIA STILL LACKS A FREE PRESS   JILL GATHMANN   WASHINGTON>   For five years, Mongolia has called itself a democracy. In@1990, the Mongolian communist party surrendered its monopoly onBpower, and a free government was established.   Still, this smallBnation,  wedged between China and Russia, has yet to embrace what@the west believes is essential to a democracy, a genuinely free@press.  An American writer tries to teach Mongolian journalists$about the benefits of a free press.=   In Mongolia, all of the major news outlets, including theAcountry's one daily newspaper, are controlled by the state. ThisBmeans the government in Ulan Bator also exerts considerable powerover the flow of information.9   Last September, Mr. William Ringle, a retired foreignAcorrespondent for the Gannett News Agency, traveled to Mongolia,Aon a teaching mission sponsored by the Washington-based researchinstitute, The Freedom Forum.?   He says leaders there are debating the fundamental issue of@whether the government should give up its control of the media.8   Mr. Ringle says even though mongolia's old communist<dictatorship has been replaced, nearly all of the country'sAnewspapers remain crippled by the practices of the past.  Access:to information from parliament and government agencies is>limited, and even the means to publish newspapers are scarce.:   The mongolian government owns the country's only daily@newspaper, the "Ardyn Ehr."  Parliament publishes a journal, asAdo the capital city of Ulan Bator, the police department and thecustoms office.;   Mongolian television and radio also are government-run.?   Regardless of this official lock on information, Mr. Ringle1says there is hope for a free press in Mongolia:5   "A tiny group of what we used to call muckrakers,8investigative reporters, has emerged.  Though access toBgovernment sources is, by in large, closed, they manage to dig up8corruption and wrongdoing in high places and report it.@(Although) the Mongolian government doesn't censor copy, and it8doesn't engage in prior restraint, and it doesn't throw>journalists into prison or force them into exile, as does its=great neighbor, china,  these investigative reporters do getAharassed by the prosecutors, and by the courts, and sometimes by
the police."?   Also, Mr. Ringle says three developments could help improvethe media climate in Mongolia.@   A new, two and-a-half million-dollar private printing press,<donated by Denmark, is expected to begin operating in a few@months.  A newly opened press institute is expected to become aAmajor resource for Mongolian writers who lack access to even themost basic reference books.@   But the most hopeful sign of change in the media environment?is the mongolian government's proposed new press law.  A draft?version, which defines the rights and privileges of the media,:has been offered to parliament by President Punsalmaagiyn
Ochirbat.A   Mr. Ringle says many Mongolian journalists are opposed to the;law.  They fear the law could lead to official censorship.=   But others, including the independent "Mongolian Free andADemocratic Journalists Association", contend the law is designedAto free radio and television broadcasts from government control.:   "If you look in the world almanac for a description of;Mongolia's form of government," says Ringle, "it says, 'inBtransition.' That also describes journalism there perfectly.  I'm?optimistic that a genuine free press will win out in mongolia,#though not this year or the next."=   The draft law is scheduled to be considered in parliamentearly this year.   ---------------   ---------------9   CUBAN REFUGEES CALM BEFORE THEIR RETURN TO GUANTANAMO   BILL RODGERS   SAN JOSE=   Cuban refugees at the camps in Panama so far have reacted<calmly to the Clinton administration's decision Thursday to<return them to the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.@   U.S. authorities in Panama say there have been no reports ofBany disturbance or unrest following Thursday's announcement. TheyAsay the news was expected, especially since Panama has ruled out?allowing the Cubans to stay in the country beyond early march.;   A spokeswoman for the U.S. military-run camps, LillianaBLevi-Dutrom, said refugee leaders were told of the decision earlyBThursday before the Clinton administration made its announcement.?   Ms. Levi-Dutrom, who was present, said the camp leaders didnot appear surprised:?   "What I saw was, they were'nt really shocked, sure they weeBdisappointed but they really understand there is nothing they canAdo about it at this point and that even the United States has to)comply with this agreement with Panama.":   However, press reports in recent days have quoted some@refugees as saying they will use any means, including violence,Ato resist being transferred to the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo@Bay, Cuba. They say they view returning to Guantanamo as a step>backward, and believe the world will forget their plight once%they have been returned to the base.@   There are slightly under eight-thousand refugees at the four<camps, which are located along the Panama Canal.  They were@brought to Panama last September after being intercepted at sea;while trying to flee Cuba for the United States.  However,?Panamanian President Ernesto Perez Balladares, who was sharply:criticized for allowing the Cubans into the country, only=permitted them to stay for six months, a period that ends in
early march.>   Last December, rioting broke out at two of the camps after@refugees became frustrated at the lack of progress in resolving>their plight.  Since then, the U.S. troops providing security=have been equipped with riot gear and the number of militaryApersonnel has been increased.  Military spokesmen say there will<be more than 4,500 U.S. troops in panama when the transfers'begin, sometime in the next two weeks.   ---------------   ---------------E   CHICAGO MERCANTILE EXCHANGE SEEKS TO OFFER MEXICAN PESO CONTRACTS   PAUL FRANCUCH   CHICAGO<   Investors worried about the recent volatility in the new@Mexican peso may be able to hedge against those fluctuations by?purchasing contracts for the peso, in advance, at a set price.>Chicago's mercantile exchange has just announced it will seek@U.S. Government approval to offer futures and options contracts
on the peso.>   The Chicago Mercantile Exchange Thursday filed its plan toBtrade the peso with a government regulatory agency, the CommodityFutures Trading Commission.@   Mercantile exchange executive David Goone (eds: "Goon") saysBthe contract was under development for almost a year, long before5the peso's dramatic depreciation against the dollar:?   "After the volatility in the markets and the devaluation of=the peso and eventually the floating of the peso against the?dollar, what we did was we re-evaluated our contract which was7already designed and made sure it still fit the mold."B   Mr. Goone says passage of the NAFTA trade agreement and growth@in business ventures with Mexico led to growing customer demand)for a peso futures and options contract:A   "This is our first foray into what you would call an emerging=market currency.  And there's a very strong demand for this.BThis has been in design for a year, mainly due to our response to0our customers strong demand for this currency.">   The Chicago Mercantile Exchange sold futures contracts for>pesos between 1972 and 1985, but stopped trading the currency?after Mexico's central bank placed restrictions on such trade.B   The Mercantile Exchange says futures and options contracts are=bought by both investors and those involved in international:trade as a method of managing risk and the costs of doing$business in fluctuating currencies.A   The exchange would not speculate if or when its proposed peso?contract will win U.S. federal regulatory agency approval, but@David Goone suspects that with the recent swings in the Mexican>currency's value, the contract will be carefully scrutinized.   ---------------   ---------------#   POPE ARRIVES IN THE PHILIPPINES   MARIE ORARA
   MANILAA   In the Philippines, a welcoming party of five thousand people@greeted Pope John-Paul the second, as he arrived today ThursdayAat the old Manila International Airport. Officials increased the?already-tight security surrounding the papal visit, after bombthreats were received.B   Emotions ran high.  People shouted and cheered when Philippine?President Fidel Ramos and Manila Archbishop Cardinal Jaime Singreeted the pontiff.<   After his brief speech to those on hand, the Pope walked@toward some of the Filipino youths, dressed in native costumes,8as they performed local songs and dances on the tarmac.>   Security also was heavy at the adjacent main internationalAairport, after bomb threats.  Several bombs are reported to have5been discovered in the capital, earlier in the week.=   All commercial flights were delayed.  Police set up check@points on roads leading to both the old and new airports, where@hundreds of nuns and priests lined up to be frisked by securitypolice.>   U.S. embassy officials say bomb threats aimed at U.S. flag0carriers flying the Pacific have been received.A   Reports say Manila police Wednesday arrested a Pakistani withAexplosive materials, religious robes, bibles and pictures of theB74-year-old pontiff.  The reports say the items were recovered atAa building near the church residence where the head of the romanCatholic faith will stay.>   As a part of the increased security, police will frisk and9screen, electronically, all people coming near the Pope,;including cardinals, bishops and top government officials.?   Hundreds of thousands of people lined the streets since the)early morning, waving flags and banners.8   Classes are cancelled.  Banks are closed.  And, manyBbusinesses are short staffed.  President Ramos had encouraged the+population to come out and greet the Pope.>   About 20,000 police and soldiers have been deployed around;Manila to ensure the Pope's safety and help with crowd andtraffic control.,   This is John-Paul's second visit to thisBpredominantly-Catholic country.  Monday, he leaves for Papua, New?Guinea.  Later, he will make stops in Australia and Sri Lanka.   ---------------   ----------------.   RODNEY KING POLICE BEATING SENTENCE UPHELD   ALAN SILVERMAN   LOS ANGELESA   A federal appeals court in San Francisco Thursday re-affirmed?its order to impose longer sentences on the Los Angeles police=officers convicted for the 1991 videotaped beating of RodneyKing.B   Former LAPD officers Laurence Powell and Stacey Koon are aboutBmid-way through the 30-month prison sentences imposed after theirB1993 convictions for violating beating victim Rodney King's civilBrights.  But the appeals court decided last August that the trial=judge was too lenient and Thursday the panel re-affirmed theAruling that, under federal sentencing guidelines, the two should3get more than double those terms, up to 87 months.<   in March 1991, a bystander videotaped LA police officersAclubbing and kicking unarmed arrest suspect Rodney King.  Powell9is seen on the tape inflicting the most blows; Koon, the@supervising sergeant at the scene, was held responsible for his=officers actions.  In April 1992, a state jury acquitted theAofficers of brutality; those verdicts were followed by America's?costliest-ever urban violence.  The federal civil rights trial;followed a year later, resulting in two acquittals but the convictions of Koon and Powell.A   Both men have repeatedly claimed that they are innocent, thatBthey were simply doing their job, dealing with a suspect who they@believed to be under the influence drugs and was not responding=to police orders.  The two former policemen can still appeal+their sentences to the U.S. Supreme Court.   ---------------   ---------------D   DAUGHTER OF MALCOLM X CHARGED PLOT TO MURDER BLACK MUSLIM LEADER   PAUL FRANCUCH   CHICAGO:   Federal prosecutors in the Midwest city of MinneapolisAMinnesota Thursday announced indictments against the daughter of@slain black Muslim leader Malcolm X.  She's charged with trying=to hire someone to kill another black Muslim leader, ChicagoMinister Louis Farrakhan.>   A federal grand jury indicted Malcolm X's daughter, Qbilah=Shabazz (kah-'bee-lah shah-'baaz), on nine counts, includingAusing a telephone in her attempt to hire a killer and with goingBfrom one state to another in furthering that attempt. The federal@government entered the investigation when Ms. Shabazz allegedly,crossed state lines to carry out the crime.A   The indictment states that Ms. Shabazz moved from New York toBMinnesota last September and made a partial payment to the gunman@hired to kill nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.  Minister?Farrakhan has been the subject of controversy in recent years,7notably for derogatory remarks he has made about Jews.9   Qubilah Shabazz surrendered to federal authorities inAMinneapolis on Thursday before the indictments were made public.B   The indictments follow a seven month investigation by the FBI.A   The family of the late Malcolm X, a militant black leader whoBwas an spokesman for black nationalism during the 1960s, has longAsuspected that Louis Farrakhan was involved in the 1965 shooting@death.  Malcolm X had been a member of the Nation of Islam, the@religious organization which minister Farrakhan now heads.  But@Malcolm X was suspended from the group. He later formed a rival<organization called "Muslim Mosques Incorporated."  ViolentAdisputes between the two black Muslim groups has led several law?enforcement authorities to believe the rivalry was a factor inMalcolm X's killing.   ---------------   ---------------.   SOMALIA DEADLINE SET BY AID WORKERS PASSES   SONYA LAURENCE GREEN   NAIROBI<   Somali kidnappers have failed to meet a Thursday eveningAdeadline for the release of a French aid worker they are holdingBhostage.  As a result, several aid agencies working in the Somali?capital, Mogadishu, will halt all non-emergency relief work in$the city to protest the kidnapping.;   The Thursday evening deadline came and went, but Somali?kidnappers still did not release 24-year-old French aid worker2Rudy Marq, who was abducted almost one month ago.?   A consortium of aid agencies working in Mogadishu had given@the kidnappers until Thursday evening to release Mr. Marq.  NowAthe aid agencies say they will suspend all non-emergency work inAthe city, and will not process any new projects.  To protest the?kidnapping, they say their strike will go on until Mr. Marq is
set free.<   Mr. Marq, who works for the charity international actionAagainst hunger, was abducted on December 17th.  He is said to be>in fairly good condition, and has been provided with food and5water, and has written a few letters from captivity.5   But aid officials say they worry about Mr. Mark's;psychological state.  In one of his recent notes, Mr. Marq@desperately wrote "get me out of here" and said that the ransom:of about 52,000 dollars should be paid to his kidnappers.B   Aid workers say paying any ransom would condone extortion, andAcould lead to a wave of kidnappings.  They said aid workers willBbe particularly vulnerable after the last U.N. peacekeepers leaveASomalia by the end of march, and that they must do everything totake a stand against violence.A   The European Union's special envoy to Somalia, Sigurd Illing,:said that suspending some relief work was the only way to>pressure the kidnappers into releasing Mr. Marq, even if some)innocent Somalis inadvertently suffered:A   "I am very much aware that basically we are hitting the wrong7people, as usual, but this is the problem of sanctions:everywhere.  The only justification for a sanction is theBpressure that is being built up. It is not that you hit the right?people, that we know.  But if all that together, I think, will-make, hopefully will really have an impact."?   Mr. Illing said that in the future, Somalis themselves willBhave to ensure the safety of aid workers, if they are to continuehumanitarian work in Somalia.   ---------------   ---------------B   DEBATE OVER IRANIAN OPPOSITION GROUP "THE PEOPLE'S MUJAHIDEEN"   DEBORAH COOPER   WASHINGTON8   A recent U.S. State Department report on Iran's main@opposition group, the People's Mujahideen, has ignited a debateBwithin Washington's foreign policy establishment over U.S. policy@towards Iran.  The report was commissioned by Congress in order<to find out why the State Department continues to label the@Iranian Mujahideen a terrorist group and refuses to talk to its>members.  What the State Department told Congress is that the@Mujahideen kills civilians, is backed by Iraqi president SaddamBHussein, is undemocratic and enjoys virtually no support from the@Iranian people.  However, the drafters of the report refused to;speak with the Mujahideen to hear their side of the story,;despite a request from more than 100 legislators to do so.@   The People's Mujahideen was part of a radical coalition that?ousted the shah of Iran in 1979.  Only later did it break with@the Ayatollahs who came to power.  And since then the group hasAresorted to armed rebellion in an effort to oust the clerics whonow rule Iran.=   But what the State Department charges is that in the late:1970s, as part of the struggle to overthrow the shah, theBMujahideen assassinated at least six American citizens, supported>the takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and the holding ofAmerican hostages.?   The Mujahideen's Washington spokesman, Ali Reza Jafarzadeh,denies the charges:B   "The Iranian resistance has been very clear from the first dayBthat these charges were brought up that these assassinations have8nothing to do with the Iranian resistance. They are notAresponsible for that.  And we even made it very clear that those:assassinations were done by the people who themselves had<victimized the Mujahideen and had killed the leaders of the
Mujahideen."A   Mr. Jafarzadeh also says his group had nothing to do with theBtakeover of the American Embassy in Iran.  And he argues that the=Mujahideen is committed to western-style, secular democracy.AU.S. officials consulted a number of well-known Iranian scholars>in preparing the report for congress.  Eric Hooglund, adjunct@professor at Georgetown University, was among the experts whoseviews were sought out.@   Hooglund says there is no evidence the Mujahideen adheres toany democratic principles:?   "The decision making, I suppose one could say it's based on@the Marxist-Leninist concept of democratic centralism; that is,?you have a party leader, in this case Massud Rajavi, who makes@all decisions. And once a decision is made, all the rest of the:party is suppose to support that.  Now we might call that>democratic centralism. But in truth that is how authoritarian>movements and regimes and so forth have operated for at least<two-thousand years in my knowledge.  It's very much the wayAauthoritarian regimes operate and they still operate that way. "<   Eric Hooglund says no American interests would be served.should U.S. officials speak to the Mujahdeen:A   "I think that it is damaging to the United States interest to?be in league with any group which supports terrorism, with any@group which is so ideologically motivated.  I would like to seeAthe U.S., as a matter of principle, drop its support of all such?groups around the world, not just the Mujahideen.  I would sayAthat it is damaging to U.S. interests economically, politically,7morally to be associated with such ugly, nefarious and>anti-democratic actions as a group like the Mujahideen does."@   Mr. Hooglund argues that the people's Mujahideen of Iran has@been one of the most active terrorist organizations since World?War II.  And he adds that it is unrealistic to assume that the>Iranian resistance movement could ever come to power in Iran:A   "The last time I was in Iran was a year ago and I talked withAIranians at many levels, including several people whose siblings=had been executed for being members of the Mujahideen in theBearly '80s; that is, people who had once been sympathetic to this=organization.  And even among those people who had once been7sympathetic there was a great deal of contempt for the
Mujahideen."A   Marvin Zonis, professor of international political economy at=the University of Chicago, suggests the U.S. position on the?Mujahideen is affected by reports of the resistance movement's>declining popularity in Iran.  But he argues that it would beAvery difficult for anyone to gauge the amount of popular support-within Iran for a group like the Mujahideen:@   "We have a brutal regime (in Iran), and naturally you're notAgoing to get a lot of Iranian public opinion telling you they're8in favor of the Mujahideen when the have killed so manyAsupporters.  The second point is equally valid.  What difference@does it make whether the Mujahideen has supporters or not. ThisBis a group of people who have carried the burden of the organized@opposition to clerical rule since the overthrow of the shah and)they continue to be willing to do that."@   Marvin Zonis points out that Iran has continued to be a very<difficult problem for the United States.  And, he adds that<Washington's policy of dual containment, that is, trying toBisolate both Iran and Iraq, is not going to succeed anytime soon.?   In the meantime, Zonis argues that while the Mujahideen mayBnot be the most desirable alternative to the regime in tehran, itAmay be the only alternative, and as such it certainly should notbe ignored:?   "You can write a report on the Mujahideen and conclude that<they don't adopt your values. You can write a report on the:Mujahideen and do research and conclude that they are not@anyone's favorite opposition group. The point is, however, they>exist, they in many ways parallel the interests of the UnitedAStates and other western states.  And I believe that they should;be incorporated into discussion about the future of Iran."   ---------------   ---------------    U.N. CONVENTION ON LANDMINES   DOUGLAS ROBERTS
   GENEVAA   A group of governmental experts is meeting in Geneva in a bid:to strengthen a U.N. convention on landmines.  The deadly9explosive devices remain the scourge of past and present:battlefields from Cambodia to Afghanistan, from Rwanda to=Nicaragua.  But the International Red Cross says none of the6proposals under discussion in Geneva goes far enough.?   Statistics tell the tale.  Experts estimate some 800 people@are killed every month in landmine explosions around the world.@Thousands more are maimed, many in one-time war zones that have'been at peace for years, even decades.@   Eighteen nations are currently enforcing a moratorium on the@export of anti-personnel landmines.  But Swedish diplomat Johan Molander says it is not enough.B   Mr. Molander heads the inter-governmental committee of experts9currently meeting here, seeking agreement on measures to2strengthen the 1980 U.N. convention on landmines.A   At a news briefing, the Swedish diplomat cited another set of:statistics to illustrate what he calls the catastrophe oflandmines:A   "Now at the present stage, we might have somewhere between 80Amillion and 100-million landmines uncleared throughout the worldBin  some 60 countries.  They are cleared presently at the rate of;something like 100-thousand mines per year, at a unit cost@between 600 and one thousand dollars for clearance;  mines thatAmight have cost only five dollars to produce in the first place.?At the same time, as we clear about 100-thousand mines a year,?new mines are being laid, presently at a rate of two million a?year.  This would mean that humanity is losing the war againstlandmines by a factor of 20."@   Over the past two years, the U.N. has intensified efforts to=clear existing landmines, establishing a trust fund for mine5clearance in countries like Cambodia and Mozambique.A   Meanwhile, a number of countries have proposed a complete ban?on the production and export of anti-personnel landmines.  But>Mr. Molander acknowledges that they are in the minority.  For>many small countries, he says, both developed and developing,=landmines are considered an important element of territorialAdefense, a weapon that can hinder and delay a potential invasionforce.?   Mr. Molander says the Geneva meeting is focusing on what heBterms realistic and feasible steps that could strengthen the 1980convention.8   One proposal calls for landmines to be equipped withAself-destruct devices, to limit their threat to civilians once a:conflict has ended.  Another suggestion would require allAlandmines to be detectable, a measure that would effectively ban>plastic devices widely used, for example, by Soviet forces inAAfghanistan.  A third proposal would bar the export of landmines7to nations that fail to adhere to the U.N. convention.B   Mr. Molander says some delegates here have suggested extendingAthe scope of the convention to cover internal conflicts, as well9as wars between nations.  But that proposal has run intoBopposition from some quarters.  And Mr. Molander is also doubtful=of early agreement on verification and enforcement measures.?   The current Geneva meeting is the last in a series before a=major review conference on the convention scheduled for next@September. But Mr. Molander warns that that conference could be@placed in jeopardy unless more progress is made at the experts'	meeting.?   As the talks got underway here, the International Red CrossBissued a statement highly critical of the work of the conference.@The Red Cross is the only non-governmental organization allowed@to participate in the meetings.  And it has repeatedly appealed8for a total ban on the use, possession, and transfer ofanti-personnel mines.@   Without such a ban, says the Red Cross, none of the measures9under discussion here will significantly reduce civilian@casualties from  landmine explosions.  And each month that goes:by without strict and effective controls, it adds, can be"measured in lost lives and limbs.   ---------------   ---------------   U.S. ECONOMIC CHALLENGES   BRECK ARDERY   NEW YORKA   An economic advisor to President Clinton, Bowman Cutter, saysAthe United States faces some fundamental challenges to sustainedeconomic growth.>   Mr. Cutter gave a positive review of current U.S. economic@conditions.  He said unemployment and inflation are low and the>nation is in a strong international competitive position.  HeBsaid recovering economies in western Europe and Japan should mean-increased demand for U.S. exports this year.=   But Mr. Cutter, who serves as the deputy assistant to the<president for economic policy, said there are some possibleserious long-term problems.:   Mr. Cutter, speaking to a New York meeting of mortgageAbankers, said the future growth of the U.S. economy is dependenton a well-trained labor force:4   "Survey after survey says that our work force isBinsufficiently educated and trained to meet the challenges of the;way the economy is changing.  You can see it in the income;statistics.  It is my view, and more importantly it is the@president's view, that there is  no  area of public policy moreBrequiring of a high and urgent and even a bi-partisan thrust than:a major re-thinking of the way we carry out education andAtraining and provide it throughout the lives of Americans in the
work force.";   Mr. Cutter said another challenge for the future is the,historically low savings rate of Americans:A   "If we do not raise the personal and national savings rate ofBthe country, we will have quite profound problems in terms of theBcapacity of ordinary people to deal with retirement and the otherBexigencies of life. Also, we will continue to have a society that>is more tilted toward consumption than investment than we can.afford to be, given the nature of the world."8   Mr. Cutter argued that the Clinton administration is@attempting to deal with those fundamental economic problems andAhe invited the new Republican Party majority in Congress to jointhe debate.;   During a question period, Mr. Cutter said that, despite?Mexico's current problems, its economy is fundamentally sound.@He said Mexico is facing a short-run liquidity problem.  But heBsaid that should be viewed in the context of confidence about theBbasic economic reforms that Mexico has undertaken during the pastseveral years.   ---------------   ---------------   VIETNAM ECONOMIC CHALLENGES   DAN ROBINSON	   HANOI=   The head of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP);office in Vietnam says further reforms are required if the?country is to sustain the gains made so far. UNDP director Roy:Morey says that despite progress in recent years, Vietnam@institutions and legal procedures need to become more efficient0if it wants to attract more foreign investment.A   Vietnam formally embarked on its open-door policy of Doi Moi,;or Renovation, in 1986.  It took several years for foreignBinvestment to reach its 1994 level of about four-billion dollars.?   Companies continue to move into Vietnam, bringing with themBthe tools required to modernize the country's production methods, and creating thousands of jobs.=   According to official figures, most foreign investment is>centered in Ho Chi Minh City, followed by Hanoi, and Dong Naiprovince in the south.B   Vietnam is also benefiting from international lending from the9International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, and other;institutions made possible after the end of the U.S. trade embargo, February of last year.:   But according to a 1994 report by the U.N. development=program, Vietnam still suffers from legacies of a past rigid>centralized system.  In the words of the report, institutions@function essentially on principles which existed before doi moibegan.:   UNDP director in Hanoi, Roy Morey, says there has beenAremarkable progress but says reforms are urgently needed in four:area:  drafting of laws, public institutions, state-owned)enterprises, and budget and tax matters.B   Boiled down to basics, what he and members of the business and?investment community are saying is that Vietnamese authorities<still have far to go in reducing red tape (bureaucracy) and8eliminating antiquated regulations. According to Morey::   "A frustration with too much red tape and bureaucratic<interference, a lack of transparency, and a lack of a clear@understanding of exactly what the rules of the game are and howAthese are going to be applied, not only in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh;City, but in other parts of the country.  I think there isBsometimes a feeling in the business community that there is not alevel playing field.=   Vietnam's Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet has kept up pressure?aimed at cutting out needless bureaucracy.  Officials echo theBsame line, with one recently urging elimination of the cumbersome*and inefficient administrative apparatus.A   THe UNDP has pointed to what it calls a pattern of initiating?economic policy reforms before making institutional changes to.effectively and efficiently implement policy.<   Vietnamese leaders say they understand the need for more=streamlining and have heard the complaints from the businesscommunity about red tape.?   Roy Morey says the leadership is pragmatic and committed to?widening the already open door.  He says Vietnam also knows itmust compete:<   "The leadership recognizes that Vietnam is in very tightBcompetition being located right in the middle of east Asia.  ThatAVietnam is not the only country that provides good opportunitiesBfor investment and I think they realize they are going to have to(run quickly to catch up with the pack."@   Mr. Morey says Vietnam's leadership knows it must strengthen?political economic, commercial and intellectual links with theBregion and rest of the world in order to meet its own developmentobjectives.:   The United Nations development program has a number of?projects underway in Vietnam, including ones focusing on legaland state enterprise reform.   ---------------   --------------->   AFGHANISTAN COMMANDER BELIEVES THERE IS A CHANCE FOR PEACE   TIM JOHNSTON	   KABULB   Afghan commander Ahmed Shah Masood says he believes that there?is a chance for peace in his war-torn country, but has accused?rival faction leader Gulbaddin Hekmatyar of negotiating in bad6faith and receiving support from outside the country.A   In a rare meeting with reporters, Mr. Masood said he believesAthe current situation in Afghanistan gave the strongest hope for9peace in his war torn country since the overthrow of the)communist regime nearly three years ago.>   The U.N. is trying to negotiate a peaceful solution to theAbitter conflict which is estimated to have killed seven thousandBpeople in Kabul alone last year.  However,  Mr. Masood went on toBaccuse rival faction leader Gulbaddin Hekmatyar of negotiating in?bad faith.  He said Mr. Hekmatyar was negotiating to gain time1and reorganize his forces for another offensive.@   Mr. Masood also claimed Mr. Hekmatyar was being supported by@neighboring countries.  Accusations of outside interference areBfrequently made by the warring factions, both of which would like9to be seen as the true guardians of Afghan independence.@   Mr. Masood went on to say that the government still believes<that a negotiated solution was possible and would work with#anyone trying to achieve that end.   ---------------   ---------------E   NEW STUDIES SHED LIGHT ON HOW HIV SPREASD THROUGH THE BLOODSTREAM   CHRIS SIMKINS   NEW YORK@   Two new studies were released Wednesday which appear to shed<new light on how HIV, the virus that causes aids, is spread?through the bloodstream.   Scientists hope their research will help them find a cure for aids.<   Aids researchers are calling the two new studies a major>scientific advancement in helping them understand how the HIVdevelops into aids.=   At a news conference in New York, doctors said by using a8combination of potent anti-aids drugs they were able to0significantly slow the progress of the disease.<   In the studies, published in the British medical journal="Nature," doctors found by taking three different drugs theyBcould achieve a sharp decline in the reproduction of HIV cells inthe bloodstream.>   Up until now, researchers had thought that people infected@with HIV got aids because their bodies could not produce enough=healthy so-called "CD-4" immune-fighting cells. But now they;believe, based on the new findings, the destruction of the#immune-fighting cells causes aids.?   During the two year study period some 40 patients, who were>suffering from advanced aids symptoms such as pneumonia, were?given several experimental drugs.  In nearly all the cases the1replication of the aids virus cells was blocked.B   Dr. David Ho, is one of the author's of the study and director>of New York City's Aaron Diamond Aids Research Center. Dr. Ho?says the study has given  scientists a better understanding ofBthe correlation between immune-fighting cells and the replicationof HIV cells:?   "The production of healthy "CD-4" cells is not the problem,Ainstead the major problem appears to be the destruction of thoseAcells. And we presume the destruction again is mediated directlyand indirectly by HIV."?   Dr. Ho says by studying the rapid replication of HIV cells,@researchers will stand a better chance of being able to isolate>various strains of the virus.  He calls those observations an?important step in being able to develop new drugs for treating+HIV infected patients and those with aids.   ---------------   ---------------D   STATISTICS SHOW BRAZIL'S INFLATION REDUCED DESPITE RISING PRICES   ROGER WILKISON   RIO DE JANEIRO>   Brazil is supposed to have reduced its inflation rate, butBhuge price increases at the beginning of the year have Brazilians9wondering if the cost of living is really under control.@Unofficial figures show that inflation has dropped to about one>percent a month, but that there is little evidence of that instores and markets.<   President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, who was inaugurated;January first, was elected because he devised a plan whileAserving as finance minister that brought Brazil's inflation rate=down from nearly 50 percent a month in June to two percent a@month in December.  Ever since Brazil's new currency, the real,Btook effect last July, the accumulated rise in the cost of living;has been 25 percent, not bad for a country that registered&27-hundred percent inflation in 1993.@   The problem is that prices have shot up since January first,>and even though president Cardoso promised to prevent what he>called the ghost of hyperinflation from ever showing its ugly<face again, Brazilians are wondering just what is going on.:Figures released this week by the renowned Getulio Vargas=Institute predict January's inflation rate will be under one>percent.  But you would not know it if you go to an appliance!store or an outdoor food market.B   Many Brazilians waited to make purchases until after Christmas?because they thought there would be discounts on items such asBclothing and television sets.  What they found instead were price<increases on almost every item.  Some restaurants in Rio De>Janeiro and Sao Paulo increased their prices up to 70 percent@over the past two weeks.  The price of a coconut on a Rio beachAwent up from a dollar-and-a-half on Christmas day to two dollars and 30 cents on New Year's Day.=   Supermarkets say they are trying to hold the line on food>prices despite paying more to their suppliers.  But a kilo of>meat or chicken costs more today than it did a week ago, just)like the bad old days of hyperinflation.B   Even though the price of fuel has dropped twice since the real>went into effect, freight costs rose an average of 56 percent<since the beginning of the year.  So the people who run the>stalls at rio's open-air food markets increased their prices,;too.  Rio schools increased their prices an average of 139>percent.  Rents, which had been frozen since August, have now9been freed from government controls, and some owners are'demanding up to 500 percent increases.   ---------------   ---------------,   BRITAIN EXPELS RUSSIAN ACCUSED OF SPYING   ANDRE DE NESNERA
   LONDON:   British officials have expelled a London-based Russian@journalist, accusing him of espionage. Intelligence experts say?despite the end of the cold war, the spying trade is thriving.?   Russian television correspondent Alexander Malikov has beenAgiven four weeks to leave Britain. Officials say his presence in?the country is not conducive to the public good for reasons of=national security,  which is diplomatic language for spying.A   In a series of interviews with the British media, Mr. MalikovBrejected espionage charges. He said the decision is unjust and is:not something you would expect in a civilized, democratic	country.A   Intelligence experts here say despite the end of the cold warBand the open rivalry between Moscow and the west, spying, on both=sides, continues.  Professor Donald Cameron Watt, a security9expert at the London School of Economics, says Russia is-expanding its espionage activities overseas.B   Camerin  says this latest expulsion is what he calls a warning*shot across the Russian government's bow:B   "The suggestion has been around for most of last year that the?Russians are stepping up their efforts in Britain from the low9that it had arrived at in the immediate aftermath of theBGorbachev period and that the Soviet, or the former Soviet secret>intelligence services,  were beginning to regain their power,*their push inside the new Russian state."@   That view is shared by another security specialist, lawmaker@Rupert Allason, who writes espionage novels under the pseudonym"Nigel West.":   Allason says there has been no dramatic changes in theAtargeting and objectives of the new Russian intelligence service+which has replaced the old Soviet-era KGB:B   "It is in its same old headquarters. The staff are old-timers,?the identical people that served the communist regime. We know:from the announcement made by the director-general of the>(British) security service that she is very concerned about a@very perceptible increase in the number of professional Russian,intelligence officers stationed in London."=   Many analysts here say if the charges against the Russian8journalist are valid, then he must have been engaged inindustrial espionage.=   Professor Cameron Watt says this would follow a tradition+established years ago by the Soviet Union:B   "The biggest Soviet spy ring ever broken in Britain was broken@inside the royal air force establishment in 1938. It took aboutBsix or seven years to penetrate it and, of course, what they wereAafter were the British bombers, the British fighters, radars andAthings of this sort, the things which enabled Britain to win the@battle of the air against Germany in the first and second worldwars."=   The British intelligence expert says the Russians are now?focusing their attention on such areas as computer technology.BProfessor Cameron watt says since they are desperately behind and@desperately in need of western technological know-how and sinceBthey can not afford to hire or buy it, then they try to steal it.   ---------------   ---------------   CHECHNYA REFUGEES   ELIZABETH ARROTT   SLEPTSKOVSKAYA?   Estimates of refugees from the Chechen war now range in the>hundreds of thousands.  Many have been able to flee to safety@with the help of friends and relatives.  The Russian government;has also sent in relief convoys to bring people out of theBChechen capital.  Grozny still has many people who want to leave.A   In a square south of the presidential palace, a mother stands;with her young daughter.  Around her, there are bombed outAbuildings, fires burned from exploded gas lines.  The mother andher daughter want out.?   The mother, Olga, asks us if it's calm in Sleptskovskaya, a?town across the Chechen border.  As she is speaking, artillery@shells explode.  It's not safe here, she says.  Olga would like>to be one of the tens of thousands of people who have alreadyfled the Chechen war.B   Now, after trying for a month to leave Grozny, she is standing@next to a refugee bus.  It is provided by the English office ofARussians Ministry for Emergency Situations.  The bus has broughtAbread and water for people in the besieged city.  But the man in@charge tells Olga only wounded people are allowed on.  She asks<for a place only for her daughter.  The answer is still no.=   Olga's daughter sees people climbing on the back of a now@empty bread truck.  Let's go, says the little girl.  Olga tellsBher that the truck is only for elderly people.  Her daughter, who=has been on the verge of tears but has yet to let them fall,	insists.>   They are turned away from the truck and come back to speak@again with the man in charge of the bus.  It has been two hours>now, but the man has not found any wounded people to pick up.BWhile Olga and her daughter wait, he lets an elderly woman on thebus.?   They let her go, says Olga, but my daughter cannot.  I knowBthat woman is old, but she has already had a life.  What about my=daughter?  The bus takes off without them, then stops on the>other side of the square where people crowd on.  Half of this@group, which included a young man with a rifle, gets off at the*edge of the city.  They are not refugees.@   The bus heads back to Sleptskovskaya carrying people who did?want to flee the fighting.  They are more comfortable now that@half of the first group is off.  There are several empty seats.   ---------------   ---------------E   CHILDREN'S DEFENSE FUND ATTACK REPUBLICAN "CONTRACT WITH AMERICA"   JOHN PITMAN   WASHINGTONB   A leading U.S. children's advocacy group says Republican plansAto balance the federal budget in part by cutting social programs@will have a devastating effect on the lives of millions of poor@children.  The Children's Defense Fund is calling on Republican;members of Congress to reconsider some of the planned cuts)outlined in the "Contract with America."?   The president of the Children's Defense Fund, Marian WrightBEdelman, uses tough language to describe the impact a proposed 30@percent cut in federal spending would have on America's poorest
children.?   Calling the cuts "reckless" and "callous," Ms. Edelman says<congressional Republicans should not sacrifice the needs of7children in their quest to balance the federal budget:@   "At a time when 15-point-seven million American children are?poor; nine million American children lack health care; tens of@thousands of children are homeless; thousands need vaccinationsAagainst preventable diseases and a classroom (worth) of childrenBis killed every two days by gunfire, the rush to pass massive and=indiscriminate budget cuts will have a devastating effect onchildren."@   Under the Republican plan, the money that currently pays for:federal welfare programs would be reduced and distributed1directly to the states to spend as they see fit.>   The Children's Defense Fund says sending money back to the?states will mean some successful federal programs will be shut7down, and not necessarily restarted by all the states.A   The CDF predicts as many as seven million poor children could>lose free school lunches and up to six million children couldBlose health care coverage, if states choose not to continue theseexpensive programs.@   But Peter Ferara, a senior fellow at the National Center for@Policy Analysis and a supporter of the "contract with America,"Bsays no one who needs welfare will be left out by state programs.A   Ferarra says the so-called "block grant" payments will simply1allow states to customize their welfare systems:?   "They will decide which children will be covered for healthAcare; they will decide what school lunches they will pay for and=what they won't.  And that does not mean any specific personAwon't get any specific benefit. The states will have the freedom:to set up their own systems, and they may set up entirely>different systems. They may offer everybody jobs, or they mayBoffer different kinds of benefits than they offer today. There is8no basis for saying anybody is going to be cut off fromanything."A   Job creation is one welfare reform proposal in the "Contract"Bboth critics and supporters agree on.  CDF president Edelman SaysBprograms designed to keep young people in school, and assure themAjobs when they graduate, are key.  But, she adds, these programs?should not be paid for by cutting other programs that feed and6clothe the very children who would benefit from them.=   The CDF has announced a campaign to encourage Congress to;consider making cuts in other areas of the federal budget,especially defense spending.:   Ms. Edelman agrees that some kind of welfare reform is=necessary, but she says the idea of giving the poor a second=chance is a burden the entire country must continue to bear.   ---------------   ---------------;   CHINA REPORTS DRAMATIC INCREASE IN NUMBER OF CAR THEFTS   DAVID DYAR   BEIJING?   Chinese officials say there has been a dramatic increase in@the number of car thefts in Beijing in the past several months.A   Officials say, in the first nine months of last year, thieves=stole more cars in Beijing than they did in all of the 1993.B   Nearly 900 vehicles were stolen in the city during the period.B   According to the "People's Daily" newspaper, the thefts forced@the city's main insurers of cars and trucks to pay more than 20:million dollars (200 million yuan) in insurance payments.?   The report says many of the stolen cars were luxury models,@such as BMW's, which have begun to appear on the city's streets/in increasing numbers over the past few years.?   According to the newspaper, the thieves are experts who can?steal a car rapidly and are able to quickly sell the vehicles.A   The reports say the cars can be sold easily because of forged4documents and the work of shop mechanics who chance identification on the vehicles.@   The newspaper reports some owners, themselves, conspire with7the thieves to cheat insurance companies out of money.=   According to the reports, many of the vehicles are stolen?because their owners are careless about leaving them unlocked.A   Officials also say parking lot attending are also careless inguarding cars.B   Officials report car thefts in 1993 cost more than 120 milliondollars (one billion yuan).   ---------------   ---------------3   CLINTON EXPRESSES CONFIDENCE IN MEXICO'S FUTURE   DAVID BORGIDA   WHITE HOUSEB   President Clinton, watching Mexico's financial crisis closely,Ais expressing confidence in the nation's long-term future and inBthe government of President Ernesto Zedillo Ponce De Leon.  He ispledging continued U.S. help.@   In a written statement released Wednesday, president Clinton>said he is instructing the treasury department to continue to@take appropriate steps to help Mexico get through what he calls@its short-term pressures and build on the strong foundation foreconomic growth.;   He says if appropriate, he is prepared to authorize the=extension of the maturity of existing U.S. credit to Mexico.@   He also calls on the international financial institutions to3work quickly to support Mexico's economic program.A   Some financial analysts monitoring the Mexican situation have<expressed concern about president Zedillo's emergency plan,<saying his government may have to ask its trading partners,?including the United States, for more help.  The United States+helped Mexico out of its 1982 debt crisis.B   At a news conference Wednesday following his meeting here withBvisiting Japanese Prime Minister Tomichii Murayama, the president;underscored his confidence in Mexico's future and the U.S.*interest in its prosperity and stability:A   "What we have now is a short-term liquidity crisis. There was?inevitably going to be some correction in the Mexican currency>value because they had run a rather high budget deficit.  But;they have had stable political leadership, a good economicAdirection, a commitment to the right kind of future, and they've>shown real discipline.  President Zedillo's latest moves will<require genuine sacrifice by the Mexican people, and so the?United States is committed to doing what we can to help Mexico>through what I believe is and should be a short-term crisis."<   President Clinton said he continues to consult with U.S.3congressional leaders about the Mexican situation.1   He spoke with president Zedillo late Tuesday.   ---------------   ---------------C   SOME HOUSE MEMBERS CALL FOR NAFTA REPEAL BECAUSE OF PESO CRISIS   DAVID GOLLUST   CONGRESS>   Mexico's economic crisis is being monitored with deepening?concern in the U.S. Congress. In the House of Representatives,>some members are calling for the repeal of the North American<Free Trade Agreement, NAFTA, linking the United States withMexico and Canada.@   A bipartisan group of 17 house members, mostly Democrats, is?presenting legislation calling for the repeal of NAFTA, saying?the economic turmoil in Mexico is only making a bad deal worsefor the United States.?   The House members cited congressional figures showing a netBloss of ten thousand American jobs to Mexico, and a sharp decline@in the U.S. trade surplus with its southern neighbor, since the@free trade accord was approved by Congress in November of 1993.@   The main sponsor of the repeal effort, Oregon Democrat Peter;Defazio, said the sudden collapse of the peso will greatly@exacerbate the trade problem, while American taxpayers could be>left with the bill for the U.S. organized peso rescue effort:5   "Austerity measures in Mexico will decrease their=already-insignificant buying power vis-a-vis U.S. goods. The;frantic attempts to prop up the peso have the potential of@becoming a massive United States taxpayer-funded bailout second?only in magnitude to the savings and loan scandal.  In effect,>U.S. taxpayers are paying to ship American jobs south, all to&prop up a defective trade agreement."<   All of those sponsoring the repeal measure were originalBopponents of NAFTA, and Congressman Defazio admitted they face an?uphill battle against both the Clinton administration, and the:new Republican leadership of congress, in overturning thelandmark trade deal.;   But at least one key Republican, the new Senate Foreign@Relations Committee Chairman, Jesse Helms, immediately declaredhis support for repeal.>   In the house, the Republican chairman of the International<Relations Subcommittee on Hemispheric Affairs, Toby Roth of5Wisconsin, said he will convene hearings on the huge8international line of credit for Mexico arranged by theadministration:A   "The implications for us are enormous. American investors and@business face huge losses.  The American taxpayer is liable forBnine billion (dollars) in emergency loans. And much more. Like it=or not our economy is linked to Mexico, because they are our>largest trading partner. But before we get in any deeper, the?American people and this Congress must understand clearly what0the situation is and what our liabilities are."9   Mexico has already begun to draw upon the credit line<totalling about 18 billion dollars.  Clinton administration?officials say the rescue package is important not only to help<Mexico work through its current crisis, but to make sure it=doesn't spill over and hamper economic growth in the rest ofLatin America.   ---------------   ---------------?   SENATOR KENNEDY SAYS DEMOCRATS SHOULD STICK TO CORE BELIEFS   JIM MALONE
   SENATE:   U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy urged his fellow DemocratsAWednesday not to abandon their core beliefs or President ClintonAin the face of the new Republican majority in Congress.  SenatorAKennedy's comments about the future of the Democratic Party came9in speech at the National Press Club here in Washington.A   Senator Kennedy is a traditional Democratic liberal and proud8of it despite the sweeping Republican victories in last<November's Congressional elections which put Republicans in@charge of both the house and senate for the first time in fortyyears.A   Senator Kennedy was one of the few democratic success stories?in the elections, winning a sixth Senate)term in Massachusetts<despite a strong challenge from Republican businessman MittRomney.A   And senator Kennedy says he did it by sticking to traditional?core Democratic beliefs such as helping working men and women,:fighting for civil rights and protecting the environment:@   "If Democrats run for cover, if we become pale carbon copies@of the opposition and try to act like Republicans, we will lose>and will deserve to lose.  As I have said on other occasions,?Democrats must be more than warmed-over Republicans.  The last5thing this country needs is two Republican parties."B   A number of moderate and conservative Democrats are calling on?President Clinton to recast himself as a new Democrat over the7next two years in order to better position himself for
re-election.@   But Senator Kennedy says Democrats must remain true to their?traditional roots if they are to keep the white house in 1996:?   "Democrats need to fight back for our beliefs, not turn ourAback on the Clinton administration. Blaming bill Clinton by some@in our party comes with ill grace. From those who abandoned himAon critical votes in the last congress, then ran from him in theAcampaign and then lost, often by wide margins. And now they comeBforward to advocate a strategy discredited by their own defeats."?   Senator Kennedy says Republicans are pursuing a strategy ofBobstruction, distortion and personal attacks on the president and;Mrs. Clinton, part of what he called the politics of fear.?   Senator Kennedy says Democrats must be willing to fight forAwhat they believe in or they risk losing even more support amongAmerican voters:A   "Sometimes the task of a great political party is to face the9tide, not just ride with it. And to turn it again in the?direction of our deepest convictions. We will lose our way and>our elections if we abandon our principles and drift with the"shifting politics of the moment."@   Senator Kennedy also says President Clinton has not received?just credit for his successes because he took on so many tough?challenges to begin with, including cutting the budget deficit2and reforming health care and the welfare system.   ---------------   ---------------2   GERMANY TO REPATRIATE REFUGEES BACK TO VIETNAM   EVANS HAYS   BONN<   Germany and Vietnam have agreed on a repatriation schemeBinvolving the return of an estimated 40,000 Vietnamese now livingAillegally in Germany. Germany has agreed to provide Vietnam with5about 130-million dollars in aid to help pay for theresettlement.?   The cabinet in Bonn has approved an agreement worked out by;Germany and Vietnam to repatriate about 40,000 Vietnamese.=   Those to be resettled are living in Germany without legalresidence or work permits.@   There are almost 100,000 Vietnamese living in Germany.  ManyAof them moved to the former communist east Germany to work under<contract with east German companies.  Others came after the>collapse of east Germany and have asked for political asylum.B   Under terms of the new agreement, Germany will provide Vietnam?with about 130-million dollars in resettlement and developmentaid during the next two years.A   The resettlement program will take place during the next fiveyears.@   The agreement marks a thaw in the strained relations betweenGermany and Vietnam.?   Last year, Germany froze all development aid to Vietnam, in@part because of a dispute over repatriation.  The new deal will3pave the way for new German investment in Vietnam.>   Germany has approved similar resettlement deals with othercountries, including Romania.>   The agreements are part of the German government effort toBreduce the number of people living in the country illegally.  TwoByears ago, the government passed a new law sharply curtailing the=right of foreigners to enter the country and claim politicalasylum.=   Until 1993, anyone claiming political persecution at home=could enter Germany, claim asylum, and live at state expense@until the asylum request was granted or rejected.  That process>allowed hundreds of thousands of people to remain in Germany,:sometimes for several years, while their cases were being	decided.?   Foreigners in Germany, mainly from developing nations, have@been the target of more than two-thousand attacks by right-wing%extremists since German unification.   ---------------   --------------#   INDIA'S NEW CURBS ON PESTICIDES
   ROB SIVAK   WASHINGTON@   As the world's developing nations look for ways to grow more>food on less land, many are turning away from farming methodsBthat rely on the heavy use of chemical pesticides. Concerns about?the environment and farmworker safety, coupled with the risingBcost and declining effectiveness of many of these farm chemicals,?have sparked increased interest in a more natural pest controlBmethod known as Integrated Pest Management, or IPM.  One of IPM's4biggest promoters today is the government of India.?   It seemed a radical notion to many just ten years ago, that?farmers could grow bountiful crops without relying on chemical<pesticides. But that's the principle behind Integrated PestAManagement, or IPM, a relatively new approach to pest control in@which farmers use a combination of natural pest enemies, better;crop management and, if necessary, limited applications ofpesticide.=   Does IPM  work? The experience of Indonesian rice farmers?during the mid-1980s helped convince most agricultural experts0that it does. Despite the farmers' heavy use of=government-subsidized pesticides, insects continued to wreak?havoc on Indonesia's rice crops. Finally, after studies showed=farm chemicals were causing, not curing, the infestations byBkilling off the pests' natural enemies, the government banned the@use of most pesticides, and adopted IPM as national agricultureApolicy. Pesticide use in Indonesia dropped by 50 percent between=1987 and 1993. Crop production during the same period jumpednearly 20 percent.B   Inspired by Indonesia's success, other developing countries in?Asia, including Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Bangladesh>and, most notably, India, are moving quickly now to adopt IPM8techniques. Their efforts have been greatly assisted by@agricultural scientist Peter Kenmore, an energetic proponent of=IPM who directs Asian farm research, training, and extension6programs for the Rome-based U.N. food and agricultureorganization.>   Mr. Kenmore says India's government, which runs one of the8world's largest agricultural research systems, recentlyBinstituted a series of bold policy initiatives in support of IPM:>   "The government of India, about a year ago, eliminated itsBnational government subsidies for insecticides, which was costingBthe government of India 30-something million dollars a year.  So,@the government is getting out of the market, and the price (for9pesticides) is beginning to return a little bit toward amarket-determined level."@   The Indian finance ministry went a step further last year by<announcing a new excise tax would be placed on all chemical pesticides sold in the country.>   Peter Kenmore says the pesticide tax is a way for India toAcover the social and environmental costs of unwise farm chemicalAuse, now blamed for hundreds of thousands of cases of poisonings.and thousands of deaths worldwide every year:<   "So it's taking on an issue that has clear social costs,Aexternal costs, and trying to get people to internalize them. In<other words, if you want to use something that demonstrably>causes pollution, you must pay for it.  And this is the first?time, at this scale, that any government in the world has donethat."<   The FAO's Peter Kenmore says another critical element of@India's new IPM policy was its commitment of 15 million dollars=last year to support village-level IPM training programs all?across India. He compares that funding level to the 11 million>dollars spent on IPM training last year in the United States.;   Mr. Kenmore says rural "field schools" now being set up@throughout south and southeast Asia, give farmers an effective,Ahands-on introduction to the culture, and science, of integratedpest management:A   "A farmer's field school (consists of) about 25 farmers. TheyAget together once a week for an entire crop season, so they meetBeach other about 15 times.  During those meetings each week, theyAgo to the field in groups of about five, collect observations on?what plant conditions are like, on what numbers of insects areAlike.  They have little plastic bags and they put the insects inBthe plastic bags, and take specimens of damaged plants. Then theyBgo to the side of the field and analyze what is happening. If you>have five groups of five like that, they then summarize their;work on a piece of poster paper, and present to the largergroup."=   In the manner of a scientific colloquium, farmers discussBtheir findings with a locally-based IPM advisor trained in insect<or plant science, who then helps the group develop the most;effective, and preferably non-chemical, pest-control plan.=   The FAO's Peter Kenmore observes that India's new push to7sharply reduce pesticide use has not pleased everyone:@   "The immediate response from a number of people, including aBlot of pesticide dealers, was that this was unfair, that this was9making life difficult for farmers, and that India's food@production would go down. Well, the current main season of rice=that's in the ground, the major food crop in India, has been4better this year than any of the last three years."B   Mr. Kenmore predicts that Indian farmers who practice IPM willBenjoy the same long-term gains in crop yields, and profits, theirBIndonesian counterparts have enjoyed. And he believes the success@of integrated pest management in so vast and populous a country=as India will greatly speed worldwide adoption of this safe,Alow-cost, and environmentally-benign farming technique. That's aBwelcome trend, Peter Kenmore says, as the world's farmers gear up?to meet the expected doubling of global food demand within thenext twenty years.   ---------------   ---------------D   IRANIAN MINISTER SAYS U.S. IS TRYING TO STIR UP TROUBLE FOR IRAN   KIM REID	   CAIRO>   Iran's first deputy foreign minister Mohamed Hashemi, on a=visit to Kuwait, says the United States is trying to stir up:trouble for his country.  U.S. and Israeli officials have=suggested that Iran may use a nuclear power plant, now under(construction, to build nuclear weapons.@   Iran caused controversy recently when it commissioned RussiaBto finish a long-incomplete nuclear power plant. Construction was*halted in 1979 by the Iranian revolution.@   U.S. Defense Secretary William Perry, on a Middle East-southBAsia trip, said earlier this week that he is very concerned about@iran's nuclear potential.  Mr. Perry and Israeli Prime Minister@Yitzhak Rabin say the Persian Gulf nation could develop nuclearweapons in seven to 15 years.B   But the Iranian first deputy foreign minister says his countryAposes no nuclear threat to its neighbors, nor does it intend to.BHe adds that Iran supports the idea of a nuclear-free zone in thearea.@   The International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna says it has@found no evidence that Iran is developing nuclear weapons. IranBhas signed the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, something Israelhas refused to do.   ---------------   ---------------E   ISRAEL SAYS IT WILL NOT SIGN THE NUCLEAR NON-PROLIFERATION TREATY   LARRY JAMES	   PARIS>   Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres has indicated IsraelAstill will not sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty when it?comes up for renewal next April.  His comments, made followingBtalks with French officials in Paris, came a day after Egypt saidBIsrael was threatening peace efforts by stockpiling nuclear arms.A   Mr. Peres did not respond directly when asked if Israel wouldAsign the non-proliferation agreement saying only that Israel hasBno intention of introducing nuclear weapons into the Middle East.=He said peace must come to the region first.  Mr. Peres saidBthere are countries led by Iran which intend to destroy the state@of Israel. In his words, Iran's aim is to destroy Israel and we5have no reason to tell the Iranians please go ahead.?   Mr. Peres spoke following talks with his French counterpart<Alain Juppe.  It is believed the issue came up during their?discussions since earlier this week France called on Israel to?sign the nuclear non-proliferation pact.  Israel is thought byBexperts to have some 200 nuclear weapons.  There have been recent=reports that both Israel and the United States think Iran isBtrying to develop its own nuclear arsenal.  It has been suggested@that Israel might want to destroy Iranian nuclear installations;just as it did an Iraqi nuclear center in a 1981 air raid.?   Tuesday night Mr. Peres denied that peace negotiations with?the Palestinians might be in trouble suggesting instead that aApeace agreement might be reached in two or three months.  He was<responding to statements from Egyptian foreign minister Amr?Moussa that Israel had created a crisis by illegally expanding;settlements in the West Bank.  PLO leader Yasser Arafat is>reported to have asked the United States to intervene to stop?Israel from building more settlements.  When asked if that wasAthe case Mr. Peres responded  that Israel has its own policy and.does not need anyone to tell them what to do.?   The Israeli official said he made his two-day trip to ParisBbecause  France is now serving as president of the European UnionBan  organization he believes will play a major role in the future:of the  Middle East.  In addition to meeting with foreignBminister Juppe, Mr. Peres also held talks with President FrancoisMitterrand.   ---------------   ---------------A   ISRAELI TROOPS CLASH WITH PALESTINIANS PROTESTING SETTLEMENTS   SUSAN SAPPIR
   JERUSALEM?   Israeli troops have clashed with Palestinian protesters yet?again over the status of a Jewish settlement in the West Bank.>The issue of the settlements has come to the forefront of the#Israeli-Palestinian peace process.9   Clashes between Israelis and Palestinians over Jewish?settlements have become an almost daily occurrence in the WestBank.@   While the names of the places have changed, the scenario has@repeated itself in recent weeks.  Jewish settlers claim a pieceBof West Bank land as part of an existing settlement. PalestiniansAliving nearby say the land is theirs.  The Israeli army tries toseparate the two sides.@   On Wednesday, it was at Kifr Al-Deek.  On Tuesday, the place=was Elkana.  Last month, it was at El-Khader near Bethlehem.<   The 1993 peace agreement between Israel and the PLO said=Israel would gradually withdraw from the West Bank.  But theAsettlements were to remain in place until negotiatlons were heldat a later date.>   Now, say analysts, the issue is jeopardizing the continued!implementation of the agreement.@   Palestinian leaders are under pressure from their supporters9to take a firm stand against the expansion of the Jewish@settlements.  The PLO leadership has increasingly expressed theBview that the peace talks cannot go on until the settlement issue
is resolved.   ---------------   ---------------?   RELIGIOUS TENSIONS RISE IN SRI LANKAN AHEAD OF POPE'S VISIT   MICHAEL DRUDGE
   NEW DELHI>   Sri Lankan police say suspicious fires have hit a Buddhist?temple and a Roman Catholic church, as religious tensions rise9ahead of next week's visit by Pope John Paul the second.<   Police say unidentified arsonists set fire to statues of?buddha in a temple north of Colombo Wednesday, one day after a;suspicious blaze at a nearby Catholic church.   No one was?injured in either incident and the fires were contained beforecausing major damage.A   The fires occurred as Sri Lanka prepares for the January 20th<arrival of Pope John Paul the second, who is embarking on afour-nation tour of Asia.@   The Federation of Buddhist Organizations is leading protests@against the Pope's visit because of his comments on Buddhism in?his recently published book, "Crossing the Threshold of Hope.">   Senior Buddhist monks say they will boycott a meeting withAPope John Paul unless he apologizes for his writings, which they>believe unfairly criticize the buddhist concept of salvation.>   The first fire occurred Tuesday at Saint Cecelia's church,Bnear the fishing village of Negombo, about 30 kilometers north of?Colombo.  Initial reports said the blaze was deliberately set,=but church officials later said it could have been caused byfaulty wiring.>   The Sri Pushparamaya temple that was attacked Wednesday is@three kilometers away from the church.  The temple's chief monk9has been among those demanding a papal apology.  He toldAreporters the temple was hit in retaliation for the church fire.8   Sri Lankan authorities are making elaborate security@arrangements for the Pope's visit to the predominately-BuddhistBisland.  The highlight of his trip will be an outdoor mass beforeBan expected crowd of half a million people. The pope will beatify9(elevate toward possible future sainthood) Joseph Vaz, aAmissionary who came to Sri Lanka from India in the 17th century.   ---------------   ---------------8   ECONOMIST URGE ZEDILLO TO QUICKLY TAKE BOLD MEASURES   ERIN BRUMMETT   WASHINGTON, D.C.;   A group of economic and political analysts and academicBexperts in Washington has urged Mexican president Ernesto ZedilloBto take quick, bold action to restore investor confidence and his@government's credibility.  The group discussed the implicationsBof Mexico's currency crisis Wednesday)at a conference hosted by a<private research organization, The Center for Strategic andInternational Studies.<   The panelists agree that Mexico faces serious short-termBproblems in the wake of December's currency de-valuation and they<are hopeful the country can get back on a healthy long-term'economic track by the end of the year.7   But the experts also agree that delay in re-gainingBinternational and domestic confidence could  undermine confidence;in other emerging markets of the western hemisphere and in5countries such as Poland, Bulgaria and South Africa.>   Political analyst Riordan Roett says there is a perception>that there may be no one really in charge of the situation inBMexico, and that those nominally in charge are reacting too late.;   Mr. Roett, who advises a major private U.S. bank, ChaseBManhattan, calls on president Zedillo to correct that perception:?   "What we need to see in Mexico city is the president taking@charge, establishing himself as a leader of his administration,7establishing broad macro-economic goals, and using the>appropriate people to accomplish those goals.  What really isArequired then is to begin to rebuild a perception that this is a<confident government and indeed that the emerging market of>Mexico can once again become not a pariah but a leader of the8emerging markets, both in Latin America and elsewhere."A   Mr. Roett suggests that Mexico may be able to pull out of its@currency crisis by, for example, immediately re-negotiating itspublic debt with Washington.@   But economist David Malpass, says Mexico's problem is not as;bad as it appears and its public debt is the lowest of the9world's 25 leading developed countries who belong to theBParis-based organization of economic cooperation and development.@   Mr. Malpass, who is director of international economics at a?leading Wall Street investment firm, Bear Stearns and Company,?says what President Zedillo must do is build on the 18-billion8dollar international fund created for Mexico last week.<   Mr. Malpass calls for a dramatic gesture of "over-kill,"9(over- compensation) designed to bring Mexico out of itsfinancial tailspin:@   "What Mexico has to do is re-establish confidence.  The only>way to do that is by borrowing too much, not  too little.  If?Mexico approaches this problem gradually, which is what it hasAbeen doing, trying to look for incremental ways to move forward,Bit always is behind the spiral I just described, so the peso goes;down, dollars flow out because they (investors) see a lessBattractive investment climate, that pushes the peso down, that is
the spiral.":   Mr. Malpass calls on the Mexican government to be more9forceful in saying it wants a stronger peso and is doing;everything possible to achieve that.  He urges the Zedillo:administration to deliver a clear message on the specific;measures it is taking to resolve its economic crisis.  Mr.>Malpass also expresses confidence that the Mexican people canresolve their own problems.@   There is potential for the Mexican people to see a different;political landscape soon, according to analyst Delal Baer.>   Baer says if the Zedillo government cannot quickly adjust,Aopposition parties like the national action party, pan, stand to:gain in upcoming state and municipal elections around the	country:?   "The (1995) electoral calendar offers some pretty immediate6political opportunities for the pan.  There will be a=gubernatorial race coming up in the state of Jalisco, a very<important state with a highly industrialized populace.  Its?capital is Guadalajara. It seems that the pan will have a very;strong chance of taking another gubernatorial race.  OtherAgubernatorial races that are programmed for 1995 are in Yucatan,=in Guanajuato, in May.  Baja, California, which is currently6governed by a Panista, is up for election in August."B   Ms. Baer says the currency crisis could also impact the Ruling<Institutional Revolutionary Party, giving its conservative,?anti-reform members more ammunition for their agenda.  But Ms.BBaer stresses that Mexico's current financial difficulties should>not be allowed to halt the country's overall political reform	process.   ---------------   ---------------9   ANALYST PREDICT THE SPLITTING OF THE SANDINISTA FRONT   DAN TROTTA   MANAGUA>   In Nicaragua, political analysts are predicting the formalBdivision of the leftist Sandinista Front in the wake of Tuesday's=resignation of former Vice President Sergio Ramirez from the9party.  Mr. Ramirez, the leader of a moderate faction of@Sandinistas, for months had tried to bring the former guerrilla@army and onetime ruling party toward the political center.  But@when a hardline Sandinista radio station began a smear campaign:against his family, Mr. Ramirez decided to call it quits.<   Mr. Ramirez's dream of uniting the moderate and hardline>factions of the Sandinista Front finally gave way to reality.<Ever since being voted out of power in 1990, a division hasAbrewed between hardliners, including many marxists who pledge an?unrelenting defense of the poor, and moderates, who advocate a2renovation of the party in the post-cold war era.;   Mr. Ramirez, an author and former university professor,:working for his so-called Sandinista Renovation Movement.;   According to Carlos Fernando Chamorro, another moderate:Sandinista who fell out of favor with the hardliners, the&formation of a new party is imminent:A   "I think we are going to see in the near future, I'm thinking=about a couple of weeks or months.  A formal division in the@Sandinista Front.  There is no possibility of reconciliation at8this point and I think that is going to be the future.">   The Sandinista Front continues to capture the attention of@latin America as well as much of the world.  The movement began@as an underground guerrilla army in the 1960's with the goal ofBoverthrowing military dictator Anastasio Somoza.  The SandinistasAsucceeded in 1979, ushering in a 10 year rule backed by Cuba andthe former Soviet Union.@   Nicaragua became one of the world's best-known hotspots whenBformer U.S. President Ronald Reagan began funding anti-Sandinista@rebels known as the Contras.  An eight year civil war cost someB30,000 lives, but it took the matronly widow of a slain newspaper%publisher to defeat the Sandinistas.?   President Violeta Chamorro defeated Daniel Ortega in a 19909election, returning the Sandinistas to their role as the@opposition, but this time without arms.  The transformation hasbeen rocky.@   Mr. Chamorro, the son of the president, says that the formalAdivision of the party will help the cause of Nicaragua's poor as8long as the new movement is progressive and democratic::   "In the end probably is a better solution to serve the@interests of the poor people.  Another political formation thatAwould present an alternative that will be capable of building up>new alliances.  That will benefit the interests of the poor.">   More than 70 percent of Nicaraguans live below the poverty?line, and nicaragua is one of the least developed countries inthe hemisphere.   ---------------   ---------------?   10 POLICEMEN ARRESTED PLOTTING TO KILL PRESIDENT BALLADARES   BILL RODGERS   SAN JOSEB   Panamanian authorities say they have arrested ten policemen in>connection with a plot to assassinate President Ernesto Perez?Balladares. Authorities are in pursuit of other members of theconspiracy.<   Government and justice minister Raul Montenegro says his<country's security forces have foiled a plot to assassinateAPresident Perez Balladares and set up a civilian-military junta.@Mr. Montenegro told reporters Wednesday the conspiracy includedBmembers of the national police, former military officers and some<civilians.  He says ten policemen are under arrest and that7security forces are searching for other members of theBconspiracy.  The official says the accused planned to assassinate>Mr. Perez Balladares Friday during his scheduled visit to thewestern province, Chiriqui.=   Mr. Perez Balladares, who is 48, assumed office SeptemberAfirst, after winning last May's presidential election.  He heads=the party that was once the political arm of panama's formerAmilitary dictators.  The Panamanian military was abolished afterBU.S. troops invaded the country in 1989 to depose dictator Manuel	Noriega.A   Mr. Montenegro said Wednesday the plotters wanted to kill Mr.APerez balladares because he has maintained civilian control overAthe police.  The justice minister says the aim of the conspiracy)was to disrupt panama's democratic path.   ---------------   ---------------+   POPE TRIES TO BRIDGE GAP WITH BUDDHISTS   PEGGY POLK   ROME:   Pope John Paul has moved to make peace with Sri Lankan=Buddhists who were offended by his comments on Buddhism in a=recently-published book of reflections on religion. The PopeBacted only hours before his scheduled departure on a trip to Asia;and the Pacific that will take him to Sri Lanka next week.?   Speaking at his weekly general audience, the Roman Catholic>Pontiff said he has "profound respect and sincere esteem" for7Buddhism and plans to meet with Buddhists on his trip.?   He expressed hope that his visits to the Philippines, PapuaANew Guinea, Australia and Sri Lanka will, in his words, "help toAstrengthen dialogue and understanding among religions and foster<closer cooperation for peace and solidarity among peoples."=   Sri Lankan Buddhists had threatened to boycott the Pope's;visit to Colombo on January 20th, unless he apologized for9describing the buddhist doctrine of salvation as "almost@exclusively negative" and calling buddhism "in large measure an'atheistic' system.">   In attacks apparently linked to the impending papal visit,Afires have damaged a Roman Catholic church and a Buddhist shrinein Colombo.B   The 10-day trip will be the longest and most grueling that the>74-year-old Pope has undertaken since he broke his thigh in a@fall last April that has undermined his normally robust health.   ---------------   ---------------   RWANDA CROSS-BORDER ATTACK   SONYA LAURENCE GREEN   NAIROBI;   Exiled soldiers from Rwanda's former army have staged aAcross-border attack on a fishing village in southwestern Rwanda.:U.N. Officials fear Wednesday's incident could herald the>beginning of a well-planned insurgency by thousands of exiledAmilitiamen, who have long threatened to invade Rwanda to try andre-gain control.?   According to U.N. Military observers, the incident occurredAWednesday in southwestern Rwanda.  They said a group of about 50Amen, believed to be exiled soldiers, crossed from Zaire into the>Nyamasheke region of Rwanda, and opened fire on a group of 20=Rwandan fishermen on Lake Kivu.  The fishermen dove into theAwater to try and escape the attack, but at least six of them didnot make it to safety.>   Meanwhile, government forces returned fire and engaged the9rebel group in a two-hour gunfight.  The exiled soldiers@eventually retreated, taking several fishing boats with them asthey fled back into Zaire.9   The U.N. Force commander in Rwanda, Major-General Guy=Tousignant, said in a statement Wednesday that he had strongAreason to believe the exiled soldiers have begun "a consolidatedBand well-planned insurgency...campaign into Rwanda."  For months,Athe exiled soldiers have threatened to invade Rwanda in a bid toBregain control, and this is their first major cross-border attackso far.=   Up to 40,000 of these former soldiers and militiamen wereBforced into exile in Zaire last July, during a bloody ethnic war.BThe former soldiers and militiamen, mostly Hutus, killed at leastAhalf a million Tutsis before they were driven out by the Rwandan*Patriotic Army, which now governs Rwanda.@   Angered by defeat, the exiled soldiers have repeatedly vowed?to invade Rwanda to try to regain control of the country.  Aid@workers say the soldiers have been conducting military trainingBduring the past several months at refugee camps inside Zaire, andBthat they have also seized control of relief food coming into the>camps, possibly stockpiling supplies for an attack on Rwanda.?   The U.N. Says it is investigating Wednesday's attack on the<fishing village, and is considering sending more troops and!military observers to that area.>   Rwanda's army did not immediately comment on the incident.>But government spokesman Major Wilson Rutayisire told Reuters=News Agency the attackers were mere thugs.  He said they had>nothing to offer the refugees still stuck in Zairean camps at7Goma and Bukavu, and he seemed to downplay the threat.?   The attack on the fishing village comes after an increasingBnumber of incidents in the southwestern region of Rwanda over thepast two weeks.   ---------------   ---------------/   SCHOOLS OPEN IN POST-APARTHEID SOUTH AFRICA   MALLORY SALESON   JOHANNESBURG9   South African schools opened Wednesday, marking a newBpost-apartheid era in South African education. The government has3warned schools against any form of discrimination.A   South Africa's schools opened their doors Wednesday to pupilsAof all races, as the country embarked on its first year of a new7non-racial, non-apartheid education for all.  Children8accompanied by parents lined up for admission, with the?government expecting some two million children to register for%the free and compulsory first grade.@   The government has warned schools not to turn anyone away on?the basis of race or financial situation.  The government told>all schools to accept all children, even those who cannot payAtheir fees.  And on Wednesday, most schools were doing just that@as children, many dressed in new school uniforms, turned out inlarge numbers.=   However, several incidents of alleged discrimination wereAreported.  Some parents phoned a local radio station to complainBtheir children had been turned away from a formerly "whites-only"Bschool, and some said they were told their children had to take a@test for the disease "aids" before they could be admitted.  The=government said it will investigate all allegations and said;strong action will be taken against schools discriminatingagainst children.9   This is the first year that all 19 formerly separate,@race-based education departments from the old South Africa have-been brought under one education department.>   Last year, only 48 percent of black senior school students?passed their final exams, while most white students passed theBsame examinations.  Under apartheid, the government spent more onAwhite education than on black education.  The new government has!pledged equal education for all.B   Previous years of black education were also marked by frequent?disruptions that took students out of the classroom, while for=many years children stayed away from school under the slogan"liberation before education".@   The government has placed a high priority on education, with;officials from president Nelson Mandela down to provincial8premiers urging children to go to school and get a goodAeducation.  In addition, the Congress of South African students,?at the forefront of the previous struggle against apartheid inAschools, has urged children to go to class, be punctual and showBrespect for their teachers.  The group has called on all students1to make this a year of learning in South Africa.   ---------------   ---------------@   SUPREME COURT HEARS SCHOOL DESEGREGATION CASE ORAL ARGUMENTS   JANE BERGER   WASHINGTON?   The Supreme Court has heard court arguments in an important?school desegregation case that could affect hundreds of school:districts across the United States. Courtroom questioning>indicated that the decision in the case could be a close one.B   The state of Missouri has appealed to the supreme court to end>district court supervision of Kansas City schools more than a@decade after a desegregation plan went into effect.  The appeal@came after a federal appeals court ruled that court supervision;should remain in place until student achievement improves.@   The supreme court 40 years ago ordered integration of publicBschools, but some some states were slow to respond. Black parents=in Kansas city brought suit against the state in 1977, and aAfederal court ordered vast improvements in the public schools to>attract white students back into the system.  The court found8that Kansas city schools had literally rotted, and that9intentional segregation had caused reductions in student
achievement.?   In arguments before the supreme court, Missouri's AssistantAAttorney General John Munich argued that student test scores are8irrelevant in determining whether the state has met itsBobligations to integrate the public schools.  He said supervisionBof the schools should be turned back to local authorities because@the state has spent over one billion dollars on the Kansas city<schools, and has put an appropriate educational improvementprogram in place.@   Speaking to reporters after court arguments, Mr. Munich said7test scores are affected by many other factors besides%educational programs in the schools:=   "For example, what a student's home life is, what sort of>socio-economic background he comes from. The schools can't be?held to account for those types of things.  All they can do isBapply the resources, and once they've done that, and done that in,a proper way, that ought to be sufficient."<   The state of Missouri's argument was refuted by attorney>Theodore Shaw, representing the black parents in Kansas city.@Mr. Shaw told the court that student test scores are one factorAthat should be considered in desegregation cases, but he said he;was not advocating a certain level of student achievement.A   Mr. Shaw told reporters that court supervision of Kansas City>schools must eventually come to an end, but he said the court@must continue to oversee the schools for awhile until there arefurther improvements:B   "The court has consistently said that the effectiveness of the@remedy is what's important.  It's just not enough to put money,<to throw money at a problem. The problem has to be solved."=   Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy questioned how long<court supervision would have to continue before Kansas City?schools could be declared free of the vestiges of segregation.@But Justice David Souter indicated that academic achievement is:clearly relevant in assessing the effectiveness of schoolimprovements.@   Many legal experts believe the Supreme Court decision in theBkansas city case could be a close one.  A decision is expected by<the end of June, and it will likely affect hundreds of U.S.Bschool districts still operating under federal court supervision.   ---------------   ---------------   SENATOR HELMS WARNS YELTSIN   JIM MALONE
   SENATE@   The new chairman of U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee,>Republican Jesse Helms, had some words of warning for Russian?President Boris Yeltsin Wednesday. Senator Helms is hinting atBU.S. aid cuts to Russia unless there is a halt in the fighting inChechnya soon.A   Senator Helms chaired his first meeting of the Senate Foreign>Relations Committee Wednesday and afterward held an impromptunews conference.:   Asked about what the United States should do about the<fighting in Chechnya, senator Helms responded that he likesARussian President Boris Yeltsin but he added that if Mr. Yeltsin@cannot control his people in the fighting there, he had better,;in senator Helms' words, look out as far as foreign aid isconcerned.B   "I know he (Yeltsin) has got problems over there," said Helms.@"But he must make his people understand that all of them have a=problem with the United States if this brutality continues."<   Senator Helms was also asked if the United States should:revisit the NAFTA trade agreement with Mexico in light ofAMexico's current economic troubles.  Senator Helms said he wouldAfavor that and added that he did not support the NAFTA agreementin the first place anyway.@   Senator Helms sounded a note of cooperation in his first dayBas Foreign Relations Chairman, even as he recalled expressions ofBconcern following the elections last November that his ascendancyAto the chairmanship would have a negative impact on U.S. foreignpolicy:8   "Now, our friends in the news media have been busily>speculating ever since November 8th (Congressional elections)Babout the dark and dangerous things they are so sure are about to=happen. Well, that perhaps is wishful thinking built on idleAspeculation and perhaps willful exaggeration which almost always@ends up being wrong and it is certainly wrong this time. To the=contrary, this is going to be an effective and conscientious=committee doing our best to respond to the American people's4mandate for a clear and meaningful foreign policy."<   Senator Helms says his main priorities in foreign policy<issues will be advocating what he calls American principles?around the world, with free enterprise at the top of the list.   ---------------   ---------------D   US TO TEST NEW MISSILE DEFENSE, CONCERNS IT COULD VIOLATE TREATY   DAVID SWAN   PENTAGON@   The Pentagon is about to start testing a new missile defense:weapon, even though the United States and Russia have not&finished negotiations on the program.;   Although the United States has abandoned the extensive,@space-based anti-missile effort called "Star Wars," the Clinton7administration is working on a new, redesigned system.A   The program is known as Theater High Altitude Area Defense or?"THAAD," and is meant to counter regional missile threats like>the "scuds" fired by Iraq in the Gulf War.  "THAAD" would useBhigh-speed, heat-seeking rockets to intercept incoming weapons as#high as 80 kilometers above earth.<   The administration has now told Russia it plans to beginBtesting the system next month.  However, the nations are still atAodds about how to reconcile "THAAD" with the 1972 anti-ballisticmissile treaty.>   The landmark U.S./Soviet accord stopped the two sides fromAbuilding defenses against each other's strategic, or long-range,>nuclear missiles.  The pact does not spell out the difference?between the systems it bans and regional missile defenses like-"THAAD", which U.S. officials say it allows.A   Defense officials say the upcoming tests will not violate theAABM treaty because they will not involve a complete anti-missile>system.  The officials say the administration hopes to resume<negotiations with the Russians in March, to clarify how the#treaty applies to the new program.A   Meanwhile, members of the new Republican majority in Congress;have urged the president to suspend the talks, to give the>lawmakers time to review the nation's overall missile defensepolicy.   ---------------   ---------------   ANTI-REPUBLICAN CAMPAIGN   ART CHIMES   WASHINGTONB   A coalition including environmental, consumer and labor groups<has launched a campaign attacking Republican efforts to cutBgovernment health and safety regulations and what they charge are0plans to give tax benefits to big corporations.:   One of the nation's top labor leaders, Teamsters union?president Ron Carey, warns that the new, Republican-controlled@Congress is going to focus on giving tax breaks to corporationsAand wealthy individuals, and that attempts to balance the budget+will hurt poor and middle-class Americans.@   "We need tax reform that gets the corporate special interest@off welfare," says Carey.  "We need a government that works for@us, not by giving more power to corporate special interest, but?by putting power back in the hands of workers and communities.<We need to put real balance in the federal budget by ending?wasteful subsidies for corporate special interests, instead of5making cuts that hurt our families and communities.">   "The Campaign for an America that Works", as they call it,Awill include radio advertisements that depict major corporations.as pigs lining up for congressional benefits.<   Voiced in one spot: "The corporate special interests are@eating away at America's future.  Tell your members of Congress%that we need an America that works.";   Among those supporting the campaign is veteran consumerAactivist Ralph Nader, who said Republicans criticize the cost of9regulations without considering the benefits.  Mr. NaderBoriginally came to public attention three decades ago (1965) withBa groundbreaking book, "Unsafe at Any Speed",  about auto safety.B   Nader says that although regulations can indeed cost consumers?and industry money, it is not fair for Republicans to complainAabout the cost of regulation without acknowledging the benefits:A   "When you have a reduction in the death toll in motor vehicle@crashes (of about 90-thousand Americans a year) and hundreds ofAthousands of injuries prevented, that is a tremendous benefit toBmotor vehicle and highway safety regulations since 1966.  That isnot taken into account."@   Organizers hope they will get more activist groups signed on?to the effort, which they say represents what Americans reallyAwant, strong regulations to protect their health and safety, andBa tax system in which corporations and the wealthy pay their fairshare.   ---------------   ---------------D   BANGLADESH COURT SAYS FEMINIST WRITER CAN BE TRIED FOR BLASPHEMY   MICHAEL DRUDGE
   NEW DELHIA   The Bangladesh high court says feminist writer Taslima Nasrin@can be tried for blasphemy, but only if the government approvesit.@   The Bangladesh high court has cleared the way for Ms. Nasrin5to be tried in absentia for blasphemy against Islam.A   The court Tuesday rejected a petition by Ms. Nasrin's lawyersAthat the case be dropped.  But the court agreed with the lawyersAthat the government must give formal assent to go ahead with the?trial because Ms. Nasrin's alleged offense occurred outside ofBangladesh.@   The 32-year-old writer has been charged with offending IslamAbecause of an interview she gave to an Indian newspaper in whichBshe was quoted as saying the Koran should be revised.  Ms. Nasrinlater said she was misquoted.A   Ms. Nasrin fled Bangladesh for Sweden in August after posting=bail.  She had been the target of demonstrations, and Muslim0fundamentalist groups had called for her death.   ---------------   ---------------5   BOMBING CONSPIRACY TRIAL JURY SELECTION CONTINUES   CHRIS SIMKINS   NEW YORK?   Jury selection continued Tuesday in the trial of Sheik Omar?Abdel Rahman and 11 other Arab men accused of plotting to bomb!several New York City landmarks.;   Another 100 potential jurors listened to the conspiracyAcharges against sheik Omar Abdel Rahman and 11 other men charged<with waging a terrorist campaign against the United States.B   The panel got their first glimpse of Sheik Omar, who faced the;prospective jurors and smiled when he was introduced.  The<Egyptian Muslim was dressed in a Middle Eastern robe with abright red clerical hat.A   Judge Michael Mukasey said the charges against the defendants?would include allegations they conspired to bomb New York CityBlandmarks including the World Trade Center, the U.N. building and?underwater highway commuter tunnels. The judge said governmentBprosecutors would also allege the men conspired to commit violent<acts in protest of United States policy in the Middle East.=   Prosecutors says sheik Omar was the spiritual leader of a:radical Muslim terrorist organization that instructed his9followers to kidnap and assassinate government officials@including Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in New York in 1991.5They also say the group was responsible for the 19909assassination of militant Rabbi Meir Kahane in New York.@   Defense attorneys says they plan to argue that Sheik Omar is>being prosecutors as part of a U.S. Government assault on hismilitant Islamic beliefs.=   Following Monday's court session, prospective jurors were?required to fill out a 19-page questionnaire. The survey askedAwhether they had negative or positive opinions about people with>Arab decent. There were also optional questions asking jurors?about their religious affiliation and the ethnic background oftheir spouse.@   Judge Mukasey indicated he wanted a final group of 12 jurors8and six alternates selected by January 30th. The jurors@identities will be kept secret to protect them against possible?threats. Security at the courthouse in lower Manhattan remains>tight with more than a dozen armed U.S. marshals guarding thecourtroom.?   If the sheik and his 11 followers are convicted on the U.S.?conspiracy charges they could spend the rest of their lives in>prison.  Defense lawyers say the trial could last more than ayear.   ---------------   ---------------D   BOSNIAN AMBASSADOR WILLING TO HAVE UN LEAVE IF EMBARGO IS LIFTED   MERCEDES SPROUSE   WASHINGTONA   Bosnia-Herzegovina's ambassador to the United States says hisBgovernment would like to have the arms embargo lifted, even if it@means United Nations peacekeepers would leave the country. Svwn>Alkalaj ('al-ka-lye) called on the international community to<escalate their peace efforts and back them up with decisiveaction.B   Ambassador Alkalaj stopped short of calling for the removal of@U.N. peacekeepers from Bosnia Herzegovina.  He said that is for'the international community to decide.B   But at a discussion sponsored by the American Jewish committee@in Washington Tuesday, he suggested United Nations peacekeepersAare not  contributing to the peace in Bosnia.  And, if given theBchoice, Ambassador Alkalaj added Bosnia would take the lifting of1the arms embargo over keeping U.N. peacekeepers.@   Mr. Alkalaj said Bosnia wants the international community to?escalate efforts to bring the Bosnian Serbs to the negotiating9table, and take more decisive action to end Bosnian Serbaggression.B   Ambassador Alkalaj welcomed a proposal among U.S. lawmakers to0lift the arms embargo against Bosnia's Muslims.;   Alkalaj encouraged such action to help Bosnia level theplaying field in the conflict:?   "We believe strongly that having a stronger position on the=ground, the Serbs will come faster to the negotiating table.8That is our goal, not recovering the whole territory ofBosnia-Herzegovina.";   He called supporters of the arms embargo accomplices to
genocide.   ---------------   ---------------<   CHINA WILL BEGIN CONSTRUCTION ON NEW NUCLEAR POWER PLANT   DAVID DYAR   BEIJINGB   Chinese authorities say they will go ahead with plans to begin5construction on a new nuclear power plant this year.?   The nuclear power center is to be located near Hong Kong inChina's Guangdong province.@   The China Daily newspaper Tuesday quoted officials as saying>the plant is needed to meet the energy demands of the region.@   Plans to build the center are controversial because of fearsabout the plant's safety.?   The plant is located close to another nuclear center in the>same province, which supplies electricity to Hong Kong.  That9plant had to be closed 13 times during its first year of.operation, which worried Hong Kong residents.B   Officials say the shutdowns were not the result of any serious"malfunctions and posed no danger.?   The China Daily said the second nuclear center in Guangdong<province will be used to supply electricity to the province:itself.  Officials said they are negotiating with foreign.suppliers to import generators for the plant.;   China has plans to significantly increase the number of@nuclear plants in the country to meet the burgeoning demand for>electricity. Most of the china's power centers are powered by>burning coal.  There are also plans to increase hydroelectricpower capacity in the country.B   The Chinese press reported Tuesday another nuclear power plant?in a province south of Shanghai, Qinshan in Zhejiang province,8will be returned to service this month after refueling.?   That facility was china's first nuclear power plant and theBrefueling  operation was the first carried out at a nuclear plantAin China.   Officials said all of the fuel in the plant had been9used and that the plant's turbine was in good condition.   ---------------   ---------------D   GOODS SMUGGLED TO CHINA FORCES SOME DOMESTIC INDUSTRIES TO CLOSE   DAVID DYAR   BEIJINGA   Chinese news reports Tuesday disclosed that illegal smugglingBinto China has forced some domestic industries to halt operationsbecause of cheap imports.B   Chinese authorities have been struggling for years to stop the?flood of smuggled goods into the country.  However, there have7been few admissions of the seriousness of the problem.A   Tuesday, an official state owned newspaper disclosed that the<smuggling in some commodities has become so widespread that>entire factories have had to stop production because of cheap	imports.@   The China Daily newspaper said 24 Chinese plywood plants hadBto be closed last year because the country was being flooded with9cheap smuggled imports.  The smuggling has also hurt thecountry's steel industry.A   However, officials say they have made significant progress in>stopping the smuggling because they have broken several rings)which produced forged customs documents.?   Officials disclosed that during a major crackdown last yearAthey were able to thwart the smuggling of goods worth 66-million&dollars in just a three month period.>   The report said during the crackdown officials seized more=than five-thousand cars, three-thousand boxes of cigarettes,Aten-thousand air conditioners, and almost eight-thousand tons ofsteel.@   Officials say they think they have made significant progress/in slowing the use of false customs documents.=   However, their report also points out the huge demand forsmuggled imports in China.@   China has some of the highest tariffs in the world which areBused to protect bloated and poorly managed state enterprises fromforeign competition.<   Economists say as long as China continues to charge highAtariffs on imports, there will be a huge incentive for smugglers%to try to evade customs inspections.<   However, Chinese officials are afraid that if they allow@imports into china freely, hundreds of millions of people wouldBbe forced out of work because of the competition from the foreign
products.   ---------------   ---------------?   CHRISTOPHER DENIES REPORTS HE IS PLANNING TO LEAVE HIS POST   RON PEMSTEIN   STATE DEPARTMENT?   U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher has emphatically?denied the latest press report that he plans to leave his postBshortly because of dissatisfaction with government reorganization	efforts.@   Secretary of State Christopher says reports that he plans to+leave office are neither new nor accurate.B   Speaking at a photo opportunity with Japanese Foreign Minister?Yohei Kono, Mr. Christopher dismissed a Boston Globe newspaper+report saying his resignation is imminent:=   "I've answered that question so many times in the last, I@guess, 24 months that i've taken a new year's resolution to notAget into it.  I'll just repeat and bore you with the same answer<that I've given many times before.  I have a very importantBagenda for next year which I'm committed to and which I'm working
hard on."=   The newspaper report maintains Mr. Christopher will leave:office within the month because of plans to eliminate the?separate status of the arms control and disarmament agency and:the foreign aid agency and to combine them with the State?Department.  The Secretary of State says he wants to work with3the new Congress to complete his important agenda.   ---------------   --------------->   2 EGYPTIAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR ATTACK ON NOBEL LAUREATE   KIM REID	   CAIRO=   An Egyptian military court has sentenced two men to death?after finding them guilty of attacking Egyptian Nobel laureate?Naguib Mahfouz last October.  Eleven other men were given jail@sentences for allegedly conspiring to kill Mr. Mahfouz for what!some say are anti-Islamic works.<   Mr. Mahfouz was stabbed in the neck as he sat in his carAoutside his house last October.  He survived the attack, but the6stabbing damaged nerves in his neck, and impaired his
handwriting.?   Two men accused of attacking the author are said to believe<Mr. Mahfouz is an apostate, or an unbeliever of Islam.  TheAsentence for an Islamic apostate is death, the same sentence the1military court handed down for the two suspects.@   Radical clerics say Mr. Mahfouz's novel, the Children of theGabalawi, is blasphemous.=   The novel was banned in Egypt, but was published in local=newspapers following the attack on the 83-year-old novelist.>Political observers say the attack has rendered Mr. Mahfouz a@sort of unwitting champion of secularism in Egypt.  He has also>become a symbol for the Egyptian government in its three-year1campaign to stamp out Muslim militant extremism.   ---------------   ----------------;   GALAPAGOS ISLAND RESEARCH STATION ATTACKED BY FISHERMEN   JOHN PITMAN   WASHINGTON>   A biological research station on the Galapagos Islands has?come under attack by fishermen angry about a ban on fishing inthe waters around the islands.>   According to the Charles Darwin Foundation, which runs the;Galapagos Research Station, all is now quiet on Santa CruzIsland.?   The fishermen who had overrun and occupied the station last>week have retreated to a nearby town, to await talks with the9scientists and the Ecuadorian government set for Friday.=   However, according to Johanna Barry of the Virginia-based:foundation, relations between the two sides remain tense.A   Ms. Barry says the confrontation began on January third, when@a group of armed, masked fishermen blocked roads leading to the?station.  The men then occupied the station and its docks, and&forced staff members to stay indoors.A   No  one was hurt in the confrontation, but Ms. Barry says theAfishermen did sink a small boat and make death threats against a)giant tortoise who lives at the station.A   A spokesman for the Ecuadorian embassy in Washington said theBquito government was doing what it could to defuse the situation,2which, he said, had been a problem for some time.?   The fishermen are protesting the closure of an experimentalAsea cucumber fishery that was opened in October to determine howAmany of the invertebrates could be harvested without harming the
environment.?   Scientists estimated the local eco-system could withstand aAloss of 550,000 sea cucumbers a year.  The area was shut down in?December, when it was discovered fishermen had taken more than=six million of the creatures.  Scientists say such a massive'harvest has devastated the population.?   But the fishermen say they must be able to continue to fish>for the cucumbers, which are dried and sold on Asian markets.B   It is unclear exactly how much money the sale of sea cucumbersBbrings to Galapagos fishermen.  However, estimates indicate it isAa multi-million dollar business that supports a rapidly growing,Bbut still very poor, community of fishermen on the Pacific islandchain.   ---------------   ---------------"   UNEMPLOYMENT RISING IN GERMANY   EVANS HAYS   BONNA   New figures just released show that unemployment is rising in@Germany.  The German federal labor office says the jobless rate<was up in both Western Germany and the new states of formercommunist East Germany.?   As the new year unfolds in Germany, officials have had somemixed news about the economy.?   The federal labor office says unemployment is up throughout;the country, reaching its highest level since August.  The@jobless rate topped the level of three and one-half million setpreviously.;   The labor office says the unemployment level in western>Germany rose from just under eight percent to eight-point-two>percent last month.  More than two-point-five million workers:were out of a job.  In the eastern part of Germany, where@unemployment soared after unification in 1990, the jobless rate+grew in December to 13-point-five percent.@   Experts say Germany is well on its way to pulling out of theBrecession.  But they say this does not necessarily mean good news@for the unemployed.  Industries forced by the recession to trimAtheir labor force have been restructuring to deal with a reducednumber of employees.B   While the employment news was bad, the overall outlook for the#German economy is said to be good.=   The chairman of Germany's independent Council of EconomicAadvisors, Herbert Hax, says the picture for Germany this year is?looking better.  He says the German economy can be expected toAgrow by two-and-one-half to three percent during the new year in=western Germany.  In eastern Germany, where there has been a@massive influx of investment funds, growth is expected to be atabout nine percent.<   Economic growth is also going to mean more money for theGerman tax office.=   Chancellor Helmut Kohl announced at the new year that his?government will reimpose a special wage tax of more than sevenApercent to help finance the rebuilding of eastern Germany.  This=is known as the solidarity tax and was first imposed brieflyAafter German unification.  Taxes on social insurance and privateproperty will also be raised.   ---------------   ---------------B   GREENSPAN AND VOKER URGE CONGRESS NOT TO USE "DYNAMIC SCORING"   KENT KLEIN   WASHINGTONA   The chairman of the U.S. central bank and his predecessor are9warning Congress against changing the way the government"estimates its revenue, or income.B   The new Republican majority in Congress is considering what it>calls a "dynamic" method of scoring, or figuring revenues and;calculating the budget deficit.  The proposed method wouldBinclude revenues from anticipated changes in taxpayer behavior as<a result of proposed tax cuts, while the existing, "static"@method of calculation counts actual government revenues without&taking behavior patterns into effect.:   But Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and formerAchairman Paul Volcker warned lawmakers Tuesday that the proposedBchange could undermine confidence in the economy and cause higherinterest rates.>   Mr. Greenspan told a joint hearing of the House and SenateABudget Committees that changing the system could erode financial5markets' confidence in government revenue estimates:7   "We must avoid resting key legislative decisions on9controversial estimates of revenues and outlays.  ShouldAfinancial markets lose confidence in the integrity of our budget@scoring procedures, the rise in inflation premiums and interest@rates could more than offset any statistical difference between,so-called static and more dynamic scoring."?   Mr. Volcker, who was the central bank chairman from 1979 to1987, also urged caution:;   "In the light of experience, it is perfectly clear that<anything that undermines the sense of greater budgetary and;spending discipline achieved in recent years, with so much$effort, will be counterproductive."<   Mr. Greenspan said changes in budget calculations cannotBsubstitute for the difficult political choices Congress must makein bringing down the deficit.A   The central bank, under Mr. Greenspan's direction, has raised@interest rates several times in the past year, to slow the rate1of economic growth and prevent higher inflation.   ---------------   ---------------   IRAN'S NUCLEAR POTENTIAL
   ED WARNER   WASHINGTON>   On a visit to Israel, U.S. Defense Secretary William PerryAexpressed concern that Iran may have nuclear weapons in anywhere?from five to fifteen years.  Israeli leaders warned they might3have to take drastic action against a nuclear Iran?   If Iran poses a nuclear threat, says Paul Leventhal, Israel@would  not hesitate to launch an attack similar to the one that*destroyed Iraq's nuclear reactor in 1981.@   Mr. Leventhal, president of the Nuclear Control Institute in<Washington, says now, as before, Israel is willing to flout,international opinion to assure its safety:?   "Iran is very different from your typical state.  It has anAIslamic fundamentalist government.  It has been known to support>terrorists.  It might be prepared to take risks that ordinaryAstates would  not.  It could, in fact, be prepared to incur much=high costs for the opportunity to try to destroy Israel withAnuclear weapons, for example, and the Israelis are very worried.ANormal inhibitions and restraints that would result from nuclear#deterrence may not apply to Iran."7   Dean Wilkening, a senior physical scientist at randBcorporation in California, says an Iranian nuclear threat may not
be imminent:?   "Unlike Korea and Iraq, where many people believe that they;were actually close to getting the weapons, Iran is in theAsituation where the intent to acquire these things appears to be@very high, but the capability seems to be a few years off, that=is if they develop them indigenously.  If they get lucky andBhappen to buy some weapons from the former Soviet Union, then who2knows? They might be able to get it much sooner.">   Mr. Wilkening says the world has moved beyond the cold war?period, where a nation slowly built up the capacity to produce>nuclear weapons.  He says now such weapons are available at a7price from various parties in the former Soviet Union.A   In response to the criticism, Iran claims its nuclear program<is for peaceful use only.  Russia, which has agreed to stopAselling arms to Iran, is helping Tehran complete a nuclear powerplant on the gulf coast.2   Iran also points out it has signed the nuclear?non-proliferation treaty, while Israel has not.  Egypt says it?may not adhere to the treaty if Israel remains outside it.  On=his trip to Israel this week, U.S. Defense Secretary WilliamAPerry said the treaty should apply to the whole Middle East, but3there was no indication he pressed Israel to join.@   Paul Leventhal thinks Israel must respond to these concerns:8   "Israel itself is a provocateur because they have an?undeclared nuclear weapons program that clearly provokes other>nations in the Middle East. So Israel has to play its part byAcapping its nuclear program. They need to do this as part of the>ongoing peace process.  To continue to do what they are doing>only provokes Iran, only gives it an easy excuse that will be=regarded sympathetically from a political standpoint by manyAnations in the region.  It is a very, very dangerous situation."A   Dean Wilkening of Rand says some kind of nuclear free zone in)the Middle East is a plausible solution:;   "Israel's primary concern for its security has been theBconventional military threat from Arab states or the coalition of?Arab states.  If, in fact, some substantial peace arrangementsBare made in the Middle East and the conventional military balance?of forces is somehow taken care of in that region, then IsraelAmight be quite willing to sign the non-proliferation treaty.  At9least, some high-level Israelis have suggested this is apossibility."@   Mr. Wilkening says Israel would still be concerned with ArabBnations' chemical and biological weapons, but they, too, could be-included in a comprehensive arms settlement.   ---------------   ---------------E   US GIVES UN DOCUMENTS AIMED AT PROVING IRAQI MILITARY IS A THREAT   ELAINE JOHANSON   UNITED NATIONS;   The United States has submitted documents to the United?Nations Security Council aimed at proving that Iraq is still a?military threat in the region. This comes as Iraq is trying to@persuade the council to start easing punitive sanctions imposed+shortly after the 1990 invasion of Kuwait.;   The United States says Iraq has nine-thousand pieces ofBmilitarily significant equipment, virtually all of it stolen from=Kuwait during its seven-month occupation of the country. The<equipment is said to range from jeeps and armored personnel5carriers to anti-tank weapons and missile launchers.=   U.S. officials say some of this was used when Iraq massed;troops last October near the Kuwait border.  The southward=movement caused international concern that Iraq may again beAcontemplating an invasion of its neighbor, or at the very least,;was saber-rattling to show its defiance of U.N. sanctions.BCouncil pledge to end an embargo on Iraqi oil sales.  The ban was@linked under the 1991 ceasefire terms to the completion of work6on a long-term monitoring system to prevent Iraq from@re-acquiring weapons of mass destruction.  The mechanism is nowprovisionally operational.<   But the United States sees the failure of Iraq to returnBKuwait's military property as an ominous sign that Iraq may still<be a threat in the region.  A U.S. spokesman says it raisesBquestions about Iraq's credibility and peaceful intentions.  U.S.=intelligence photos apparently show that Iraq has 29 missileAlaunchers , and those only at one site.  The implication is that?it may have more at other locations.  Iraq is said to have had3only 25 of the launchers before it invaded Kuwait.@   Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz is in New York for a=routine review by the Security Council Thursday.  He has met>privately with some delegations, including the French and the=Russians who want the council to start easing the sanctions,mainly the oil embargo.   ---------------   ---------------   IRAQI SANCTIONS DISPUTE   DEBORAH COOPER   WASHINGTON<   The United States says Iraq has stockpiles of militarily=significant equipment stolen from Kuwait during the Gulf WarBwhich it refuses to return.  This equipment, says U.S. officials,Bproves Iraq is still a military threat in the region.  The charge=comes two days before the United Nations Security Council isAscheduled to review sanctions, including an oil embargo, imposed$on Iraq at the end of the Gulf War.=   In the resolution which ended the 1991 Gulf War, the U.N.@Security Council expressed the rather strong view that it would@need to be assured of Baghdad's peaceful intentions before Iraq<could expect to regain its status as a normal member of the:international community.  In a series of resolutions, the>international body laid out exactly what Iraq must do to makeBclear those intentions before the Security Council would lift the?comprehensive package of sanctions against the Baghdad regime.=   Since that time, the Security Council has met 23 times toBexamine whether it should modify the sanctions which were imposedBon Iraq because of its invasion of Kuwait. Each time, the council?determined that no changes were justified, and reaffirmed that?Iraq must comply fully with all the ceasefire obligations thatthe council established.=   U.S. deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern?Affairs, Mark Parris, is confident the council will reach thatAsame conclusion when it again reviews Iraq's behavior this week:B   "It is appropriate for America, and for the United Nations, toAinsist, and to insist consistently and firmly, that Iraq must doBwhat the U.N. said it must do at the end of the Gulf War if Iraq,@without reference to any particular regime, is to return to its?normal status among the international community.  That we will>continue to do.  We have great sympathy for the plight of the@Iraqi people, who have suffered more than any other people as a?result of Saddam Hussein's regime.  We have provided, the U.N.<has sought to provide means by which the suffering could be>alleviated, but ultimately it is up to them to determine what>kind of regime is going to lead them. And I realize that's anAeasier thing to say than it is to put into practice, but I think!that is ultimately the reality.">   Mr. Parris says the recent French government's decision toBopen up an "interests section" at the Romanian embassy in Baghdad3runs the risk of sending the wrong signal to Iraq.<   Parris says it could appear to the Iraqi regime that theAcoalition that defeated Saddam Hussein's army in the Gulf War is8prepared to take a more relaxed view towards sanctions:B   "We have seen too often in the past that Iraq will simply takeBadvantage of and exploit any evidence of ambiguity or weakness on@the part of its interlocutors, and we think that this step runsAsome risk of doing that.  For our own part, obviously we have noAplans whatsoever to upgrade in any way our relationship with theBaghdad regime."B   A U.S. interests section operates out of the Polish embassy in	Baghdad.?   Late last year, Iraq complied with one of the U.N. demands.@After a standoff with U.S. forces at the Kuwaiti border, Saddam@Hussein finally indicated his acceptance of the internationallyArecognized borders of Kuwait. While this was not enough to cause?the security council to change its view of the sanctions, some.critics argue the time has come to lift them.   According to Faisal Abado:@   "After close to five years, after thousands and thousands of@people dying and suffering, its time now to lift the sanctions,
completely."<   Faisal Ababo is an Iraqi-American who is chairman of the6Committee to Lift Sanctions Against the Iraqi people.A   "The conditions that led to imposing sanctions have changed,":says Abado.  "Very simply, sanctions are an extraordinaryAmeasure.  There was, I grant you, an extraordinary situation and;it has been changed.  So the Iraqi people are eligible for>lifting the sanctions. Should the Iraqi people keep dying and8suffering because Iraq (has) complied with all the U.N.@resolutions but there are a few left here and there?  That is a=humiliation to the pride and integrity of the Iraqi people."B   But Secretary Parris argues that Iraq has not implemented mostof the U.N. resolutions:=   "At best, it has begun to comply with certain obligationsBrelating to weapons of mass destruction, although, as I indicated@a moment ago, the record is highly questionable.  And it did inBfact unconditionally recognize Kuwait and Kuwait's borders.  That?is the only obligation which it has complied with fully and as?required by the United Nations.  It is a significant step, and?it's a step, I would point out, which occurred only after well>over a year's efforts to find measures short of unconditional?acceptance of Kuwait and its borders, that it thought might be=acceptable to the international community.  When it was made?crystal clear that there was no alternative, and that the U.N.?would not consider modifying the sanctions until that step was"taken, we saw that they took it."A   But Faisal Ababo says there are other considerations. He says?the oil embargo has so strangled the Iraqi economy and has hadBsuch a devastating impact on the Iraqi people that the atmosphereis ripe for Islamic extremism.>   Mr. Ababo argues that extremist elements will convince the=suffering Iraqi people that the Christian west is out to getthem:=   "The Islamic fundamentalist, they look to cases like thatBwhether it's in Bosnia or anywhere else in the world, (they) willAtell you 'look, there's an international plot against the Muslim=people, against the Arab people,' and they will convince the@people who are suffering and dying that this logic is true. AndBconsequently they will spread more hatred in the hearts and minds@of not only the people of Iraq, not only the Arab people in theBMiddle East, but also in the non-arab countries, and other Muslim!countries.  The logic is there."A   Beyond the sanctions question, State Department official Mark@Parris says the United States is studying whether a case can be<made under international law to have Iraq answer for crimesagainst humanity:A   "There is a large volume of documentation which has come intoBwestern hands after the Gulf War, which has been studied over the:past several years. And we anticipate in the months ahead@consulting with Security Council partners as to the feasibility@of establishing a commission which would explore precisely thisissue."@   Regardless of whether the Security Council decides to act on>the crimes question, there is little indication the U.N. body=will change its stand during this week's review of sanctionsagainst the Iraqi regime.   ---------------   ---------------)   ISRAELI ARMY FORCIBLY REMOVE SETTLERS
   AL PESSIN
   JERUSALEM:   Israeli army troops forcibly removed a group of Jewish;settlers from a site on the occupied West Bank before dawnATuesday, when they tried to establish an unauthorized settlement7at the spot where a Jewish woman was killed last week.?   It was about three o'clock in the morning, local time, when@several hundred settlers went to the roadside location north of?Ramallah where 19-year-old Ofra Felix was killed in a drive-by<shooting on Friday.  They set up a mobile home and began to%occupy the site as a new settlement.;   Army spokesman Danny Seaman says troops operating under@standing orders to prevent unauthorized settlements moved in todisperse the crowd:>   "Several dozens of settlers who did not agree to leave theBarea and disrupted traffic on the main route were dispersed while#arguing with the security forces.":   Fourteen settlers were arrested, but most of them wereAreleased shortly afterward.  Reports say the soldiers pushed themobile home into a ditch.A   This is the second time in a week that the Israeli government@has moved against settlers.  Still, many prominent Palestinians@complain Israel is allowing existing settlements to grow and is8confiscating Arab land to build secure roads connecting
settlements.   ---------------   ---------------#   PROGRESS AND FREEDOM FOUNDATION   ANDREW BAIRD   WASHINGTON?   Much of the philosophical basis for political change takingBplace in the United States was on display Tuesday at a conferenceAin Washington sponsored by a foundation closely aligned with theAnew speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Newt Gingrich.<   The Progress and Freedom Foundation is headed by Jeffrey@Eisenach, a close political associate of new house speaker NewtBGingrich, who is attempting to reshape American society by trying8to pass legislation known as the Contract with America.?   The contract is a ten-point plan which, among other things,?calls for tax cuts for the middle class, a rollback of federal<regulation, an amendment to balance the federal budget, and?reform of the nation's welfare system, which costs the federalAgovernment more than 140 billion dollars annually.  The contract9also emphasizes limited government, voluntarism, and the;strengthening of social institutions such as the family by=embracing new technologies.  That idea was the basis for theconference.;   Alvin Toffler, author of the book "Future Shock" and anBadvisor to Mr. Gingrich, says the industrial age beginning in the=late 1800s weakened the family by taking over its functions:B   "Schools began to educate children and teach values, hospitals?took care of the sick, and the state began to take care of theAelderly.  Work more and more took place in factories, instead of8fields and cottages where the family worked as a unit."A   Mr. Toffler says that given the political will and the use of@technologies, the family can recover its prime role in society:B   "If you really want to strengthen the family, what you want to@do is encourage those processes that return important functions?to the family. That is why work at home is important.  That is?why when Newt talks about facilitating work at home instead ofAopposing it, as the internal revenue service or the trade unions(do, that is a progressive thing to do."B   Mr. Toffler also foresees much of education and health care in@the country centering on the family. This will be accomplished,=he says, through home schooling using personal computers and;medical technologies that allow for treatment in the home.?   Keynote speaker Senator Phil Gramm, a Republican from Texas@and a presidential candidate, said the 1994 election results in>which Republicans swept both Houses of Congress were based onBfeelings by Americans that the long-term future of their familieswere in jeopardy.<   But Michael Vlahos, a fellow at the Progress and FreedomAFoundation, said the creation of a so-called byte city, that is,=a society centered on the home and based mainly on knowledge8diffused by advanced technologies, could prove jarring:B   "Where the railroad brought people to the city and transferred=goods and allowed that whole world to operate, the byte-city:brings the city to us. The city is in our living room, or>wherever we want it to be.  So in effect, this is the vehicle@transforming out daily lives, and in the process of doing that,1the stresses that it places on us are enormous."A   Mr. Vlahos says that as a result of these stresses, he sensesAa feeling of disorder and dis-conceitedness in the United States?which the current political system is failing to address.   He:also sees the rise of powerful leaders of knowledge-based9industries which could dominate the economy, much as theAso-called robber-baron industrialists did around the turn of the	century.:   Still, like many of the speakers the conference, he is<optimistic that the U.S. political process, over time, will@survive the transformation and increasingly will be spearheadedAby citizens who are better informed through the use of so-calledBvirtual technologies, including interconnected personal computers<and on-line services.  If that happens, says, Mr. Vlahos, abetter society will result.   ---------------   ---------------<   TREASURY SECRETARY NOMINEE RUBIN CONFIRMED BY THE SENATE   VICTOR BEATTIE   WASHINGTON?   The Republican-controlled U.S. Senate has moved quickly and;unanimously in confirming Robert Rubin as the new treasuryBsecretary replacing the retiring Lloyd Bentsen. The 99-to-nothing<vote came without debate and just hours after Mr. Rubin was,approved by the Senate's Finance Committee:A   Lawmakers insisted the quick action was aimed at allowing Mr.BRubin to take up his duties as quickly as possible.  The outgoing>director of President Clinton's National Economic Council was;confirmed after less than one hour of testimony before theFinance Committee Tuesday.B   Senators praised his background.  The multi-millionaire formerBWall Street investor has spent much of his career working for the,prestigious New York firm of Goldman Sachs.;   Mr. Rubin has promised to pursue policies many of which%Republicans have promoted for years:9   "Deficit reduction, education, training, programs for:economically-depressed areas and other public investments9critical to future productivity, targeted tax reduction,>reforming and reducing government and government regulations,5health care and welfare reform and opening markets."A   Concerning Japan, whose prime minister holds a one-day summit?at the White House today Wednesday with President Clinton, Mr.:Rubin says bilateral trade issues must be dealt with in aforthright fashion.?   He promised to help open Japan's markets to more U.S. goods6saying the world's second-largest economy cannot have=substantially different access to its markets than the other?major economies without hurting the world's free trade system.   ---------------   ---------------$   PROFILE: SHEIK OMAR ABDEL RAHMAN   CHRIS SIMKINS   NEW YORK=   The trial of sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, the Egyptian MuslimAcleric, and 11 of his followers continues in New York. The sheik@is accused of plotting to wage a terrorist campaign against theUnited States.@   Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman is the key defendant in the trial of;12 men accused of conspiring to bomb several New York CityBlandmarks.  He has spent most of his life preaching and defending'his radical Islamic religious beliefs.8   In the 1980's Sheik Omar was accused by the Egyptian:government of inciting anti-government demonstrations and@authorizing the assassination of Egyptian president Anwar Sadat=in 1981.  He spent several years in prison but was released.>   Sheik Omar and several hundred of his followers were triedBseveral times for attempting to overthrow the Egyptian government@and commit terrorist acts.  While his followers were convicted,/the Muslim cleric was acquitted in each trial.:   In 1990, Sheik Omar came to the United States.  He wasBreported to be on an official U.S. terrorist list at the time but?managed to receive a tourist visa from the American embassy inBSudan. Sheik Omar set up his headquarters in the eastern state ofBnew jersey and delivered his fundamentalist message at mosques in:several U.S. cities.  Audio tapes of his sermon were also/secretly smuggled into Egypt to his followers.@   Later that same year, according U.S. Government prosecutors,?Sheik Omar instructed his followers to wage a religious war ofAterror against the United States.  The cleric is alleged to haveAorder the campaign to punish the United States for its relationswith Israel and Egypt.B   Prosecutors say the sheik, who has been blind since childhood,<and his followers were responsible for the assassination of=militant Rabbi Meir Kahane in New York in 1990. They say theAgroup also wanted to kidnap and assassinate government officials?including Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in New York in late:1991.  Sheik Omar has said he does not advocate violence.?   U.S. prosecutors Say sheik Omar instructed his followers toAbomb the World Trade Center in 1993.  Six people were killed and?one thousand others injured.  They claim the Muslim cleric and9his followers then began plotting to bomb other New York>landmarks, including the U.N. building and underwater highwaycommuter tunnels.A   Under U.S. conspiracy laws the government must prove that the@56-year old sheik and his followers planned the terrorist acts.BWhile prosecutors have not linked the sheik to actually executingAa crime they say he gave religious approval to carry out certainBcrimes.  Defense attorneys say Sheik Omar was only practicing hisBconstitutional right of free speech when he preached his sermons.@   The future for Sheik Omar Adel Rahman is uncertain. If he isAconvicted on the U.S. conspiracy charges he could spend the rest;of his life in prison. But if the sheik is acquitted, U.S.=immigration officials may move to have him deported from theUnited States.   ---------------   ---------------8  CIA DIRECTOR EXPRESSES CONCERN OVER RUSSIAN STABILITY   DAVID GOLLUST   U.S. CONGRESS>   The outgoing head of the U.S. central Intelligence Agency,BJames Woolsey, is expressing concern about political stability in=Moscow amid the crisis in Chechnya.  The CIA chief says that:while Boris Yeltsin may emerge from the conflict with his>presidency intact, his actual control over the country may beundermined.B   In what was probably his farewell appearance before the Senate=Intelligence Committee, CIA Director Woolsey said the war inBChechnya has exacerbated tensions within the Russian military and<given a "significant amount of ammunition" to Mr. Yeltsin'sopponents in parliament.?   Mr. Woolsey said Russian politics have become significantly=more volatile and unpredictable, and are likely to remain soAuntil the country's parliamentary and presidential elections dueto be held in 1995 and 1996.B   The CIA chief, who announced his resignation last month and is;staying on in the post on an interim basis, suggested that:advisers with a more totalitarian bent are having greaterinfluence with Mr. Yeltsin.B   But he said the ultimate result of the Chechnya crisis may not=be a swing toward authoritarian rule in Russia, but rather aBsituation in which the organizational structure of the governmentis in confusion and disarray:A   "It is not just a struggle between Democrats and hard-liners.=There is a third possible and really very unhappy outcome inAwhich the situation of control and stability with respect to the@Russian government could be less than it is today, and that's amatter of concern."B   Mr. Woolsey stressed the rise of organized crime in Russia and>said criminal organizations have the infrastructure, based on<ties to corrupt military and political, to acquire and sell*nuclear and biological weapons materials.A   He said the custody of nuclear weapons produced by the former7Soviet Union is, as he put it, "comparatively well andresponsibly managed."?   But according to Mr. Woolsey, the same can not  be said forBsecurity at research facilities across the country, many of which@are in possession of significant amounts of fissionable nuclear
material:A   "Research facilities can produce a few kilograms of plutoniumBor a few kilograms of highly-enriched uranium. If you put severalB'few kilograms' together you could conceivably end up with enoughAfor a weapon.  And I think it's the security of those facilitiesAand the way the custody of plutonium and highly-enriched uranium>is managed, as well as the existence of substantial organizedAcrime organizations within the former Soviet union that gives usa good deal of concern.">   Mr. Woolsey cited Russian interior ministry estimates that>organized crime controls most of the country's banks and overBhalf its financial capital, making it evident that crime elementsAhave the resources to bribe or threaten those who handle weaponsmaterials.   ---------------   --------------->   CIA DIRECTOR SAYS IRAN IS ACTIVELY SEEKING NUCLEAR WEAPONS   DAVID GOLLUST   U.S. CONGRESS@   Outgoing Central Intelligence Agency Director James Woolsey,8in Senate testimony Tuesday on threats to U.S. securityAinterests, stressed Iran's connection to international terrorist>activity. Mr. Woolsey says Iran is actively seeking a nuclearweapons capability.=   Mr. Woolsey said Iran has an offensive biological weapons@program and a clandestine program to build nuclear arms, thoughAit is likely to be sometime early in the next decade before Iran=has enough fissionable material to actually assemble a bomb.:   In some of the most detailed public comments by a U.S.:official on the Iranian arms effort, Mr. Woolsey said the>timetable could be shortened considerably, if Iran is able to9acquire enriched uranium from foreign sources, includingorganized crime elements.@   Mr. Woolsey, who announced his resignation last month and isBexpected to leave office soon, was making his final annual report:to the senate intelligence committee   on threats to U.S.
security.>   The CIA chief accused Iran of using its version of Islamic@doctrine to promote anti-western politics and terrorism, sayingAit provides the Hezbollah terror organization with more than 100-million dollars in money and arms each year.@   But he stressed, in that regard, that the United States does@not see itself at odds with the Islamic fundamentalist movementin general:A   "The United States has no quarrel with devout islam. The realAproblem from our point of view is that some nations, and Iran is>front and center and Sudan is not far behind it, are using or9trying to use this resurgence in religious feeling, very>understandable resurgence in religious feeling, in the Muslim=world as a source of political power, as a source to promoteterrorism and violence.":   Mr. Woolsey had sharp criticism of Iraqi leader Saddam:Hussein, whom he accused of resuming a quest for regionalBdominance and of concealing scud missiles, chemical munitions and9elements of Iraq's nuclear program from U.N. inspectors.?   He said the Iraqi leader has gone on spending his country's;slim resources on weapons and luxuries for himself and his?entourage, while refusing U.N. terms that would have eased thesuffering of the Iraqi people:B   "He single-mindedly spends his resources on himself and on theBtuning-up of the instruments of military power that he could use,Aand that are directly responsive to him, and has let much of theBrest of the economy and his people go hang and go hungry. And forAsingle-minded devotion to personal interest he comes pretty much*right at the top of the world's leaders.">   Mr. Woolsey said Iraq, Iran and 22 other countries already@have or may be developing nuclear, biological or chemical arms.AHe said U.S. intelligence has been particularly active in trying?to deny Libya the foreign help it has been seeking to continue1developing underground chemical arms facilities.   ---------------   ---------------B   DOCTOR CONVICTED IN RACIALLY CHARGED HOMICIDE CASE IN ZIMBABWE   LAWRENCE BARTLETT
   HARARE?   A scottish doctor was found guilty in Zimbabwe's high courtATuesday on two counts of culpable homicide in a case with racial@overtones. The doctor, Richard McGown, an anesthetist, had been>accused in parliament of performing Nazi-style experiments onblacks.B   Dr. McGown, who graduated in Edinburgh and came to Zimbabwe in@1968, was convicted of negligence in the deaths of two children who underwent minor operations.A   Judge Paddington Garwe said that although the doctor had "set@sail on unchartered waters" in his use of morphine on children,6he was not able to determine whether this constitutedexperimentation.@   Dr. McGown was charged with five counts of culpable homicide?involving the use of epidural morphine, which is injected into4the spinal area, a subject on which he was lecturedinternationally.B   When the trial opened in July, defense lawyers said Dr. McGown>had been falsely accused in parliament of being "a racist who;admitted using children and black women as guinea pigs for)unauthorized experiments with morphine."A   These allegations of racism were not reflected in the charges@against the doctor in court, where he pleaded not guilty to all#counts and was acquitted on three.=   He was convicted of being responsible for the deaths of aAtwo-year-old boy who underwent a circumcision, and a 10-year-old#girl who had her appendix removed.=   The trial has been followed avidly in Zimbabwe, where the;white minority of 100,000 in this former British colony of<Rhodesia has recently come under verbal attack by president<Robert Mugabe for continued racism after nearly 15 years ofindependence.=   University students have threatened in the ruling ZANU PF>Party newspaper to attack whites in the streets if Dr. McGown;does not receive what they consider to be an "appropriate"
sentence.B   He faces a maximum penalty of life imprisonment on each count,@but his defense team is expected to ask for him to be fined andspared any prison term.?   The trial was adjourned until Wednesday when the defense is5likely to submit evidence in mitigation of sentence.   ---------------   ---------------   CHECHNYA MILITARY TACTICS   ANDRE DE NESNERA
   LONDON>   Western experts agree the Russian military has bungled the?Chechen campaign and could be mired in a guerilla war for manymonths to come.:   Russian troops entered the independence-minded Chechen>Republic December 11th, and they have faced severe resistance@from Chechen fighters ever since.  Using tanks, heavy artillery>and air attacks, the Russian troops are still trying to fully%control the region's capital Grozny.@   Many western analysts here say the Russian military has made@serious mistakes in its Chechen campaign.  One analyst calls it@the worst tactical exercise they have carried out since the endof the second world war.A   Defense analyst Colonel Mike Dewar says the first mistake was=to use the wrong troops, sending in interior ministry forces#rather than elite army battalions:@   "The use of interior troops from the trans-Caucasus military?district although convenient in that they were stationed close@by, was a bad error from the outset in that they were not up to@the task. They were second-rate troops, poorly equipped, poorly&trained and with second-rate morale."A   Colonel Dewar says the Russian military command followed that/move with a whole series of tactical blunders:>   "Insufficient speed of movement from the border to Grozny.>Then once the outskirts had been reached the use of the wrongBtactics, trying to rush into the center in armored vehicles which=became extremely vulnerable to ambush by hand-held anti-tankAweapons and a whole series of errors. They did not undertake the>business of urban warfare, street fighting logically and in aBproper military way, they tried to take shortcuts and I am afraidthey were caught out."?   Many analysts here say one of the major military errors wasthe poor use of tanks.<   Paul beaver, senior analyst with the British publication?Jane's Defense Weekly, says Russian tanks entering the ChechenAcapital Grozny were not supported on their flanks by the Russian.infantry, leaving them  extremely vulnerable:>   "Very simply the Chechens got close, they used very simple>weapons, RPG-7's and 22's, shoulder-launched rocket-propelled@grenades. They were disabling the tanks and they were then ableAto climb aboard, open the hatches and drop grenades inside. Very;old tactics, second world war tactics if you like, but the@Russians have not seemed to learn any of the lessons from other9tactical exercises of fighting in an urban environment."A   Analysts point to another big mistake, the indiscriminate use*of air power, especially fighter bombers.?   Colonel Dewar says helicopter gunships would have been much?more accurate, but he says the use of any kind of air power inChechnya is worthless:>   "The use of airpower in this sort of military situation is>virtually useless and of course it is politically mistaken in@that it arises such opposition from the world community that it@makes it politically difficult for (President) Yeltsin to carryAon with his campaign. So he shot himself in the foot twice.  NotBonly is it not particularly militarily useful or appropriate, butBalso it arises anger amongst the civilian victims and amongst the9world community, so this was one of his worst mistakes."@   Looking to the future, many western analysts see the Russian?army bogged down in Chechnya for many months to come. They sayAafter taking Grozny, the Russian military will face a protracted@guerrilla war as Chechen fighters take to the surrounding hillsAand countryside. In addition they say resupplying Russian troops;will be difficult as convoys will be prime targets for the
Chechens.   ---------------   ---------------=   CHINA ISSUES STRICT ORDERS TO ARMY TO OBEY ITS DIRECTIVES   DAVID DYAR   BEIJINGB   China's communist party leaders several days ago issued strict6orders to China's army to obey the party's directive.:   The Party's Order was published Saturday and was givenAprominent space in China's state controlled press.  The order isAunusual because it reveals concerns by party leaders the army is@becoming too independent, and too often ignores directives fromparty leaders.A   Many Chinese political analysts say having the support of the;army will be crucial for anyone who might try to engage in?succession struggles following the death of 90-year-old seniorleader Deng Xiaoping.B   The directive issued Saturday was focused on corruption within@the military.  Corruption is being stimulated by the increasing0involvement of the army in commercial ventures.A   In recent years, the Chinese military has sought funds to pay=its programs by engaging in commercial businesses.  This hasBbrought about complaints the army is using its status as an armed=force to obtain special advantages over civilian state-owned
enterprises.6   There have been increasing complaints soldiers and@high-ranking officers abuse their position.  The corruption has@led communist-party leaders to become concerned they are losingcontrol of the military.>   An order issued last week stipulates high-ranking military<officers will be subject to financial audits.  Military-runBcommercial enterprises will also be forced to have their financesinspected.B   In some large cities in china, the army is involved in several@enterprises that have nothing to do with military matters, suchBas operating karaoke bars that have been fronts for prostitution.=   The party directive issued Saturday contained four parts.9These called for unified party leadership over the army,6increasing the power of party branches, strengthening:administration and improving the quality of leading partyofficials in the military.>   It also directed the army to show strict obedience to Deng8Xiaoping's designated successor, President Jiang Zemin.   ---------------   --------------->   COLOMBIAN COCA GROWERS OFFERED A CROP SUBSTITUTION PROGRAM   ROGER WILKISON   RIO DE JANEIRO:   The Colombian government is offering to finance a crop@substitution program it hopes will wean farmers in the southernBpart of the country away from coca, the raw material for cocaine,Band into rubber cultivation. The farmers say the government offeris insufficient.A   A government commission which is attempting to negotiate with@the farmers in the southern jungle region of Putumayo, near theBborder with Ecuador, offered an immediate investment of a million<dollars if the farmers will stop growing the coca leaf. TheAgovernment also offered to build roads, hospitals, schools and a>hydroelectric facility, all of which had been demanded by theBfarmers.  The farmers have been conducting a protest for the past<20 days against the government's use of a chemical spray to@destroy their coca crops.  The protest degenerated into acts ofBviolence by the farmers, who destroyed oil-drilling equipment and=burned four thousand barrels of oil.  The state oil company,>Ecopetrol, estimated that its losses from the farmers' action-amounted to two-point-seven million dollars.A   Leaders of the farmers' movement said the government's latest?offer of a million dollars is insufficient to take them out ofBthe coca business.  The two sides were meeting Monday in the town<of La Hormiga, 550 kilometers south of Bogota, amid tension@caused by a communist guerrilla attack Sunday against a jail in9Mocoa, the capital of Putumayo.  The guerrillas freed 93?prisoners, although 35 of them have since returned to the jail
voluntarily.A   Also Sunday, a helicopter escorting a plane that was sprayingAthe coca fields in the Guaviare region, 300 kilometers southeast=of bogota, was shot down by what police said was an allianceAbetween the guerrillas and local drug traffickers.  Three policeofficers were injured.A   The crop eradication effort is part of a joint Colombian/U.S.:program aimed at destroying 40-thousand hectares of coca,=marijuana and poppies used to make heroin by the end of nextyear.   ----------------   ----------------@   SEX CRIMES ACCUSATIONS AGAINST CONGRESSMAN REYNOLDS RECANTED   PAUL FRANCUCH   CHICAGO?   A U.S. Congressional representative from Chicago, currently?under indictment for allegedly having illicit sex with a young?girl, may soon have his named cleared.  In a Chicago courtroom=Monday, a lawyer representing the girl told a judge that his>client fabricated the allegations under pressure from police.;   The focus of the allegations is Chicago Congressman MelAReynolds, a Democrat who recently won re-election despite facing=a 20 count criminal indictment.  The serious charges include>criminal sexual assault, aggravated criminal sexual abuse andBsoliciting for child pornography.  Mr. Reynolds has categorically?denied all the charges and has accused the local news media ofhighly over-playing the story.>   Congressman Reynolds is married and has three children.  A:former Rhodes scholar and college professor, Mr. Reynolds@represents a largely African-American constituency on Chicago'sAfar south side.  First elected to Congress in 1992, Mr. Reynolds>was seen by many as a promising young representative with the:potential of becoming a leading voice in Congress for theAfrican-American community.B   Then came the allegations from a former campaign volunteer who@charged the congressman had sex with her when she was 16 and 17Ayears old.  She also alleged that Congressman Reynolds asked her@to get pornographic photographs of another girl who was only 15years old.>   But at a routine court hearing in Chicago Monday, attorneyBReginald Turner, who said he represented the girl, told the court$that she was recanting the charges.'   Mr. Turner later said to reporters:A   "She was not the victim.  She'd never had sexual intercourse,>according to the statements that she's given to me, and under:oath, she's never had sexual intercourse with Congressman@Reynolds.  My client was angry with the Congress over something>that had occurred prior to June of 1994.  As a result of thatAanger she made certain statements that resulted in the charges."B   Mr. Turner says his client was pressured by police to stand by@her allegations, claiming police threatened to jail her and her:mother if she recanted.  The girl also stated through her@attorney that police coached her on words to use to incriminate@congressman Reynolds in a tape recorded telephone conversation.;   But State of Illinois prosecutors, who brought the case>against Congressman Reynolds, expressed doubts about the girl:recanting. According to Illinois state's attorney is Jack
O'Malley:7   "At no time has this victim ever told anyone in law:enforcement that her allegations were anything but true.";   Prosecutors say they may still go ahead with their case;against Chicago Congressman Mel Reynolds.  But without theBsupport of the girl who made the charges, it will be difficult ifnot impossible to proceed.   ---------------   ---------------E   NEW ZEALAND POLICE BUST LINK IN AN INTERNATIONAL COUNTERFEIT RING   MARY MCCALLUM   WELLINGTONA   New Zealand police are investigating an international link toAa counterfeiting operation worth nearly 800,000 U.S. dollars.  A@series of raids in Lower Hutt, near the capital Wellington, hasAuncovered a large haul of counterfeit Fijian currency and led to8one arrest, but the police are casting their net wider.>   The counterfeit Fijian banknotes have been recovered afterBLower Hutt police received a tip to raid several addresses in theBarea.  The police have been working on the case for 18-months and<were rewarded with the raids that netted counterfeit Fijian?banknotes valued at 770,000 dollars (U.S.).  A 46-year old manAwas arrested and will appear in court January 12th, charged with"possessing the counterfeit notes.B   Detective Sergeant Godfrey Watson described the counterfeiting=ring as, professional, a cut above your usual counterfeiting@attempts.  He believes the group planned to export the currency9to Fiji, but were caught before any bogus money got out.B   Detectives have also raided another house on the north island.ABut the occupant was away and no further arrests have been made,?although at least seven search warrants have been issued sinceFriday.?   Detective Sergeant Watson says the inquiry is not over yet.AHe is continuing to investigate the possibility of internationalBinvolvement with the Lower Hutt-based counterfeiting ring. Fijian@authorities have been informed of the arrest and the details ofAthe case through the international police organization Interpol.?   Mr. Watson would not comment about whether Fijian nationalsBwere involved in the counterfeiting ring, but he said police were>not looking at a network of Fijians.  He said it appeared the>Fijian currency had been chosen for counterfeiting because it?suited those involved.  Mr. Watson also indicated the work was@carried out with a sophisticated printer, rather than the usualcolor photocopiers.B   Meanwhile, Lower Hutt police say they expect more developments(in the case before the end of the week.   ---------------   --------------->   MORE FORMER EAST GERMAN LEADERS WITH BERLIN WALL SHOOTINGS   EVANS HAYS   BONNB   Prosecutors in Berlin have formally charged seven more leadersAof the former communist regime in East Germany with manslaughter@in connection with years of killings along the East-West Germanborder.B   The Justice Department in Berlin says authorities have charged7seven members of the former East German Politburo with?manslaughter or attempted manslaughter.  News reports say that@among those being charged is Egon Krenz, who ruled East Germany3after long-time leader Erich Honecker was toppled.A   Honecker died in exile in Chile last year.  He stood trial on6manslaughter and other charges in Berlin after German>unification, but was eventually released from jail for health	reasons.A   Mr. Krenz, on learning about the charges against him, said he9could not be put on trial for actions that were legal in>communist east Germany.  That is the same defense used by Mr.BHonecker and other officials, who claimed the new, united Germany)had no legal right to put them on trial.=   German courts have so far ignored this plea, although the>courts have generally been lenient in punishing those who areconvicted.;   Mr. Krenz and six others are accused of complicity in aBcommunist government order for east German border guards to shoot,and kill people trying to flee to the west.A   Official estimates say nearly 600 people died while trying to>escape from East Germany.  Most of them were shot to death asBthey try to climb the Berlin Wall or escape through a death-field?of mines that lined the east German border to the west. Others>drowned while trying to swim the Elbe River or escape via theBaltic Sea.   ---------------   ---------------$   HONG KONG POLICE RAIDS ON TRIADS   MAX RUSTON
   HONG KONG@   Authorities in Hong Kong have carried out raids on dozens ofAapartments and businesses in an effort to disrupt the activities;of one of the territory's organized crime groups, known asBtriads.  Police say they hope the raids will result in a decrease3in drug trafficking, loan-sharking, and extortion.A   Police officials say the raids followed a two-year undercover@operation, in which special agents infiltrated a faction of the?Sun Yee on triad, one of the largest criminal organizations in;the territory.  They say about 350 police took part in the:operation, which included simultaneous raids on 70-sites.@Fourteen people were arrested, including one woman and four mendescribed as ringleaders.@   Hong Kong's crime world is currently dominated by four triad<societies.  They originated in China about 150-years ago in@opposition to the Qing Dynasty.  The groups have been active as@criminal organizations for more than a century.  They developed@strong roots in Hong Kong in the 1950's following the communist=takeover of China.  More recently, they are reported to have=started to move into China again, and to be involved in drug5trafficking and the smuggling of illegal immigrants.?   Most of Hong Kong's major triad groups are believed to haveAclose ties to Chinese criminal gangs in the United States, basedin San Francisco and New York.@   Police in Hong Kong have been attempting to eradicate triads=for several decades.  But, observers say triad members stillBnumber well over one-hundred-thousand.  Many of them are involved8in extortion operations, in which they demand so-called?protection money from shopkeepers in return for not robbing orAvandalizing the shops.  They are also reported to be involved inprostitution and gambling.?   During the past decade, Hong Kong authorities have focussedAtheir efforts on prosecuting triad leaders and trying to prevent=the organizations from recruiting young people from schools.=   According to one official, the latest raids disrupted the>leadership of the Sun Yee on triad faction and left it like a<headless chicken.  Police officials say they have collectedBenough evidence to prosecute more than 100 triad members and planto carry out further raids.   ---------------   ---------------   IBM EXECUTIVE CHANGES   BRECK ARDERY   NEW YORK?   IBM, the world's largest computer company, Monday announced?the resignations of two top executives and a reorganization of#its software and sales operations.B   Ellen Hancock, IBM's vice president in charge of software, and@Bob Labant, who supervised the company's U.S. sales force, have@both announced their retirements. The departures come on top of>the resignation last week by Fred Zuckerman, IBM's treasurer.;   In a statement, Louis Gerstner, IBM's chairman, made no@comment on the executive departures. However he did say he will>unify the company's international sales efforts and create anintegrated software division.>   With 11 billion dollars in annual revenues, IBM's software@division is already the world's largest. But analysts point out;that most of the sales are connected to software for largeAmainframe computers. Mr. Gerstner is believed concerned that IBMAmay be losing out in the much faster growing market for personalcomputer software.:   Last year, IBM introduced a new version of its OS/2 PCBoperating system and is spending an estimated two billion dollars?to promote it. However analysts say that, so far, the OS/2 has=not offered significant competition to Microsoft corporation@which currently dominates the market for p-c operating systems.   ---------------   ---------------D   US AND ISRAEL SAYS IRAN COULD DEVELOP NUCLEAR WEAPONS IN 7 YEARS   PATRICIA GOLAN
   JERUSALEM=   U.S. Secretary of Defense William Perry and Israeli Prime;Minister Yitzhak Rabin say they believe Iran could produceAnuclear weapons within seven to fifteen years.  Secretary Perry,<on a two-day visit to Israel, re-affirmed the United States:commitment to keeping Israel's qualitative military edge.@   A main focus of Secretary Perry's talks with Israeli leaders=has been the possibility that Iran may be developing nuclear;weapons.  A report out this week says Russia has agreed to0complete work on a nuclear power plant in Iran.?   Speaking at a news conference in Tel Aviv at the end of hisBvisit to Israel, Mr. Perry said that Iran is many years away from5developing nuclear weapons, but he is still worried:7   "They have the possibility, as any country has, the@possibility of short-cutting that time, by acquiring either the>weapons or the plutonium or highly enriched uranium from some@other country.  That's a short-cut method, and that is what I'm?concerned about. There it's not a matter of working with Iran,Bit's a matter of working with countries that have that technology?or have those weapons, to tighten their controls to reduce theprobability of that happening.?   Prime minister Rabin says that from Israel's point of view,>Iran represents a short-term threat in its support of radical@Islamic terrorism.  In the long-term, however, Mr. Rabin sees a?very real possibility that Iran could develop non-conventional	weapons.A   Defense Secretary Perry had flown to Israel from Egypt, which7has complained that Israel refuses to sign the nuclearAnon-proliferation treaty.  Prime Minister Rabin says that Israel@would like to see a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East, basedAon bilateral agreements between all the countries in the region.A   Secretary Perry was somewhat evasive when asked about reportsAthat Israel has transferred U.S. military technology to China to?help with a new Chinese fighter jet.  He said that a committee,was being set up to investigate the matter.B   Prime Minister Rabin insisted that Israel honors American laws@and any technology requiring U.S. approval was  not transferred
to China:=   "Israel is not stupid to risk what we get from the United8States by even slightest temptation to sell something."B   Earlier Monday secretary Perry flew to northern Israel to view@the disputed Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in!the 1967 war, and later annexed.;   Perry said later that the United States may be asked to?provide an observer force on the Golan should Israel and Syriamake peace:?   "That would  not be providing security.  These would not be@security forces, this would be strictly monitors to monitor theBpeace process.  The president has already indicated a willingness
to do that."?   From Israel secretary Perry flies on to Pakistan and India.   ---------------   ---------------=   CONTROVERSIAL ARGENTINE BOXING GREAT CARLOS MONZON KILLED   ROGER WILKISON   RIO DE JENEIRO=   Argentines Monday were mourning the death of one of their;greatest boxers, former world middleweight champion CarlosAMonzon, who was killed Sunday in an automobile accident near his@home town of Santa Fe. Monzon, a poor boy who was catapulted to<fame because of his fighting skill but never learned how to.contain his violent temper, was 52 years old.<   Some called him killer, others hailed him as Argentina'sBgreatest boxing champion.  Carlos Monzon, a former shoeshine boy,?managed to escape poverty through the use of his fists. But heAwas unable to handle life in the fast lane and violence became a7part of his life outside of the ring as well as in it.=   Monzon overturned his car Sunday when he was returning toAjail. He was confined to prison in 1988 for knocking his live-in>companion, a Uruguayan model, unconscious.  The impact of hisApunch was so strong that she fell off a second-floor balcony and=was killed.  Lately, he had been granted permission to leave.prison as long as he returned there at night.=   President Carlos Menem said he would remember Monzon as a great boxer and not as a felon.A   Monzon, who captured the middleweight crown from Italy's Nino>Benvenuti in 1970 and successfully defended it 14 times untilB1977, when he retired, was also mourned by his Italian rival, who?said he felt as if a piece of his life had been taken from himAwith the Argentine's death.  Strong, fast, and a deadly puncher,8Monzon had 89 victories, including 61 knockouts, in 100professional fights.   ---------------   ---------------.   KING FAUD DEFENDS THE SAUDI ARABIAN BUDGET   KIM REID	   CAIROA   Saudi Arabia's King Fahd defended his country's new five-year?budget, which raises prices on gasoline and other utilities in>the country.  In his first public comment about the plan, theBking says the price hikes are necessary to avoid asking banks forloans.=   King Fahd asked his people for patience as they adjust toAhigher prices under the 1995 budget.  He spoke before the MajlisBAl Shura, the 61-member representative assembly set up in 1993 as)part of long-promised political reforms.A   The new plan cuts government spending by almost three-billionBdollars to a total budget of 40-billion dollars.  The price hikes?are expected to raise an extra four-billion dollars, for totalrevenues of 36-billion.A   Saudi Arabian citizens are hardest hit by the revenue raisingAprogram.  They will have to pay almost double the previous price<for gasoline and cooking gas, plus more for electricity and>water.  But, the increases are still minimal compared to what@people pay worldwide for these utilities.  Saudis will pay justAover seven-cents a liter for gasoline, possibly the lowest pricefor fuel in the world.>   King Fahd says there is no escape from one of two things -Aeither burdening the country with loans that must be paid later,=or asking for god's help and the people's patience until thesituation returns to normal.   ---------------   ---------------7   ACETAMINOPHEN AND ITS EFFECTS ON KIDNEYS AND LIVERS   NANCY STEINBACH   WASHINGTON9   A new study says that people who take the common drug>acetaminophen for a long time are increasing their chances of?having their kidneys fail.  Acetaminophen is used for treatingpain.<   Scientists at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore,@Maryland and the University of Geneva, Switzerland reported theBstudy results in the new England journal of medicine.  They foundAthat the chance of getting kidney disease increases by two times@for people who take at least one pill a day for a year or more.>However, the scientists say acetaminophen is not dangerous to1take for a headache or a cold from time to time.>   The researchers also found a high chance of kidney failure:among people who took extremely large amounts of the pain;treatment drug ibuprofen.  They found that the common drug6aspirin, however, can protect against kidney failure.=   The researchers got their information by asking more than7one-thousand Americans about their use of medications.<Seven-hundred-sixteen of those asked were being treated forAkidney failure.  Three-hundred-sixty-one other people asked were	healthy.@   The company that produces acetaminophen in the United States>said it is very concerned about the study.  It criticized theAmethod of the research.  The company says that talking to people=is not a good way to measure what really happened because noArecords exist to prove that the people really took as many pillsBas they say they did.  Drug company officials also say there is a?very good reason the researchers found many people with kidney@failure to have taken a lot of acetominophen.  They say doctors@tell people with kidney problems to take acetimenophen for pain;many years before their kidneys fail.  They suggest takingAacetominophen because it does not block the flow of blood to theBkidneys as some other pain treatment drugs do.  Company officials;say that patients with kidney problems that lead to kidney?failure often suffer increasing pain for many years.  They say:this would explain why the patients took large amounts of<acetaminophen during the years before their kidneys failed.@However, at least two other studies in the past five years have;suggested a link between acetaminophen and kidney disease.A   William Henrich is an expert on kidney problems.  He says the:study should cause concern among doctors about the use of=acetaminophen.  But, he says it does not prove that the drug?causes kidney disease.  He says people should take any kind of@medicine for only very short periods of time.  He says everyone5should remember that no medicine is completely safe.6   Acetaminopen may also be dangerous in another way.?Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh recently published<the results of a study about acetaminophen.  This one links<acetaminophen to liver damage.  The researchers found liver?damage in people who took more than normal amounts of the drug?when they had eaten nothing.  The people involved in the study=took four to ten grams of the drug within twenty-four hours.A   Past research has showed that acetaminophen can damage livers?in people who drink too much alcohol.  But the new study shows?that the drug also can cause liver damage in people who do notget enough to eat.   ---------------   ---------------+   AMERICAN ACADEMIC ON TRIAL IN SINGAPORE   DAVID BUTLER   BANGKOKB   In Singapore, the supreme court Monday began hearing arguments;in a trial on contempt of court of an American scholar and;officials of a western newspaper. The trial highlights the1Singapore government's sensitivity to criticism.?   The American academic at the heart of the case, Christopher:Lingle, is being tried in absentia.  He left Singapore inAlate-October, when it became clear an article he had contributed>to in the International Herald-Tribune earlier that month had0offended senior Singapore government officials.A   Without naming any countries, Mr. Lingle wrote some east-asia>governments used a compliant judiciary to bankrupt opposition9politicians.  The two other respondents in the case, the;Herald-Tribune's Singapore correspondent and Asian editor,?Michael Richardson, and Publisher Richard McClean, appeared incourt.B   Mr. Richardson said when he edited Mr. Lingle's article it did8not occur to him that the offending passage referred toSingapore.B   Singapore's attorney general, Chan Sek Keong, said it was well8known Singapore is the only country in the region whereAgovernment politicians frequently sue opposition politicians for7defamation, and some of those sued have been driven tobankruptcy.B   The attorney general said by failing to file an affidavit, Mr.BLingle is unable to deny that he has committed contempt of court.>Mr. Chan said Mr. Lingle scandalized Singapore's judiciary bycalling it compliant.9   Punishment for contempt of court is up to the judge'sBdiscretion. It is not known what steps if any the court will take3against the newspaper or its editor and publisher.:   In recent years Singapore has banned or restricted the;circulations of The Economist, Time, Asia Week and the far'Eastern Economic Review, among others.9   Mr. Lingle was teaching at the National University ofASingapore before fleeing the island state.  His case has further<strained relations between the United States and Singapore.>Those relations have been less than ideal since the caning of=American teenager Michael Fay in May. Fay was punished afterbeing convicted of vandalism.   ---------------   --------------+   SUPREME COURT TO HEAR CIVIL RIGHTS CASE   JANE BERGER   WASHINGTON=   The Supreme Court is hearing oral arguments Tuesday in an<important civil rights case. The outcome could have a broad?impact on the responsibility of state and local governments to@enforce laws that guarantee equal protection to all citizens ofthe United States.A   In December of 1990, sheriff James morgan of Chambers County,@Alabama, ordered a raid without a search warrant on a nightclub9known as the Capri Club, a local establishment owned and:patronized by blacks.  The sheriff's action came after he@received complaints about alleged sales of illegal drugs at theCapri Club.A   An undercover officer entered the Capri and purchased cocaineAfrom a nightclub patron, and then he departed.  Minutes later, a<swat team toting shotguns, wearing ski masks and dressed inAblack, burst into the club.  The swat team was followed by 20 toB30 law enforcement officers who arrested the drug dealer and then)conducted a thorough search of the club.@   During the search, dozens of patrons were forced at gunpointBto remain on the floor, and could not move or leave the premises.>The sheriff ordered a second raid in March of 1991, following$similar law enforcement procedures.;   The two Capri Club owners, joined by one employee and a:nightclub customer, brought suit in federal court againstBChambers County, the sheriff, and the local police.  They alleged*violation of their constitutional rights.=   The plaintiffs charged that the raids violated the fourthBamendment prohibition against unreasonable searches and seizures.AThey also said the raids were racially motivated in violation of@the constitutional guarantee of equal protection under the law.@   At issue in the case are two federal laws.  The first is the<Federal Civil Rights Act of of 1866, which allows a private>citizen to sue a local government for monetary damages if its=officials have violated his or her civil rights.  Under thisAstatute, it must first be determined that the local official whoAcaused the injury had the authority to make policy for the localAgovernment.  The second law in question is the 11th amendment to<the constitution, which prohibits citizens from suing state
governments.@   Chambers County argued that the sheriff who ordered the raid:was a state official who could not be sued under the 11thamendment.B   A federal district court sided with the Capri Club owners, butAa federal appeals court reversed the decision and ruled in favorof chambers county.?   Rutgers University Law Professor Frank Askin says the major<question in the case called Swint Versus Chambers County isAwhether states can insulate local governments from violations of
federal law:A   "The obvious danger from such a precedent as Swint is that itAallows states to take over more local governmental functions and9thus shield agencies from liability for their employees';wrongdoing.  While Swint is certainly not of earth-shaking7significance, it is another illustration of the recent@proliferation of doctrines which restrict federal court redressfor civil rights violations."?   Professor Askin says the supreme court decision essentiallyBwill determine the extent to which local government officials can:be shielded from civil rights lawsuits.  The justices are>expected to issue an opinion sometime before the end of June.   ---------------   ---------------,   U.S. AND VIETNAM TO OPEN LIAISON OFFICES   RON PEMSTEIN   STATE DEPARTMENT>   The United States and Vietnam are expected to announce the?opening of liaison offices in each other's capitals later thismonth.<   The last important roadblock was removed last month whenBVietnam settled 36 American property claims issues remaining from@the Vietnam War.  These property issues had prevented agreement>on opening the liaison offices by the end of 1994 as had been	planned.@   However, Assistant Secretary of State Winston Lord says only;technical issues need to be resolved before the diplomatic#offices can open later this month:B   "All the property and claims issues relevant to opening up the?liaison offices I might add have been resolved. To answer your>question directly, I would be surprised if we didn't actually@open up the liaison offices  for business in the course of thismonth."@   The United States will use its diplomatic office in Hanoi to@press for a full accounting of Americans missing in action fromthe Vietnam war.   ---------------   ---------------E   GORE SAYS LEGISLATION TO LIFT BOSNIAN ARMS EMBARGO WILL BE VETOED   VICTOR BEATTIE   WASHINGTON?   U.S. Vice president Al Gore predicts President Clinton will5veto any congressional move to unilaterally lift the=international arms embargo on Bosnia-Herzegovina. Mr. Gore's@comments came as a senior American diplomat assured the Bosnian6government leadership of continued U.S. support of aninternational peace plan.;   Mr. Gore says such a unilateral U.S. action is not only>strongly opposed by America's NATO allies it would also set adangerous precedent:?   "How can we ask other countries to continue refraining from;sending technology to Iraq that would assist their nuclearBweapons program or to refrain from sending technology for weaponsof mass destruction to Iran."B   He says the administration supports a multi-lateral lifting of<the arms embargo.  He also says the international effort to4attain a peace agreement should be given more time.A   That peace plan, put forth last year by the so-called BosnianAcontact group of Britain, Russia, Germany, France and the United:States, has been rejected by the Bosnian serbs.  However,@assistant Secretary of State Richard Holbrooke, in Sarajevo for;talks with Bosnian officials, says Washington continues to@support it.  He says he expects a new diplomatic effort to gainits approval this week.=   Mr. Holbrooke arrived in Sarajevo from Macedonia where he:promised consideration of increased economic and military-assistance for the former Yugoslav republic.   ---------------   ---------------#   WHO'S IN CHARGE IN NORTH KOREA?   STEPHANIE MANN   WASHINGTON@   The recent dispute between the United States and North Korea<about the downing of a U.S. army helicopter in North Korean=territory has again raised questions about the leadership in?Pyongyang. Some longtime Korea watchers wonder if north Korean)Leader Kim Jong Il is really in control.>   For more than four decades, the late President Kim Il SungAkept North Korea virtually isolated from the outside, except for>carefully controlled contacts with other socialist countries.BAll the power was believed to be in the hands of Kim Il Sung, and=the official propaganda organs told the world that all North:Koreans revered their leader and steadfastly followed his
guidance.>   Don Oberdorfer has watched developments in North Korea for?more than 40 years, first as an American soldier in the KoreanAwar, then as a journalist, and now in affiliation with the JohnsBHopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.  Mr.=Oberdorfer says the only things that outsiders know for sure@about North Korea are that there is great uncertainty since theAdeath last July of Kim Il Sung and that his son, Kim Jong Il, isnominally in charge:?   "Someday we're going to find out the answer to this riddle,Aabout what they believe now, or what they believed 10 years ago.<I don't know anybody in the United States of America who, I@think, has even a rudimentary decent idea of what the people ofnorth Korea actually believe.">   The younger Kim has not been named to two of the three keyBleadership positions, although he was being groomed for nearly 20<years to take over power and was given command of the armed@forces a few years ago.  There has been no official explanation>why Kim Jong Il has not assumed the positions of president of.North Korea or leader of its communist party.;   His public appearances have been extremely rare.  SinceBattending the July 20th funeral of his father, Kim Jong Il's only9reported public appearance was in early November when he4inspected a bridge under construction in Pyongyang.A   Then, early this month, North Korea's official media reportedAthat Kim Jong Il made a New Year's Day visit to an army barracks@and released a picture of him receiving flowers from a soldier.>North Korea's official news agency also reported that some 40Aworld leaders, including Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin of China,?exchanged new year's greetings with Mr. Kim.  However, the new<North Korean leader did not follow the tradition set by his4father and make a new year's address to the nation.B   Mr. Kim's rare public appearances and the fact that he has not@assumed certain key posts held by his late father have led many@observers to wonder about his health and his ability to run the	country.@   South Korean media have reported that he suffers from kidneyand liver ailments.;   U.S. deputy assistant Secretary of State Thomas Hubbard?traveled to Pyongyang to arrange for the release of army pilotAbobby hall, whose helicopter was shot down over North Korea lastAmonth.  Mr. Hubbard has been involved in negotiations with North>Korea over the nuclear issue and says he was dealing with the(same people on the helicopter incident.>   But Hubbard says it is hard to determine exactly who is incharge in Pyongyang:?   "I didn't notice a power vacuum.  I think there are various>views within the DPRK (North Korea). It seemed to me that theBmilitary was being very demanding.  It also seemed to me that the5foreign ministry was seeking to resolve this issue."A   James Lilley has served as U.S. ambassador to South Korea and@China.  And in both places, he says he has had opportunities towatch North Korea closely::   "From what we hear, Kim Jong Il tends to be the primus@interparrus; he's the first among equals, but he does not enjoy-obviously the same position his father did."9   Mr. Lilley says there are mixed signals coming out ofPyongyang:A   "People tell us, on the negotiating team, that Kim Jong Il is>in charge of the negotiations.  Certainly all the Koreans are@telling us that.  But I think you look at the other side of the:coin, and you get some very disturbing signs.  He has not>appeared in public that anybody can talk to him and listen to>him.  He remains a shadowy figure.  He has not got two of the@three key assignments that he needs to be in control.  His past:is very spotty and erratic.  People who have met him have?commented in great depth on his character. So, my own guess is8that the North Koreans probably have some difficulty in<programming him for the world stage.  And there may be some#health problems compounding this."A   The current U.S. ambassador to South Korea, James Laney, says@there is much speculation about the extent to which Kim Jong Il@is in charge or whether his decisions are being orchestrated by)military leaders or others in Pyongyang.@   Ambassador Laney says Mr. Kim's delay in taking over all the8leadership titles may be a deliberate step on his part:A   "There (are) estimates about why he hasn't assumed the mantleBof full leadership.  The best reason that i've heard by those whoAare aware of the confucian traditions that operate there is that<he's not trying to look like a usurper, or a greedy person,Afollowing a god-like father.  Now, this may not be convincing to?us, but for some people it is.  And, many say, 'yes, he's back=there in charge', back there,  meaning out of sight. And Mr.ALaney says Kim Jong Il made his presence known during the recentBdiscussions in Pyongyang about the U.S. helicopter shot down overNorth Korea.":   "Those who recently were in North Korea discussing and>achieving the release of airman hall said that, 'well, if KimBJong Il wasn't there, somebody was in his place, because they had@to go out and get approval for the things each time there was a?major decision.'  they didn't see him, but if he wasn't there,>then there was a Wizard of Oz, or somebody who was making thedecisions."B   Ambassador James Laney adds that Kim Jong Il appeared on North=Korean television on New Year's Day, visiting his troops andAlooking animated.  So, in Mr. Laney's words, "we do know that at>least he's alive and has some measure of vitality."  (signed)   ---------------   ---------------,   SERB DEMANDS MAY HINDER BOSNIA CEASEFIRE   DANIEL YOVICH   SARAJEVOA   Peace talks between United Nations and Bosnian Serb officials>in the Serb-held village of Jahorina Sunday ended with little=progress.  Additional Bosnian Serb demands may slow down the,already sluggish peace plan implementation.B   There are mixed signals from the warring parties as the second*week of the four-month cease-fire begins.A   United Nations officials say talks between Lieutenant GeneralAMichael Rose, the commander of U.N. forces in Bosnia, and Bosnia@Serb General Ratko Mladic accomplished little in furthering thefragile peace process.:   While Bosnian government forces have almost completelyAwithdrawn from the demilitarized zone south of Sarajevo, General>Mladic reiterated his demand that the Bosnian government army>give up several key positions captured from the Bosnian Serbsfour months ago.A   This can only further complicate an already complex series of+demands and counter-demands by both sides.<   General Rose says there are many differences still to beAdiscussed.  But General Mladic says additional talks may have toBbe ruled out pending the further withdrawal of Bosnian governmentforces.?   So far, Bosnia government officials have refused to discuss"the redeployment of their troops.   ---------------   ---------------=   CHINA TARGETS U.S. AUTO INDUSTRY FOR POSSIBLE RETALIATION   DAVID DYAR   BEIJING7   Chinese officials Sunday escalated their threats of@retaliation if Washington imposes trade sanctions next month as-part of a dispute over copyright violations.?   Chinese press reports Sunday warned Beijing will single outAthe U.S. auto industry for retaliatory measures if the sanctions
are imposed.A   The dispute concerns Washington's announcement it will impose<more than one-billion dollars in trade sanctions next month=because of china's refusal to end the piracy of intellectual
property.@   U.S. companies say they lose more than one-billion dollars a<year because of rampant illegal reproduction of copyrighted7audio, video, and computer disks by Chinese factories.@   The United States has urged china to close nearly 30 compact=disc factories in southern china that are making millions ofillegal copies.@   There was no mention in Sunday's press reports whether china<will take action against the factories.  Analysts, who have@followed the issue, say one reason the government will not move7against the factories is many of them are state owned.:   Sunday's Chinese press reports emphasized Beijing willAretaliate by halting talks with U.S. auto companies that want to>set up operations in China.  U.S. companies are targeting the@automobile sector as one of the most profitable segments of theChinese economy.@   The Chinese press reports called for further talks to settle@the issue before the deadline.  Previously, China has only made;significant compromises on trade issues when faced with animminent threat of sanctions.@   In addition to closing the illegal recording factories, U.S.Bmusic and movie industry officials want China to allow more legal(imports of film and musical recordings.?   China's government bans most foreign films from the country?because of fears about what officials call cultural pollution.BOfficials also want to protect the Chinese domestic film industryfrom foreign competition.@   Many of the illegal discs made in China are flooding marketsoutside the country.   ---------------   ---------------E   CONGRESSMAN KASICH SAYS NO GOVERNMENT AGENCY WILL ESCAPE SCRUTINY   VICTOR BEATTIE   WASHINGTONB   The new Republican chairman of the House Budget Committee says?no department or government agency will escape scrutiny as the=Republican-led Congress cuts spending. Ohio Congressman John@Kasich says even the Defense Department is likely to experience;program reforms even though overall defense spending might
increase.>   Congressman Kasich left no doubt that the Congress, led byBRepublicans for the first time in 40 years, is about to undertakeAthe greatest downsizing of the federal government ever seen.  He@says all agencies including the national endowment for the arts=and the National Endowment for the Humanities as well as the@departments of energy and interior will be closely scrutinized.B   Mr. Kasich also indicated even the Defense Department will notbe spared review:?   "I mean whether it's weapons systems, duplicative commands,=the services trying to maintain their own little empires.  IBbelieve the department of defense ought to be reinvented like the"rest of this federal government.">   Despite changes in such areas as the way the Pentagon buysAweapons systems Mr. Kasich suggests overall defense spending may6actually rise beyond what President Clinton asks for.A   Mr. Clinton, who reportedly will call for 244-billion dollars<in defense spending for fiscal 1996, last year called for aA25-billion dollar hike in defense spending over five years.  Mr.>Kasich has advocated more than double that increase over fiveyears.   ---------------   ---------------/   DOLE QUESTIONS WHETHER YELTSIN IS IN CHARGE   VICTOR BEATTIE   WASHINGTON;   Senate Majority Leader Robert Dole disputes the Clinton@Administration's assertion that Russian President Boris Yeltsin>is in charge of the military operation in Chechnya.  Mr. Dole=says American support of Mr. Yeltsin is eroding each day the2Chechen operation results in civilian casualties.>   Senator Dole says Mr. Yeltsin cannot possibly be in chargeAwhen he tells the public the bombing of Grozny has stopped whileit continues:9   "Whether it's bombing or shelling it doesn't make any?difference.  And, he tells his defense minister to stop it and+it's still happening, he's not in charge."@   Mr. Dole says the Russian military command must be charge at=least as far as the offensive in Chechnya is concerned.  The@Senate majority leader says the longer the fighting goes on the'quicker U.S. support of Russia erodes.@   His view contradicts that of Vice President Al Gore who says>the Clinton administration believes Mr. Yeltsin is in control9despite last week's public rebuke of the Russian defense?minister, Pavel Grachev, over the continued bombing of Grozny:9   "I would predict that in the aftermath of that public@confrontation he will find a way to remove any doubts about thefact that he is in control."B   Mr. Gore says the Chechen conflict remains an internal Russian<problem.  However, Senator Dole agrees with some critics of@American policy who call for more public concern for the plight<of the Chechens including the dispatch of humanitarian aid.   ---------------   ---------------/   EGYPT SECURITY FORCES RAID MILITANT HIDEOUT   KIM REID	   CAIROA   Egyptian security forces say they killed five Muslim militantBsuspects in a raid on their hideout near Cairo. Officials say the?dead men took part in attacks in southern Egypt last week thatleft 11 people dead.?   Security forces say the five men opened fire on police whenBthey raided a suspected militant hideout in October 6 city, a fewAkilometers southwest of the capital, Cairo.  The men were killedin the gun battle.@   Police say the dead men were members of the militant Islamic<group, the Gamaa Al Islamiyya.  Some had just returned from@abroad, while others were from southern Egypt, where police and@militants die in almost daily tit-for-tat (repayment) violence.B   Security forces say the dead men helped organize and carry out@attacks in southern Egypt last week, which left eight policemenBand three civilians dead. The attacks were claimed by the Islamicgroup.=   The incident adds to the growing number of people killed,Bapproximately 500, in the three-year battle between extremist andAsecurity forces.  Militant groups say the violence will continue>until they replace Egypt's secular government with an Islamicstate.   ---------------   ---------------#   THE BOSNIAN LESSON FOR CHECHNYA   PAMELA TAYLOR   WASHINGTON9   Leaders of more than 100 separate American grassroots?movements which support Bosnia are holding their second annualAconference in Washington D.C. This weekend.  They hope the sheerBstrength of their growing numbers will convince President Clinton=to unilaterally lift the arms embargo to show Russia and the;world that aggression does not pay whether in Bosnia or in
Chechnya.@   Although most of the speakers at the conference were talking7to the already converted, their message was strong and
unequivocal.:   Hodding Carter former State Department spokesman underAPresident Jimmy Carter, was one of many speakers who pointed out=that the lack of international action in Bosnia has not gone%unnoticed in the Russian federation:@   "What's happening as we speak in Chechnya, but it's not just>there, what is being acted out first in the Balkans, first in?Bosnia is becoming the commonplace in this world.  But becauseAwhat is occurring now in the former Yugoslavia was first, how it@is resolved is going to be the determinant for how the world is@going to deal with all the cascading events of chaos, insurgentAfascism and the destruction of civilization and civility that wesee all around us."<   Another speaker was British author, Mark Almond, a vocal@critic of what he called his government's policy of appeasementin Bosnia.9   Almond predicted the world community will regret it's?insistence on seeing the conflict in Bosnia as a civil war and+the one in Chechnya as an internal matter:@   "You can't say if the Russian army bombs civilians, if there@is political instability in the Kremlin and in Moscow that this<is simply an internal matter that doesn't need to worry us.>   Both Mr. Almond and Mr. Carter said it is up to the UnitedAStates to exercise vigorous international leadership in opposing?aggression,  whether it be against civilians in Sarajevo or inGrozny.   ---------------   ---------------=   GORE SAYS THERE IS NO DOUBT YELTSIN IS IN CONTROL OF ARMY   JANE BERGER   WASHINGTON>   Vice President Al Gore says there is no doubt that RussianAPresident Boris Yeltsin is in control of his military, despite a:dispute this past week with his defense minister over the=conflict in the rebel Chechen Republic. Mr. Gore and severalBmember of Congress were questioned about the issue Sunday in U.S.television interviews.B   Vice President Al Gore says Russian President Boris Yeltsin is<firmly in control of the situation in the Chechen Republic,Bdespite a dispute with his defense minister last week over a haltto bombing raids in Chechnya:9   "I would predict that in the aftermath of that public?confrontation he (President Yeltsin) will find a way to removeAany doubts about the fact that he is in control. We believe that@he is in control.  It's a terrible tragedy unfolding there.  We@had urged from the very beginning that this be resolved through=negotiations and not through violence.  We still urge that."<   Mr. Gore said the Chechen Republic has long been part of?Russia. The United States has  no  plans to challenge Russia's&defense of its territorial integrity.A   In separate interviews, several members of Congress expressed@deep concern about the situation in Chechnya, but they rejected@calls by Republican Senator Jesse Helms for a cut-off of aid toRussia.B   Republican Senator Trent Lott said the conflict in the Chechen?Republic is an internal Russian matter, but he said the United+States should watch the situation closely:<   "I think we do need to watch and witness the behavior of>Russia in a number of areas, selling arms to other countries,:what they're doing with the nuclear weapons, and base ourAassistance to them on things like that. But I'm not prepared now<to suggest that we begin to move toward cutting off the aidBbecause we want the situation in Russia to stabilize, as a matter
of fact."=   Mr. Lott's comments were echoed by House Minority Leader,ARichard Gephardt, who said the U.S. policy should be centered on%supporting Russian democratic gains:?   "It's worth noting that the democratic forces in Russia now=are the ones that are criticizing (President Boris) Yeltsin.>Democracy is beginning to happen the way it's always happenedBhere.  So I think we need to be watchful, but we need to continue5to support the movement toward democracy in Russia.">   Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle said there should be no=cut-off of U.S. aid to Russia, but he said the United States>should emphasize its concern about human rights violations in	Chehnya.   ---------------   ---------------9   HAITIAN REFUGEES RETURNED TO HAITI AGAINST THEIR WILL   VICTOR BEATTIE   WASHINGTON@   Nearly 300 Haitians, some weeping, were forcibly returned toBtheir homeland Saturday from refugee camps at the U.S. naval base;at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. U.S. officials say with democracy=restored there is no reason for the Haitian refugees to seekasylum in the United States:8   The 289 Haitians were returned against their will to@Port-au-Prince aboard a U.S. Coast Guard cutter.  Two returneesAhad to be handcuffed and removed from the vessel after causing a
disturbance.B   The refugees, who were offered financial aid if they went back>willingly, were led between rows of heavily-armed Bangladeshi5troops to the Haitian immigration processing center.A   Fifty-four refugees were returned Friday.  U.S. officials sayAthey hope to bring back about 400 a day until all 3,5000 hundred4still at Guantanamo Bay naval base are repatriated.:   Tens of thousands of Haitians fled the military-backed>government last year pleading economic hardship and political@repression. The number of  Haitians housed at Guantanamo peakedBat about 20,000 last July.  About 6,000 were left after President@Jean-Bertrand Aristide was returned to power following U.S. led>intervention in Haiti last September.  Hundreds have returnedvoluntarily since then.?   U.S. officials say the restoration of Haitian democracy andAthe renewal of international aid has left refugees without validgrounds for requesting asylum.   ---------------   ---------------F   CLINTON AND GINGRICH AGREE MEDIA IS DESTRUCTIVE BUT REASONS DIFFER   DEBORAH TATE   WHITE HOUSEB   As a new Congress began its work over the past week, President@Clinton and leaders of the Republican majority in The House and@Senate spent much of the time trying to be conciliatory as they=sought common ground.  But the president and one of his most>vocal opponents, House Speaker Newt Gingrich, did not have to@look too far to find they firmly agree on one thing, that there?is a culture of negativism pervading the country, and that the"media deserves much of the blame.?   Since coming to office two years ago, President Clinton has@tried to fight what he has come to describe as "the politics ofdestruction":>   "We're going to have to try to build one another up, build<this country up, and get out of this incessant, compulsive,"destructive desire to tear down."=   Mr. Clinton, whose popularity continues to lag in opinionBpolls despite his touting of his accomplishments, says there is a<skeptical mood in the country because there is a feeling ofBinsecurity among many Americans.  He says many people fear losingAtheir jobs or their health care, while others are concerned with:their personal safety as crime remains a serious problem.B   Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich, an outspoken critic of?Mr. Clinton, agrees with the president on this issue, that the?country is in a skeptical mood.  He says the point was clearlyBillustrated when the American people last November elected enough=Republicans to put that party in control of Congress for thefirst time in 40 years.;   Even Mr. Clinton agrees with Mr. Gingrich that the vote.represented a desire for change by Americans.?   Mr. Clinton and Mr. Gingrich also share the belief that the<news media are responsible for furthering skepticism in the	country.?   The president has repeatedly criticized what he says is the?negative tone of conservative radio talk show hosts, while the>Speaker of The House has attacked what he sees as the liberal7bias of mainstream television and newspaper reporting.;   Following a meeting with Mr. Clinton at the White HouseBThursday that Mr. Gingrich described as positive, the congressman6urged the press not to be, in his words, destructive:>   "If the leaders of the United States can get together in a?positive way, it would be nice for the national press corps toBreport accurately that it was a positive meeting, and not to rush<off and immediately try to find some way to get a cat fight
started."B   Mr. Gingrich took another swipe at the media when he was asked5how long the cooperation between the White House and&congressional Republicans would last:?   "It will last longer than your deadlines.  And it will last=longer  than the culture of the news media in the city wouldAlike.  I would just suggest to you that it would be very helpful=for you to try for a little while to focus on the positive.">   But one observer, professor of government Alan Lichtman of@American University, says while Mr. Gingrich may be right, that@the media is a bit too negative, he says the congressman is notin a position to criticize:B   "After all, it was Mr. Gingrich who irresponsibly charged thatAWhite House staff members had taken drugs and called Mr. Clinton$not in step with normal Americans.":   Professor Lichtman's colleague at American University,,journalism professor Louis Wolfson, agrees:@   "There are enough people with legitimate authority without aAspecial purpose, without an ax to grind who are saying 'yes, theBpress is being too negative, the press is on the attack too much.?Yes, they should look at themselves more and think in terms of?how they are going for the quick soundbite, or the headline or<the sensational angle.  But it is those people we should be>listening to, and not a politician who has a track record for9using the press more than being statesmanlike about it.">   Professor Lichtman says whether or not reporters today are?going too far, media criticism of political leaders, criticismAthat he says has been around since the time of Thomas Jefferson,#is a reality that is here to stay.   ---------------   ---------------C   PERRY ASSURES EGYPT THAT THEY WILL CONTINUE TO RECEIVE U.S. AID   KIM REID	   CAIRO9   U.S. Defense Secretary William Perry met with Egypt's>President Hosni Mubarak Saturday at the start of his nine-day@tour of the Middle East and South Asia. Mr. Perry reassured the<Egyptian leader that full U.S. aid will continue for Egypt,9despite calls in the U.S. Congress for foreign aid cuts.@   Secretary Perry says the more than two-billion dollars Egypt>receives annually in U.S. aid will continue, at least for thenext couple of years.=   He says U.S. president Bill Clinton is ready to fight forBEgypt's aid package in the new Republican congress.  He urged the=Egyptian president to do his part by seeing House and Senate<leaders when Mr. Mubarak visits Washington later this year.A   Western analysts predict U.S. foreign aid will be hit hard by&the new domestically-minded congress.>   The American official also reassured Egypt that the UnitedBStates wants all countries, including Israel, to sign the nuclearBnon-proliferation treaty.  Egypt has threatened to refuse to sign?unless Israel takes part.  Israeli officials say they will not=sign the treaty, because, it is believed, they would have to2disclose details of their secret nuclear program.>   The secretary is also discussing military cooperation withBEgypt, including the fate of a costly factory where Egypt and the$United States produce battle tanks.   ---------------   ---------------   NURSES & ASSISTED SUICIDE   VALERIE GARTSEFF   WASHINGTON, D.C.>   Many Americans and health practitioners believe physicians=should be legally allowed to assist patients who wish to endAtheir own lives. Now U.S. Nurses are facing similar pressures to3become more involved in assisting patients to die.>   U.S. Public debate about assisted suicide is an increasingBconcern for the nursing profession, as more patients with serious:illnesses are asking nurses to help them end their lives.>   Carol Taylor is a nurse ethicist at the Center of ClinicalBBioethics at Georgetown University. She is also a Ph.D. candidate1in philosophy specializing in bioethical issues.A   "A lot of these are patients with aids," says Taylor "they're?patients who are terminally ill, and some of the biggest fears>that I see underlying requests for assisted suicide or directBvoluntary euthanasia are fears of dying in intractable pain, fear)of being a burden, fear of dying alone."?   In recent years, many U.S. Hospitals have been reducing the@length of time a patient stays in the hospital in order to help8cut costs. So many nurses now work in home health care.?   As more nurses make visits to the elderly or terminally-ill@patients at home, Carol Taylor says they are increasingly faced*with patients' requests to help them die:B   "I would still think this is still a very rare occurrence, but<it is probably happening. And where it happens, it would be@happening compassionately, by somebody believing in their heart/of hearts that this is the right thing to do."@   The debate on assisted suicide has mounted, especially since<voters in the state of Oregon approved a physician-assistedBsuicide law that was supposed to take effect on December 8th. But<a U.S. Judge barred the new law to resolve a constitutional@challenge by a group that opposes it.  Until recently, patients;would never have considered assisted suicide as an option.A   But Nurse Taylor observes that the new oregon law is a strong?indication that public expectations about the right to die arechanging in America:A   "And when you see a Newsweek article that says, 'we euthanize<our animals, why are we so inhumane as to not do that for aAfellow human being who is in need of such a type of assistance?'0then you get people thinking, 'yes, why not?' "8   Many health care professionals are re-defining their=professional roles in light of new public expectations about@assisted suicide. Sally Nunn, a nurse for 19 years, is director8of bioethics for Shore Memorial Hospital in New Jersey.B   Formerly against the idea of nurse-assisted suicide, Nunn saysshe has now changed her mind:B   "I had had conversations where I'd come (changed) 180 degrees.AI had had a patient that was a 38-year old quadriplegic who came?in crying and screaming every day as he had done for two and aBhalf years to remove the ventilator (because) he wanted to die, a?very angry young man. And after three weeks of sorting through@all the parameters to safeguard that he was serious about this,?that he had decision-making capacity and absolutely understood@the outcome and consequences of his decision, and after that weAremoved the ventilator, he was at peace, and he didn't die.  And>he said, 'I need your help.' and I said, 'okay, John.' and he@said, 'I want you to help me die. I want you to kill me.' and IBsaid, 'I can't do that,' and he said, 'yes, you can.' and I said,A'yes, I physically can, John, but I really can't.' And that caseAhas haunted me, he's in a nursing home, where he never wanted to.be. So I am saying that I am in favor of it."?   But unlike Sally Nunn, nurse ethicist Carol Taylor strongly opposes nurse-assisted suicide.;   Taylor believes it violates the morality of the nursingprofession:?   "I'm opposed because I don't think it's compatible with the@morality that's internal to the practice of nursing. Whereas it;may look like, and, in an individual case for a particular>patient, it may seem to be the most compassionate response, I@strongly believe the long-term effects of nurses and physicians=assisting in dying this way is to further tear the fabric ofBtrust. Basically, we present ourselves as people who are there to<promote life and to be supportive of life processes. And if>people look at us and now see us devoted to two aims, I think that sends a powerful message.":   After years of debate, the American Nurses Association5recently issued a position statement opposing nurses?participating in assisted suicide, seeing it as a violation ofAthe profession's ethical traditions. But Georgetown University's@Carol Taylor says nurses are fiercely divided on the issue, and@their debate on assisted suicide is really only just beginning.   ---------------   ---------------:   MEXICO'S FINANCIAL CRISIS EFFECTS CALIFORNIA EXPORTERS   GREG FLAKUS   LOS ANGELES>   The monetary crisis in Mexico has had a dramatic effect on>many U.S. businesses which rely in part on exports to Mexico.AMany California exporters remain hopeful that the situation willimprove in the coming weeks.@   Some Southern California companies are feeling the impact ofAthe peso devaluation in Mexico almost as hard as their customersAacross the border.  The sudden drop in the value of the peso has<made it hard for some Mexican clients to pay their bills inAdollars and many of them have cancelled or postponed delivery onorders made previously.?   Some companies here in the Los Angeles area have had to layAoff workers and scale down operations as a result of the crisis.@The Mattel Corporation of El Segundo has announced that it will>take a 20-million dollar charge on its first quarter earnings:because the value of its toy exports to Mexico has fallen>sharply.  One local food producer which relies heavily on itsAexports to Mexico has experienced an 80 percent drop in businessfrom south of the border.9   Doug Kruse of O H Kruse Grain and Milling in Ontario,ACalifornia has been selling cattle feed to Mexican dairy farmersBfor the past several years, but he says his exports have been cut*in half as a result of the Mexico crisis.B   Still, Mr. Kruse says he has not written off Mexico as a placeAto do business and he believes his Mexican customers will return(as soon as they can afford his product:?   "I think this thing will straighten itself out.  This cycle@has happened before.  This is really the first one that we haveAseen to this extent, but right now we are just putting things onAhold in the hope that the dairymen's milk price there will go upAand they can start to afford to feed (their cows) U.S. mix feedsagain."B   The two-week-old peso devaluation has reminded some CaliforniaBexporters of the 1982 devaluation in Mexico which had a prolongedBimpact on U.S. exports to that nation.  In that crisis, many U.S.Bexporters had to wait months for payments and often received only8partial payment in dollar terms.  Officials at the U.S.@Export-Import Bank and many independent market analysts say the?current crisis is not as bad as 1982 because Mexico today is a<much stronger nation economically than it was 12 years ago.B   Still, for many local exporters who had developed strong tradeBrelations south of the border under the North American free TradeBAgreement, the current situation is a significant setback.  WhileAmost California exporters hope to see a recovery in Mexico soon,Athey acknowledge that, at least for the short term, they will be7feeling the crisis there on their balance sheets here.   ---------------   ---------------B   U.S. SAYS CHINA HAS DONE LITTLE TO PROTECT AMERICAN COPYRIGHTS   VICTOR BEATTIE   WASHINGTONB   The United States says China has taken only minor steps to end>the piracy of American intellectual property rights. A senior@Clinton administration official says it is up to the Chinese to=avoid a potential trade war when the two sides hold talks inBeijing later this month.A   The official, who asked to remain anonymous, says the ChineseAhave raided some retailers selling pirated goods and have seizedBsome compact discs.  But, she says authorities have returned someAof the recordings and have not closed the shops or the factoriesthat made them.6   The official says Beijing has also required unique@identification numbers be affixed to molds used to make CD's so9they can be traced to the plant that produced them.  She.describes these as, by and large, tiny steps.A   She called for tougher Chinese enforcement of its anti-piracy<laws and quicker legal action.  She also called for greater4access to the Chinese market for American products.@   After 18-months, negotiations on the piracy issue ended last<month without agreement.  Two weeks later the United States@announced it was prepared to impose punitive sanctions of up to@100-percent on certain Chinese exports to the United States.  A:final decision is expected to be made by February fourth.@   U.S. industry estimates it loses up to 800-million dollars aByear because of Chinese piracy of American copyrights.  China has1threatened retaliation if sanctions are imposed.B   The two sides are scheduled to hold talks January 18th to 20th@in Beijing in an effort to avoid what could become a trade war.   ---------------   ---------------   UNUSUAL TOWN NAMES   TED LANDPHAIR   EQUALITY, ILLINOISB   As you're driving across America, it's fun to take note of theBsigns that point you right, left, or straight ahead to tiny towns?and hamlets with unusual names.  For instance, you can find an?arrow pointing down the road to "Paradise", Paradise, Montana.>And another, welcoming you to Hell, Michigan.  Usually you'reBwhizzing by these signs so fast that you don't bother to see what=paradise or hell is like, or who lives there. If you do passAthrough, it's quickly.  Rarely do you stop to inquire how a town9got a name like "Utopia" or "Last Chance," "Ben Hur," or="Coffee," "Parachute" or "Dwarf" or "Peculiar."  Often theseAplaces are so small, little more than a crossroads, that there'sAno town hall, no gas station, no restaurant where you could ask.@And when there is, people usually have no idea how the town gotsuch an unusual name.;   On our trip, and in a look through the road maps of the>various states, we came across some really curious names.  If:you're of an artistic mind, you could stop in Beaux Arts,BWashington, or Inspiration, Arizona. Alabaster, Alabama, might be?stunning in the moonlight, as would Venus, Florida.  If you're@searching for a palette of colors, there's Blue, West Virginia;8Ruby, Louisiana; Hazel, Wisconsin; Gray, Georgia; Plum,"Pennsylvania; and Pink, Oklahoma.@   There are practical towns like Ink, Arkansas; Clay, Wyoming;?Talent, Oregon; and Torpedo, Pennsylvania.  If you have career@talents, you might find a good match in Baker, Oregon; Matador,=Texas; horse Thief, Arizona; Spies, North Carolina; Lawyers,<Virginia; Lamplighter, Indiana; Mechanic, Ohio; or Butcher,
Missouri.;   Hunters had best call ahead before seeking game in Fox,@Arizona; Bullfrog, Washington; Porcupine, South Dakota; Racoon,9Illinois; Alligator, Mississippi; Fish, Georgia, Turtle,Wisconsin; or Wolf, Kansas.A   Those on a literary expedition might arrange a tour to Twain,ACalifornia; Thoreau, New Mexico; Rousseau, Louisiana; Hemingway,;South Carolina; Milton, New York; Swift, Minnesota; Byron,AWyoming; and Tolstoy, South Dakota.  But you would have to cross-into Ontario, Canada, to find a Shakespeare.=   There are friendly, optimistic town names in America, and>not-so-pleasant ones as well.  We wonder how much happier the<people of Delight, Arkansas, may be than those in Loveless,:Alabama.  Or how much more confident are the residents of@Hopeful, Georgia; Beautiful, Pennsylvania; Nice, California; or=Strong, Mississippi, than the folks stuck in Boring, Oregon;;Bleak, Virginia; Difficult, tennessee, or Moody, Missouri.A   We did have a moment on our journey, while in the Midwest, toBfind out how one little town of 850 people got its cheerful name.?Equality, Illinois, is not much of a town any more, ever since=the last coal mine closed nearby.  The business district has>dried up, but there are still some tidy little homes.  People-drive from Equality to bigger towns to work.A   But once this was a lively place, the first settlement in allAof Illinois.  Back then, in the late 1700's, it was called "Salt?Lick" because of the large number of salt springs in the area.=As the Illinois territory grew, one of Salt Lick's prominent;citizens began to worry that its name would not carry much?prestige, and just at that time a French explorer happened by.@He was also somewhat of a writer, and he came to Salt Lick fullBof inspiring stories about the recent French revolution. SoundingBthe revolution's rallying cry, Liberte!, Egalite!, Fraternite, he;suggested a dreamy new name for the town, "Equality."  And#"Equality" it has been ever since.A   That leaves two names left over from the slogan of the French>revolution.  We'd suggest to the citizens of Savage, Montana,8that they consider a change to "Liberty. " And does not9"Fraternity" sound better than Accident, Maryland; Stab,&kentucky; or Troublesome, New Mexico?   ---------------   -------------->   MILITANTS MAKE GOOD ON PROMISE TO KILL ALGERIAN JOURNALIST   KIM REID	   CAIRO?   Islamic militants apparently made good their threat to kill?Algerian journalist Zine Eddine Aliou Salah. The Algiers Daily@Liberte, says Mr. Salah was shot near his home in the capital'sKhazrouma neighborhood.@   Mr. Salah knew he was in danger.  The 35-year-old journalistBwas listed among those targeted for death in an Islamic SalvationAArmy communique.  The group forms the military arm of the banned/Islamic Salvation Front, or FIS (pron:  Fees).@   Journalists have become caught in the power struggle between>extremist groups, like the FIS, and Algeria's military-backedBgovernment.  About two dozen journalists, accused of being eitherApro-government or pro-militant, have been killed by militants or?renegade Algerian security forces during the past three years.B   Algeria's interior minister, Abderrahmane Meziane Cherif, told@Reuters news agency in tunis that the government is winning theAbattle against militant groups.  He says they will be eliminatedwithin a year.B   Some reports say as many as 30,000 people may have been killed=in the three-year civil war, which started when the militaryAhalted elections the FIS was sure to win.  The interior minister=says the FIS will be barred from new presidential elections,"scheduled for sometime this year.   ---------------   ---------------   APPLE COMPUTER RUMORS   BRECK ARDERY   NEW YORKA   The stock of the  Apple Computer company rose sharply on WallBStreet Friday as the result of a published report that apple will-soon be taken over by three other companies.?   The speculation began with an article in "Information Week"=magazine which cites unidentified sources.  The article says?apple will be purchased by a joint venture of three companies:@Oracle, an American computer software maker; Philips, the dutch@electronics firm; and the Matsushita Electric Company of Japan.@   None of the four companies involved will confirm the report,.and a spokesman for philips flatly denied it.A   However, Wall Street stock traders love rumors, and the valueAof apple's stock rose almost 10 percent in early trading Friday.@Many analysts have speculated that apple's takeover value would=be seven billion dollars, or about 60 dollars per share. The,stock is currently trading in the low 40's.B   Some analysts say the unconfirmed takeover plan has some logic@to it.  Philips and Matsushita would gain an important share of@the market for personal computer hardware.  Oracle could use anAinvestment in apple to expand its software position and would beBbetter able to compete with Microsoft, currently the world leader$in software for personal computers.   ---------------   ---------------0   AUSTRALIAN INTELLIGENCE ADVERTISES FOR SPIES   LAURENCE WILSON   CANBERRAA   Australia's major security agency is so short of spies it hasAbeen forced to advertise, and as a result, it has been inundated<with applications.  A spokesman for the Australian securityBintelligence organization says it has received 4,000 applicationsfor just 12 jobs.@   With the end of the cold war it seems Australia's spymastersAcould not find enough hot-blooded young men and women to sign up9for a career in the world of espionage, so it decided toadvertise.'   The response has been overwhelming.:   Three months ago, the Australian security intelligence9organization launched a recruiting drive to fill a dozen%positions for intelligence officers.#   It received 4,000 applications.A   After a front page story in the Australian newspaper reported?the ASIO as looking for young recruits to as it put it, bridgeAthe generation gap, the organization was inundated with hundreds:of inquiries.  A spokesman says the phone has not stopped	ringing.A   ASIO says it is planning to recruit an un-disclosed number of%new agents during the coming months.B   The spy organization is facing a major security challenge come7the end of the century, the year 2000 Sydney Olympics.:   ASIO will spend the next two years completing a formalAassessment of the security needs for the Olympics and the threatfrom potential terrorists.   ---------------   ---------------   1994 CAR SALES   PAUL FRANCUCH   CHICAGOB   Detroit's "Big Three" automakers this past week reported sales?figures for the year 1994 and the figures look excellent. "Big@tHree" executives are confident the selling spree will continuethrough this year.8   Both domestic and foreign automakers sold just under:15-million vehicles in the United States last year.  That;represents an eight percent increase over 1993 sales.  And?executives think the demand for new cars will continue throughB1995, even though prices are going up and interest rates on loanscontinue to rise.=   The best-selling car in the United States remained ford's@"taurus"  model, beating out its close rival, the Honda Accord,;for a third-straight year.  Ford hopes to maintain its topAposition with the introduction of a redesigned taurus which made=its public debut this past week at detroit's "north Americaninternational auto show."A   Each of detroit's auto companies reported sales gains in 1994:over 1993.  Even General Motors' important north AmericanBautomotive operations, which has been unprofitable since the late<1980s, is expected to show earnings for the year when those>figures are released later this month.  Chrysler reported its%best sales in the company's history.B   As in the past few years, the biggest growth in vehicle demand9in 1994 was for light trucks, including pick-ups, family@mini-vans, and sport utility vehicles.  Industry sales of light,trucks last year were up almost 13 percent.B   While detroit-based auto companies reported a seven-point-fourApercent increase in car and light truck sales here in the UnitedBStates, their Japanese rivals reported an even better increase ofeight-point-eight percent.:   Detroit manufacturers however were encouraged when the<authoritative "Ward's Automotive Report" estimated that the@United States would produce more vehicles last year than Japan.3It is the first time that has happened since 1979.   ---------------   ---------------@   DEMOCRATS WON'T SUPPORT A BUDGET THEY FEEL WILL END RECOVERY   DEBORAH TATE   WHITE HOUSEA   President Clinton is welcoming new government figures showing@unemployment has fallen to its lowest level in four years.  But@the president is warning a Republican-dominated Congress not to<do anything that could harm the nation's improving economic@picture.  It is a warning that Congressional Democrats repeated9following a meeting with Mr. Clinton at the White House.@   President Clinton welcomed a Labor Department report showingBunemployment is down to five-point-four percent, its lowest levelsince July, 199o.@   He says the decline in unemployment was made possible by hisadministration's policies.B   But the president said he would  not support any action by the<Republican-controlled Congress that would hurt the economic
recovery:@   "I will stand against any effort to roll back or to rock theAfoundations of recovery by proposals that explode the deficit or<gimmicks that undermine the integrity of the budget we have!worked so hard to put in place."?   The president made his comments as he opened a meeting with5Democratic Congressional leaders at the White House.B   Following that meeting, lawmakers joined White House officials=in saying they would support Republican plans for a balanced@budget amendment to the constitution, but only if it includes a3requirement to specify how that would be achieved.7   House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt is proposing>legislation that would require Republicans to make clear what:spending cuts and tax increases they plan in an effort toeliminate the deficit:;   "While the Republicans are presenting a balanced budgetAamendment, they are also coming forward with a contract which in>its totality would blow another one-point-six trillion dollarAhole in the deficit, which would destroy the economic growth and$the job creation that has gone on."@   White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta agreed, warning that)popular social programs may be affected:>   "What programs are going to be cut?  Are they going to cutAmedicare?  Are they going to cut social security? Are they goingto cut Benefits for veterans?"<   Later, on Capitol Hill, House Republican Majority Leader=Richard Armey dismissed Congressman Gephardt's proposal as a?political effort to make Republicans look hypocritical for notAputting forward all details of what might result from a balancedbudget amendment.A   The Democrats' challenge to the Republicans comes a day afterBRepublican congressional leaders met with President Clinton, with=both sides emphasizing cooperation instead of confrontation.   ---------------   ---------------$   FRENCH RELATIONS WITH IRAQ WARMS   LARRY JAMES	   PARIS@   France says it will soon open an interest section in Baghdad:in what is seen as a clear sign of warming relations. The>announcement came following a meeting in Paris between French>Foreign Minister Alain Juppe and Iraq's Deputy Prime MinisterTareq Aziz.B   Foreign Minister Alain Juppe met for almost an hour-and-a-half;with Mr. Aziz in a meeting seen as a clear sign of warming#relations between France and Iraq.?   Mr. Juppe said they discussed the situation in Iraq and the=application of U.N. sanctions imposed after the American-led@coalition drove Iraqi troops out of Kuwait in the Gulf War.  He?said Iraq has made progress in complying with U.N. resolutions>but that more remains to be done.  The Security Council is to)review trade sanctions later this month.B   Mr. Juppe met Mr. Aziz in New York four months ago in what was>seen as an effort to win agreement from the United States andABritain to ease sanctions.  France, along with Russia and China,Bhad been calling for a softer position toward Iraq.  But any hope:of convincing other Security Council members to do so wasAtorpedoed when Iraqi President Saddam Hussein sent troops to the!Kuwaiti border in early October.:   Friday's breakfast meeting was the first time an IraqiBgovernment member has been officially received in Paris since the<Gulf War. Iraq already has an interest section in Paris and=France has been campaigning to allow Iraq to gradually begin>selling its oil as a reward for Iraqi recognition of Kuwait's=borders and for eliminating its weapons of mass destruction.=   France has often been at odds with the United States over>Washington's continued hard-line policy towards Baghdad.  Mr.=Juppe has, in the past, said his government will continue to?support its Gulf War allies in a common stance.  However, when?Iraqi troops moved to the Kuwaiti border last October, he also;warned against any unilateral American action in the area.=   France has been accused on seeking an easing of sanctionsAagainst Iraq because it wants to pursue lucrative business deals@with Baghdad.  Britain criticized the French move.  The foreignBoffice in London said France had not consulted its European union;partners and a spokesman said now is not the time to relax9pressure on Iraq to comply fully with U.N. requirements.   ---------------   ---------------   HOLIDAY RETAIL SLUMP   MIKE CREADON   NEW YORKB   American retailers saw disappointing profits during the recentholiday season.=   Retailers across the United States earned relatively poor@profits this past Christmas, despite strong sales, particularlyBin late December.  Traditionally, American retailers slash pricesAright after Christmas in an effort to boost sales before the new>year.  This past Christmas, however, retailers lowered pricesBbefore the holiday, thus stimulating demand but lowering profits.@   George Rosenbaum, chief executive officer for Leo J. Shapiro>and Associates, a Chicago-based marketing research firm, says<that because of the price cuts, retail results for the pastholiday season are mixed:>   "It causes people to shop later and later because they seeBprices moving down, and it causes some people not to shop at all,=until after Christmas, because if you see prices moving down9before Christmas, then imagine what prices will be afterAChristmas. We saw this year an extraordinary four days followingAChristmas.  Sales were very, very good.  Retail traffic was saidAto be greater the two or three days after Christmas than the two!or three days before Christmas."@   Mr. Rosenbaum says American consumers planned to spend quite@generously for Christmas, but unseasonably warm weather reduced:apparel buying and triggered early price reductions whichseriously hurt profits.=   Consequently, most American retailers faced disappointing>earnings. Yet there were a few retail outlets that had strong>fourth quarter showings.  Sears, one of the largest retailing9companies, posted impressive sales numbers. According toRosenbaum:?   "Sears had a very strong performance this Christmas season.AThat performance was very heavily driven by its strength in hard?goods and major purchases for the home. What also helped Sears@was, it is in the process of a major effort to attract women to6the stores to buy clothing for kids, for themselves."B   Retail analyst George Rosenbaum expects a slower pace for U.S.@retail sales in the first half of 1995 as consumers concentrateon reducing their debts.   ---------------   ---------------C   ISRAEL DENIES REPORT IT TRANSFERRED AVIONIC TECHNOLOGY TO CHINA
   AL PESSIN
   JERUSALEM8   Israel has categorically denied news reports that itAtransferred U.S. military technology to China to help with a new=Chinese jet fighter. The denial comes just two days before a9scheduled visit to Israel by the U.S. defense secretary.<   Israeli defense ministry spokesman Oded Ben Ami says any=technology or equipment which required U.S. approval was nottransferred to China.?   Mr. Ben Ami was responding to U.S. news reports that IsraelAhad included U.S. technology in a package of assistance given or@sold to China for use in development of a new jet fighter.  TheAtechnology is believed to be at least seven years old, but underAU.S. aid rules, transferring it to another country would requireU.S. approval.A   "What I'm saying is that, number one, we did not transfer any?American technology or American components to China." said BenAAmi.  "Number two, in the past, and we are ready to do it in the?future as well, we are going to answer all U.S. administrationAquestions in regard to transfer of technology to a third party."<   Israel receives almost two-billion dollars worth of U.S.@military aid every year and it is very sensitive to suggestionsAthat it violates the terms of that aid.  There have been several>such allegations in the past.  All were denied by Israel, and>after investigations, the United States has never imposed anypunishment.?   After initial reports of the alleged transfer to China were=published earlier this week, the defense ministry's directorBgeneral, David Ivri, acknowledged Israel sold China some aircraft4technology, but he said it was not U.S. technology.B   In the 1980s, the United States helped Israel begin to develop@a jet fighter, but the project was scrapped.  Mr. Ivri said anyAtechnology related to that project and later sold to China wouldhave been Israeli innovations.A   Officials also said Israel would investigate with its various6defense companies if the United States was concerned.@   On Friday, the spokesman, Ben Ami, declined to say whether a?formal U.S. inquiry had been received.  But his statement came=just 48 hours before the scheduled arrival in Israel of U.S.!Defense Secretary William Perry.B   Mr. Perry had expressed concern about the reported transfer ofBU.S. military technology to China.  He said if the reports proved>true he would have what he called "some difficult words" with$Israeli officials during his visit.   -----------------   ---------------&   MT. VAUGHAN'S 89-YEAR-OLD EXPLORER   JOHN PITMAN   WASHINGTONA   Late last year, an 88-year-old explorer reached the summit of?a 3,100 meter peak in antarctica. The trip to the top of Mount@Vaughan was the end of a 60 year quest for an explorer who made/his first trip to the South Pole in the 1920s.A   The summit of Mount Vaughan, located more than 700 kilometers=inland from the Ross Ice Shelf, is one of the planet's least?hospitable places.  It is a tiny square of snow-covered stone,<whipped by constant 60 kilometer per hour winds.  And until1recently, it was a place  no man had ever stood.?   But on December 16th, 1994, the summit of Mount Vaughan was7conquered by a team of mountaineers, and their fiddle.?   The team leader was 88-year-old Norman Vaughan, the man for=whom the mountain was named by Admiral Richard Byrd in 1929.@When he reached the summit in December, after a nine day climb,5Mr. Vaughan was three days shy of his 89th birthday.B   Norman Vaughan was a 22-year-old drop-out from Harvard college@when he accompanied Admiral Byrd to the South Pole.  His job onBthat expedition was to care for the dog teams that pulled men and(provisions across the frozen landscape.@   And it was on that trip that human beings for the first time+gazed up at the Queen Maud mountain range.A   Mr. Vaughan says admiral byrd waited until the expedition hadAsafely returned to Boston before breaking the news that three of>the mountains in that range would bear Vaughan's name and the-names of two other young expedition members:>   "He'd (Byrd) come back from Washington and had named three>mountains:  One for Goodale, one for Crockett and one for me.?Three that were quite close together and it was in the land we@had seen for the first time, before any other man had seen it."A   Mr. Vaughan's return to Antartica was delayed for six decades:because it was simply too difficult to reach the southerncontinent.B   He put the intervening years to good use, though.  In 1932, he6represented the United States in the olympic dog sledBcompetition.  And during World War II, he led dog sled search andrescue teams in Europe.?   But through it all, he says he never let go of his dream toclimb Mt. Vaughan:A   "It became important to me because I wanted to live by what I?thought with Admiral Byrd way back that I wanted to climb thatAmountain.  It just was in my bones to do it and I put everythingBaside.  And while my classmates at Harvard stayed in business and%made money, I lived on the outside."@   Norman Vaughan, his wife, their fiddle-playing guide and theBrest of the Mt. Vaughan expedition are back in north America now,+spending some time together on the inside.;   But Mr. Vaughan says he's already got plans for another8adventure, and he says he has no intention of retiring.   ---------------   ---------------C   PROGRAM SEEKS IMPROVED RELATIONS BETWEEN BLACK AND JEWISH YOUTH   SARAH WILLIAMS   WASHINGTON, D.C.A   A new program has been launched in the United States designed@to improve relations between African-American and Jewish youth.?   Racial and ethnic tensions have been persistent problems in=the United States in recent years, particularly among youth.BSome public figures, notably controversial Nation of Islam leaderBLouis Farrakhan, have been accused of stirring resentment betweenBgroups.  Experts say, one way to lessen hostility among groups is=through educational programs that acquaint young people withother cultures.B   William Gray, president of the United Negro College Fund and a@former U.S. congressman, founded such a program 10 years ago inAhis former congressional district of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.=Now joining forces with officials in Washington, Mr. Gray isBhelping to launch Operation Understanding D.C. between Jewish and'African-American high school students.;   William Gray says the original program was developed in=philadelphia among old friends who had cooperated during thesocial changes of the 1960's:<   "A group of us got together, those who had been pilgrimsAduring the civil rights movement, and remembered the sharing and@the struggle together, and said 'how do we relate that to a new@generation that often is insulated and isolated, and are not in:touch with each other, and do not understand each other's;histories, the common ground as well as the differences?'"<   As part of the program, teen-agers visit both Israel and?Africa.  The high school students see such famous landmarks asAJerusalem's  wailing wall, a traditional place for Jews to pray.=They also visit Goree Island off the coast of senegal, whereAAfricans were held before being sent to the new world as slaves.=   Former congressman William Gray says the program helps to&promote understanding between groups:A   "We are proud that we are producing a new generation of young?people who will know something about themselves, about others,@and most importantly when they become the doctors, the lawyers,<the teachers, when they become the media experts, when they9become the public policy makers, they will be voices for<understanding, sensitivity, and building of bridges between>peoples of all races, creeds and colors because of the unique7experience that Operation Understanding has provided."<   Rabbi Jack Moline (moe-leen), who presides over a JewishBcongregation in a Washington suburb, says operation understanding4D.C. gives teen-agers a unique learning experience:8   "These young people begin a voyage of discovery.  As@representatives of two minorities, they will have the privilegeBof sharing with each other, their past and their future, and they=will return to this community to plant the seeds of a better@today for all of us. In this organization, the playing field is?level, the pleasures and the pains of both the black communityAand the Jewish community will be shared as unique members of thewider human family."@   District of Columbia Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton says sheAbelieves Washington does not have the racial divisions that some@cities do.  But she says the area does struggle with geographicdistance among various groups:<   "Distance is dangerous, because it can become lethal and@because it lulls us into believing that we are not in danger of9polarization.  With distance it is far easier to believe@stereotypes about people you don't know. With distance, you areAfar more vulnerable to hate talk. Operation Understanding closesAdistance, and it closes the distance by working with high school:juniors and then letting them speak for themselves in thecommunity."9   Sixteen high school students, eights Jewish and eight;African-American were selected to participate in Operation>Understanding for the next 18 months. in addition to visiting@important sites overseas, the students will also journey to New=York city to visit harlem and crown heights, the location of@recent tension between blacks and jews, and to the south to see@places involving the civil rights movement. They will also meet<with officials representing the African-American and Jewish>communities, and visit churches and synagogues.  The studentsAwill also speak publicly about their experiences at neighborhood meetings and school assemblies.9   Nyala (nye-ah-la) Watkins, a 16-year-old student at a@Washington public high school, says she is eagerly anticipating
the program";   "I'm looking forward to expanding my knowledge on other@cultures, especially the Jewish culture, because I really don't/know that much.  I'm really excited about it."9   Joanna Zimmerman, who attends high school in suburban4Maryland, believes the program will be educational">   "I'm looking forward to learning more about other people's?cultures, because it's very easy for me to go into a synagogue7and learn about my religion and talk to my parents andBgrandparents about their struggles, but it's a lot harder to talkBto Nyala and try and understand what her parents went through and?what her grandparents went through.  What it's like for her to6walk into her church, and what her culture is about."@   Another high school junior, Otis Todd of Washington, says he0wants to learn about others as well as himself:;   "Well, I'm looking forward to learning about the JewishBculture, because in the D.C. public school system, they teach you@nothing about Jewish culture.  And I'm looking forward to learn?more about my culture, because in the D.C. public schools theyBteach you a little bit about African-American culture, and I also?want to learn more about myself, and I think this program will
help me."B   The sponsors of Operation Understanding D.C. hope that it willBbuild bridges between young people who belong to groups that have%withstood prejudice and persecution.   ---------------   ---------------D   CATHOLIC GROUP WITHDRAWALS SUPPORT OF POPE'S VISIT TO NEW GUINEA   LAURENCE WILSON   CANBERRA>   Just weeks before he is due to visit Papua New Guinea, the=Pope has become involved in an 'unholy row'.  A Catholic lay?group involved in organizing the papal visit has withdrawn its=support accusing the Catholic church of insensitivity to newguinea's traditional customs.A   The lay group is angry over arrangements made by the CatholicBChurch for the beatification of world war two martyr Peter Torot.B   He was poisoned by the Japanese forces in 1945 for refusing torenounce his faith.B   He will be beatified by the Pope during his visit to Papua NewGuinea later this month.?   The Catholic lay group has been offended by the decision of9the church to exhume the martyr's remains for use in the
ceremony.A   It has written to the Catholic archbishop of Rabaul, accusing=the church of being insensitive to the country's traditional	customs.@   The group says the manner in which the remains were exhumed,@packed in a box and taken away without being accompanied by his4relatives or his people was totally insensitive anddisrespectful.;   By removing the bones from the grave he no longer has aspiritual home.@   The beatification ceremony was to take place in Rabaul, near@Torot's resting place, but will now be held in the capital Port	Moresby.   ---------------   ---------------   SINGAPORE HANGING   DAVID BUTLER   BANGKOK8   A young Chinese woman convicted in Singapore on drug=trafficking charges was hanged Friday. The woman is the 95thBperson to be hanged under Singapore's strict anti-narcotics laws.?   Twenty-five year old angel Mou Pui-Peng was scheduled to be@hanged December 23rd.  But, Singapore authorities granted Mou's;parents' request for a two-week reprieve so they and Mou's9nine-year-old son could be with her during the holidays.?   A prison spokeswoman said Mou was hanged before dawn, as is<the custom in Singapore.  Mou lived in Hong Kong, but was a?citizen of the Portuguese colony of Macau, where she was born.B   She was arrested in 1991 soon after arriving in Singapore fromAHong Kong with a suitcase containing five-point-six kilograms of-heroin.  She was sentenced to death in 1993.>   Singapore rejected all appeals for clemency, including one<Thursday from Amnesty International, the London-based humanArights group.  Amnesty noted the man who recruited Mou to act as@a courier is serving just a four-year sentence for his crime inHong Kong.A   Mou consistently maintained her innocence, saying she thought%she was carrying contraband watches.A   Conviction on charges of bringing into Singapore as little as=15-grams, just one-half ounce, of heroin carries a mandatorydeath sentence.@   Mou's execution brings to 95 the number of people hanged forAnarcotics offenses in Singapore since 1965.  More than half have=been foreigners, most of them Asians and Africans.  The only<westerner among the 95 was a dutchman hanged last SeptemberA   Mou's son, parents, and a sister were with her for Christmas.@   Her lawyer said that Mou, who had converted to Christianity,:was spiritually and emotionally prepared to die after theChristmas visit.=   The Portuguese national news agency quoted Macau governor?Vasco Rocha Vieira as terming the hanging incomprehensible and6revolting in a message of condolence to Mou's mother.   ---------------   ---------------   JOE SLOVO 1936-1995   MALLORY SALESON   JOHANNESBURG?   Tributes are pouring in from around South Africa, followingBthe death early Friday of housing minister Joe Slovo, a prominent<African National Congress and South African communist partyBleader. Joe Slovo died at the age of 68, after a long battle withcancer.@   Early in life Joe Slovo joined the struggle to end apartheid=and bring democracy to his country.  He was a strategist andBpragmatist who played a pivotal role in negotiations that brought?about South Africa's current government of national unity, andASouth Africa's first democratic elections open to all races lastyear.B   President Nelson Mandela, a close friend who visited Mr. SlovoAat his home Thursday, said he regrets the death of a great south?African patriot who dedicated his life to justice and freedom.BMr. Slovo died in his sleep at his Johannesburg home early Friday>after a long struggle with bone-marrow cancer.  For months he@appeared weaker in public, and doctors urged him to rest.  But,>he pushed ahead with his important tasks as housing minister.B   Born in lithuania in 1926, Mr. Slovo came to South Africa withAhis Jewish parents at the age of nine.  He became a human rights@lawyer, joined the South African communist Party, and later the>African national congress.  He was an early member of the ANC<military wing and went into exile in 1963, spending time inALondon, Maputo, and Lusaka.  He became the first white member of.the ANC national executive committee in 1985.A   In may last year he could not contain his excitement over theBchange in South Africa, and said he was never sure while in exile!the moment would finally arrive:A   "Sometimes I did not and sometimes I did.  There were moments@of depression outside when one felt, how long oh lord, but hereBit is.  And sometimes you have to pinch yourself that it actuallyhappened.";   Mr. Slovo said his most important task would be to help<alleviate the suffering of millions of blacks, who were forBdecades disadvantaged by the apartheid system.  He said he lookedBforward to the challenge, and was not worried about the hard workthat lay ahead:@   "I think it is a challenge.  I just hope I measure up to it.;If I do not, or if any of my colleagues do not, I hope the=president acts quickly to see to it they get people who do."A   Friends and critics say he was well on the road to creating a@new national housing plan to benefit the country's impoverishedBmajority.  Many in and outside government gave him high marks for>quickly settling into his job and moving ahead in a pragmatic$manner to solve the housing crisis.@   Joe Slovo was longtime public-enemy number-one to the former:National Party regime that perpetuated apartheid.  He was>vilified as a traitor by many whites who saw communism as the<source of all evil.  Joe Slovo was a one-time stalinist and>chairman of the South African Communist Party.  But, with the=rise of glasnost and perestroika, and the fall of the Soviet:empire he soon steered the party toward a more democratic	outlook.;   Political and business leaders from across the spectrum@expressed their respect Friday, and said his death leaves a gapAthat will be difficult to fill.  He always maintained a sense ofBhumor, especially about himself, and always wore a characteristicBpair of red socks as a personal joke and reminder of the years heBwas labeled as the great red menace.  For many South Africans Joe=Slovo will be remembered for his hard work, intelligence andBoverwhelming commitment to democracy and national reconciliation.@   Steven Laufer [law'-fer] was Mr. Slovo's press secretary and@long-time friend.  He says Mr. Slovo fought as a soldier in theBSouth African army against [German Nazi leader] adolf hitler, and)later against apartheid in South Africa.9   But foremost, Laufer says, Mr. Slovo was an idealist::   "Mr. Laufer says idealism was one reason why Joe Slovo:supported the Soviet Union and its allies, which providedAassistance to the anti-apartheid forces in South Africa.  But inBlater years, he says Mr. Slovo expressed regret about his supportAfor Soviet communism.  He did express doubts about communism, asBit has been practiced in this century and particularly in EasternAEurope.  He felt there were many perversions and diversions from6what was his ideal.  He was very passionate about the?representation of justice which he saw in socialism, about the@fact that socialism was about the absence of exploitation.  But;he said the great tragedy and mistake of communism in this@century as practiced in the Soviet Union and in other countries?was the absence of democracy and the absence of a real say for
the people."@   Mr. Laufer says Joe Slovo was a modest and friendly man, whoAput people at ease with his wit, qualities that served him well,2especially when dealing with political opponents.A   One long-time opponent of Mr. Slovo was Pik Botha.  Mr. Botha@was a long-time foreign minister under the apartheid government<of South Africa's Nationalist Party.  He is currently SouthBAfrica's minister of minerals and energy in the 27-member cabinetof national unity.B   Mr. Botha describes Mr. Slovo as a pragmatist, who was willing:to compromise his own ideals for the good of the country:B   "In one of his last cabinet meetings, he presented the cabinet>with an excellent plan for improving the position of our less<privileged people with regard to housing loans.  After that?meeting I walked to him and said congratulations.  I could see=the feeling of reward on his face.  Two or three days ago, IAwanted to visit him.  But his secretary said he was already very@ill, and I sent him my best wishes. You know what is remarkableAabout South Africa is we have succeeded in moving away from that<which was full of conflict in the past, and we are together=working on our joint future.  And Mr. Slovo was part of this=process, and he made very positive contributions, during the=negotiation period and during this period as a member of the
cabinet."B   Mr. Botha says he began working regularly with Joe Slovo a few:years ago, during the negotiations leading to multi-party>elections.  He says Mr. Slovo was forthright and sincere, andAremembers him as a reasonable man who would try to see the otherside's point of view.   ---------------   ---------------   PROFILE: STROM THURMOND   TED LANDPHAIR   WASHINGTON=   Although the United States is the sole remaining military;superpower, the Republicans who have just taken control of?Congress have pledged to increase spending on defense.  That'sAfine with the new chairman of the powerful Senate Armed Services>Committee, Strom Thurmond of South Carolina.  When the SovietBUnion was strong militarily, Senator Thurmond often said that the=first object of government is to protect the people from its3enemies, criminals at home and the Soviets abroad.9   Ninety-two-year-old Strom Thurmond, the grandson of a=confederate corporal in the American civil war, is a classic=political survivor.  In seven decades of government service,Bincluding terms on his local school board, the state legislature,@as as South Carolina governor, and ending with a long career inBthe U.S. Senate, he was first a conservative democrat, supporting:what was called "states' rights" in the south's battle to=maintain the segregation of the races. In 1948 he bolted theBparty to run as a so-called "dixiecrat" against President truman.    Tape cut one:  Thurmond  :06@   "We will defeat any man that has attempted to stab the south&in the back, as has harry s. Truman."=   Mr. Truman won the election, and the Republican candidate?finished a close second, but dixiecrat Thurmond did carry fiveAsouthern states. Six years later, Strom Thurmond became the only@person ever elected to the U.S. Senate as a write-in candidate,?again as a democrat.  He stayed in the Democratic Party during=his first ten years in the Senate, but when President Lyndon<Johnson pushed measures to integrate public facilities, Mr.+Thurmond switched to the Republican Party.A   "The Democrats were way out yonder in left field [not in step;with the country]," says Thurmond, "and I felt that I'd be:happier working with the people who felt like I did.  TheARepublican Party is more in line with the thinking of the people0of the south, and that's the reason I changed."?   In 1957, Strom Thurmond set a record for the longest Senate<filibuster.  Filibustering means talking a Bill to death byBholding the floor until the other side gives in and withdraws the:measure.  After preparing with long stays in a sauna, Mr.@Thurmond rattled on [talked] for more than 24 straight hours in#opposition to a fair-housing bill.>   "I had gone down to the Senate bath for three or four daysAbeforehand and dried out my body so I would not be tempted to goto the bathroom.";   Once, outraged over remarks by democratic Senator Ralph@Yarborough, Mr. Thurmond wrestled the texan to the Senate floor4and held him there at the point of a letter opener.A   "I was not shocked at anything Strom Thurmond would do," says<Yarborough "I never saw any other senator act like he did.":   As times changed and much of the south mellowed in its=opposition to sharing civil rights with blacks, so did Strom=Thurmond.  He enrolled his daughter in a racially integrated<school, hired black staff members, and actively courted theAAfrican-American vote.  But he would never say his stand againstintegration had been wrong.A   "The whole south had laws to provide separation of the races.?Now we had no trouble about that, though. Both races, I think,<would probably prefer to be with their own kind. I couldn't?afford to take a position against the law.  As governor of the+state, it was my duty to enforce the law.":   Even though his career defines the term "Congressional>Seniority," Mr. Thurmond now says he supports recent moves to7impose term limits on members of the House and Senate.=   "And if it affects me and puts me out, so be it.  I'll goout.">   At the top of his agenda as the new Chairman of the Senate8Armed Services Committee:  More money for the Pentagon.?   "This is the gavel we'll use, [sound of gavel pounding] andthat's the way i'll use it."?   Mr. Thurmond is famous for his virility, marrying his firstBwife, Jean, when he was 44 and she was 21; and later marrying hisAsecond wife, Nancy, a former "Miss South Carolina" beauty queen,Bwhen he was 66 and she 22.  They started a family when he was 69, and had four children together.B   The secret to his longevity, he says, is a regimen of exerciseand proper nutrition:A   "I take 20 minutes of exercise every morning in calisthenics,@push-ups, pull-ups, twisting, bending, stretching.  Then I take?10 minutes lying on the bench, lifting weights.  Then I ride aAstationary bicycle 20 minutes.  For breakfast, I generally eat a:half a banana, an apple, and a handful of grapes and four	prunes."<   He says has no plans to slow down, and certainly none toretire:A   "I think since I'm in good health, mentally and physically, I-can serve the people well in this capacity."A   So at age 92, James Strom Thurmond has already announced that:he will seek another six-year term in the Senate in 1996.   ---------------   ---------------0   WORLD OPINION OF THE NEW REPUBLICAN CONGRESS   ANDREW N. GUTHRIE   WASHINGTONA   As might be expected, this week's dramatic political shift inAthe United States, where Republicans took control of both HousesAof Congress for the first time in 40 years, was a chief topic of'commentary in papers around the world.@   Dailies from Athens to Zanzibar used terms like "earthquake"@or "revolution" to describe the sea of change that overtook the>U.S. House of Representatives, where Georgia congressman NewtBGingrich became the first Republican speaker in 40 years.  Kansas=Senator Bob Dole became the majority leader in the Senate on?Wednesday as the 104th Congress swore in new members and began!the job of governing the nation.@   Many European commentators offered the new Congress a flurryAof editorial advice and predictions, and some were skeptical theBRepublicans would be able to deliver on the promises they made toBthe people in the much-talked about "Contract with America." Some8German editors predicted that the conservatives' courseBcorrections would have as yet unforeseen consequences since 'half9of all American families receive' some sort of financial<assistance from the federal government. Still other editors>feared an isolationist trend with the Republicans in power. T?   here was some unabashed glee from "The Australian FinancialReview," which suggests:>   "Today's Republican takeover of the United States Congress?provides Australian farmers with a juicy prospect, the biggest9attack on American agriculture subsidies since they were4entrenched by the Roosevelt New Deal of the 1930s."B   Meanwhile, elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong's "South China MorningPost" observed:8   "Asia presents a range of potential problems for theAadministration of President Bill Clinton.  Those problems appear>likely to multiply as tensions develop between the democraticAadministration and the new Republican-dominated Congress, and as@leading Democrats position themselves for a possible run at the
presidency."@   In Korea, one of Seoul's largest dailies, "Dong-A Ilbo", was9pleased with another aspect of the new leadership in the
congress:B   "As the Republicans are stronger supporters of free trade than@the Democrats, and as they put priority on security issues, the?new Congress is neither likely to intensify trade pressure (onAKorea) nor raise the issue of withdrawing U.S. troops from SouthKorea.">   In Johannesburg, South Africa, the pro-National Party "DieBurger" wrote in Afrikaans:7   "Yesterday, after 40 years of political desert, the?Republicans took over the U.S. congress.  This makes President>Clinton basically a powerless leader. Under the leadership of?their newly-elected speaker, Newt Gingrich, they plan to leave6their mark on the next 100 days and adopt a number of@far-reaching laws. There are rumors that the Republicans intend?to cut U.S. assistance to African countries.  For South Africa7such a decision could have far-reaching consequences."@   Turning to reaction in Eastern Europe, in what is now called>Yugoslavia, the Belgrade independent daily "Borba" commented:@   "The chances are that the United States will in the next twoAyears be exposed to political earthquakes, whose vibrations willBbe felt far beyond its borders.  ... Although the Republicans are=much less unanimous about some international key issues, the8truth is that those who are the greatest critics of the;administration are now leading the two houses and the mostimportant committees."@   While in Belgium, there was disbelief at the Catholic "Gazet!Van Antwerpen", which suggested:A   "No single economist [probably, in better English they meant:?"Not a single economist] understands how the Republicans couldBlower taxes, reduce the deficit and increase defense expenditures<without, as they have always promised, cutting pensions and<health care expenditures for the average American citizen."?   Far to the north, in Finland, the Helsinki daily "Helsingin&Sanomat" recently ran this editorial:@   "Slowing down the increase in the national debt has been one>of the few real achievements of President Bill Clinton.  This;year, however, the president may reverse everything he hasBaccomplished in that area. The new Congress will compete with him?for the souls of the huge majority of middle-income Americans.>That battle will be costly, eventually for the middle classes
themselves."5   In Britain, the centrist "Independent" commented:=   "The 104th Congress seems certain to degenerate into openAwarfare with a battered president seeking to avoid being elbowedoff the stage."@   And in another part of London, "The Guardian" responded thisway:@   "Yesterday, nothing less than a new government came to town,?and President Clinton is out of it.  All the energy,  the fireAand the sparks,  surrounds speaker Gingrich now, and Mr. Clintonis looking forlorn, marginal."   ---------------   ---------------5   U.S. CRITICIZES FRANCE FOR WARMING RELATIONS IRAQ   RON PEMSTEIN   STATE DEPARTMENT@   The United States has sharply criticized the French decision@to open an interest section at the Romanian embassy in Baghdad.@   The United States is hinting commercial interests lay behind>the French decision to open an interest section in Baghdad atthis time.>   State Department spokeswoman Christine Shelley says Iraq's=defiance of United Nations resolutions and the upcoming U.N.9Security Council meeting on Iraq make the French gestureinappropriate now:>   "We do not believe that this is a timely action.  We don't@consider the particular decision to be helpful or constructive.;We do not believe that now is the appropriate time to make@gestures toward Iraq.  Iraq continues to defy the internationalBcommunity and to violate many U.N. Security Council resolutions.">   The spokeswoman says France has signaled its interest in a@more active commercial relationship with Iraq but she could not=say if that is the driving force behind the French decision.   ---------------   ---------------    RUSSIAN IMMIGRANTS IN ISRAEL   ADAM PHILLIPS   WASHINGTONB   Despite its prominence in the international news, the state of>Israel is so small it is difficult even to spot on some world:maps. But since 1989, this nation of 5 million people has=absorbed over 500,000 Jews from Russia and the former Soviet9Union. This is the rough equivalent of the United States;absorbing 25 million new immigrants. Five years after this@massive immigration began, it is appropriate to wonder how well<these Russian Jews have been faring in their promised land.@   Even a Moses might wonder how a land as tiny as Israel could<possibly absorb a half a million Russian immigrants in four>years. Yet between 1989 and 1993, this is exactly what Israel=managed to do.  A huge percentage of these new arrivals were<professionals back in the former Soviet Union. Their number:includes tens of thousands of doctors, lawyers, teachers,@scientists and engineers. There are even 18,000 musicians among:the new arrivals. That's enough for 200 full-sized Israelphilharmonic orchestras!A   Oleg Zaichokov (ole-yeg zye-eech-oh-kov), a clarinetist whose:trio often plays for tips on the busy streets of downtown?Jerusalem, arrived in Israel from Leningrad in 1990. Like manyARussian immigrants to Israel, Mr. Zaichokov was not particularly:zionist back home. Still, systemic Russian anti-semitism,Bcombined with worsening economic conditions, told him it was time<for him and other Russian Jews to get out while they could.%Zaichokov said through a translator:?   "Here I realized I am a zionist as I never had before. Even>when I was a little boy, I always heard, right in front of my=face, that I am a 'dirty kike' and all these other bad words@about Jews that I don't want people to even remember, let aloneArepeat. And the same attitude i saw toward my son and to all theAJews in the former Soviet Union. After the disintegration of theBSoviet Union, everyone with brain in his head understood that all?the shortages and disorder would be blamed on the jews. Yes, Ithink I am a zionist."<   Mr. Zaichokov has found enough work playing at weddings,Bcircumcision feasts and other celebrations to survive financially?in his chosen field. But many other Russian professionals have=not been so lucky.  According to one 1993 statistic, only 30Apercent of the new Russian immigrant professionals now in Israel;have jobs where they can use the knowledge and skills they developed in their native land.A   Many Jews who enjoyed high status in their fields back in the>former Soviet Union are appalled at their drop in prestige inBIsraeli society, where lower level jobs are sometimes all that is@available to them. Yuli Edelstein is a former refusenik who wasBsent to Soviet labor camps for his zionist activities, and is now@an advocate for Soviet jewry at the zionist forum in Jerusalem.According to Edelstein:=   "People growing up here in Israel or in the united states?could express themselves in all kinds of ways. Here in Israel,<for instance, you can be a big fat nothing in terms of your=professional training, but you can be a peace activist, or a>settler who is trying to do all kinds of things to settle theBland of Israel, you can be active in ecology, like Greenpeace and:all these kinds of things. So there are all kinds of self@expression. For us back in Russia, for Jews, not only for Jews,Abut mostly for Jew, there was only one way to express ourselves.3Our whole identity was our professional training."<   Mr. Edelstein says this is why the psychological cost of:absorption outweighs the recent improvement in government<employment statistics and many private re-training schemes:<   "When I see a former doctor or engineer working in a gas>station, I know that he's probably earning money, I know that?he's probably doing okay and driving a good car and everything>seems to be fine. But I know that nearly all his identity was>taken from him, and this is how he looks in his own eyes, and=this is how he looks in his kids' eyes, and there is still a
problem."@   Strong cultural differences between native-born Israelis and>the new Russian immigrants often make themselves felt even in=places where they have found excellent jobs. Professor Moshe>Kaveh (moe-sheh kuh-veh), the academic director of Tel Aviv's@prestigious Bar Ilan University, oversees the work of scores of?scientists and other top-level professionals, many of whom are
Russians.<   Kaveh says that even the top scientist immigrants at his@university are more comfortable with the collectivist lifestyle@of the former Soviet Union than they are with the individualism>and striving to be found in a western style democracy such asIsrael:A   "I would say creativity or trying to push things for yourselfBwas not something which was so much of use in Russia, because youBhave a system which does not allow you to do so. So they, most ofAthem waited for getting clear instructions what to do and how toAbehave and suddenly you come to a place where the rules are madeBby yourself!  If you are creative, you are energetic, you achieve?more. You have to plead your case, you have to demand what you?need, and this takes time to understand. On the other hand, weAare admiring their tolerance and their patience, and this is whyBI would say we benefited from their tolerance, but they benefited-from the way of being very, very practical."<   There is another factor that sometimes distinguishes the?Israel's new Russian immigrants from earlier immigration waves?from other lands. Until recently, most Jews who came to Israel>identified strongly with their Jewish heritage and had strong@ideological or spiritual reasons for wanting to live there. ButAthe Jews of the Soviet Union had lived in an atheistic political@culture for over 70 years, and were persecuted because of their9ethnic identity. So many of them emigrated to Israel forpolitical or economic reasons.@   Still, a sizable number of Russian Jews became interested inAtheir millennia-old religious heritage while studying hebrew andBJewish history in the clandestine learning circles that sprang up@in Moscow, Leningrad, Kiev and other large Soviet cities duringthe 1970s and 80s.?   Miriam Kodrovsky (kuh-droff-skee) is typical of this highlymotivated group.?   "First of all, I really do believe a Jew should live here,"9says Kodrovsky, "because that is more or less what he is>commanded to do. God expects us to do it. Jews should live in@their own land and build their life together. And it's both the=right thing to do and the good thing to do for them. They're:going to be happier and safer this way than living in thediaspora."A   According to Jewish tradition, the silver lining in the Jews'>painful 2000 year long exile comes upon their return. At thatAtime, they will bring to Israel all the wisdom and experience of?the world cultures where they have lived, thus making Israel aBmicrocosm of all humanity. Whether there will be a sure place for<the Jews of the former Soviet Union in this unlikely mosaicremains to be seen.   ---------------   --------------->   18 ARAB INTERIOR MINISTERS DECLARE WAR ON MUSLIM TERRORISM   KIM REID	   CAIRO?   A group of Arab interior ministers from North Africa to theAGulf have declared war on terrorism by Muslim militants.  The 18Bministers agreed to join forces after a two-day meeting in Tunis.@   Egypt's interior minister Hasan Al Alfy, struggling with hisBown domestic terrorism problem, warned other countries that they,Btoo, will be the targets of Muslim militants.  Mr. Alfy claims to6have what he calls confirmed information that several1now-peaceful countries will be hit by terrorism.@   The Arab ministers endorsed an Egyptian plan for cooperation:among regional intelligence and security agencies to stop?militant violence.  If the plan is adopted, the agencies wouldAshare information on extremist networks,, specifically, how they%are financed and supplied with arms.?   The plan would also require that each country deny militant@groups funding or refuge.  Tunisia has made a separate proposalBthat would bind all states to extradite wanted militant suspects.@   Minister Alfy says even Sudan's interior minister has agreedBto the Egyptian anti-terror proposal.  Egypt, Algeria and Tunisia=have, in the past, accused Sudan and Iran of aiding militantmovements.=   Terrorism by Islamic extremists has made headlines latelyBafter the spectacular hijacking of an Air France jet from Algeria:to France on Christmas eve.  The hijackers from Algeria's>militant GIA or Armed Islamic Group, killed three passengers.AFrench gendarmes later stormed the plane, killing the terrorists&and freeing the remaining passengers.@   The hijacking reminded western nations that no one is immune=to militant violence.  In the past few days, several westernBembassies in Algeria were warned that their citizens should leave9the country, or face further attacks.  The warnings were"reportedly sent by the GIA Group.@   The Algerian government says it will protect foreigners fromAharm, but political observers say the situation may be difficult>to control.  Up to 30-thousand people, including more than 70Aforeigners, have died in a three-year power struggle between the/military-backed government and Islamic groups.B   The Paris-based leadership of the Islamic Salvation Front, the>most prominent militant group fighting Algeria's military-run;government, says it has nothing to do with the most recentterrorist threat.   ---------------   ---------------F   YELTSIN'S HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSIONER, OPPONENT OF CHECHNYA INVASION   ELIZABETH ARROTT
   MOSCOW;   Both domestic and international pressure is mounting onARussian President Boris Yeltsin to stop the campaign against the@breakaway Chechen Republic. One of the most ardent opponents of?the war is none other than a Yeltsin appointee, Russia's human&rights commissioner, Sergei Kovalyov.@   Mr. Kovalyov paints a grim portrait of Russia's Chechen war.>   An old man flees his burning apartment by hanging curtainsAdown the side of the building, says Mr. Kovalyov, recounting oneAincident during Russia's failed assault on Grozny December 31st.BThe man's paralyzed wife begs for help, but he is forced to leaveAher behind.  Both husband and wife are veterans of world War II,;Moscow's great patriotic war. The man survives the Russianattack. The woman burns.=   Russia's human rights commissioner minces no words in hisBcondemnation of what he calls Moscow's bloody insanity.  Speaking>at a crowded news conference in Moscow, the former dissident,;jailed in Soviet times for his beliefs, catalogued what he@labelled the Russian military's gross, wide-scale violations ofhuman rights.?   Among them he cites the bombing of a hospital while doctorsBwere desperately trying to save the lives of civilian casualties.<Children, bombed out of their orphanage in Grozny, now in a=village also reportedly under air attack.  The list goes on.?   "We cannot live in a state run by scoundrels," Mr. Kovalyov
exclaims.?   The human rights commissioner came to Moscow after spendingAthree weeks in the besieged Chechen capital, because, he says heAwants to look Mr. Yeltsin in the eye.  He has demanded a meetingBFriday with the president, the man who appointed him, after which>he plans to return to Grozny. Kremlin officials are quoted as<saying there is almost no chance Mr. Yeltsin will meet him.B   Mr. Kovalyov, who has been nominated for the nobel peace prize=for his work, says the future of Chechnya, a republic of one0million people, is not the only issue at stake.<   The destiny of Russia is being determined, he says.  Mr.=Kovalyov argues Russia has not moved very far toward being a9law-governed, democratic state and the Kremlin's currentAdisinformation campaign, which he says is worse than that of the=communists and the Nazis, threatens to undermine what littlegains have been made.@   He recounts how the Kremlin claimed Chechens were blowing up?their own city to simulate Russian attacks.  He asks, what can;you say about a government that promises to avoid civilian@casualties by using laser guided rockets, then bombs a hospital@and an orphanage.  A step back to a repressive police state has4already been made, he says, but it is not too late.B   Mr. Kovalyov says there is still hope if Moscow stops its war.<There is also room for negotiation, he says, and blames the@Kremlin for rejecting Chechen offers to talk.  The human rights?commissioner says negotiations will be long and difficult, but=certainly better than continuing what he calls, the ruthlesssuppression of a people.   ---------------   ---------------E   WEALTHY HONG KONG CITIZENS MAY BECOME PERMANENT RESIDENTS OF FIJI   KRIS TANAHARA   SUVA, FIJIA   Thousands of wealthy families from Hong Kong could be granted;permanent residency in the South Pacific nation, Fiji. The>unusual proposal now being considered by the Fiji government.@   To obtain permanent residency status, each family would have<to pay the Fiji government 30-thousand dollars and agree to;invest another 100-thousand dollars in government-approved?projects.  Under the proposal, as many as 28-thousand business6people and their families could be granted residency.>   The proposal is aimed at nervous Chinese nationals in Hong?Kong who are uncertain about the future of the British colony.0Hong Kong reverts to Chinese rule in two years.?   Fiji's prime minister, Sitiveni Rabuka, is reported to have>discussed the plan with Chinese officials during his visit toChina last year.>   Government officials say the plan will boost the country's<sluggish economy and create up to 50 thousand new jobs.  An?unnamed Hong Kong company is assisting the government with the
proposal.>   Officials are said to be looking at one of fiji's outlying<islands to settle some of the Chinese.  Plans also call for>establishing a town on the western end of fiji's main island,Viti Levu.B   What is not clear yet is whether these newcomers would be ableBto vote or have other rights of citizens.  New laws still must be=approved before the first permanent resident moves from HongKong.>   Fiji is 27 hundred kilometers northeast of Australia.  TheBnation is comprised of more than 300 islands, which are scatteredAacross one million square kilometers of the South Pacific Ocean.?   Fiji natives ceded to great Britain in 1874.  It remained aABritish colony until independence in 1970.  Fiji was ousted from>the British commonwealth in 1987, following the country's two/military coups and the overthrow of democracy.=   Fiji has a population of about 750 thousand people.  Only8about five thousand Chinese now live in fiji.  They are@descendants of settlers who came to the country to set up small%businesses, more than a century ago.   ---------------   ---------------E   REPORT SAYS NO CHEMICAL WEAPONS WERE NOT USED BY IRAQ IN GULF WAR   DAVID MCALARY   WASHINGTONA   A committee of doctors and other health care specialists says>there is no evidence Iraq used chemical or biological weapons>during the 1990 Gulf War against the allied forces led by the=United States.  The finding counters claims by U.S. military@veterans who argue that such illegal agents contributed to post"war illnesses they have suffered.=   Many veterans of the Gulf War have complained to the U.S.>government of unexplained ailments that have cropped up since?they returned from the front.  The veterans report episodes of<fatigue, rashes, aches and pains, loss of memory, breathing>disorders, and stomach and digestive problems.  The incidents=have given rise to talk of a Gulf War syndrome, a mysterious=disease unique to those who participated in operation desertstorm.A   Veterans organizations have suggested that Iraqi chemical and<biological agents caused the ailments.  Moreover, the Czech<military during the war reported detecting trace amounts of/mustard gas and a nerve agent in Saudi Arabia.<   But after a year of study, a committee of 18 physicians,Aenvironmental health experts, and other specialists appointed by;the U.S. National Academy of sciences say they can find no@medical and biological justification for the claims of chemical+or biological weapons use in the conflict.?   This conclusion, reached in the committee's report released?Thursday, supports previous U.S. Defense Department assurances0that no U.S. troops were exposed to the agents.;   The committee based its findings on classified militaryAdocuments on chemical warfare, briefings on Gulf War operations,5and testimony from veterans and medical specialists.A   Last April, another panel of experts commissioned by the U.S.AHealth Department attributed the veterans' complaints to severalBother causes.  They include exposure to fumes from oil well fires;set by Iraqi forces, coatings used to protect vehicles and<equipment against possible Iraqi chemical agents, solvents,Bcombustion products, pesticides, dust from sand, and an infection-(leishmaniasis) from the bite of sand flies.B   That panel concluded that the Gulf War syndrome was probably a9complex of overlapping illnesses sharing several similar
symptoms.?   The chairman of the National Academy of Sciences committee,BDr. John Bailar of McGill University in Montreal, Canada, agrees.>He attacks the notion of a mystery illness, saying it diverts@attention from more orthodox diagnoses and treatments that holdBpromise for persistent symptoms.  Mystery illnesses also occur in>the civilian population, and the committee asks whether their>frequency among Gulf War veterans exceeds that of the generalU.S. population.@   In its main recommendation, the National Academy of Sciences?panel says the government must redirect and coordinate what itBcalls its fragmented research efforts into this question. Without:better studies and data collection, it writes, productiveAscientific research into the health effects of the 1990 Gulf War
is unlikely.   ---------------   ---------------A   CHINA TELLS HONG KONG PAPER TO STOP PRINTING MAINLAND EDITION   BELINDA CAMINADA
   HONG KONG?   Chinese authorities have told a Hong Kong newspaper to stop<publishing its mainland version. The action comes only four$months into a three-year agreement.A   The Hong Kong "Standard" newspaper started publishing China's9only foreign newspaper last September, using the Beijing6facilities of the official "China Daily" publication.>   But the English-language standard has now been told by the8China daily this Saturday's issue must be the last one.A   Chinese officials say the move is because technical and printcapacity problems.?   The general manager of the Standard Group, Jim Marett, says>the company is disappointed by the decision.  But he says its=Hong Kong edition will be flown into Beijing and put on sale4there along with other imported foreign newspapers.<   One Hong Kong legislative councilor, Emily Lau, says theAclosure of the mainland standard will only make Hong Kong people>more pessimistic about the future of press freedom when Chinaresumes sovereignty in 1997:@   "I think the Chinese government's intentions are very clear.AThey are going to tighten up the control of the local news media@by using the carrot and the stick.  By enticing the owners, theAjournalists, to exercise self-censorship and, if all else fails,?then they will crack down on them.  I don't think there is too?much doubt about it.  So, all these actions, both in Hong Kong?and the on the mainland are a part of the Chinese government'sAown internal anxiety:  Cracking down on their own news media andBalso sending very strong signals to Hong Kong that we should also6behave ourselves or else they will crack down on us."=   Last week, Beijing ordered the closure of another liberalAnewspaper which also had ties with a Hong Kong publication.  The?"Modern Mankind" daily in Guangzhou published its last edition
Saturday.;   Chinese officials say it had been publishing since June9without government support.  But newspaper staff believe?officials the action came because of Beijing's mistrust of themodern mankind's   ---------------   ---------------C   CHINA SUPPLIES INDIA WITH URANIUM FUEL FOR NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS   MICHAEL DRUDGE
   NEW DELHI>   India says China is providing uranium fuel for two nuclearBpower plants in western Maharashtra State. France had earlier cut@off fuel shipments for the power stations for security reasons.?   News reports say the Indian Department of Atomic Energy has;announced the arrival of the first shipment of Chinese low;enriched uranium for the Tarapur power plants near Bombay.B   The press trust of India says India has concluded a commercialBcontract with China to buy fuel for the two nuclear power plants,:which were built in 1969 by a U.S. based company, General
Electric.<   The announcement said International Atomic Energy Agency#safeguards will apply to the deal.;   France stopped shipments of fuel for the plants in 1993=because India refused to open its nuclear facilities to IAEAinspection.A   India exploded a nuclear device in 1974, but says its nuclear(power program is for peaceful purposes.   ---------------   ---------------   JOBS VS. ENVIRONMENT   ART CHIMES   WASHINGTON8   The Republican majority in Congress is calling for aBre-examination of federal regulations, saying government policies=threaten the competitiveness of American business by forcing?companies to spend money to comply with regulations instead of9creating jobs.  That has environmentalists worrying that=anti-pollution regulations may be sacrificed on the altar of@productivity and job creation.  A new study suggests it may not=be necessary to choose between jobs and a clean environment.A   It seems to make sense:  If a company has to clean up a toxicAwaste dump or buy expensive pollution control equipment, it willAhave less to spend on producing goods or providing services. ButAa new study by the economic policy institute, a Washington think,tank, says that's only part of the picture.?   Study author Eban Goodstein says it's true that it may be a;loss for the company subject to environmental regulations:A   "But on balance, environmental protection creates jobs, which?compensates for job losses in sectors facing higher costs.  So;for example, in an analysis of the recent [U.S.] acid rain?legislation, it was found that job losses in high-sulphur coal<mining and electricity-dependent sectors would be more thanAbalanced by job increases in sectors producing pollution control!equipment and low-sulphur coal."?   And according to Mr. Goodstein, the new jobs that are beingBcreated are in general the same kinds of jobs being lost, so it's>not a matter of blue-collar industrial jobs being replaced bywhite-collar office jobs:@   "Environmental protection is an industrial business. Most ofBthe spending is in the manufacturing sector for pollution controlAequipment [and] for the construction of sewage facilities.  As aAresult, environmental protection supports more than its share of"jobs in these high-wage sectors.";   In addition, Mr. Goodstein says studies indicate little@evidence that anti-pollution regulations lead factories to move9offshore, to countries where there are few environmental?regulations.  In part, it's because environmental controls are@only a small part of business costs, and business costs in turn-are only one factor in relocation decisions.   ---------------   ---------------F   AUSTRIAN WOMAN UNDER ARREST IN OREGON FOR SHIPPING LUMBER TO LIBYA   ALAN SILVERMAN   LOS ANGELESB   An Austrian woman is under arrest in Portland, Oregon, charged5with violating the U.S. trade embargo against Libya.?   Austrian Helga Euler [oy'-ler] faces conspiracy and federal:trade law violations for allegedly shipping lumber from aPortland company to Libya.>   Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Gorder says the suspect is=believed to have a long-standing relationship with the NorthAfrican country:=   "My understanding is that she has traveled extensively to@Libya, actually claims to have Libya as her second home and has@done business there for a number of years.  With regard to this@particular transaction, there were two shipments of lumber fromAthe United States to Libya. The people in the United States were3paid about 877,000 dollars for the two shipments."=   Under the embargo imposed a decade ago in response to the?Gadhafi government's support for international terrorism, U.S.<trade with Libya is restricted to books, clothing, food andmedical supplies.@   Federal prosecutor Gorder says the U.S. Government considers%embargo violations a serious matter:?   "Anyone doing business with Americans should know that they?are prohibited from doing business with Libya.  If they assist=them in doing business with Libya, they are violating UnitedStates laws.":   Helga Euler was arrested this week in Atlanta, Georgia<attempting to board a Europe-bound plane.  She was flown to<Portland where the Austrian citizen faces up to 20 years in?prison and a half-million dollars in fines if convicted on the@charges of conspiracy, money laundering and violating the Libyatrade ban.   ---------------   ---------------   MALARIA RAVAGES AFRICA   JANE KUCZYNSKI   WASHINGTON, DC2   While there are several reasons why malaria is?disproportionately devastating for Africa, malaria specialists(say there are several reasons for hope.@   Ninety percent of the three to five hundred million clinical?cases of malaria per year are in Africa.  And malaria kills at>least one million African children under the age of five each>year.  In many regions of Africa, it is the leading killer of:young children. That figure, of one million, is even moreBshocking when compared with annual malaria deaths worldwide.  TheBWorld Health Organization estimates these run from one point fiveto two point seven million.=   Epidemiologist, Dr. Peter Bloland, tracks malaria for the?Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia. He says there@are three reasons why malaria is especially virulent in Africa:=   "One is that Africa has some of the best malaria vectors,@mosquitoes that carry malaria, in existence in the world.  TheyBare very efficient transmitters of the disease.  They have a veryBlarge population of people who are susceptible to malaria.  There>(are) increasing problems with drug resistance throughout the?continent. So, therefore a lot of the drugs that were formerly>used and effective against malaria are no longer of any use.";   Dr. Bloland says that there are four different types of?malaria in humans. The most deadly one is caused by a parasiteBcalled plasmodium falciparum.  (Plaz-mo-dee-um fall-sip-erum) and+that is the predominant species in Africa:?   "The one that is associated with death is a parasite calledAfalciparum.  And that is the predominant form that exists in subAsaharan Africa. In a lot of areas of Africa, falciparum accounts>for 90 percent of the malaria that is transmitted.  The otherBforms of malaria, while they can make you ill, are less likely toactually cause death."=   Also, that very form of malaria, caused by the falciparumAparasite, can very rapidly develop  a resistance to antimalarialdrugs.B   "And this is what has happened over the last 20 to 30 years inBsub saharan Africa is that drug resistance was introduced and has=spread throughout the continent, not only to the basic drug,@chloroquine which was in use successfully for many, many years,@but also to newer drugs, a lot of which have only just recentlycome out."B   A vaccine, developed by a Colombian doctor, was recently shownBto be safe and to induce an immune response in children tested in>colombia.  But a crucial question remained: Was the Colombian:vaccine capable of protecting children against malaria in?sub-Saharan Africa?  So, a trial was begun in Tanzania, in theBKilombero district, an area of intense year-round transmission of:plasmodium falciparum malaria.  The tanzanian trial was a>particularly demanding test for the vaccine.  A person in the;Kilombero area suffers an average of 300 bites a year fromAmalaria-infected mosquitoes, and in the rainy season, as many asB25 infectious bites a night, some 100 times the rate in Colombia.>Last October, the British medical journal, "Lancet," reported<that the vaccine had reduced by about one third the risk of@clinical malaria in the 274 Tanzanian children under the age offive who were vaccinated.6   According to Dr. Howard Engers at the World Health;Organization headquarters in Geneva evaluates the vaccine:9   "This is the high risk group for mortality and severe>morbidity of malaria in Africa. There's more than one million>deaths per year in that age group.  So, the results are quite=encouraging.  Now, further evaluation and improvement of the>vaccine will be required before it really constitutes a major?tool for malaria control. But, certainly, it is the first time;that a synthetic peptide vaccine has been tested against aBparasitic disease, and it's the first time the vaccine was tested=in Africa.  So, overall, the results are quite encouraging."B   The Colombian vaccine is currently under trial in West Africa,@in the Gambia, in infants between six and eleven months of age.BAnd six to eight other vaccine trials could begin in the next two*to four years, pending financial support.8   Dr. Engers says there are still some questions to beaddressed:B   "How safe and effective is the vaccine in all high-risk groups;in malarious areas?   How cost-effective would it be underAdifferent epidemiological and social settings? For instance, howBlong does the immunity last?  We don't have the information about@the number of years that the immunity will last.  So, there areAstill, certainly, some additional questions to be addressed over the next few months and years."<   Dr. Howard Engers points out that no single intervention<represents a panacea or magic bullet, and that an effectiveAmalaria vaccine will be used together with other malaria control7tools including drugs and insecticide-soaked bed nets.B   Dr. Peter Trigg, a scientist in WHO's malaria control program,;says that who's global malaria control strategy is to help>countries plan specific strategies for malaria prevention and	control:=   "Malaria varies throughout the world.  It varies from one:country to another country.   Even within that particularBcountry, there may be different epidemiological situations, where@different groups of people may be at risk.  And, therefore, the?approaches have to be tailored to those particular situations.;And this global malaria control strategy recognizes that."   ---------------   ---------------=   FORMER MALAWI PRESIDENT BANDA ARRESTED, ACCUSED OF MURDER   WILLIAM EAGLE   WASHINGTON?   Former president hastings Kamuzu Banda whose Congress Party=ruled Malawi for nearly 30 years has been placed under house?arrest.  Dr. Banda was defeated in multi-party elections eight.months ago.  The arrest follows a report by aAgovernment-appointed commission accusing police of killing three@cabinet ministers and a member of parliament on official ordersBin 1983.  A former cabinet minister of state, John Tembo, and two,senior police officials were also arrested.@   Presidential press spokesman Al Osman confirmed the reports,9President Hastings Kamuzu Banda is under house arrest in@Blantyre.  He is at his former state residence, Mudi [moo'-dee]BHouse where the government is providing him with doctors, nursing>facilities, and access to visitors.  Former minister of state>John Tembo is in Blantyre's Chichiri [chih-cheer'-ee] Prison.A   Two policemen are also being held and the government is still=looking for a former inspector general of police, MacWilliam<Lunguzi [loon'-gooz-ee].  He has been accused of destroying?evidence sought by the government commission investigating the1983 murders.8   Government spokesman Al Osman says the arrests could$illuminate malawi's recent history:=   "A lot of people have been looking forward to finding outAofficially what happened to their relatives.  Because when these:people were killed they were given  no  state burial,  noAofficial ceremony or anything of the sort. It was an open secretAthey had been killed, but for all these years, it has remained a@mystery.  People, especially relatives, had been demanding that@they should know exactly what happened.  I don't think, and the>government has been careful to state this, that this is not a@political reprisal, but that it was necessary for the nation toAbe told exactly what happened, and I believe once the trial gets>under way and justice takes its course, this will close a sadchapter of Malawi's history."?   Al Osman says Malawi does not have a truth commission as in:South Africa but he says the government has established a=tribunal to review cases of possible unjust imprisonment, or<state confiscation or destruction of property, and cases to@determine the fates of missing relatives.  He says the tribunal5has compensated victims of past human rights abuses.@   Malawi government spokesman Al Osman said the arrests are no!cause for political instability:@   "In the short term it should have a more stabilizing effect.>I think it's important for people to get this thing off their:chests, otherwise we'd have a whole bunch of people still;harboring resentment about what happened to their friends,Bcolleagues and relatives.  It was necessary to purge ourselves of>this thing, to discuss it.  I think in the United States, forAexample, you go to a shrink [a psychiatrist] and get these [kindof] things off your chest."?   Brian Mungomo [moon-goe'-moe] is a spokesman for the former?president's Malawi Congress Party (MCP).  He also is secretary@and personal assistant to party vice president Gwanda Chakuamba[gwahn'-dah chahk-wahm'-bah].9   Mr. Mungomo says the vice president is visiting party;strongholds in central Malawi to restrain supporters.  Mr.!Mungomo calls the arrest unfair:@   "The report which has been used for this arrest does  not in@any way clearly indicate that the honorable [former minister of@state and MCP treasurer] John Tembo has anything to do with the>murders.  But what we've heard is that they've picked up John=Tembo because former president Dr. Banda is very elderly andAfrail and they cannot put him in jail.  Instead they have pickedon John Tembo."@   Mr. Mungomo says the government is waging a vendetta againstBthe Malawi Congress Party, and of using the arrests for politicalgain:>   "The economic situation here is in dire straits.  There is=general discontent in the villages for the wild promises the<government cannot fulfill.  So they had to find a scapegoat=(someone to blame) and to divert the attention from the real6issues, like spiraling prices. There are two imminent=by-elections in [the government strongholds of] Machinga andBMulanje [in southern Malawi], and [the government has] decided to6coincide the release of this report together with the=announcement of the by-elections.  So they are using this asApolitical leverage for the by-elections in Machinga and Mulanje,$which we think is pretty gruesome.":   Party spokesman Mungomo also accused the government ofhypocrisy:>   "Some of these things that are being talked about happened>years back.  Many people now in the part were not even there.@This is a great tragedy that these are the same people who wereBin the original party which is being talked so ill of.  These are3the same people that actually carried out and made>recommendations to [former president Banda] for some of these@atrocities.  These are the same people that ordered some of the@gruesome offenses committed in the name of Dr.  Hastings Kumuzu?Banda.  To stand on a pedestal and call themselves saints in a:democratic manner ... We find that absolutely repugnant.";   Mr. Mungomo also accused the government of an organizedBcampaign against the party and he said government supporters have0looted district party headquarters in Blantyre.<   According to Janet Kareem [kah-reem'], the editor of The#Independent newspaper in Blantyre:A   "The demonstrations broke out in various parts of the country>[Thursday afternoon], including the capital city where peopleAstarted stoning the Malawi Congress party headquarters.  When weAcame home from lunch [Thursday] we found that the demonstrators,@who are mostly [government] supporters, had overwhelmed the MCP;district headquarters and were burning it down.  They were?pulling out iron sheets and they had ransacked MCP warehouses.>They brought out party membership cards which were strewn all=over the streets.  Most of them are chanting that the Malawi@Congress Party name should be changed, because the name reminds>them of the death of the three ministers and the one MP.  The>looters at the Malawi Congress Party district party office in>Blantyre have painted over 'Malawi' on the name plaque so you.just read so you just read 'Congress Party.'"<   Ms. Kareem says the assistant commissioner of police for2Blantyre has reportedly ordered an investigation.   ---------------   ---------------   MARILYN MONROE STAMP   MIKE CREADON   NEW YORKA   The Hollywood legend Marilyn Monroe will appear on a new U.S.Apostage stamp later this year.  Postmaster General Marvin Runyon4officially unveiled the stamp in New York Thursday.B   A new U.S. postage stamp commemorating the late screen actressAMarilyn Monroe will go on sale in post offices around the United1States on June first, Marilyn Monroe's birthday.B   Aziz Lee Jaffer, a spokesman for the U.S. Postal Service, says;Ms. Monroe was chosen for the 32-cent stamp because of herenduring popularity:@   "I think that if you look at the stamp program over the past>several years there have been newer installments added to theBstamp program.  There have been a great deal of people, beginning>with the (release of a) stamp commemorating rock singer Elvis;Presley, beginning to collect stamps again.  Not  only the#serious, but the casual observer."B   Postmaster General Marvin Runyon describes stamps as a "littlebit of history":B   "Each stamp is a part of history in the United States. MarilynBMonroe is an important part of our culture from the standpoint of?the movie industry.  She is a very well respected person as an@actress, and as a matter of fact I think she is probably one of,the most respected actresses in the world.">   Marilyn Monroe was born Norma Jean Baker in Los Angeles in:1926. Before her death in 1962, she appeared in 29 films,8including "The Seven Year iTch" and "some like it hot.">   Anna Strasberg is the director of Marilyn Monroe's estate.B   "I think it is a fitting tribute," says Straberg. "It is quiteAwonderful to think that  someone who grew up poor and strugglingBcan make something of her life.  It is really the American dream:(She's on a stamp!  Isn't it wonderful?"A   Four hundred million Marilyn Monroe stamps will appear in theAfirst run of the stamp's release.  The U.S. Postal Service plans<to showcase other individuals who had a major impact on thedevelopment of American films.   ---------------   ---------------    ANALYSIS OF MEXICO'S ECONOMY   LINDA CASHDAN   WASHINGTON;   The Mexican peso has lost about 37 percent of its value;against the U.S. dollar in the last two weeks, undermining<international investors' confidence in the stability of the:Mexican economy. The crisis was precipitated, in part, byBMexico's growing trade deficit, which intensified pressure on the>nation's foreign currency reserves, the funds used to pay forMexico's surging imports.@   The devalued peso should turn Mexico's trade deficit around,?because it will make Mexican exports cheaper on world markets,&and imports more expensive in Mexico.;   However, University of South Carolina economist Michael<Scardaville says it could have dire consequence for foreignBinvestments.  Mexico, he says, has been able to keep the dollars,Adeutschmarks and Japanese yen flowing into the country in recent@years by assuring investors their money would be safe from both;sudden devaluation and creeping inflation.  But the suddenBdevaluation of the peso calls those assurances into question at aBtime when Mexico is especially dependent upon foreign investment.B   "I think Mexico's economy is vulnerable as a result of all theBshocks Mexico is going to have to absorb as a result of the northAAmerican Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)," said Scardaville.  "As aBresult of the (Mexico's recent) free market reforms, many Mexican@industries, which were once protected by high tariffs and other<forms of government support, are no longer in a position to9withstand foreign competition, and as a result have gonebankrupt."B   Northwestern University professor Ben Schneider believes NAFTABprecipitated the peso crisis.  By lowering its trade barriers andBlessening the government's ability to control imports and exportsBby decree, Mr. Schneider says, Mexico found itself in a situation3in December where it had no choice but to devalue.A   As a result, Schneider says, the peso crisis could make otherBcountries in Latin America question whether free trade is the wayto go:A   "In the previous crises, it (Mexico) could control imports byAdecree and therefore solve the trade deficit problem. Now it has?to do it by much more indirect and less effective means.  Now,>beyond Mexico, what I think this means is other countries are@going to look more closely at relinquishing government controls>on foreign trade, and if not reimpose some controls, at least8keep that in mind when they're managing their own tradedeficits."A   On the contrary, argues U.S. Treasury Undersecretary LawrenceBSummers, it is the lowering of trade barriers and the strength of>the NAFTA that will enable the Mexican economy to get through
this crisis:>   "NAFTA has provided just what Mexico needs right now: More?confidence for foreign investors.  It provides a whole host ofBprotections for foreign companies who have decided to do businessAthere, for investors who have made investments there.  We've got>a very difficult situation here, but frankly it would be much.more difficult if NAfTA had not been passed."?   Mr. Summers says it is essential to look beyond the falling9peso to the fundamental strength of the Mexican economy.A   Summers says the economic emergency plan recently proposed by@Mexican President Zedillo, namely privatizing government assets<and holding down inflation by limiting spending and capping/wages, should bolster that economic soundness.B   Northwestern political science professor Ben Schneider says heBhas qualms about how effective Mexico's proposed reforms will be:?   "You have to bear in mind they've (Mexico) been cutting the@government budget for the last decade.  You know, when you talk9about fat, they've cut most of the fat out of governmentAspending.  Also, when he (Zedillo) talks about privatization, in>order to generate revenues by selling off state owned assets,?there's also very little left. The Salinas government sold offAmost of the choice parts of the state, especially the banks, and<now they're getting down to the dregs of the state, so they9aren't going to generate a whole lot of money that way."9   If Mexico considered privatizing some more attractive?state-run businesses, such as parts of its oil and natural gas9monopoly, Mr. Schneider says, the proposal might be moreAappealing.  But he thinks the real question at the moment is notAabout the economic reform plan, but rather the peso, and at what level the currency will settle.   ---------------   ----------------)   NEWT GINGRICH AND THE ONLINE CONGRESS
   DAN NOBLE   WASHINGTON>   Newt Gingrich became Speaker of the United States House of>representatives on Wednesday.  The next day the newly elected@speaker went across the street from the Capitol Building to the6Library of Congress, where he helped inaugurate a new7congressional online public access information system.:   Since 1993, the Library of Congress has been providing>information about the U.S. Congress on the Internet, the vast>worldwide computer network.  The service is called LC Marvel.A   Now, says JAmes H. Billington, the library's head, there is a@new, expanded system that makes available much more informationin one database:>   "Thomas is an online public access system of CongressionalBinformation that will be available, via the Internet, to citizens:throughout the nation, be they our school children or ourBscholars.  Be it in libraries, universities, colleges, businesses,and homes across this country, and abroad."@   Mister Billington said that Thomas, a bi-partisan effort, is?named in honor of Thomas Jefferson, the American president who3bequeathed his books to the congressional library:B   "Thomas Jefferson, our third president and principal author of=the Declaration of Independence, around whose collection the;Library of Congress was formed, believed that the peoples'<representatives in the discharge of their functions, should;communicate with their constituents, as he put it, and I'm@quoting: 'free, full, and unawed by any'.  Today's introduction7of Thomas, will bring us closer to Jefferson's dream."A   House Speaker Newt Gingrich says that Thomas will serve as an!electronic conduit to the world:@   "This is now going to become a point of access, not just forAAmericans, but that across the planet, people who are interested>in the process of democracy, and people who are interested in>knowing what solutions are the Americans working on, and what@might we learn to apply to our country, are now going to have a?remarkable, virtually real time access in a very powerful way.B[Begin opt] so, if you look at the internet's current status, andBit changes every morning, so these numbers are obsolete, but, the;most recent numbers are that there are 32-million users in>84-countries and there are 42-thousand computer networks tiedAtogether.  It's growing everyday.  That is a wonderful expansion>of the capacity of human beings to interact with each other.">   According to speaker Gingrich, Thomas will get legislative=information and legislative material directly to the people:=   "You're going to see, I think, a dramatic expansion of anBintellectual populism that Jefferson I think dreamed of, but that?has for 200-years not really grown up, of an informed populaceBthat genuinely has access, to the topic they care about.  Not theBtopic the editor cares about.  Not the thing which is this week's@fad. Not the latest scandal, but the specific area they want toAknow on their terms, at their convenience.  It will be available<24-hours a day, 7-days a week for literally everyone on the planet who wants to interface."A   Newt Gingrich adds that an exciting part of Thomas is that it-encourages two-way electronic communication:>   "I think it allows us to reach out to the country and say:@Let's try to be the world's first third-wave, first information@age genuinely participatory dialogue on self-government.  Let'sAtake the challenge of getting to a balanced budget and everybodyBgets to play.  If you happen to be a person of unique background,Bwith just the right answer for how we can get into space cheaper,Benter internet.  Let us know.  Get our data and send us a messageback."<   By the end of January, the Library of Congress will makeBavailable the full text of bills from the 104th Congress.  Later,=the congressional record, the full text of all congressional?proceedings, will be added. The goal is to enable the American?public to search more easily for legislation and to understandAmore fully the law-making process.  Just use the Internet to askThomas.:   The Internet address is http - colon - slash - slash -:   Thomas - dot, loc - dot - gov  (http://Thomas.Loc.Gov)   ---------------   ---------------.   RWANDAN REFUGEE CAMP ENDANGERED BY VOLCANO   ALEX BELIDA   NAIROBI@   There are new concerns about a possible imminent eruption of?one of two volcanos towering over camps containing hundreds of?thousands of Rwandan refugees near the town of Goma in Eastern@Zaire.  U.N. relief officials are working on an evacuation plan&but say there is no reason for panic.<   Japanese and Zairean vulcanologists are warning that the?Nyamuragira volcano could erupt anytime between now and March,<and U.N. relief officials say the projected lava flow couldBthreaten an estimated 200,000 refugees gathered in one of several0camps in the vicinity, a camp known as Mugunga.<   An information officer with the U.N. high commission for<refugees, Jan Brigou, says there is no reason for panic.  BB   Brigou says aid workers should have two to three days to carryout an evacuation:>   "What we understand is that if the volcano would erupt, weAwould have two to three days to evacuate all the people which is>more than enough so for the time being there is no reason forpanic at all."9   U.N. officials are currently working on details of an?evacuation plan to be implemented if the feared eruption takesplace.   ---------------   ---------------;   BOUTROUS GHALI ADMITS POST COLD WAR PEACEKEEPING ERRORS   ELAINE JOHANSON   UNITED NATIONS>   United Nations Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali hasAadmitted the world organization has attempted too much since the8end of the cold war, with too little talent and too few>resources.  In a report to the Security Council Thursday, Mr.ABoutros-Ghali warned recent trends of international intervention8have strained the U.N.'s credibility and effectiveness.<   Mr. Boutros-Ghali himself, when he first came to office,Bprodded the Security Council toward a new kind of intervention toBstop the civil wars rampant in the developing world.  Three yearsBlater, in an updated version of his so-called "Agenda for Peace",>the secretary-general admits the idea was too ambitious.  The?U.N.'s limitations were exposed in Somalia, where a mission to@rebuild a nation turned violent and dangerous, and subsequentlyfailed.B   Mr. Boutros-Ghali says enforcement action and the use of force>, while sanctioned in the U.N. charter, is beyond the present#capacity of the United Nations.  T:   he secretary-general blames mostly governments for theAshortcomings, slow deployment, not enough troops or equipment or<money, and often political disunity when the situation getsrough:?   "If the member states are prepared to take hard decisions,"<says Boutrous-Ghali, "U.N. peacekeeping will be vastly more?effective.  In the process, I believe the organization and its?member states may increasingly realize that we are all in this=effort together.  It is not a matter of 'we' and 'they', the'United Nations and the member states."@   At the same time, Mr. Boutros-Ghali warns against entrustingApeace missions to single state, like the French in Rwanda or theBUnited States in Haiti, or groups of states, such as the U.S. led?coalition against Iraq in 1991.  He says it gives the U.N. the@capability it now lacks but could have a negative impact on theU.N.'s credibility.A   The secretary-general recommends, among other things, setting:up a rapid reaction force ready for quick intervention in=conflicts.  The idea has been around for a long time but hasBstirred controversy among key governments unwilling to completely>give up command and control over their own troops.  Among the@dissenters is the United States, which believes the U.N. has to.be more selective in where it will intervene.<   U.S. ambassador Madeleine Albright found fault with some<aspects of the secretary-general's report and indicated the@Clinton administration will have to deal with a growing band ofskeptics in the U.S. Congress:@   "What we will have to do and plan to do is work with members<in Congress to point out how the United Nations serves U.S.?national interests," said Albright.  "We are not here just for@our health.  We are here because  we believe the U.N. is a good0tool, instrument, forum for the United States."@   The United States plans to cut its peacekeeping contribution?from about 3 percent at present to 25 percent by next October,>whether or not the world body formally accepts the reduction.   ---------------   --------------   SHARK OVERFISHING   SAM IKER   WASHINGTON;   Prized catches such as cod, haddock and flounder are in>trouble because of overfishing off the east coast of the U.S.?Some species of sharks, surprisingly, are also being fished tothe edge of oblivion.A   "An incredible frenzy of killing" is what University of Miami@marine biologist Sam Gruber calls the shark fishing blitz which<began over a decade ago in U.S. East and gulf coast waters.@   Mr. Gruber, who's one of the nation's leading authorities on=sharks, says the onslaught was triggered by several factors:B   "Factor number one was that shark meat was recognized as quiteBa good source of protein; very low in fat, which is popular todayAin the states, and a kind of very bland flesh.  And so it become@popular in restaurants and you could find it in the markets for@the first time starting in about the mid-1980s.  And of course,=the other thing is the incredible increase in the market for=shark fins to make soup and the fins are maybe 50 times moreBvaluable than the whole carcass of the shark itself.  Fins at the<dock are fetching something like 50-60 dollars a kilogram."B   Indeed, newly prosperous Asian consumers developed an enormousAappetite for shark fin soup, a costly delicacy once reserved for>royalty and the aristocracy.  By 1990, Hong Kong was annuallyBimporting over 1.7 billion kilograms of shark fins and China more>than 450 million kilograms.  Marine biologist Sam Gruber saysBtens of thousands of sharks were snagged nightly in huge floating:gill nets, equipment which most maritime nations have now6discarded because of international protests and legalBrestrictions.  Shark catches began falling around 1989 because ofthe intense fishing pressures.4   But Mr. Gruber says the shark killing continued:@   "The Japanese and the rest of the Asian fishing nations, and@the Soviets and others,  have been setting long lines up to 100;miles long,  with tens of thousands of hooks.  They're not>looking for sharks.  They're looking for other species,  like@Bill fish and tuna.  However you get sharks.  In fact,  you get?three sharks for every swordfish.  And the other thing is thatAwhen they set these huge purse seines on schools of tuna,  tunasAassociate with dolphins and with sharks.  Dolphins are above and@the sharks are below and the tunas are in the middle.  And it's?one big feeding mass that goes through the ocean.  So whenever?you set on those tuna and you get a big school like that,  youalso get the sharks."@   By 1990,  some 39 species of sharks were suffering declines,<especially the sand bar shark, the black tip, the mako, the?hammerhead and the tiger shark.  After three years of studies,?the national marine fisheries service imposed a quota plan for2shark fishing in U.S. East and Gulf coast waters.=   "What that plan tries to do is rebuild the existing sharkAstocks to pre-1984 levels," says Gruber.  "They believe they can@do that by cutting back on the catch about 20 percent per year.<Because they believe that the sharks can replace themselvesBquickly.  They feel that with their quota they can replace sharks@up to the 1984 level by 1999,  in other words within about five)to six years. And it's just impossible.">   According to Mr. Gruber, the weakness of the federal quota=plan is that sharks, there are some 370-odd species, have an$extremely low rate of reproduction:@   "They all have one thing in common, that is that they alwaysBhave, relative to, say, fishes,  a very low number of young.  And>these young take a long, long time to develop.  And in almostAevery case, it takes years and years, if not decades, for sharks&to reach the first reproductive age."@   Marine biologist Sam Gruber heads a multinational scientific?team which is preparing a global shark management plan for the?world conservation union.  The hope is that the organization's;international standing will encourage reluctant nations toAsupport stronger measures to protect shark populations.  Growing>concern over the plight of sharks was reflected by the recent=decision of the convention on trade in endangered species to=study whether the creatures should be placed on an worldwidewatch list.   ---------------   ---------------,   TAIWAN ALLOWS DIRECT SHIPPING WITH CHINA   KENDALL BUHL
   TAIPEIB   Taiwan has decided to allow direct shipping with China for the9first time since 1949. The shipping links are part of an/ambitious plan approved by the Taiwan cabinet.>   Taiwan premier Lien Che calls the plan a major effort that7will bring Taiwan into the next century.  It calls for6development in three key areas, including production,Btransportation of goods and passengers, and specialized services.?   The most significant part of the plan, though, comes in the@historic easing of a ban on cross-strait shipping links between<Taiwan and China.  No direct links of any kind have existedAbetween the two countries since the Chinese nationalists fled toBTaiwan in 1949, following a bloody civil war with the communists.>Taiwan has said it will open links only when Beijing ends itsApolicy of isolating the island diplomatically, and renounces theuse of force to retake it.>   In the meantime, all travel, trade, investments, and other<traffic between the two is currently routed through a thirdAterritory, such as Hong Kong.  Trade and investment through suchAthird parties has boomed in recent years and significantly easedBtensions between the two enemies.  By establishing a direct route:across the narrow strait, Taiwan is making those valuable1economic ties more expedient and less expensive.?   To establish the routes, a section of the southern Gaoxiong@port will be turned into an offshore trans-shipment center from<where Taiwan cargos can be shipped to the mainland by thirdcountry vessels.:   Gaoxiong is Taiwan's second city and biggest port.  By:designating it as an offshore shipping center, the TaiwanAgovernment is engaging in diplomatic semantics, which allow them>to uphold the claim that direct links with China still do notAexist.  But premiere lien admits that the new shipment system isBa starting point in a pragmatic and forward looking policy towardChina.   ---------------   ---------------   TICKETLESS FLYING   TED LANDPHAIR   WASHINGTON>   U.S. airlines are cutting costs where possible in order to=stay competitive.  "No-frills" carriers have eliminated foodBservice and first-class accommodations. They've added seats whileBreducing leg room, and cut the number of flight attendants to the<absolute minimum. Even the full-service airlines have found@another way to save a few dollars in a way their customers seem	to like.A   Each year, U.S. airlines issue more than 500-million tickets.=Relatively speaking, the cost of printing, distributing, andAfilling out these tickets is a trifling expense.  But with fares?sometimes falling to 40 dollars or less, a dollar or two savedcan add up to serious money.;   So a number of airlines have begun "ticketless travel."?Tickets have been eliminated on all southwest airlines flights=within California.  And the new low-cost airline Valujet hasBnever used tickets in its first year of operation.  The passenger5calls for a reservation and shows up at the airport.?   A computer confirms the reservation, issues a receipt and a+boarding pass, and off the passenger goes:?   "Man it's very easy to use. I like it.  It saves time. I'vehad no problems with it."   Another commuter commented:?   "You don't have to worry about when your ticket is going to?come in the mail.  And you have less paperwork to think about.AAnd you just call with your credit-card number, and they issue a3confirmation [number]. That's all there is to it."<   Delta Airlines has added a high-tech twist.  Some of itsAregular customers on the Washington-New York-boston air shuttles;have been given special credit cards called "smart cards."A   Passenger agent Carl Sicilliano [sis-sill-ee-awn-oh] says allBthe information the airline needs is encoded into the card, which6the passenger merely swipes through a machine reader:6   "In there is his name, his credit-card number, his?frequent-flyer number.  It then prints a receipt with all thisBinformation in it.  The passenger gets the receipt, and he boards
the flight."A   Ticketless travel is not without its drawbacks. Travelers can>panic briefly when they walk up to the gate, reach into their@pockets or purses, find no ticket, and think they've lost it or left it at home on the counter.   ---------------   ---------------8   U.S. SAYS NORTH KOREA HAS FROZEN ITS NUCLEAR PROGRAM   DAVID SWAN   PENTAGON?   U.S. officials say North Korea has frozen its controversial<nuclear program, as required by the deal that will give the;country two new reactors.  Meanwhile, the United States is<preparing to ship oil to North Korea, as a temporary energysource.?   A senior defense official says the North Koreans have taken:critically important steps to carry out their part of the;bargain.  This means shutting down a five-megawatt nuclearAreactor, stopping construction of two larger plants, and putting;spent nuclear fuel rods in storage for shipment out of the>country.  Those rods are believed to hold enough plutonium to"make at least five nuclear bombs.:   In return for halting its current program and resuming;dialogue with South Korea, North Korea will receive modern;reactors that do not yield so much plutonium.  While thoseBreactors are built, the United States, South Korea and Japan will@provide heavy oil to produce heat and electricity.  The defenseAofficial says the first 50-thousand tons of oil should arrive in?a North Korean port in the next few weeks, and this oil is not:the type that can be diverted to run military vehicles or
hardware.?   Though North Korea appears to be complying with the accord,@the pact is being sharply criticized by some of the Republicans@who now run the U.S. congress.  Senate majority leader Bob DoleAhas called the deal a bad one.  Another Republican, Senator John:McCain, says the money spent for the oil is being wasted.:   Still, officials say Congress is likely to support the=agreement rather than let North Korea build bombs, or risk a+military showdown on the Korean Peninsula.   ---------------   ---------------B   HALL SAYS HE DOES NOT KNOW HOW HIS HELICOPTER GOT OVER N.KOREA   DON BENSON   WASHINGTON=   The U.S. pilot held captive for almost two weeks in North=Korea says he still does not know how his helicopter enteredBNorth Korean air space December 17th.  Army Chief Warrant oFficerABobby hAll, who was freed last week, was interviewed Thursday onAmerican television.B   The U.S. pilot says his helicopter accidentally strayed across@the Korean border while he and fellow airman David Hilemon wereon a routine training mission.A   Warrant Officer Hall says he has no idea how the aircraft got?over North Korea.  And he says it was not until he and officer=Hilemon made radio contact with their command post that theyrealized they were lost.A   The former captive says they tried to turn back and re-orient7themselves, when suddenly the helicopter was fired on:A   "The aircraft lost power.  I started going down.  Dave turned>to me.  And the last thing I remember him saying was, 'bobby,@i've been hit.'  I turned to him.  I could see that he had beenBhit.  And the only thing I could say was, 'are you ok?'  he never
replied."<   Chief Warrant Officer Hilemon died in the incident.  HisApartner says the first indication he got that they were in North@Korean territory was when troops surrounded the helicopter.  He@said one of the soldiers helped him pull officer Hilemon's body&from the copter, which was in flames.>   The North Koreans forced Officer Hall to sign a confession>saying he had violated international law by flying across the>border. The pilot said he argued with his captors for several&days before finally agreeing to sign:A   "None of it was my words.  It was all what they dictated me twrite."8   Warrant Officer Hall was freed after several days of>negotiations between the United States and the North Koreans.@   Hall said he was treated well, but that he still felt he wasin danger:B   "The whole time I was there I thought at any minute that I may>have been shot.  But I knew one way or another I was going tomake it out."A   Pilot hall returned to his home state of Florida last weekend@to spend time with his family.  He says he hopes to get back to:his unit in South Korea and back to flying in the future.   ---------------   ---------------=   ALGERIAN EXTREMIST GROUP SENDS THREATS TO FOREIGN EMBASSY   EVANS HAYS   BONN?   Germany says it is taking seriously a new death threat from>Muslim extremists against foreigners in Algeria. A government=spokesman says Germany is conferring with several countries,?including Britain and the United States, about the threat that+was sent to a number of foreign embassies.?   The foreign ministry in Bonn says it has been in touch withABritain, the United States, and other countries about the latest!threat to foreigners in Algeria.@   The threat came in letters received by the German embassy in6Algiers as well as by other embassies in Switzerland.@   The letter, which claims to be from the fundamentalist armed@Islamic group, demands the closing of most foreign embassies inAAlgeria by Saturday.  The letter says that if the group's demand?is not met, non-Muslim foreigners remaining in Algeria will bekilled.B   The Armed Islamic Group , known by the French initials GIA, is@the most radical of the fundamentalist organizations opposed tothe government in Algeria.B   The group claimed responsibility for the hijacking of a French?airliner in Algiers last month.  The hijacking ended in France:when security forces stormed the plane, freeing about 170&passengers and killing the hijackers.@   The foreign ministry in Bonn declined to provide any detailsBof what steps western governments might take to deal with the newthreat.B   More than 70 foreigners have been killed in Algeria during theApast two years.  The Algerian government responded to the latestAdeath threat with a renewed promise of safety for all foreignersliving within its borders.   ---------------   ---------------:   INCREASED FUNDING FOR ANTI-ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION PROGRAM   JAN SLUIZER   SAN FRANCISCOB   U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno has announced a multi-million>dollar plan to strengthen "Operation Gatekeeper," the Clinton?administration strategy against illegal immigration across theAborder with Mexico.  The new phase was unveiled Wednesday in SanFrancisco.@   "Operation Gatekeeper" was launched last October with nearly?400 new border patrol agents deployed to San Diego, one of the<busiest entry points for illegal immigrants into the united3States.  Attorney-General Reno says it is working:@   "The best way to address the problems of illegal immigrationAis to control the border and crack down on those who violate our;immigration laws.  We believe we can and, in fact, we haveAalready begun to make a critical difference in strengthening the5nation's ability to control its immigration agenda."B   The administration's top legal official says illegal immigrant@apprehensions from Mexico have been cut by almost one-third and/Reno says the operation is being strengthened:B   "To support gatekeeper, we're going to send California 200 newBborder patrol agents, to build on the nearly 400 agents, we addedBto the line last year and thereby increasing the number of agents?at the San Diego-Tijuana border by nearly 60 per cent from twoyears ago."=   But Attorney-General Reno says the effort to stop illegal@immigration must be comprehensive.  Along with increased borderBpatrol presence, she promises new computer record-keeping to help?catch repeat offenders, save time and free immigration serviceBemployees from desk work so they can move out into the field. Ms.AReno also says more criminal illegal immigrants will be deported<from California jails and the state will be reimbursed some<33-million dollars over five years for incarceration costs.>   In November, California voters overwhelmingly passed "Prop@187" to deny illegal immigrants most public services, including)education and non-emergency health care.=   Most of the provisions are being held up by lawsuits, butAAttorney-General Reno maintains the controversial ballot measure&is not the way to deal with illegals:@   "Those children who are neglected, who are not educated, who@are not provided with proper health care have a far greater andAmore adverse impact on society if they are not given a chance to$grow in a strong constructive way."?   Because of the success in California, Attorney-General Reno=says operation gatekeeper is expanding along the Arizona andTexas borders with Mexico.   ---------------   ---------------   KHMER ROUGE TODAY   MERCEDES SPROUSE   WASHINGTONB   Defectors from the Khmer Rouge say the marxist guerrillas have?kidnapped thousands of Cambodians in the past three months and@put them in inhumane concentration camps.  Such charges reflect:the tense uncertainty in a country trying to rebuild fromprolonged civil war.B   Former Khmer Rouge guerrillas say thousands of Cambodians have@been taken to a concentration camp in Anlong Veng, the northern>guerrilla stronghold along the Thai border.  According to the@defectors, detainees are given less than an ounce of rice a day?and hundreds of detainees die of starvation or disease. OthersAare reported killed because they support the government of PnomhPenh.@   The Khmer Rouge guerrillas have been fighting for decades to@overthrow the government. A Vietnamese invasion in 1978 ended a?three-year reign genocide campaign by Pol Pot. The Khmer Rouge?opposed the government installed by Vietnam after the invasion?and has continued its civil war against the government electedfreely in 1993.:   One former lawyer and royal Cambodian military officerAremembers how he tried to flee Pnomh Penh in 1975. He made it to8Thailand, but his wife was captured by the Khmer Rouge.@   "And my wife stayed in Cambodia and was captured. When I was.took away, they killed my wife with a stick."A   The man, who asked not to be identified, says the Khmer RougeBthen killed seven of his 10 children.  He still worries about his@safety and that of his surviving family, but hopes to return toCambodia this year.B   Cambodians who are trying to rebuild their lives still live in>fear.  The U.N. high commissioner for refugees, in one of itsAmost expensive operations, has repatriated hundreds of thousands<of Cambodians voluntarily from often inhumane conditions in@refugee camps across the borders of Thailand, Laos and Vietnam.>   Court Robinson is with the Indochinese refugee informationAcenter.  He has just completed a seven-month study of Cambodians@who returned to the northwestern Battambang province. According
to Robinson:A   "There is a sense that the situation in Cambodia now is worse!than life was before the camps."B   Many Cambodians returned home to a bitter harvest.  Their farm>land was fallow and strewn with mines.  The Battambang survey=indicates that the happiest refugees were those returning totheir families.=   But according to Robinson many others remain displaced in@their own country and thousands more continue to seek asylum inneighboring countries:8   "Right now refugees still pose, in the view of Asian:countries,  a fundamental threat to nationhood and ethnicidentity."@   Court Robinson says the international community should learnBfrom the tragic plight of Cambodian refugees.  The most importantAlesson is the most basic, refugees should be offered better land(and tools to rebuild their family life.   ---------------   ---------------!   CHRYSLER REPORTS RECORD SALES   PAUL FRANCUCH   CHICAGO@   The outlook continues to be bright at America's number-three>automaker, Chrysler.  The company Wednesday reported that itsBretail sales to dealers in 1994 set a record. Meanwhile, ChryslerAwas busy this week unveiling new models to reporters gathered in.Detroit for that city's big annual auto show.6   Chrysler says it sold its retail dealers more than@two-point-two million cars and trucks last year, the best salesever in its 69-year history.A   The detroit-based automaker which a decade-and-a-half ago was:on the verge of collapse is regarded by analysts today asBAmerica's most efficient automaker.  Its new cars and trucks have<won numerous  awards from automotive publications for theirAinnovative designs, and profits have been so great recently thatBChrysler just gave its unionized hourly workers bonuses averagingabout 7,500 dollars.<   Chrysler's stock has also been performing well recently.<Billionaire  entertainment mogul Kirk Kerkorian, Chrysler'sBlargest shareholder , has increased his stake in the company overAthe past month.  He now holds just over 10 percent of Chrysler'sAoutstanding shares.  Two months ago, Mr. Kerkorian demanded thatAChrysler's management increase shareholder dividends and step-up@efforts to buy back one-billion dollars worth of company stock.?Chrysler acquiesced to most of Mr. Kerkorian demands, but also;announced it would institute defensive measures against an@unwanted takeover if anyone amassed more than 15 percent of thecompany's stock.>   Meanwhile Chrysler executives at Detroit's "North American@International Auto Show" Wednesday unveiled their 1996 mini-vanmodels.B   He new, slightly larger models boast greater driver visibility@and tighter turning circles.  Some critics say the new ChryslerAproducts look similar to that of American competitors now on themarket.B   Chrysler is credited with making the mini-van a big success inBNorth America.  While sales of the vehicles have begun to slackenBsomewhat recently, the overall market for the popular family vans?remains strong.  Chrysler's new 1996 models will go on sale inlate 1995.A   Chrysler chairman Robert Eaton told reporters in Detroit that>his company will spend about 23 billion dollars over the next>five years to develop new products in less time than what hadbeen the industry standard.   ---------------   ---------------=   COLOMBIAN GOVERNMENT OFFER PEACE NEGOTIATIONS WITH REBELS   PAMELA MERCER
   BOGOTAB   The Colombian government's high commissioner for peace set the=stage for possible negotiations with the country's left-wing>rebels by saying in an interview Wednesday that he would seek>direct talks with all of the major guerrilla groups. The high>commissioner, Carlos Holmes Trujillo, also said that he would+like to negotiate with all rebel factions.B   In what appeared to be a move designed to add new rays of hope@to Colombia's 35-year-old internal conflict, Mr. Holmes said heBwould seek direct contacts with the country's main rebel factions@and predicted that a peace treaty would be signed in the courseof the new year.B   In an interview with Caracol, a radio news channel, Mr. Holmes<said what is forthcoming in 1995 are direct agreements withguerrilla groups.B   The government first outlined its peace proposal last November=when, to commemorate his first 100 days in office, president?Ernesto Samper expressed his willingness to begin talks, whichBhad been suspended by the previous government more than two years	earlier.=   In his November speech, Mr. Samper acceded to a long-time@guerrilla request  by saying that the government would  not opt>for a cease-fire as a pre-condition for talks.  The Colombian>president also said that the red cross or the Catholic cHurch*could act as guarantors of the agreement.A   Since then, officials have begun secret informal contact with?some rebel groups.  However, no date has been set for officialBcontacts.  The government has already signed agreements with fiveBleft-wing rebel groups, but there are at least four more still inaction.@   In the past, peace agreements have only succeeded partially,Bsince they have usually been opposed by dissident factions of the@negotiating rebel groups.  Two of the groups currently fighting>government forces are off-shoots of organizations that signedpeace pacts four years ago.@   Yet the past few months have witnessed a growing climate for9peace.  In the interview Wednesday, Mr. Holmes said thatBguerrilla attacks had decreased in the past few weeks.  Rebels in@colombia have been battling the state for longer than any other$subversive groups in Latin America.   ---------------  ---------------!   HUNGARY DEVALUES ITS CURRENCY   BARRY WOOD
   PRAGUE>   Hungary has again devalued its currency in a bid to reduce>imports and boost exports. There are increasing worries about@Hungary's slowness in implementing the reforms that could lay a*foundation for increased economic growth.@   This week's one and a half percent devaluation is the eighth?time in 13 months that the forint has been marked down against?other currencies.  Successive devaluations in 1994 reduced the?exchange value of the forint by nearly 17 percent. And bankers7say with Hungary's inflation again creeping up, larger*devaluations are likely in coming months.=   Germany's Deutsche Bank Research has just issued a report=about Hungary.  The central finding is that six months after>parliamentary elections the decisive policy actions that were>expected from the new socialist led government have still not?occurred.  Deutsche bank says the wasted chance to put through>unpopular measures early has shaken the confidence of foreigninvestors.?   Foreign bankers and lenders say what is needed are decisive=steps to bring down the budget and trade deficits and reduceBinflation. Hungary's nearly 20 percent inflation is twice as high<as the Czech republic and far more than that of neighboring$Austria, a principal export market.=   According to Otto Storf, chief economist at Deutsche Bank
Research:?   "The hungarians have to show that they are in a position toBreduce the current account (trade and services) deficit.  That is;number one.  Number two, and this is very important to the7capital markets, they must reach an agreement with theInternational Monetary Fund."B   Hungary's economy expanded by nearly three percent in 1994 butAgrowth  is expected to slow to one-point-five percent this year.<Unemployment remains high at 10 percent.  The International<Monetary Fund's managing director recently bluntly told theBhungarians that they were living beyond their means.  He said the=IMF would continue to lend to Hungary only if tough spendingrestraints were implemented.   ---------------   ---------------   KRAFT FOOD REORGANIZATION   BRECK ARDERY   NEW YORK@   One of the largest American tobacco and packaged food firms,Athe Philip Morris Company, is planning a major reorganization by+merging its Kraft and General Foods units.>   The consolidation is an effort to make Philip Morris' food@divisions more productive and competitive with RJR Nabisco, its/arch-rival in the U.S. packaged food business.?   The company says the general foods unit will be merged into>Kraft and the sales and executive staffs of the two divisions<will be consolidated.  At least 100 jobs are expected to beeliminated.@   The two food operations produce some of the best-known brand<names in the United States such as Philadelphia Brand cream5cheese, Maxwell House coffee, and Oscar Mayer meats.B   Philip Morris has long been the leader in the American tobacco<industry, but analysts say its food divisions have suffered:because of internal rivalries and duplication of efforts.B   In an attempt to diversify into non-tobacco businesses, Philip?Morris acquired general foods in 1985 and Kraft foods in 1988.A   Although the food divisions will be consolidated, there is no:mention of splitting the food and tobacco operations into=separate companies.  Some major Philip Morris investors have?urged such a separation, an idea that the company's managementhas so far rejected.   ---------------   ---------------?   POLAND POLITICS: POSITIONING FOR FALL PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION   BARRY WOOD
   PRAGUE?   In Poland there are increasing strains between the leftwing@government of prime minister Waldemar Pawlak and president LechWalesa.<   In what some observers call the start of campaigning forAPoland's presidential election in November, president Walesa has<stepped up his attacks on the country's prime minister.  OnATuesday, aides to Mr. Walesa made clear that they would like the,34-year Pawlak to resign as prime minister.:   The two leaders have been locked in a bitter feud over8economic policy and over key appointments to government=ministries. Exercising his constitutional powers, Mr. WalesaBforced the defense minister to resign several months ago.  And as<yet there has been  no agreement on a successor.  This week>president Walesa defended the foreign minister who had, for a=second time, tendered his resignation to the government.  On8Wednesday, the prime minister grudgingly yielded to theApresident, saying foreign minister Andrzej Olechowski would  notbe dropped from the cabinet.?   On economic policy, President Walesa has openly broken with>the coalition government over taxes.  The president protested?income tax increases forced through by the coalition of former?communists and the peasant party, saying he would  not pay the@higher 1995 rates.  Failure to implement the higher taxes wouldBcost the government 700 million dollars and breach the new budget?deficit target recommended by the International Monetary Fund.5The finance minister calls the president's statement2irresponsible and an incitement to tax avoidance.B   The leftwing coalition emerged from parliamentary elections in:September 1993 and has presided over a period of relative@stability and growth.  The coalition has confounded analysts by;maintaining strict economic policies and avoiding internal
conflict.A   The former communists have been content to allow the skillful:and youthful Mr. Pawlak of the peasants party to be primeAminister while their own leader, Aleksander Kwasniewski, remains?outside the government and thus above the political fray.  Mr.?Kwasniewski is widely expected to challenge Mr. Walesa for thepresidency.>   The president, who won the nobel peace prize a decade ago,#ranks low in public opinion polls..   The election takes place in late November.   ---------------   --------------C   REPUBLICAN NEW YORK GOVERNOR EXPLAINS HOW HE WILL RESHAPE STATE   CHRIS SIMKINS   NEW YORK@  The shape of the political landscape across the United States<formally changed Wednesday with Republican lawmakers taking@control of Congress for the first time in 40 years. At the sameAtime, some political history was also being made in New York, asAthat state's first Republican governor in 20 years explained howhe plans to reshape it.=   New York's new Republican governor, George Pataki, in his;first address to a joint session of the state legislature,8sounded the same themes that Republicans underscored inAWashington, cut taxes, cut government spending, and get tough oncriminals.B   In outlining his agenda for New York state, Mr. Pataki said he=wants to make the state's government less expensive and moreAaccountable to the people.  Mr. Pataki is proposing deep cuts in8social spending and reforming the state welfare system.A   The governor also pledged tax relief for New Yorkers, who payAthe second highest amount of state and local taxes in the unitedstates.A   Governor Pataki called on lawmakers to cut state income taxesby 25 percent over four years:B   "The government of New York State is too big and it spends tooAmuch money. Today, and in the foreseeable future, we must and we:will cut spending and then cut it again.  Let there be no>mistake, to preserve and protect personal freedom, to restore;individual responsibility, to create a government which is?smaller, more effective and more efficient is the challenge ofBthe 90's. To achieve that we must return to individuals the rightBto choose how they spend their money. This means taking less from-wage earners and giving less to government."@   On the issue of crime, the governor pledged to make New York>safer. He called on state lawmakers to re-institute the death@penalty in New York for people convicted of murder.  Mr. Pataki?also says New York should enact tougher laws to punish violentcriminals.B   Mr. Pataki, a former state legislator, staged a dramatic upset@victory last November over three-term Democratic Governor MarioCuomo.@   Mr. Pataki's victory was attributed to a feeling in New YorkAand across the country that government had become more expensiveBand less responsive under the leadership of Democratic Governors.@   Coincidentally, Mr. Pataki spoke in albany, New York, at the:same time the new Republican speaker of the U.S. house of<Representatives, Newt Gingrich, was speaking in Washington,1detailing his plans for transforming government.   ---------------   ---------------(   S. AFRICAN UN AMBASSADOR CONTROVERSY   MALLORY SALESON   JOHANNESBURG?   It seems to be only a matter of time before prominent South6African African National Congress leader and longtimeAanti-apartheid activist Allan Boesak is forced to step down fromBhis appointment as South African ambassador to the United Nationsin Geneva.@   Controversy surrounding longtime anti-apartheid activist andBformer church leader Allan Bosak surfaced again last month when aADanish aid organization claimed funds sent to Mr. Boesak's Peace:and Justice foundation had been misappropriated.  The aid=organization claimed Mr. Boesak and foundation staff membersBdiverted hundreds of thousands of South African rands to personaluse.B   Mr. Boesak denied he misused any funds.  Another member of hisAfoundation staff admitted he had taken money he could not repay.>Pressure began mounting on the government of African national:Congress president Nelson Mandela to rescind Mr. Boesak'sBappointment as ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva.  Other>political party leaders said the accusations raised questions'over his suitability as an ambassador.B   Mr. Boesak has come under pressure to voluntarily step down toBavoid further embarrassment to himself and president Mandela. Mr.8Mandela, still on vacation at his home in the Transkei,Breportedly told Mr. Boesak at a new year's eve meeting to resign.?And he appointed a cabinet minister to compile a report on theBmatter.  The president's office has only confirmed Mr. Mandela isAkeen to find an early, just, and fair resolution of the problem.?   Political observers say this latest controversy surrounding?Mr. Boesak will likely be his final fall from grace.  In march=last year, the former western cape African National CongressAleader acknowledged questions raised over his own wealth and the9funds of his cape town foundation.  He said two separate$investigations found nothing wrong.:   For years the activist cleric was plagued by problems.BAlleged extramarital relationships in 1985 and in 1990 eventually>led to his divorce and resignation from all church positions,;including his leadership of the world alliance of reformed
churches.=   The mixed-race cleric turned politician was a founder andAactive member of the anti-apartheid United Democratic Front that@essentially functioned in the 1980's as an internal wing of theBbanned African national congress.  Mr. Boesak joined the ANC only@in 1991 after consultation with Mr. Mandela and soon became the:party's western cape leader, a position he held until hisambassadorial appointment.B   Political observers say president Mandela's appointment of Mr.?Boesak was aimed partly at rewarding the longtime activist and=partly at assuring minorities, particularly mixed-race southAAfricans who have supported the National Party, they have a role@to play with the African National Congress.  But Mr. Mandela is;also on record as saying he wants to rid the government of'corruption and instill a new morality.   ---------------   ---------------F   SWAZILAND SPLIT BETWEEN TRADITIONAL AND MODERN POLITICAL STRUCTURE   WILLIAM EAGLE   WASHINGTONA   Traditionalists and modernists in the southern African nationBof Swaziland are debating the future of the country. Swaziland isBa monarchy, and candidates for parliament run as individuals, notBas members of political parties. Modernists in Swaziland say theyBwant a multi-party system with greater government accountability,:less royal control, and greater respect for human rights.;   The stand-off between traditionalists and modernists is=slowing Swaziland's development.  That is the opinion of theAsecretary general of the Institute for Democracy and Leadership,@Jerry Gule [goo'-lay].  The organization is made up of business@people and academics, and it has encouraged both groups to findBcommon ground.   Mr. Gule describes some of the conflicts betweenthe two groups:@   "The modernists would say if we are going to get the economy7going, we need to make cuts in parastatals (government>monopolies) and emphasize efficiency, which entails promotingApeople on merit.  But a traditionalist would say  'no, I want my?son in that position.'  those are things that are not going toBget the economy going, because you don't have competent people inthe right position."9   Mr. Gule says Swazi culture encourages Swazis to takeAdirection from traditional chiefs.  But he says modernization is@possible only when Swazis are free to think for themselves, and<participate fully in government.  He says Swaziland needs aAstrong leader to mediate between modernists and traditionalists.?He suggests the young western-educated king, Mswati the third,?may be able to bring about a consensus between the two groups.@   Alfred Mabila [mah-bee'-lah] is the secretary general of the=Movement for National Redemption.   His group is encouraging>Swaziland's leaders to open up the political system, and make8Swazi society less authoritative.  According to Mabila:A   "Some traditional leaders do not want or do not give people a>chance to think of progress and they fear that people who are9trying to develop themselves will be richer and start to
disobey."B   Mr. Mabila says individual rights are suppressed in Swaziland.?For example, he says women in Swaziland have few legal rights.>Swazi citizens are not able to form political parties to help!improve their living conditions.B   Also, he says the government is arbitrary in economic affairs.3He says although the government stands by economic@liberalization, it is able to shut down businesses that it saysAgo against Swazi culture.  Mabila cited the government's closing*of an adult bookstore, the Luv Land Shop:@   "Some influential people from the cabinet and parliament, inAfact it was started by one senior parliamentarian who is a closeAfriend of the royal family, thought [the shop] was un-Swazi.  InAfact, it is surprising because the government advocates the free@market economy.  But in a free market economy, people should beBallowed to sell what they want, and what people want to buy.   We?are taking it as an infringement on the part of the people whowant the material."?   Mr. Mabila says the powers of the monarchy should be curbed@and a multiparty system instituted.  His group is calling for a>constitutional assembly, and consultation with all oppositiongroups.;   But the government of Swaziland defends it performance.:According to Sishayi Nxumalo (see-shay'-ee noo-mah'-loe),#Swaziland's deputy prime minister:B   "Swaziland always been a very peaceful and stable country, andBa lot of this is attributed to culture and tradition.  I think it@must be recalled that of all the countries in Africa, SwazilandAhas been one of the most stable and has developed at a fast rate>since independence.  It is one of the few countries in Africa@where there has never been a political killing.  In a continent<of great turmoil, things that keep you together as a family'certainly have a great deal of merit.">   One of those things is the royal family, which he says has@prevented the scourge of tribalism in Swaziland.  He says it isAcommon for African countries to have a strong executive, whetherAit be an elected president or a king.  In Swaziland, he says theAtrack record of the king compares favorably with that of electedAleaders in neighboring countries.  As for political and economic0modernization, he says the king is in the lead.;   Mr. Nxumalo says the government of Swaziland sent out aAcommission in 1992 to find out what type of political system the>Swazi people wanted.  According to the commission's findings,*Swazis did not want a multi party system.8   He says one reason may be because of the violence in;neighboring South Africa and Mozambique, which many Swazis>attributes to multi-partyism.  Nxumalo says other reasons areAbased on Swaziland's own experience with the multi-party system:A   "We cannot equate multi-partyism with democracy.  In 1967, weAhad two multi-party elections which were beginning to divide theASwazi state.  I was a member of the winning party, which won allAof the seats in parliament.  We found that our supporters wantedAto have all the good positions in Swaziland, and better benefits<for themselves and their children.  So, we felt for a small?country, that was putting a strain on the government to chooseAwithin society and create classes of privileged people.  So that@parliament which was elected under multi-partyism was dissolved?voluntarily. So we know what we're talking about when we talks'about the problems of multy-partyism."@   Swaziland's deputy prime minister also defends the country's>adherence to free market reforms.  As for the case of the Luv<Land Shop, he says the government was merely respecting the?complaints of freely-elected parliamenarians, many of whom areChristian.=   Mr. Nxumalo says a commission is underway to create a newAconstitution,  and the government is committed to greater publicaccountability.A   He says critics of the government lack mass support.  He says=they are funded by well-meaning outside interests who do not>understand Swazi culture.  Mr. Nxumalo says however that with@international funding, the Swazi government would be willing toBput some of its decisions to a referendum,  to prove that supportfor the monarchy is solid.   ---------------   ---------------   THE UNITED NATIONS AT 50   BARBARA SCHOETZAU   NEW YORK>   The United Nations marks its 50th anniversary in 1995 amid7questions about its future role, criticism of its past0performance and calls for institutional reform.B   In the late 1980s, as the superpower confrontation ebbed, someBanalysts questioned whether or not the United Nations still had a/role to play in the so-called new world order.?   But the lessening of the east-west conflict appears to have<increased rather than diminished the United Nations' global?profile. Without the military superiority of the United States=and Russia to hold ethnic conflicts and civil strife at bay,@United Nations peacekeeping forces have been asked to intervene=to help reduce hostilities and monitor ceasefires around theworld7   Ed luck is president emeritus of the United Nations7association of the United States, a group dedicated to6strengthening the United Nations and encouraging U.S."participation in the U.N. system.B   Mr. Luck says the end of the cold war has stretched the UnitedANations beyond its capacity to respond to calls for peacekeepinghelp:=   "With the end of the cold war, it is much easier to get a@consensus in the Security Council on new missions, particularly@in the peace-keeping area. You also have the case where many of@the member states, the big powers, do not have a strong, vested=interest in the outcome of a lot of the conflicts around theBworld because you no longer have the cold war competition between>east and west for influence. So you have the Security CouncilBgetting to 'yes' a lot. They are agreeing on lots of resolutions,@sending out lots of missions, more than never before. These areBto areas where no one has any simple answers and, very often, the@U.N. gets stuck in the mud in some of these places which may be>crises without solutions or may be ones which take many, many"years and try people's patience.";   Critics say the United Nations is incapable of reacting=successfully to ever-escalating crises around the world. The>critics point to the situation in Bosnia as an example of the>international organization's inability to enforce a long-termpeace.>   From 1989 until 1993, during the Bush administration, John7Bolton served as U.S. Assistant Secretary of State forBInternational Organizations. Too often, Mr. Bolton says, the U.N.<takes the blame for inaction when its members are at fault:8   "The traditional U.N. peacekeeping function has been>successful where all the parties to a conflict have concurredAthat the U.N. had a role. The difficulty in recent years is that?the U.N. has been put into situations where all of the partiesAdid not concur what the role would be. I do not think it fair to:criticize the U.N. for failure in a place like the former=Yugoslavia, where the real failure is the member nations not?being able to agree what the right role is. Peace enforcement,<that is to say, the use of force to try to bring peace in a;difficult circumstance, is very different from traditional7peacekeeping. Where member governments, and I say hereAparticularly the united states, are not willing to do what peaceAenforcement means, which is to say, risk war.  There is  no  way?that the traditional peacekeeping force from the U.N. can eversucceed. "B   The high profile given to U.N. peacekeeping missions in placesBlike Bosnia and Somalia has obscured the many other functions the?U.N. and its various agencies perform. Among them are projectsAthat focus on economic development, women's concerns, caring for<refugees, human rights, child welfare, and the environment.<   In these areas, Ed Luck says, the U.N. has often set theinternational standard:@   "The U.N. really has taken the lead in setting international@standards and norms. I think that has been very, very importantAwork. But when Americans are asked about the U.N., they think of@the peacekeeping, they think of the security. They do not think7of the work of UNICEF for children or the World HealthBOrganization trying to put out various scourges around the world.<But these are very important. People do not think about theAInternational Atomic Energy Agency and what it is doing both for>nuclear safety and to try to prevent further proliferation of?nuclear weapons. So there are many, many aspects of the U.N.'s>job and, if anything, I think it is stretched much too thin."?   Still, many of the specialized agencies are under fire fromBcritics who say the U.N.'s entrenched bureaucracy refuses to make<changes that would lead to a more efficient, and effective,;organization. Charges of waste and mismanagement have been<leveled at the united nations for years. But more than everBcritics are demanding the organization streamline its operations.A   And now, John Bolton suggests, with Republicans in control ofAboth houses of the United States congress, the U.N.'s operations#will be watched even more closely.B   "I think many who support the work of the specialized agencies=of the U.N. will look back on the bush administration as theA"good old days" when the Republican Congress really takes a very@hard, very careful look at these agencies. Obviously one favors8international health; one favors the control of nuclearBproliferation; one favors aid and comfort to refugees. But having@said that, one also has to ask what the cost of all of this is,<especially since the United States pays 25 percent, in most=cases, of the assessments of the budget for U.N. agencies. I?think the general feeling in Congress will be that these costs=are out of control and I do not even want to predict what is,going to happen to some of these agencies.":   U.N. supporters like Ed Luck admit the organization is>overtaxed and overextended, particularly by the burden of its@increased peacekeeping efforts. And they say the criticism is a@healthy sign the critics in fact support the world organization7but want to see it improve in its second half century.   ---------------   ---------------;   U.N. SEEK WAYS TO ENFORCE BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS CONVENTION   DOUGLAS ROBERTS
   GENEVA@   Diplomats from more than 40 nations are meeting in Geneva in:an attempt to reach agreement on ways to enforce the U.N.=convention on biological weapons.  The treaty, in effect for:nearly two decades, bans the development, production, and>stockpiling of bacteriological and toxic weapons.  But unlike8other arms control agreements, it contains no mandatoryAprovisions to verify compliance.  The issue has stymied previous?negotiating sessions, and the outlook for the current round oftalks is uncertain, at best.=   Practically all the components of biological weaponry are@widely-available, dual-use items.  And there is a steady stream?of new substances emerging from the fast-growing biotechnology8industry that could also be used for military purposes.A   Some analysts have concluded there is simply no effective way=to verify compliance with the U.N. convention.  But an adhocBcommittee meeting here this week is launching an attempt to draft:a verification regime that would be submitted to a reviewconference late next year.@   The conference chairman, Hungarian defense ministry official@Tibor Toth, acknowledges that there are significant differences:among the more than 130 nations that have signed the U.N.convention.@   Toth says there is no consensus yet on what type of measures?should be included in the verification regime, and he concedes1that it may prove impossible to reach an accord:<   "In any case, I think it will be a process of building a+critical mass of support for this regime."@   The adhoc committee has identified 21 potential verification<measures.  But Mr. Toth says he expects some of those to be<discarded because they are either technically unfeasible orpolitically unacceptable.A   He says there is strong opposition from some member states to>proposals for satellite monitoring.  He says many non-alignedAnations are strongly resisting the imposition of export controlsAthat might restrict technology transfers.  He says there is also=concern among developed nations over potential measures that5might hamper the growth of biotechnology industries.>   Mr. Toth says the committee is focusing on two main areas:@The first is mandatory periodic declarations from member states?on the nature and extent of their domestic biological research>and development programs.  The second is on-site inspections.@   The scope of those proposed inspections is a key issue here,;with some delegates resisting the idea of spot or surprise$inspections of domestic facilities.B   There are also concerns over the costs of the proposed regime.@Mr. Toth estimates it could range from 15-million to 50-million<dollars annually, with monitoring of as many as 10-thousandfacilities worldwide.:   The hungarian official acknowledges the complexity andAsensitivity of the proposals under discussion here.  And he says@it will be no easy task to devise a verification regime that isacceptable to all sides.   ---------------   ---------------6   U.S. TREASURY DEPARTMENT RELEASE ECONOMIC FORECAST   VICTOR BEATTIE   WASHINGTON?   The U.S. Treasury Department has painted an upbeat economic7picture of the economies of the seven major industrial@democracies. The department's annual report to Congress expects)the U.S. trade deficit to widen in 1995.A   The department says the economies of Britain, Canada, France,?Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States are strengthening,<with little sign of inflation.  It says what are called the?"group-of-seven" economies combined for a three percent growth7rate in 1994 and it expects that to improve this year.?   However, it says the picture is not without blemishes.  The@report states higher American interest rates will dampen growth@in the U.S. economy to about two-and-one-half percent.  It saysBJapan's trade surplus, while declining, remains high.  The survey8says unemployment remains high throughout Europe and no.substantial decline is expected anytime soon.>   The report says, because of robust growth last year in theBU.S. economy, America's trade deficit widened by an estimated 150@billion dollars:  One of the worst showings ever.  The TreasuryADepartment says renewed European and Japanese economic expansionBwill spur demand for American exports in the new year, helping toease the trade deficit.   ---------------   ---------------"   VIETNAM ARREST BUDDHIST LEADER   DAN ROBINSON   BANGKOKB   Tensions between Vietnamese authorities and Buddhists opposingAthe state-controlled Buddhist church have been spotlighted again?in recent weeks.  An overseas Vietnamese Buddhist organizationArecently said a prominent dissident monk had been arrested aftergoing on a hunger strike.@   Paris-based Vietnam Committee on human rIghts says prominent>dissident monk Thich Huyen Quang was taken by police from hisApagoda in Quang Ngai province, about 500 kilometers northeast of1Ho Chi Minh City, and moved to a nearby village.:   Thich Huyen Quang, who is 77 years old, is regarded by;supporters as the leader of the Unified Buddhist Church of?Vietnam, the leading Buddhist organization until the communisttakeover in 1975.?   The government recognizes only its Vietnam Buddhist Church,=set up in 1981.  Authorities have accused dissident monks ofBviolating the law and have jailed some for staging protests. But,;the government denies it is suppressing religious freedom.@   The government has so far neither confirmed nor denied Thich9Huyen Quang has been arrested.  There was no independent6confirmation of the allegations from overseas groups.?   Last week, officials dismissed reports the elderly monk hadBgone on hunger strike and described as untrue and ill-intentioned3allegations he had been refused medical treatment.B   Two other incidents in December underlined the ongoing dispute-between authorities and dissident buddhists.B   According to overseas Vietnamese groups, buddhist monks stagedBa protest during the re-opening of a religious school (at the Bao9Quoc Pagoda) in Hue, forcing cancellation of an official
ceremony.>   Later, Vietnamese media said an investigation had begun an@said those found guilty of what was called instigating a public'disturbance would be sternly punished.@   Also in December, overseas dissidents said authorities in HoBChi Minh City arrested monks from the independent Buddhist churchBand some other followers.  The dissidents say those arrested were?trying to bring relief supplies to flood victims in the mekongdelta.<   The government denies carrying out arrests or harassmentduring the relief operation.:   A 1994 U.S. State Department human rights report says,9although freedom of worship is provided for in Vietnam's<constitution, the government, among other things, regularlyBdetains, arrests and restricts activities of religious figures of"all faiths, on political grounds.   ---------------   ---------------;   CAMBODIAN KING SIHANOUK SAYS HE WILL RETURN TO CAMBODIA   BILL HARRIS   PHNOM PENH:   Cambodian King Norodom Sihanouk said he will return to?Cambodia Wednesday because his Chinese doctors have completely@cured him of cancer.  Officials in Phnom Penh are keeping quiet>about the details of the king's program after he arrives, but=many observers think he will once again become active in hiscountry's politics.A   Cambodia's King Sihanouk will return to the country Wednesday:after spending more than seven months in China for cancertreatment.9   In a recent message to his son, Cambodian first prime?minister, Prince Norodom Ranariddh, the aging monarch said his?medical treatment had cleared all traces of the deadly cancer.>Officials here in Phnom Penh are not saying how long the king?will stay or what he will do in Cambodia.  But they are hoping;his visit will be a happier occasion than when he left thecountry last year.A   Cambodia's monarch flew to China on may the 18th, saying that>while he had health problems, his main reason for leaving was?political.  The king said he was frustrated with the political@infighting in his already war-ravaged country, and particularly>the ongoing civil war between government forces and the KhmerRouge.A   Prince Ranariddh said recently the government was preparing a>palace for the king in the country's northwestern province of?Siem Reap.  This province is home to the ancient temples which=are war-torn Cambodia's main tourist attraction.  And Prince@Ranariddh said if his father were to live nearby, it would showAwould-be tourists to Cambodia that the insecurity of the countryis exaggerated.A   But many observers think the king wants to play a more active?role in his country than simply acting out his retirement some>200 miles from the capital.  Cambodia's monarch has said many<times he will not interfere in government decisions, but asAanalysts point out, just as many times the king has also offered?his opinions.  And even more importantly, say observers, these=views still hold a lot of power with many of Cambodia's nine?million population, some of whom still remember the 1960s when+the king dominated the country's politics.   ---------------   ---------------E   JOINT CHINA AND HONG KONG OPPERATION SMASH CREDIT CARD FRAUD RING   BELINDA CAMINADA
   HONG KONG>   Hong Kong police have just revealed a joint operation with@Chinese police last November smashed a cross-border credit card@fraud ring.  This action is the first of its kind between Chinaand Hong Kong.@   One hundred-ten bogus credit cards, along with the equipment?used to make them, were seized in the November raid in China'ssouthern city, Shenzhen.B   Hong Kong police say the cards were destined to be distributed>throughout the British-ruled territory and Shenzhen and could:have been used to spend approximately 13 million dollars.B   The scheme was exposed by a tip to the commercial crime bureauAof Hong Kong police.  It alerted Chinese authorities, who raided@the illegal factory in November and arrested a 37-year-old Hong-Kong man and a 21-year-old Chinese national.A   Information on the operation was not released earlier because5of continuing investigations by Chinese authorities.@   Hong Kong chief police inspector Michael Yu says this is the;first time a credit-card counterfeiting operation has beendiscovered in China.@   Shenzhen is at the forefront of China's economic boom and  aBregular destination for businessmen from Hong Kong and elsewhere.?Unlike many less-advanced areas of China, the city is familiar>with credit-card transactions.  Police say it would have been@comparatively easy for the fake cards to circulate, undetected.A   Recently, police forces on both sides of the border have been=speaking of the need for greater cooperation to combat crossAborder crime:  Particularly the growing smuggling trade in drugsand counterfeit goods.A   News of this cooperative effort is being greeted by Hong Kong2and Chinese police as a good sign for the future.   ---------------   ---------------/   CHINA PLANS PENSION PLAN FOR ELDERLY PEOPLE   DAVID DYAR   BEIJING@   The Chinese government is moving to implement a pension planfor elderly people.@   The Chinese government has faced a growing problem of how to@care for the nation's elderly under its current economic reformsystem.<   Before the reforms began, the elderly were taken care of>through the cradle to grave welfare system referred to as theBiron rice bowl.  That system is rapidly ending and along with it,>the guarantee of the communist party that the elderly will becared for by the state.:   The Chinese government is now embarked on implementing<programs to replace the old welfare system by providing theelderly with pensions.A   Chinese news reports Tuesday described how this is working in(one province in eastern China, Jiangsu.;   In that province, 600,000 people have taken out old ageAinsurance policies. The workers contribute two per cent of their9salary to the pension fund and the employer or the state!contribute another two per cent.A   Officials say half of the provinces' counties and most of the>cities directly administered by the provincial government areimplementing the pension plan.A   Central government officials say the cost of the pension plan@will be enormous.  Statistics show 10 per cent of the country's7population will be over 60 years old by the year 2000.@   That translates into an elderly population of 127-million bythe end of the century.;   Officials say the government will have to pay more thanB150-billion dollars a year to fund the pension scheme by the year2000.@   Traditionally, China's elderly have been supported by familyAmembers.  However, the effort to limit families to one child per<couple has made that tradition increasingly more difficult.   ---------------   ---------------E   CHINA CALLS FOR STRICTER ENFORCEMENT AGAINST INCOME TAX AVOIDANCE   DAVID DYAR   BEIJING@   Chinese officials Tuesday called for stricter enforcement of=the country's tax laws to catch people who fail to pay theirincome taxes.=   Chinese news reports Tuesday quoted a Chinese official as?saying there is not a proper appreciation among Chinese to paytaxes on their income.:   The official said some state agencies collaborate with=taxpayers to deceive the government in order to avoid paying<taxes.  Last year, China began trying to collect taxes from
individuals.B   Chinese income tax rates require workers who earn more than 90?dollars a month (800 yuan) to pay an income tax.  The tax rate/for the highest income bracket is 45 per cent.B   The official called for stiffer penalties for people who avoid;paying taxes or cheat on the amount of their tax payments.A   However, there is strong resentment by many Chinese at havingAto pay income taxes, which they have never had to do previously.@Some people have attacked tax collectors and in one case, a taxBcollector was killed by an angry citizen because of his effort tocollect taxes.>   Officials say they made significant progress in collecting@taxes last year compared to previous years, they say there is a"growing problem of tax avoidance.?   The officials say huge sums that are owned to the state arenever collected.B   One reform officials want to implement would allow individuals;to pay their taxes regularly directly to their work units.A   Previously the central government has relied on the provinces@to collect taxes, but the new system gives the power to collect(income taxes to the central government.   ---------------   ---------------E   CLINTON ORDERS CREATION OF AN ABORTION CLINIC VIOLENCE TASK FORCE   DEBORAH TATE   LITTLE ROCK, ARK.A   President Clinton has ordered the creation of a task force ofBfederal, state and local law enforcement officials to address the:issue of security at abortion clinics around the country,Bfollowing recent shooting at two clinics in Massachusetts and one@in Virginia.  A 22-year-old man has been arrested in connection?with the shootings and faces numerous charges including murderAfor the debts of two clinic workers in Massachusetts.  President>Clinton issued a statement on the recent violence in Arkansas)where he is visiting family and friends.<   In a written statement, President Clinton is asking U.S.;authorities to form a task force to review security at the=nations abortion clinics and insure that clinics are able to.report potential threats in a timely fashion.9   Abortion rights advocates say they believe the recentAshootings at the clinics represent a wide spread toward violence=by radical anti-abortion activists, who have been blocked in<their efforts to close down clinics through protests or thecourts.>   Mr. Clinton ,noting in his statement that Americans hold a<range of deeply felt beliefs on abortion, said a continuous<vigorous debate over the issue was proper but said violence2against those who hold differing opinions is not.=   The president called upon all Americans to reaffirm theirBcommitment to the rule of law and their respect for the diversityof opinion that rule protects.   ---------------   ---------------D   FORMER CZECH COMMUNISTS OFFICIALS CHARGED WITH TRANSFERRING ARMS   ALENA KENCLOVA
   PRAGUE;   Seven former Czechoslovak communist officials are being>charged in connection with illegally transferring arms to theCommunist People's Militias.?   Czech prosecutors have confirmed that legal action is being?taken against a former prime minister, communist party head, a<former defense minister, and four other former high-rankingofficials.6   One of the accused, Lubomir Strougal (loo-boh-meerBshtrow-gull), served as Czechoslovak prime minister for 18 years,>up to 1988. Another, former party leader Milous Jakes, gainedBnotoriety in a clampdown against reformers in 1968 and eventuallyBwas head of the party for two years before the fall of communism.A   Five of the accused are former members of the communist party;presidium.  They are accused of having ordered the illegal>transfer of weapons from the army to the people's militias in:1985.  The then defense minister, Milan Vaclavik (mee-lan@varts-lah-veek), and the militias' top commander Miroslav Novak@(mee-roh-slav noh-vark) are to be put on trial for carrying out>the order.  The accused, who are now in their late sixties or:seventies, face sentences of one to five years in prison.?   The people's militias, named the "Armed Fist of the Working?Class" in the Bolshevik language, played a crucial role in the?February 1948 communist coup in Czechoslovakia. Although thereBwas never a law empowering it to do so, the party issued a decree6creating the militias and arming them.  The militias'>demonstration of strength in the streets of Prague sealed the=communists' grip on power they had been seeking under Joseph2Stalin's guidance since the end of world war two.>   After Stalin's death, the role of the militias diminished.9Although a unit had to be established in every state-run@enterprise, they rarely appeared in public except at the annualmay day parade.=   Some people may have seen membership in the militias as a?formality, but the militias remained an important reserve thatAwas occasionally used against the country's political opponents.>With increasing protests in the 1980's, the militias assisted(police in a crackdown on demonstrators.@   But by November 1989, the communist regime in Czechoslovakia;was weak, and was soon overthrown in the so-called "Velvet
Revolution."=   Since the fall of communism in the former Czechoslovakia,@legal action has been taken against 160 former officials of theBcommunist regime.  But the seven are the highest ranking group sofar.>   About 40 former officials have been convicted; the longest;sentence being four and a half years.  The highest ranking;communist official convicted so far was a former presidium@member, Miroslav Stepan, who served half of a 28-month sentence5for ordering police to crack down on anti-governmentdemonstrators.   ---------------   ---------------E   CZECH REPUBLIC REJECT COMPLAINTS ON ITS NEW RUSSIAN NUCLEAR PLANT   BARRY WOOD
   PRAGUEA   The electric power company in the Czech Republic has rejected@complaints about the role of an American company, Westinghouse,=in completing work on a Soviet-designed nuclear power plant.B   The half-completed Temelin Nuclear Power Plant has always beenBmore controversial in Austria than in the Czech republic where itis located.@   The Temelin facility is situated only 60 kilometers from the@Austrian border, and the Austrians have long argued that the it7should be abandoned.  The Czechs, determined to expand;electricity production so they can close heavily polluting0coal-powered facilities in the north, disagree.=   The Soviet designed VVER 1000 facility at Temelin is more3modern and safer than those of the Chernobyl type.:   The nuclear safety project at the University of Vienna?recently revealed the contents of a letter from an official of7the Russian nuclear power agency that complained about=westinghouse having received the contract to finish Temelin.;   The official argued that the Russians have not providedBWestinghouse with sufficient technical data about the plant.  And@he raised questions about the Westinghouse plan to use American+nuclear fuel for the two Temelin reactors.@   The Czech power company and Westinghouse reject the concerns;raised by the Russians and by the University of Vienna.  A<spokesman for the power company says there is no doubt thatBWestinghouse has the capacity to finish the plant and to bring itsafely into operation.?   Westinghouse, which has built nuclear power plants all over=the world, won the Czech contract in open bidding.  The U.S.Bcompany has received a 300-million dollar loan guarantee from theU.S. Export Import Bank.@   While admitting that it has not received technical data from>the Russians, westinghouse says it has obtained all necessaryAdata from scientific laboratories and from other Soviet-designed?nuclear plants outside Russia. Westinghouse officials say they@are still in the design phase of the Temelin project but expect;to begin work by the middle of this year.  Nuclear fuel is'expected to be delivered in late 1996.@   At stake are billions of dollars of contracts to upgrade andBmake safer more than 60 Soviet-designed nuclear plants in easternBEurope and the former Soviet Union.  Competition for contracts is;fierce with German, French, Swedish, Russian, and Americancompanies all involved.   ---------------   ---------------E   GINGRICH HOPES TO END FUNDING OF U.S. PUBLIC TELEVISION AND RADIO   VICTOR BEATTIE   WASHINGTON<   Congressman Newt Gingrich, who is expected to be elected@speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Wednesday, says he9hopes to end government funding of U.S. public radio andtelevision.?   As the Republican-led 104th Congress convenes in Washington@Wednesday, Mr. Gingrich, who is leading the fight to reduce theBsize of government says public broadcasting is fairly high on his1list.  He says there is no longer any reason forAtaxpayer-subsidized television in the age of multi-channel cabletelevision:A   "There is a point where you say to them, "grow up.  If you'veAgot a good product people will donate.  If you don't have a good@product why are you forcing working taxpayers to subsidize yourplaything?"A   Mr. Gingrich also believes the fight to cut public funding of:two other government-funded agencies run by what he calls>self-elected elites will help determine the direction of U.S.	culture.B   He refers to the National Endowment for the Humanities and theBNational Endowment for the Arts which sponsor what he charges are=often obscene and ideologically-radical projects.  Still, he@insists cutting funding for cultural activities will be neithermindless nor total:A   "I would like to see the Smithsonian's funding increased. I'd8like to see the Library of Congress funding increased."<   He says he would prefer to send federal funds saved fromAfederal cultural activities to the state and local level for thesupport of the arts.   ---------------   ---------------*   KENYA OPENS STOCK MARKET TO FOREIGNERS   ALEX BELIDA   NAIROBI?   Tuesday was the first day foreign investors were allowed to%trade on the Nairobi Stock Exchange.=   Prices had been soaring in anticipation of the big day asAKenyan traders gleefully snapped up shares in hopes of profitingAfrom a buying spree from abroad.  Trading volume was up over 400>percent in the last month of 1994 compared to December of theBprevious year.  The  Nairobi Stock Exchange 20-share index surged@one thousand points, from 3,5000 4,500 hundred, after President>Moi announced three weeks ago that foreign investors would be!allowed into the capital market.>   But when the big day came, nothing happened, there were no>foreign trades at all, according to David Kinuthia, assistant,trading operations manager at the exchange:>   "As for today, there were no transactions when it comes to?foreign investors.  As you can see from the board there, there%were no transactions (from abroad)."B   Mr. Kinuthia says he believes foreign investors need more time:to study the Kenyan market before committing their funds:A   "People are just trying to analyze the situation first before>they come, maybe before they start making those heavy deals."A   However other market insiders in Nairobi believe restrictionsAthat limit foreign investment may be responsible for the lack of>any trading action.  Under the new regulations, an individual?foreign investor can only purchase a maximum of two-point-five=percent of the total shares of any Kenyan company.  Combined,foreign ownership cannot exceed 20 percent.>   Another restriction bars foreign investors from purchasingAshares in any listed companies that are foreign controlled, such?as Barclays Bank or BAT, the British-American Tobacco Company.@   Other sources think foreign investors may be deterred by the:continuing unexpectedly high value of the Kenyan shilling;compared to major foreign currencies like the U.S. dollar.@   Whatever the reason, local traders were disappointed, to sayAthe least.  One official of the stock exchange acknowledges thatAmaybe these traders' expectations had been built up a little too<high.  This official believes prices may now fall as KenyanAspeculators realize foreigners won't be stepping into the marketBas fast as they thought.  But he remains optimistic about overall)prospects in the weeks and months ahead.<   The Nairobi stock exchange, with 56 companies listed, is@capitalized at two-point-two billion dollars.  It is the fourth=largest in Africa after South Africa, Morocco, and Zimbabwe.   ---------------   ---------------   MASS EXTINCTION THEORY   PAUL FRANCUCH   CHICAGO?   Scientists have long been baffled by evidence of periods of@mass extinction over the history of our planet.  But an articleBpublished Tuesday that focuses on the impact of distant exploding%stars offers a possible explanation.B   University of Chicago astrophysicist David Schramm, along with>scientist John Ellis of the European Organization for Nuclear=Research, say exploding stars called "supernovas" might have0triggered episodes of mass extinction on earth.>   Experts believe there have been as many as five periods of<mass extinction in the earth's history.  Many now think the?extinction of dinosaurs was hastened after a meteorite hit the3earth, resulting in deadly climatological changes.?   But mystery surrounds the other periods of mass extinction,@the latest being about 225 million years ago when as much as 95Bpercent of all species perished.  Writing with professor Ellis in?the current edition of "Proceedings of the National Academy ofBSciences," professor Schramm postulates that a supernova, perhaps@as far as 30 light years from earth, sent out shock waves which2badly damaged the earth's protective ozone layer:A   "People have thought about the impact that a nearby supernova;would have had for many years.  But they had traditionally@thought in terms of the explosion itself and what it would have?done.  What we did is to note that a supernova somewhat father@away would still be able to wipe-out the ozone layer.  Then ourAown sun would be the real culprit once the defenses of the ozonelayer had disappeared."=   Professor Schramm said that supernovas as far as 30 lightAyears from earth occur on average about every 200 million years.BThat corresponds roughly to biological records of mass extinction
on earth.B   The Chicago astrophysicist explains what would happen on earth(if a star exploded 30 light years away:B   "In addition to a supernova sending out this giant shock wave,@blast wave, supernova also accelerates particles and produces aBlot of intense radiation.  That intense radiation, in the form ofAgamma rays  and cosmic rays, would break-up the air molecules in8the upper atmosphere.  Those air molecules, then, would?re-combine in a way that would grab-up the ozone, so they'd be@able to form new molecules with the ozone, thus eliminating the@ozone from the upper atmosphere.  And then it would behave just@like we're seeing now, on a much lower level, in the ozone holeover Antarctica."?   Unfiltered ultraviolet radiation from the sun would destroy>photoplankton, which in turn would disrupt the food chain and,lead to extinction of higher forms of life.=   David Schramm says he and John Ellis have been working on>their theory of mass extinction for about two years.  They're@already getting comments from other scientists and expect their3idea will be tested and debated for years to come.   ---------------   ---------------1   PELE SWORN IN AS BRAZIL'S MINISTER FOR SPORTS   ROGER WILKISON   RIO DE JANEIROA   Football great Pele was sworn in Tuesday as Brazil's ministerBfor sports.  He said his main priority will be to ensure that all=Brazilians, especially poor children and teen-agers, get the?chance to develop their talent.  Pele also said he will do his<utmost to bring the 2004 Olympics and the 2006 World Cup toBrazil.@   The 54-year-old Pele, born Edson Arantes Do Nascimento, said?he wants Rio to host the Olympics in 2004 and Brazil to be the;site of the 2006 World Cup.  He said he would seek privateAfinancing for the games, as the United States did in last year's5World Cup, where Brazil won its fourth championship.=   The retired star, who is considered the greatest footballA(soccer) player ever, was appointed to his new post by president?Fernando Henrique Cardoso, who was on hand for the swearing-in=ceremony.  Pele said he felt just as nervous taking over his?largely symbolic job as he did when he played on the team that?won Brazil's first World cUp in 1958. The difference, he said,@alluding to the president, is that this time he has a coach whoreceived 34 million votes.3   Pele, who had refused invitations from previous<administrations to enter public life, said he wants to help=president Cardoso build a better Brazil.  He said one of his<tasks will be to improve legislation regarding transfers of@football players from one team to another.  He said the currentsystem is akin to slavery.   ---------------   ---------------F   TEEN HACKER BREAKS INTO PENTAGON COMPUTERS, PUTS FILES ON INTERNET   DAVID SWAN   PENTAGON:   The U.S. Defense Department has acknowledged a British@teenager broke into Pentagon computers last year but denies any<vital secrets were exposed. The so-called hacker reportedly+gained access to a wide range of material.A   In mid-1994, British police arrested a 16-year-old on charges<of violating the country's computer laws.  According to the@newspaper "The Independent," he is one of a number of outsiders=who entered the Pentagon system, and he found a good deal of#potentially sensitive information.;   The report says the young man read messages about North>Korea's nuclear program at a time when the nuclear crisis was@nearing its height.  He allegedly transferred those messages to9the "Internet," the system linking millions of computersBworldwide. The teenager also reportedly gained access to files on,missiles, aircraft, payrolls and personnel.B   U.S. authorities began trying to stop the intrusions more than@a year ago. The "independent" says the youth was caught when he>left his computer connected to an American machine overnight,>allowing investigators to trace him.  British police have notArevealed the suspect's name because of his age but officials say&his computer alias was "data Stream."?   Defense officials sought to downplay the latest revelations?about the matter.  They say the young man was not able to readBclassified communications and the case is not a serious breach ofBsecurity. The hacker remains free on bail and British prosecutors6have still not decided whether to bring him to trial.   ---------------   ---------------8   EASTERN EUROPE'S FIRST ENGLISH LANGUAGE DAILY CLOSES   BARRY WOOD
   PRAGUE@   The first daily English language newspaper in post-communistAEast Europe has abruptly closed, only six weeks after its debut.=   In November, the Bohemia Daily "Standard" proclaimed thatACentral Europe was ready for an English language daily. Launched?with considerable fanfare in Prague, the eight-page broadsheetAnever sold enough copies to survive.  There were ambitious plans>to print 10,000 copies of the standard.  But near the end the+paper was selling no more than 400 copies.@   Ian Brodie, publisher of the three-year-old Central European?Business Weekly, is not surprised by the demise of the BohemiaDaily Standard.;   Mr. Brodie says Prague is not big enough for an Englishlanguage daily:B   " A good weekly yes, but a daily can't be sustained.  It was a>fallacy to believe that native Czech speakers would prefer to=read their news in English. They are very well served by theCzech language press."A   Mr. Brodie's paper is published in Prague but sold as well inBudapest and Warsaw.9   Prague does have two general purpose English language>weeklies. One, the "Prague Post," is fat with advertising andAvery successful.  The other, the irreverent "Prognosis," is said@to be struggling.  The English speaking population in Prague isestimated to be about 20,000.?   The publisher of the failed daily, Erik Best, concedes that;the Prague market is too small.  Mr. Best borrowed from anAAustrian bank to launch the "Standard."  He continues to publishAa successful daily English language translation of articles from3the Czech press that is faxed to business clients.=   Prague is a lively newspaper market with ten daily papers@competing in a city with a population of just over one million.   ---------------   ---------------C   S. AFRICA PLANS SHAKE-UP OF POLICE FORCE TO COMBAT RISING CRIME   MALLORY SALESON   JOHANNESBURG?   Violent crime continued unabated into the new year in South;Africa as the country's police minister signalled sweeping=changes in the police force in the weeks ahead.  The plannedAchange already has prompted both positive and negative response.A   Violent crime continues to soar in South Africa, with murder,=armed robbery and car hijackings still topping the list. TheAmurder of policemen also continued and police morale has been atAan all-time low.  The new government, only eight months old, has@promised to work towards reducing the crime rate.  But, as someAanalysts have noted, an emphasis on law and order was not alwaysapparent in 1994.>   The government has now announced sweeping change that will@likely shake up the police force and, the government says, willAmake the force more representative of all South Africans.  Local<newspapers say the shake-up will likely mean a purge of the/country's police generals, most of them white.?   Safety and security minister Sydney Mufamadi has repeatedly@said the country needs a force more friendly to the communitiesBit serves and more representative.  Mr. Mufamadi said he will not=fire the white generals, but deploy them in other positions.6Currently only three of 50 police generals are black.;   Local reports say the police minister will also replaceBmilitary ranks with civilian titles, make the force more flexible>and upgrade station commanders to commissioners to give local@stations more power over their own areas.  Reports also say the<minister will seek to upgrade the poor salaries and working3conditions of all police in a bid to boost morale.@   The announced plans met with mixed reaction Tuesday in localAnewspapers.  The conservative "Citizen" said the minister's plan<will not reduce crime, but will increase anxiety within theApolice force.  The paper said the government, led by the African>National Congress, does not appear worried about the reaction7building up as it moves to enforce affirmative action.<   But the editor of the black-oriented "Sowetan" newspaper7praised Mr. Mufamadi, saying change in one of the most>conservative and controversial government departments is long@overdue.  The commentary noted more than half of South Africa's?police are black, but that change needs to be made at the top.>The editorial said while many of the generals are fairly good<policemen, too many are products of apartheid, enforced itsBpolicies and had negative dealings with the communities they were?supposed to serve.  The newspaper also urged the government to?improve what it called the scandalous conditions of the policemen and women on the beat.   ---------------   ---------------E   DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS ISSUE CONFLICTING REPORTS ON WHITEWATER   JIM MALONE
   SENATEB   A new Republican congressional report on the Whitewater affair?involving President Clinton says some administration officials<demonstrated serious misconduct in the way they handled theaffair.>   Democrats and Republicans put out competing reports on the>Whitewater hearings held by the Senate Banking Committee lastByear.  The democratic report found no violations of law or ethics@in the contacts between treasury department officials and whiteBhouse aides concerning the failure of an Arkansas bank with links#to the president and Mrs. Clinton.>   But a report prepared by Republicans on the Senate Banking?Committee says treasury and White House officials demonstrated;what they called serious misconduct by discussing criminal;referrals on the Whitewater case which mentioned president@Clinton.  The report also says there is a good possibility that<the sensitive legal information was given to the president,%though no proof of this was offered.@   Republican Al D'Amato is the incoming Chairman of the Senate@Banking Committee.  He is committed to holding more hearings onWhitewater sometime this year.<   "Even the Democrat report recognizes that there are many=contradictions in the testimony given by high administration?appointees," says D'Amato. "These contradictions go way beyondnormal differences of memory."=   Whitewater involves a failed savings and loan bank in theBpresident's home state of Arkansas and its relationship to a land@deal involving the president and Mrs. Clinton years before theycame to Washington.A   One Democrat on the banking committee was quick to take issuewith the Republican report.@   Senator Chris Dodd believes some Republicans are pushing the=Whitewater case in order to do political damage to President	Clinton:=   "If this Congress turns into a squabble over politics and@people trying to gain the high ground politically and to damage?the president because there is a re-election or a presidential<election, then I think the people who engineer that kind of:activity are going to pay the price. That is not what theAmerican public want to see."@   Senator d'Amato is promising more hearings on Whitewater but?he will not set a date until he gets approval to go ahead from;the independent counsel investigating the Whitewater case,Kenneth Starr.   ---------------   ---------------   TRACKING NEW DISEASES   ALAN SILVERMAN   LOS ANGELESB   The U.S. government's Centers for Disease Control is launching<a program to provide "early warning" of new infections thatthreaten public health.8   Group "A" streptococcus (the so-called "flesh-eatingAbacteria), HIV, E.coli bacteria, and toxic shock syndrome. These>and other new deadly strains can enter a community and spreadBfaster than health authorities can tell doctors what to look for.@Oregon State epidemiologist David Fleming says aids is probably;the best-known example, though certainly not the only one:>   "It is clear in retrospect that HIV, the virus that causesBaids, was in the United States for years, perhaps decades, beforeAit was finally recognized.  It would be difficult to say exactly9what would have happened if we had recognized it sooner.BAlthough it is certain in my mind that earlier recognition of theAaids epidemic would have resulted in fewer people being affectedtoday."@   The Centers for Disease Control proposed a "global sentinel"@program to detect "emerging pathogens."  Congress balked at theB75-million dollar price tag, but did approve slightly less than aBtenth that amount [six-point-seven-million] for the pilot project;in four states: Connecticut, Minnesota, California and Dr.Fleming's Oregon.>   "We're very good in this country treating people when they=become sick and diagnosing conditions we know occur.  On the=other hand, we're not so good, no place in the world is very<good, at recognizing new conditions in a timely manner.  ItAreally requires more of a community diagnosis, a regional center@that has the ability to look for reports of unexplained illnessAacross communities, put the pieces together and say here we have@an instance where it looks like we have some new condition thatis affecting the public."?   All four centers will monitor group-A strep and unexplained;deaths that could pinpoint a new threat.  In addition, theBindividual centers will track infections unique to their regions.?   In Oregon, it's E.coli 0157 (the source of a recent rash ofBfood poisonings) and the rare "group B" bacterial meningitis that?spread from Norway to Spain, Cuba, Brazil and now the American@Pacific northwest.  California health officials are going afterA"valley fever" caused by a fungus found in western U.S. soil and9drug-resistant strains of tuberculosis responsible for a;resurgence of the lung infection.  The Minnesota center isAconcentrating on diseases spread through contaminated food.  The<Connecticut program is studying potentially-deadly bacteria2(erhlichia) and water parasites (crytosporidium).?   Berkeley epidemiologist Arthur Reingold, helping coordinateAthe California program, explains that diagnosing a new strain isjust the beginning:@   "Certainly part of the reason for this kind of project is to=let us collect data more quickly and completely and use thatBinformation to feed back to physicians concerning, in some cases,Awhat antibiotics are more or less likely to be effective or what9diseases to be on lookout for in certain circumstances."6   The public health experts note that rapid computerBcommunications, such as electronic mail on the Internet, can helpBspeed warnings to doctors.  CDC officials hope to fund eight more:regional centers later this year, aimed at establishing a>nationwide network that could, eventually, tie in to a global disease "early warning" system.   ---------------   ---------------7   U.N. REPORTS ON THE NUMBER OF AIDS CASES WORLD WIDE   DOUGLAS ROBERTS
   GENEVA>   The number of officially reported cases of aids around theAworld has topped the one million mark.  U.N. officials in Geneva/estimate that the actual number is far higher.=   The figures are contained in an annual statistical survey@issued by the World Health Organization here Tuesday.  It shows9the continued rapid spread of aids throughout the world.=   While the number of officially reported cases of aids nowBexceeds one million, the WHO believes that accounts for less than;a quarter of the actual number of those afflicted with the	disease.;   Even more alarming, says spokesman Chris Powell, is the=growing number of people infected with the virus that causesaids:<   The number of HIV infections we estimate now to be about9eighteen million adults and about one and a half million@children.  The significant thing about this is that it has gone4up by almost two million over the last six months."A   Mr. Powell says the virus is now spreading more than twice as%fast as it was just three years ago.?   Sub-saharan Africa remains the hardest-hit region.  But the:WHO report confirms that the virus continues to spread in"virtually all parts of the world.   ---------------   ---------------=   BOUTROS-GHALI SAYS HE WANTS TO STREAMLINE UN PEACEKEEPING   CHRIS SIMKINS   UNITED NATIONSB   United Nations Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali says he?wants the Security Council to simplify and limit the number of8future U.N. peacekeeping missions around the world. Mr.;Boutros-Ghali will outline his specific recommendations on
Thursday.?   United Nations Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali says>the world body should look at ways to streamline peacekeeping<missions this year. In a New York Times interview published<Tuesday, Mr. Boutros-Ghali says the United Nations has been@overwhelmed with peacekeeping operations. The secretary-general?will spell out his ideas in a statement to members of the U.N.Security Council on Thursday.B   Mr. Boutros-Ghali is expected ask the Security Council to look?at ways of clarifying future peacekeeping missions, so they do:not turn into enforcement military operations such as the,missions in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Somalia.B   Reports indicate the secretary-general may also recommend thatAfuture multi-national peacekeeping forces fall under the command-of one person instead of several commanders.@   In his New York Times interview, Mr. Boutros-Ghali expresses;frustration that peacekeeping in the post cold war era hasAprevented the United Nations from carrying out other tasks, such4as long-term humanitarian and environmental issues.8   As the United Nations prepares to celebrate its 50th;anniversary this year, Mr. Boutros-Ghali said he wants the;international organization to play a new role in helping aBmovement of liberation transform itself into a political party as?was done in el salvador and Mozambique. Mr. Boutros-Ghali says@the united nations is now trying to assist Yasir Arafat and the;Palestine Liberation Organization in doing the same thing.   ---------------   ---------------0   U.S. DEFENSE DEPT. COMMENTS ON ITS READINESS   KENT KLEIN   WASHINGTON@   A Deputy Secretary of Defense says the readiness of the U.S.)armed forces is good and getting better.?   Deputy Defense Secretary John Deutsch says readiness is theAtop priority of the Clinton administration's defense policy, and#the U.S. military is achieving it.=   Mr. Deutsch says the military is able to meet its goal of=successfully taking part in two major operations at the sametime:;   "The best indicator of how ready our forces are and how9incredibly high the readiness is was demonstrated in theBperformance in  Haiti and the more recent deployment to Kuwait to@meet Saddam Hussein's threat.  We have the best military in theBworld, supporting the right strategy for the time we live today."<   Mr. Deutsch says military spending is adequate, but some1earlier shortfalls in spending must be overcome:?   "In September, for instance, I testified in the Senate thatBour programs were underfunded by some 40-billion dollars over the?six-year planning period.  We have been conducting discussions<within the administration about how to deal with the budget>requirements for defense. And the issue was never, never 'howAmuch defense can we afford?', but 'how we pay for the defense weneed.'"B   Mr. Deutsch also briefed military officers and reporters about=numerous other defense-related issues.  He said he and other:Pentagon officials are concerned about the effects of the=intervention in chechnya on Russia's future and about recent>strained relations between the United States and North Korea.   ---------------   ---------------   UGANDAN DEBT RELIEF PLAN   WILLIAM EAGLE   WASHINGTON<   There may soon be an answer to the nagging issue of debt@relief for some of Africa's most hard-pressed economies.  A new>plan would reduce debt owed to the World Bank in exchange for>allowing independent auditors to monitor government spending.'Uganda is considering such a proposal.<   Uganda's economy is a mirror image of other economies inBAfrica.  With a foreign debt of three-point-four billion dollars,9Uganda has little chance to achieve sustainable economic=development.  Most of that debt, about two-point-two billion>dollars, is owed to the World Bank and International MonetaryFund.=   But the Ugandan government is working with a London-based:think tank to find a solution.  According to Karl Ziegler?[zeeg'-ler], the director of the Center for Accountability and
Debt Relief:A   "Ugandans are prepared to put themselves forward, as it were,Aas a guinea pig (test subject) in convincing the World Bank that@the World Bank will get back something of value in exchange forAallowing a certain number of its loans [to Uganda] to be reduced?over 20 years.  The deal is that the sovereign state in effect<gives up some of its sovereignty to allow its affairs to be<analyzed and monitored in micro detail by outside appointed<auditors.  The key thing that Uganda will see in its public@affairs, in the first few years, is everyone in Uganda from the?most modest shepherd to the most exalted officer of governmentBwill have to basically demonstrate much more clearly what he does?with public sector money.   And that is a huge step forward in.the fight against corruption in any country."=   Mr. Ziegler says if the World Bank approves the proposal,AUganda could be relieved of up to half of its debt, or more thanone-and-half-billion dollars.A   Critics say the proposal is redundant, because an independent>auditor general and a parliamentary public accounts committee:already act as watchdogs for Ugandan government spending.?According to Jehoash Mayanja-Nkangi (jeh'-hosh meye-ahn'-jah -:en-kahn'-jee], Uganda's Minister for Finance and Economic
Planning.B   "Usually when they see something wrong, like embezzlement from?an officer of a ministry, [the accused] are handed over to the@police for prosecution.  A number of them have been prosecuted.BIn fact, a permanent secretary in the ministry of agriculture andAfisheries has been prosecuted, and the case is before the court.@So in any case, our accounts are open, they are already public.@If someone would like to make doubly sure that what the auditor?general is saying is correct, we are prepared to let them look[at government accounts]."B   Others say opening government books to outside scrutiny is the>right approach to Uganda's economic woes.  According to FrankBKatusiimi [kat-oo-seem'-ee], the owner of rank consult limited, a.computer software consulting firm in Kampala:?   The whole government accounting system is in shambles.  TheBwhole institutional framework simply does not exist.  If you lookAat the auditor general's report, he is now reporting on the year<1992-1993, and it is full of people misappropriating funds,Aputting their hands in the kitty [government coffers] and taking@our money.  So if, as a condition of writing off our debts as a@country, we are forced to be more accountable for how our funds/are spent, it would be a very welcome change."8   Some critics say the proposal would violate Uganda's:sovereignty, but businessman Frank Katusiimi rejects that
argument:>   " All those people who are shouting on top of the mountainBabout their sovereignty.  If you have a corrupt head of state who<is busy butchering his own people or stealing funds and his?people are going hungry, a classic case, Mobutu [Sese Soko] of?Zaire, what right does he have if western European people say,@'stop, you are looting your country?' and he says, 'look I haveBthe sovereign right to do so?'  I have no time for that.  I think>it is jaded.  Serious people are no longer taking that kind oargument seriously."A   Teddy Cheye (chay'-yeh) is the editor of Uganda Confidential,@a weekly Kampala newsletter.  He is concerned Ugandan officialsBmay not give President Yoweri Museveni the support needed for theproposal to work:>   "Actually, the problem will be that most of the people whoBwould be held accountable are at the same time the very important@people in government.  So I do not think these people will wantAto expose themselves.  It is ordinarily the president who has to@push [for such reforms] but he has already been let down by hisvery own officials."@   President Museveni has already announced his support for theAproposal, as has his vice president.  If it works, observers say>Uganda could become a model for other African countries.  The:first test will come in a few months, when the government.formally presents the idea to the World Bank.   ---------------   ---------------/   UN BACKS AUSTRALIAN DECISION ON BOAT PEOPLE   LAURENCE WILSON   CANBERRA@   The United Nations has backed Australia's decision to refuse@asylum to hundreds of Chinese-Vietnamese boat people from China>who have landed in Australia in the past few weeks.  The U.N.<high commissioner for refugees says the boat people have no9legitimate claim for asylum and should not be considered
refugees.;   The Australian government has announced it will toughenArefugee laws in a bid to stop what it fears could become a floodof boat people from China.>   Australia's minister for immigration, senator Nick Bolkus,Asays he wants to send a clear message to anyone who is intending@to come to Australia illegally, with no valid claim for asylum.AHe says the doors are shut.  He has received strong backing fromBthe United Nations, despite an outcry from some refugee groups inAustralia.<   The Australian representative of the United Nations High?Commissioner for Refugees says the boat people do not have any@legitimate claim to asylum in Australia.  He says the refugees,Bwho fled from north Vietnam during the Sino-Vietnamese border war2in 1979, have already been given asylum in China.6   The U.N. representative says China took in 370,000;Indo-Chinese refugees during the war and in his words, hastreated them well.=   Under the new Australian laws anyone who has already beenBgiven asylum by another country will not be eligible to apply for;refugee status in Australia.  The U.N. representative also<criticized what he called, ignorant, claims by some refugeeBorganizations the boat people were fleeing from China's policy of@one-child per family.  He said refugee and minority groups such<as the Chinese-Vietnamese were explicitly excluded from theone-child policy.<   He said the U.N. policy is people such as thee should be8returned to the country from which they came.  The U.N.Brepresentative said as caretakers of international protection for7such people the organization believes Australia is notoverreacting.>   Australia will send a delegation of senior immigration and?diplomatic officials to Beijing later this week to discuss theAreturn of the refugees.  Senator Bolkus says he also wants China<to step up its operations to halt the flow of refugees from>Beihai.  Official Chinese news sources reported last week 330@boat people have been arrested by Chinese authorities, and fourboats confiscated.:   The Chinese foreign ministry has denied claims Chinese?officials have encouraged the exodus of refugees from southernChina.   ---------------   ---------------   MORE KHMER ROUGE DEFECTIONS   DAN ROBINSON   BANGKOK=   The Cambodian government has announced more defections of@Khmer Rouge guerrillas. Cambodian authorities are attempting to@encourage defections before a January 15th amnesty deadline for1Khmer Rouge who give up resistance to Cambodia's#democratically-elected government.B   Cambodian leaders have recently issued more frequent calls for>Khmer Rouge to defect.  The government-controlled news agency?reported nearly 800 defections in November and December, about400 in Siem Reap province.B   With about two weeks to go before expiration of the governmentAamnesty period, co-prime ministers Norodom Ranariddh and Hun Sen(issued what they called a final appeal.?   In formally outlawing the Khmer Rouge last year, Cambodia's>national assembly said guerrillas could give up their weaponswithout fear of prosecution.A   Although the government is attempting to decrease the size of=the military, especially the number of generals, Khmer Rouge<defectors have also been integrated into the national army.?   Recently, military officials have been quoted as saying the7amnesty period should be extended to encourage furtherdefections.@   The government says about five-thousand guerrillas and their6families defected in 1994, although this has not beenindependently confirmed.<   According to government and diplomatic sources and other?analysts in Phnom Penh, the Khmer Rouge (912) division, blamedAfor much of the violence in Siem Reap province, has been all buteliminated due to defections.?   During the weekend, the head of the fourth military region,BGeneral Khan Savoeun, said security in Siem Reap had improved and;the Khmer Rouge now controlled less than 30-percent of the
province.=   Cambodian army deputy chief of staff, Nhek Bun Chhay, was?quoted ( as saying he thought most Khmer Rouge would defect by#the end of the current dry season.=   Speaking in Siem Reap Sunday, U.S. ambassador to Cambodia9Charles Twining said the defections seem to indicate the?international effort to bring peace to Cambodia is succeeding.BBut, he said Cambodian leaders would have to make good on pledgesto develop Khmer Rouge areas.A   Predictably, Khmer Rouge radio broadcasts continue to dismiss?government defection figures, as alarming reports of guerrilla/attacks continue to flow from the countryside.:   In recent weeks, U.N. officials, aid workers, and some=provincial government officials say Khmer Rouge strategy has>focused, even more than in the past, on killing or kidnapping@civilians, looting and burning homes, and general intimidation.>   One government radio broadcast said 200 houses were burned=down in one village and hundreds made homeless in Battambang:Province, with a similar attack reported in Kompong Thom.@   The attacks come as Cambodia struggles with a rice shortage,Bwhich the government and guerrillas are using to score propagandapoints.;   The government says recent Khmer Rouge attacks show the@guerrillas have no regard for the people.  Guerrilla broadcasts@accuse government authorities of failing to alleviate sufferingin rural areas.   ---------------   ---------------C   CHINA PLANS FOR MORE NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS HAMPERED BY FINANCING   DAVID DYAR   BEIJINGA   Chinese officials say plans to increase the number of nuclearApower generating plants in their country are being hampered by alack of financing.>   Chinese press reports Monday said China cannot find enoughBmoney to build the nuclear power plants it needs to help meet the*country's growing demand for electricity.=   A Chinese official said the country wants to increase its:nuclear power generating capacity to 10 times the current@production by the year 2000.  However, the official said a lack>of funding will not allow the country to significantly expandnuclear power soon.>   The nuclear official said he would like to see the central=government provide special preferences for the nuclear power
industry.B   Most of China's electrical power is generated by burning coal.<Coal is also used my most Chinese as a fuel for cooking andBheating their homes.  The practice is contributing to significant@pollution problems throughout the country and is even affecting*the environment in neighboring countries.A   In addition to using nuclear power, Chinese officials hope to6lessen the dependence on coal by building a series of;hydroelectric power plants.  One of these plants along the?Yangtse River will powered by what is slated to be the largest/dam in the world, called the three gorges dam.   ---------------   ---------------*   CONGRESS, TAX CUTS, AND INTEREST RATES   JOE SUMMERS   WASHINGTONB   Investors in U.S. financial markets will be keeping a watchful<eye on Washington beginning Wednesday when a new session of8Congress convenes.  For the first time since the Truman>Administration, the Republican Party holds majorities in both=Houses of Congress and the investment community is concerned3about budget legislation that will affect interestrate-denominated investments.:   With Democrats holding the White House and Republicans=controlling Congress, there seems to be a rush to cut taxes,(especially for middle-income Americans.B   Normally a tax cut would be a good thing, allowing citizens to8keep more of what they earn so they could spend more on
consumption.B   But the U.S. economy is already in a good growth pattern, with;gross domestic product expanding at an annual rate of four=percent in the third quarter and current conditions pointing+toward equal growth in the fourth quarter.A   During most of 1994, the U.S. central bank expressed concerns@about the economy growing at too fast a rate because that could;cause renewed inflation and damage prospects for sustainedBexpansion.   Monetary authorities have raised short-term interestArates six times in the past 11 months, and appear ready to do soagain.B   American University economist Howard Wachtel says the nation's@economy may have absorbed previous interest rate hikes, or theyBmay not have had their full impact as yet because there is a long$lag time between action and result.@   But professor Wachtel says a tax cut at this time, while the@economy is in a good growth pattern, may force the central bank&to raise interest rates more sharply:=   "I think they are waiting for Congress to reconvene and iBthink they (the central bank) are going to try to put pressure onAthe Congress to not cut taxes as deeply as some of the proposals@floating around.  I think they would be very worried about that@and they would signal that if taxes are to be cut in an economyBthat is essentially already at full employment you would see some+very substantial interest rate increases.";   Investors are worried about the possibility of tax cuts@because of the potential negative impact on the budget deficit.AIf government revenues go down and expenditures remain the same,Bthat causes a bigger deficit.   The government has to borrow more>money to finance the deficit and that inflates the demand for)credit and pushes interest rates upward.8   The incoming Republican Chairman of the House Budget=Committee, Congressman John Kasich of Ohio, said any tax cutApassed by Congress will be designed not to increase the deficit:A   "We have to cut spending first.  I mean, the problem is, thatBif the financial markets and the people across this country, theyAbelieve that the Congress isn't capable of controlling spending.<And the last thing they want to se is for us to balloon the@deficit. I mean, even families tell me, husbands and wives say,>"look i'd like to have a tax credit, but, frankly, I want theAdeficit to come down." And what we're saying is, we are going to@cut spending first.  We're going to approve it.  We're going to?bank the money.  And then, any of the costs that come with the@tax relief or incentive programs, we can draw down the bank andApay for it.  And that will, that will convince people across thecountry that we're serious."?   Congressman Kashich has not announced any specific plans to;reduce government spending.  But among his targets are the=Commerce Department, the Interstate Commerce Commission, theBagriculture department, the energy department and health programssuch as Medicare and Medicade.=   The Ohio Republican says many of these departments can beBreduced, eliminated or made to operate more efficiently.  Some ofAtheir functions could also be turned over to private enterprise.   ---------------   ---------------    GERMAN INCOME TAX SUPPLEMENT   LYNNE WEIL   BONN@   Germans are facing a special income tax supplement this year;to help pay for the rebuilding of the former East Germany.<   As of the start of the new year, all Germans must pay an@additional seven and one half percent surcharge on their incometax.3   This so-called "solidarity tax" is to cover the=higher-than-expected costs of bringing Eastern Germany up towestern standards.?   Four years after unification, roads and utilities are still@being built in the east.  In places where the unemployment rate@is high because of factories closing down, social programs needextra support.@   The tax surcharge is aggravating the east-west psychologicalAsplit in Germany, sometimes called "the Berlin Wall in the heads
of Germans."?   Germans grumbled less when the government imposed its first="solidarity tax" in 1991 and promised it would be a one-year'sacrifice to help pay for unification.A   Bringing the tax back, the government is making  no  promises'this time about how long it will last.?   Business leaders say if it becomes a permanent surcharge onAincome it will severely depress consumer spending, which in turn;could damage Germany's attempts to recover from recession.   ---------------   ---------------4   PROFILE: FERNANDO H. CARDOSO PRESIDENT OF BRAZIL   ROGER WILKISON   RIO DE JANEIROA   Fernando Henrique Cardoso, the 63-year-old sociologist turned<politician who took over Sunday as Brazil's 28th president,@assumes office at a time when his country appears headed toward9economic stability. But, Mr. Cardoso acknowledged in hisAinaugural speech that his main task will be to reduce the social=disparities that have long afflicted Latin America's biggestnation.@   Mr. Cardoso's election last October was de to the success of;the stabilization plan he oversaw while serving as finance=minister under his predecessor, Itamar Franco.  The program,Bwhich went into effect last July after he had resigned to run forBthe presidency, lowered Brazil's monthly inflation rate from near(50% in June to two per cent last month.@   In order to make sure that hyperinflation disappears foreverBfrom the Brazilian scene, the new president aims to push hard for<constitutional reforms that will overhaul the nation's tax,Awelfare and budget systems.  He also wants to eliminate barriersAagainst foreign investment and spur privatization of inefficient@state-owned enterprises.  To that end, he has built a coalition@that will give him a majority in congress.  But he will have toBuse all of his considerable political skills to get those reforms
approved.@   Though the elimination of inflation and the modernization ofBBrazil's unwieldy government apparatus may be his immediate aims,;mr. Cardoso made it clear in his inaugural speech that his?four-year administration's main priority will be the fight forsocial justice.<   Two fifths of Brazil's 150 million people live below the>poverty line and half of them go to bed hungry at night.  The?United Nations says Brazil has one of the worst income gaps in?the world, with the top 20 per cent earning 36 times more than;the bottom fifth.  The new president said that, if it wereBnecessary, he would not shrink from ending the privileges enjoyedAby a few Brazilians in order to benefit the huge majority of thepopulation.B   Fernando Henrique Cardoso was born on June 19, 1931, and spentBmost of his life in Sao Paulo, Brazil's biggest city.  He studied?sociology at Sao Paulo University and later became a professorBthere.  When the military took over Brazil in 1964, Mr. Cardoso's>leftist views got him into trouble, and he went into exile inAchile.  Four years later, he returned to Brazil to found a thinkBtank (research institute) and teach political science at his alma?mater.  The multi-lingual professor, he speaks English, French:and Spanish as well as Portuguese, also taught at several0European, Latin American and U.S. universities.;   Mr. Cardoso went into politics in the mid-1970s but wasAunsuccessful in running for office until he won a senate seat inA1986, the year after democracy was restored.  A social democrat,AMr. Cardoso soon became a leading voice on foreign affairs.  His<network of world-wide contacts inspired President Franco to=appoint him foreign minister in 1992. The following year, he=moved to the finance ministry.  It was there that the former=leftist turned pragmatist was to oversee the creation of the;successful stabilization program that restored Brazilians'(optimism and got him elected president.   ---------------   ---------------    SAUDI ARABIA'S BUDGET CRISIS   KIM REID	   CAIRO@   Saudi Arabia, stung by low oil prices and lingering costs of=the 1991 war over Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, has slashed itsBfederal budget for a second year in a row. The Persian Gulf state=hopes the move will restore fiscal health in the next two to
three years.B   The world's leading oil producer and exporter has run up a lot@of debts lately, including sixty billion dollars for the allied>effort to liberate Kuwait from Iraqi occupation in 1991. ThatBprice tag, coupled with a five-year slump in oil prices, left the?Saudi monarchy with a national debt of more than forty billiondollars in 1994.B   Saudi Arabia cut back on its generous welfare system to reduce?its budget by 20 percent last year, but it wasn't enough.  The@government plans to cut the 1995 budget by another six percent,?hoping to bring the deficit down to fifteen billion dollars bythe end of the year.A   Saudi citizens will be painfully aware of the budget changes.BThe government has raised prices of both electricity and gasoline8to raise revenue.  Gasoline will cost nearly double, at@seven-point-two cents a liter.  That is still thought to be the(lowest price for gasoline in the world.A   A large portion of the new budget will be spent on education,>health and other social projects.  Diplomats say this type of=spending is crucial to head off popular unrest felt in other<parts of the Islamic world, some say, even in Saudi Arabia.   ---------------   ---------------2   SAUDI ARABIAN FORCES ATTACK YEMENI BORDER POST   KIM REID	   CAIROB   Yemeni officials say Saudi Arabia has attacked a Yemeni border?post in the disputed northern frontier area.  The officials in6Yemen's capital, Sanaa, say there were no casualties.>   Yemen says Saudi army patrols attacked one of its camps on=Sunday in the northwestern province of Saada on the Red Sea.3Saudi Arabia has not commented about the incident.>   Yemen says the two sides clashed in the same area in earlyADecember.  It says three Yemeni officers were killed.  The Sanaa;government claims Saudi Arabia has built illegal roads andobservation posts in the area.B   The friction between the two sides stems from Yemeni claims of?sovereignty over three Saudi Arabian provinces.  The provincesBwere signed over to Saudi Arabia in a 1934 treaty with Yemen. But@Yemen wants the territory back.  It says the treaty has expired and it will not sign a new one.?   Yemeni and Saudi officials have met over the past year, but7have failed to resolve the dispute.  Relations between?negotiators have also been strained because of Saudia Arabia's?indirect support of the secessionist south in the Yemeni civil?war. Northern Yemeni forces triumphed in the two-month battle,which ended last July.   ---------------   ---------------'   IRANIAN BANNING OF SATELLITE DISHES   KIM REID	   CAIROB   The Iranian government is one step closer to banning satellite@dishes throughout Iran. The Iranian parliament passed the final:parts of a bill that would make satellite dishes illegal.<   Muslim clerics in Iran have waged a long campaign to get:foreign broadcasts off Iranian televisions.  They say theAproliferation of satellite dishes in their country is corrupting:the society, exposing its youth to immoral and un-Islamicstandards.@   A bill to ban the dishes is scheduled to become law within a@week.  The law would give Iranian citizens one month to get ridAof the satellite equipment, or risk its confiscation and a heavyfine.A   Satellite dishes are so popular that many Iranians have begun<to emulate the hair styles and fashions they see on western@broadcasts.  Day-to-day conversation often centers on a foreign.drama watched via satellite the night before.@   The satellite phenomenon is an open affront to Iran's purist<Shia Islamic government.  Fifteen years ago, Shia religious7figures revolted against Shah Mohammad Rheza Pahlavi's@pro-western government and pledged to banish western immoralityfrom Iran forever.B   Iranian television today consists mostly of religious programs?and state-controlled news reports.  The programming is clearlyBnot to everyone's liking.  In Tehran alone it is estimated that a2quarter of a million people own satellite dishes.   ---------------   ---------------D   EX-FINANCE CHAIR SAYS THERE WON'T BE TAX RELIEF FOR MIDDLE CLASS   VICTOR BEATTIE   WASHINGTON@   The outgoing chairman of the U.S. Senate's finance committee@says there will be no tax relief for middle income Americans inA1995.  Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, during a U.S. television<interview, says despite competing Democratic and Republican>tax-cut proposals, lawmakers will be unable to find the money without increasing the deficit.@   Senator Moynihan says tax relief for middle-income Americans?may be politically popular but it is bad policy if it enlarges
the deficit.?   Speaking before the new Republican-dominated 104th Congress9convenes next Wednesday, the New York Democrat cited the@difficulty Congress had coming up with the money to pay for thenew world trade accord:B   "We went through hell's own time finding 11-point-nine billion9dollars to pay for the Uruguay Round, the most important<culminating trade agreement of 60 years of American foreign=policy.  We had to have a post-election session and it was a"near-run thing right to the end."?   That money was aimed at making up lost revenue from reduced=import tariffs.  Mr. Moynihan says how will Congress pay forB30-billion dollars more in tax relief.  He predicts there will beno tax cut this year.B   Senator Moynihan also believes President Clinton's handling of8the economy will result in his re-election in 1996.  He?acknowledges Mr. Clinton had a bad year in 1994 trying, in theAsenator's view, to increase the size of government.  But the New?York democratic lawmaker suggests Mr. Clinton has learned fromhis mistakes.   ---------------   ---------------0   EGYPT CONTINUES TO ALLOW FEMALE CIRCUMCISION   KIM REID	   CAIRO@   During the international population conference in Cairo last=September, Egyptian officials pledged to bring an end to theApractice of female circumcision.  However, because of opposition?from conservative religious groups in Egypt, the government is>backing down on its earlier promise, and is even allowing the5procedure to be carried out in government hospitals.;   Many Egyptian girls face something that seems alien and@shocking to people living outside the Middle East: The practiceof female circumcision.9   An estimated 80-percent of Egyptian girls, Muslim and@Christian, undergo the procedure, in which some or all of their<outer genitalia is removed.  This is thought to guarantee a@woman's chastity later in life, by denying her sexual pleasure.A   According to Egypt's most prominent family planning activist,?Aziza Hussein, who has been fighting to eradicate the practicefor more than a decade:>   "It's an old tradition that has been going on, and it gets>covered up by any kind of religious justification, especially?that it is thought that it really preserves a girl's chastity.That is the worst part of it."@   Ms. Hussein says most of her efforts were low-profile before1the U.N. population conference three months ago.A   A western television broadcast during the conference showed a8village barber cutting off the genitalia of a screaming10-year-old girl.=   The broadcast embarrassed Egyptian officials during their=shining moment as the U.N. conference host country.  Egypt'sApopulation minister Maher Mahran quickly made a public pledge to4women's groups at the meeting to stop the practice.B   But as the glare of international media coverage has faded, so?too, has Egyptian resolve to halt a practice that is so deeply$ingrained in the country's culture.6   Minister Mahran has run into stiff opposition fromBconservative Muslim clerics who say this is a matter for familiesto decide.@   The Egyptian health ministry took a different tack.  It says@banning the practice would only drive it underground, and cause>more illegal, unsanitary operations.  The government passed aAdecree ordering government hospitals to perform the circumcision=operation for free, one day a week, for anyone who wants it.@   Egypt's New Women's Association is suing the government over1the order, but lawsuits in Egypt can take years.>   In the meantime, Ms. Hussein says her group will fight the*order with a high-powered media campaign:@   "We're going to push for a law to prevent this, at least for=young children.  At least that.  And we'll continue with ourBeducation.  We will intensify our education, we'll use the media,>we'll just have tremendous confrontation with this approach."=   Despite the odds against her, Ms. Hussein says she is not>discouraged.  She says women's groups were not  able to fight?female circumcision so openly until the recent U.N. population'conference in Cairo gave them a voice.   ---------------   ---------------,   WORLD BANK REPORT GNP OF VARIOUS NATIONS   ART CHIMES   WASHINGTON<   The World Bank says per capita income in Mozambique, theAworld's poorest country, was up 15 percent in 1993, but it stillAaverages only 80 dollars a year. The latest figures show many of@the world's poorest countries are still in Africa and Asia, andthey remain desperately poor.B   The newly-published "World Bank Atlas" compares statistics forBmore than 200 countries and territories for 1993, the most recent&year for which figures are available.A   The other countries with gross national product per capita ofA200 dollars or less are Ethiopia, Tanzania, Sierra Leone, Nepal,3Bhutan, Vietnam, Burundi, Uganda, Chad and Rwanda.A   At the other extreme, Switzerland tops the list of per capita@GNP, at more than $36,000.  The United States is seventh on the=list, but the World Bank says Americans have more purchasing=power than residents of any other country.  Although GNP per9capita here ($24,750) is lower than six other countries,0Americans pay less for many goods and services.B   The World Bank Atlas is not just about economic measures.  The=report compares life expectancy at birth, using figures from>1992.  That is highest in Japan, where the average person can8expect to live to be 79 years old.  And it is lowest inBGuinea-Bissau, where the typical newborn will live only 39 years,8less than half as long.  The study also compares infant>mortality, a key measure of public health.  The lowest infantBmortality rates (also from 1992) are in Ireland, Japan, Singapore@and Sweden, with five deaths per one thousand live births.  TheBhighest rates were in Afghanistan and Mozambique, with 162 deathsper thousand births.;   On environmental measures, the World Bank study shows a?decrease in forest land across Latin America, Africa and Asia,1signaling continued concern about deforestation.;   The World Bank Atlas has tables of dry numbers, but theAstatistics really come to life in a series of colorful maps.  On>page after page the color representing the lowest income, theAhighest population growth or the lowest level of literacy is the<dominant color of Africa.  It is a pattern that development'experts have had a hard time changing.   ---------------   ---------------G   GIA CLAIM RESPONSIBILITY FOR KILLING OF CATHOLIC PRIESTS IN ALGERIA   KIM REID	   CAIRO;   The radical armed Islamic group or GIA (pron. Jeeya) in>Algeria has claimed responsibility for the killing Tuesday of@four Catholic priests.  The group says the attack was to avenge?the killing of four Islamic group members who hijacked a planefrom Algeria to France.?   The armed Islamic group's assertion that it killed the four:priests was not unexpected.  The priests, including threeBFrenchman and one Belgian, were gunned down in their residence in;the town of Tizi-Ouzou, 65 kilometers west of the Algerian	capital.A   The attack happened just a day after French gendarmes stormed>a plane in marseilles, where the air France jetliner had been9allowed to land after being hijacked in Algeria.  French@officials say their security forces foiled the terrorists' plan!to blow up the plane over Paris.B   The attack in Algeria confirms French fears that GIA will stepBup its campaign of violence against French nationals as a form ofBretaliation.  Dozens of foreigners have already died in the fight:between the Algerian military and militant groups bent onestablishing an Islamic state.A   But political observers fear the hijacking and the killing of:the priests could signal a new, even bloodier chapter for=Algeria. An estimated 11,000 people have already died in the?conflict, which started two years ago when the military called9off elections that the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) wasconsidered very likely to win.   ---------------   ---------------   CEO COMPENSATION   BRECK ARDERY   NEW YORKB   A new study was released Wednesday of the compensation awardedBU.S. business leaders, and it shows chief executives of financial!services firms earning the most.:   The survey, which covers 1993, the last year for which@complete information is available, shows that the median annual>compensation for the heads of financial services companies is@one-million 94-thousand dollars. These high earners include the/heads of investment banks and brokerage firms.>   It was the first time in the 31-year history of the surveyBthat the median pay for top executives in any industry has toppedone million dollars.A   The conference board, a private business research group which>conducted the study, says the reason for the high pay is thatAfinancial services executives receive much of their compensationBin the form of annual bonuses.  The size of the bonuses is linked@to the company's performance and 1993 was generally a good year3for most financial brokerage and investment firms.@   Median compensation in other industries ranges from $907,000Bfor the heads of communications companies to $572,000 dollars for'the chief executives at utility firms.>   Total compensation includes not just cash salary, but also9bonuses as well as stock options in which executives are?sometimes given rights to buy stock in their companies at lessthan market value.   ---------------   ---------------(   FINANCING FEDERAL ELECTION CAMPAIGNS   MARILYN SILVEY   WASHINGTONB   The members of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives to@be sworn in soon (January 4) spent a tremendous amount of money?to get elected.  Figures just released by the Federal Election>Commission show, for example, that the median amount spent by;candidates who were elected, or re-elected to the House of'Representatives was $220,000 per seat.=   For its first 200 years, the United States had only a few?rules governing campaign financing.  That changed in the earlyB1970s, aided by the Watergate scandal.  That scandal, the largest?in American history, involved in part illegal donations to the9Republican Party by oil, airline and other corporations.@   After that, Congress passed several major laws regarding how:federal campaigns are financed, and established a federal@election commission to enforce them.  One law allows government=funds to be given to presidential nominees. In 1992, the twoBmajor party candidates each received 50-million-dollars.  Partial?public funding is also available to candidates in presidential?primary elections in the form of matching funds.  That is, theAgovernment matches some of the money contributed by individuals.?   Federal Election Commission Chairman Trevor Potter explainswhy that law was passed:?   "The purpose of this system was (is) to allow candidates toBspend more time campaigning and less time raising money, and alsoAto ensure that large amounts of private money were not placed in<the presidential system.  The concern had been that wealthy=individuals or corporate or labor interests would be able todominate the system."?   Another U.S. law sets limits on how much an individual or a?group may contribute to candidates for president and congress.>It applies to any type of contribution, goods and services as?well as money.  Individuals are restricted to giving $1000 per<candidate, per election, and $25,000 total in any one year.=   Still another law requires every candidate to file public@reports listing all contributions of more than $200 and how themoney is spent.<   But, unlike many countries, the United States has no lawAsetting a limit on how much money a candidate for federal officemay spend on the campaign.A   Congress passed just such a law, but Mr. Potter explains thatAthe supreme court declared it unconstitutional, citing the first=amendment to the U.S. constitution's guarantee of freedom ofspeech:A   "The supreme court in 1976, said, 'you can't do that, because=campaign spending is a form of political speech, and if it's?political speech, then the government can't regulate it except@under the most narrow conditions.' so many of the controversies=we've had in this country, and continue to have, over who is9spending and so forth, come from the fact that the first;amendment guarantees people the right of political speech,6essentially unfettered from government interference."?   Obviously, it is far easier for people already in office toAraise campaign money than for challengers to do so. As a result,@incumbents in general spend a lot more, since they have more toBspend.  All incumbent candidates, both democratic and Republican,=reported receiving more than fifty percent of their campaign<funds from political action committees, formed primarily byAcorporations, labor unions and other groups to collect voluntarycontributions from members.?   Increasingly, challengers are spending quite a bit of their5own money on their campaigns.  In the last election,7newly-elected Democratic Party members of the House ofARepresentatives reported that personal funds financed 19 percent?of their campaigns, and Republicans reported 23 percent, while<incumbents reported spending no personal funds at all.  One;senate candidate, California Republican challenger Michael<Huffington, spent 27-point-eight million dollars of his ownmoney, and still lost.B   Mr. Potter says that financing elections in a democracy can be@done successfully using either government or private funds or acombination of both:?   "What's important is that you have adequate opportunity forBthe candidates to meet the voters and for voters to know who they>are, whether those are publicly-sponsored debates, as we have@privately-sponsored debates, television commercials, time givenAto the political parties and then parceled among the candidates,Bas many countries have, I think what's important is that there beAsufficient exposure of the candidates to the voters that you can0have a debate and discussion at election time."A   Although incumbent candidates are generally better known thanAchallengers, and generally spend more money, the recent nationalBU.S. election showed that it takes more than recognition or moneyto stay in office.=   The U.S. Federal Elections Commission has just issued the<largest penalty in history for campaign law violations. The<Prudential securities corporation agreed to pay $550,000 to:settle an investigation of illegal corporate fund raising;activities.  The commission said Prudential had engaged in5"organized fund-raising efforts," which are illegal.=   Nearly 20 years ago, the U.S. Congress passed new federal?election laws limiting how much money an individual or a group<may contribute to candidates for president and for the U.S.)Senate and the House of Representatives.B   Individuals are restricted to giving $1,000 per candidate, perAelection, and $25,000 total in any one year.  Contributions from;foreign nationals are prohibited, and also from government:contractors. Corporations and labor organizations may not>contribute directly, but these groups are permitted to set up6'political action committees' which collect voluntary?contributions from members and make financial contributions toBcandidates.  There is no limit on the total amount that politicalaction committees may give.@   Another law requires every candidate to file reports listing@all contributions of more than $200 and how the money is spent.BIt may not be spent for personal use. These reports are availableAto the public and are often carefully checked by the press, with@some newspapers publishing the complete list of contributors to)local candidates, and the amounts given.A   Anyone may file a complaint against a candidate if it appears8a violation of the law has occurred.  Federal ElectionsACommission Chairman Trevor Potter says many complaints are filedeach year:A   "In an election year, up to 300.  In a non-election year, farBfewer, because it tends to be a self-policing system, which means=that if you do something wrong, your opponent notices it and@complains, or the opposition party does.  It tends to come from@somebody on the other side of the political fence, whether it's>the candidate or the opposition party or sometimes a watchdog?group,  there are a variety of public citizen type groups thatApay attention to election spending, and if they think there is a$pattern, they'll file a complaint."?   When a complaint is filed, the Federal Elections Commission:must investigate whether a violation of the election laws@occurred, and make its findings public. Mr. Potter says many of<the violations are minor and, in the commission's view, notBintentional, and only result in a small fine.  For example, if an4advertisement does not state on it who paid for it.;   But Potter points out there are also larger violations:?   "Deliberate attempts to break the law, or very large-scale,=potentially illegal contributions, say by corporations or by>executives who are being reimbursed by their corporation.  InAthat situation, we'll have a full investigation and often a verysubstantial penalty."B   That's what happened with Prudential Securities, Incorporated.>Basically, the Federal Elections Commission investigated, and=found that the firm's fund raising activities often involvedAusing corporate resources and personnel to solicit contributionsBfrom colleagues and from employees at other securities firms. The=commission said it believed the violations were "knowing andAwillful" because prudential was involved in a similar case a fewyears ago, and was fined then.@   Should someone refuse to pay a fine, the commission can take(them to court, but that rarely happens.?   The Federal Elections Commission itself is small, about 300=employees.  In addition to policing the election laws set byBCongress, it seeks to be customer-friendly, putting out brochuresAand guides, maintaining a toll-free telephone line for answeringAquestions, and conducting seminars around the country to explain8campaign laws to prospective candidates.  There are six>commissioners, three from each major political party, who are6appointed by the president and serve staggered terms.@   Federal campaign reforms are often proposed.  But Mr. Potter:says that most Americans are not very concerned about thecampaign financing system:?   "If you say, 'what are the most important issues facing theBcountry?' and just leave it open, campaign finance reform doesn't?register; it's way down there.  People say 'welfare reform' or>'health care' or 'national security' or 'jobs.'  but it isn't+something that comes immediately to mind."@   Federal Election Commission Chairman Trevor Potter says U.S.@history shows that most campaign election reforms occur after aBmajor scandal.  So until one occurs, he expects Congress will notchange the present laws.   ---------------   ---------------0   ISRAEL RETURNS ARCHAEOLOGICAL FINDS TO EGYPT   PATRICIA GOLAN
   JERUSALEMB   Israel has handed back to Egypt the last of the archaeological>finds it excavated during its 15-year occupation of the Sinai?Peninsula. This is the first time a state has returned so many<antiquities to their country of origin after being taken orexcavated.A   The 800 cartons being shipped back to Egypt contain artifactsBuncovered by Israeli archaeologists during the Israeli occupation@of the Sinai, the desert peninsula which links Africa and Asia,9and which for centuries lay on the crossroads of ancient>civilizations.  The artifacts include pottery, glass objects,=jewelry, flint stones and hundreds of gold and silver coins.>   A spokesman for the Israeli antiquities authority says theBagreement to return the artifacts was reached two years ago after<years of negotiations following the 1979 Israel-Egypt peacetreaty.<   The head of the Egyptian supreme archaeological council,=Muhamed Abdel-Halim Noureddin, led a 12-member delegation to<Israel for the handing-over ceremony, which was held in the&Rockefeller Museum in East Jerusalem.9   Mr. Noureddin said Egypt was hoping to persuade otherAcountries to return Egyptian artifacts, the British museum alone(has a considerable Egyptian collection:4   "This is a very delicate matter, politically andAarchaeologically, so we are trying to contact some countries forBcertain objects and we will see how will be the response.  So far3we did not get good reaction from some countries."@   Israel has asked the Egyptian authorities to lend back those>artifacts which have a specifically Jewish character, such as<third century Byzantine oil lamps with Hebrew inscriptions.B   Israeli archaeologist Avi Avganim, who studied the finds, says.he is happy they are being returned to Egypt::   "Beautiful finds but the scientific value is much more!important than the find itself."=   Other Israeli archaeologists at the ceremony said IsraeliBscientists should be given credit for research they did following=the excavations.  Head Egyptian archaeologist Noureddin said;Egyptian archaeologists  are ready to cooperate with theirAIsraeli colleagues in the future.  What you published is in your@name, he said, what we publish will be in our name, and perhaps!some day we'll publish together.   ---------------   ---------------    RUBBER DUCKY RESEARCH UPDATE   KEMING KUO   WASHINGTONB   Most of us think of rubber or plastic ducks as bathtub toys we>played with as kids.  But some toy ducks have become a usefulpart of some serious research.B   Nearly three years ago, 29,000 bathtub toys, including lots of>rubber ducks, fell from a cargo ship container into the northBPacific Ocean.  That accident, dubbed "the quack heard around theBworld," actually has proved to be helpful for scientists studyingAocean currents. Ten months after the toys fell into an area near@the International Date Line, the yellow ducks, blue turtles and@green frogs began showing up on beaches in southeastern Alaska.AIn the following months, 400 toys were sighted along the gulf of@Alaska, allowing scientists to trace ocean and wind currents in
the area.@   This isn't the first time that a cargo accident has proved a=boon for researchers.  Five years ago, a load of 60,000 Nike?athletic shoes spilled into the same area.  But scientists say?the toy ducks are better test subjects, because they bob above?the water surface, leaving them susceptible to wind as well as>ocean currents.  Where will the toys go next?  Oceanographers@predict some will pass through the Bering Strait and make their?way into the arctic ocean, over the North Pole, and eventually#end up in the north Atlantic Ocean   ---------------   ---------------   HANTAVIRUS SPREADS   NANCY STEINBACH   WASHINGTONB   An Australian man visiting the eastern United States last year:was infected by the hantavirus.  It causes a very serious
sickness.B   The hantavirus leads to hantavirus pulmonary syndrome.  It was.first recognized in the United States in May,@nineteen-ninety-three.  Since then, the hantavirus has infected>at least 95 people in 21 states.  About fifty died.  American=health officials say that makes it one of the most dangerous.viruses ever recognized in the United States.A   The disease first appeared last year among the Navajo Indians>in the southwestern states of New Mexico and Arizona.  Health@officials learned it was carried by deer mice.  They said there?was a huge increase in the number of deer mice born that year.BPeople become infected with the hantavirus by breathing dust from&the dried waste of the infected mice.@   Signs of the sickness include high fever, headache and pains<in muscles and joints.  The virus destroys lung tissue very>quickly. The victim soon may be unable to breath.  But people!treated immediately can survive.B   The Australian man infected in the United States last year wasBtreated successfully.  He returned home.  His doctors thought his;sickness was caused by the hantavirus.  But they could not?confirm it until he returned to the United States recently and>they tested his blood.  The doctors now think he was infected;when he spent several days walking in the mountains in theeastern state of Virginia.@   Scientists from the centers for disease control and national@park service workers have been testing mice found in that area.AOther nearby areas will be tested next year.  Tests already have5discovered fourteen mice with the virus in Virginia.@   Earlier this month, researchers in the northeastern state of@New York said the hantavirus was responsible for the death of aAlocal man last January.  The researchers found the hantavirus in=the white footed mouse, a mouse common in the eastern United=States. Until now, the deer mouse was the only kind of mousethought to carry the disease.>   Health experts say infected mice probably will be found in?many parts of the country.  One expert said, however, that theBhantavirus should be of concern only in areas with a lot of mice.   ---------------   ---------------%   STUDY SAYS U.S. SCHOOLS IMPROVING   MARILYN SILVEY   WASHINGTONA   There is ongoing discussion in the United States over student>achievement and what contributes to it.  In the midst of many=pessimistic studies of how American schools and families arehurting young people.@   A new study takes a much brighter view than most of American8students' gains, especially minority students. The randBcorporation, an independent, non-profit institution, says student@math and reading performance actually improved between 1970 andA1990 as measured by test scores, and the biggest gains were made>by black and Hispanic students.  The gap between minority andBwhite students is still present, but "has narrowed considerably,"the study says.>   The two-year rand study suggests that increased government?funding for education, including early education and nutritionBprograms for poor children, is paying off.  The study says familyBchanges may also be helping boost student achievement, especially=smaller family size and the increasing education of parents.?   David Grissmer, who led the study, says black families showthe most change:;   "We find that, as far as parental education goes, blackBparents made greater gains in education than whites, (and) familysize declined more."@   The study concluded that two trends that worry educators, an?increase in working mothers and an increase in single mothers,;have no significant effect when considered alone.  However9poverty, wherever it occurred, made a difference for all
students.@   The rand study is not based on the Scholastic Aptitude Test,Aor SAT, scores, the usual basis of student surveys, but on a setAof standardized tests given by the U.S. Department of Education.   ---------------   ---------------=   TURKEY EXTENDS MANDATE OF US FORCE PROTECTING IRAQI KURDS   AMBERIN ZAMAN
   ANKARAA   The Turkish parliament has voted to extend the mandate of the>U.S. led allied force based in southern Turkey to protect the4Iraqi Kurds from possible attack by Saddam Hussein.A   The 450-member Turkish parliament has extended the mandate ofAthe allied force deployed in two separate bases by a further six?months, with 202 deputies voting in favor of the extension and160 voting against it.B   The U.S. led force is mainly composed of allied aircraft whichBpatrol the safe haven established in northern Iraq in the wake of@the Iraqi Kurds' failed rebellion against Saddam Hussein at theend of the 1990 Gulf War.;   Thousands of Kurds were killed during the uprising, and?millions of others fled to the Turkish and Iranian borders forsafety.@   Their daily flights over the enclave constitute a reassuringBsecurity commitment to the estimated three million Iraqi Kurds of?the western commitment to their security.  But the presence of@foreign troops on Turkish soil has been a source of controversy=here.  Many Turks believe that under western protection, the@Iraqi Kurds are slowly but surely establishing their own state.:   Members of the opposition have used widespread popularAdistrust of the allied presence as a club with which to beat theBgovernment, which they accuse of bowing to western interests. The>main opposition motherland party, which was in power when the=force was first deployed, is now among its foremost critics.@   It is proving increasingly difficult for the government here@in Ankara to convince both a suspicious electorate and the main@opposition parties of the need to maintain the allied force, ifAonly to prevent the influx of Iraqi Kurdish refugees into Turkey(in the event of an attack from Baghdad.   ---------------   ----------------   GOVERNMENT TAKEOVER OF BELGRADE NEWSPAPER   DAVID GOLLUST   STATE DEPARTMENT?   The United States is expressing growing concern about moves<against the independent media by the Yugoslav government in;Belgrade.  The comments were prompted by what amounts to a@government takeover of the independent Belgrade daily newspaper	"Borba."A   The Belgrade authorities effectively took over control of the>independent newspaper last week, by reversing a privatization?deal begun in 1991 and appointing the government's minister of1information as acting director and chief editor.B   The daily, "Borba," was considered the only Belgrade paper not?under the control or influence of the government.  Journalists>from the paper are continuing to try to put out an uncensored;edition of "Borba" circulated in Belgrade and elsewhere by?opposition parties. But the government move is seen as a major1blow to hopes for an independent Yugoslav media.@   Here at the State Department, spokesman Michael McCurry said=the action against "Borba" is only the latest in a series of?government moves to silence independent media, including radioand television outlets.<   McCurry said they come despite government claims that itrespects freedom of speech:>   "These all contradict the federal republic of Yugoslavia's=assurances  that its human rights record would measure up toBinternationally accepted norms. We call upon the Federal Republic?of Yugoslavia to cease all harassment of the independent media=immediately, and to allow those fairly reporting on facts tocontinue their work."B   The State Department also reiterated U.S. support for the U.N.=war crimes tribunal, which is investigating murder and other?rights violations attributed mainly to ethnic Serbs in Bosnia.?   Mr. McCurry said the Serb campaign of "ethnic cleansing" is@continuing, with more than 100 Muslims expelled from an an area?of northeastern Bosnia in recent days. He cited figures by the<U.N. high commissioner for refugees that the overall MuslimApopulation of northern Bosnia has been reduced by 90 per cent inthe last two years.>   The spokesman said no lasting peace and reconciliation are?possible in Bosnia unless those responsible for atrocities areheld accountable.   ---------------   ---------------.   CHINA LOOKS FOR NEW WAYS TO FUND EDUCATION   DAVID DYAR   BEIJINGA   Chinese leaders are looking at new ways to find funds for thecountry's education system.?   China's legislative standing committee is meeting this week?and education is one of the issues the committee is examining.B   Chinese press reports Tuesday quoted legislators as saying theBcountry's local jurisdictions do not have enough money to pay for;the education of hundreds of millions of Chinese students.@Currently many teachers are underpaid, have their salaries paidlate or are not paid at all.A   Current statistics show China is spending less than three perBcent of its gross domestic product on education.  Some members of>the legislature say the government should be forced by law to<spend a set percentage of the country's operating budget oneducation.?   The official Xinhua News Agency says it is now quite commonBfor teachers across the country to go without pay for months at atime.>   One legislator said the country should impose an education;tax. Some schools are being forced to engage in commercial=activities to pay their expenses.  Some of these schools runAfactories or are forced to charge high tuition fees to students.@   Several lawmakers are concerned about the increasing numbersBof private schools opening which charge fees that are well beyondBthe means of most families' incomes.  However, others say privateAschools can help make up gaps in the state funded school system.?   China has a huge number of people who cannot read or write.AMost of them live in the countryside.  Officials have set a goalAto wipe out illiteracy among children under the age of 15 by theAyear 2000, which is part of a United Nations children's program.   ---------------   ---------------   GULF WAR RESULTS IN SALES   ZENNY SADLON   CHICAGOB   The success of American technology during the Persian Gulf War<is helping U.S. defense contractors win overseas customers,@sometimes in seemingly unlikely places. A Czech firm decided to8"buy American" based, at least in part, on the Gulf War
performance.@   Divisions of two big, highly-diversified American companies,?Rockwell International and Allied Signal, won a joint contractArecently to supply flight control and weapons delivery equipmentAto the Czech customer.  This avionics equipment  will be used in;a new fighter plane, the "L-159," being developed by Czech<aircraft manufacturer Aero Vodochody (pron 'vohdoh-khoddy).B   In addition to Rockwell's North American Aircraft Modification:Division and Allied Signal's Government Electronic SystemADivision, one Israeli and two French companies also competed forthe contract.@   Why did Aero Vodochody, one of the world's largest suppliers;of trainer aircraft, choose American manufacturers?  A topAexecutive for one of the successful American contractors credits@the success of American technology during the Persian Gulf war.>   According to Jim Gardner, is vice-president for integrated#avionics systems at Allied Signal:;   "The Gulf War success has been a factor in almost everyAinternational program discussion that I'd been involved in since;that time.  It is a benchmark of performance.  Some of the@capabilities offered by the U.S. Government in that war are notApermitted to be exported to other nations. But selected elements=of that technology are exportable and those are particularly>favored by nations as a benchmark for capability.  So I would1believe that that was at least a consideration."=   There were other reasons why the Czechs selected American@companies as partners for their project.  The Czech Republic isAinterested in joining NATO, so they want equipment that is fully&compatible with NATO defense systems.?   According to Gardner, "The benefits of an American solutionAthat is compatible with other American products yielded benefits<in the Czech republic and it offered further the benefit of>NATO-compatible equipment world-wide should the L-159 be sold outside of the Czech Republic."B   Rockwell and Allied Signal had been competing for the contract<independently of one another for a year-and-a-half.  By the>beginning of 1994, however, only they and the Israeli company)were being considered by Aero Vodochody.<   "The competition ended up pitting two American companiesBfighting between themselves," says Gardner.  "This appeared to usBto be increasingly unwise and defeated the objective of promoting*an American solution for their avionics.";   So Allied Signal decided to enter into discussions with>competitor Rockwell.  Jim Gardner says the two companies felt@offered very strong capabilities that complemented one another"@   "We were not totally competitive but rather we were mutually@compatible.  We then formalized the agreement to jointly pursue=the program at the Farnborough Air Show in great Britain the@first week of September of this year.  We notified the customer:of that teaming at the Farnborough Show and that was very@strongly applauded by the customer and ultimately resulted very#shortly thereafter in this award."=   Although Mr. Gardner says he does not know details of theBnon-American bids presented to the Czech government, he thinks he<does, however, know why the American team won the contract:@   "They viewed the overall architecture of the Rockwell-Allied;Signal solution as being particularly favorable.  And thatBrelates to how the various avionics systems interact in achieving9the attack mission or the flight mission assigned to the>aircraft.  As you know, American corporations are pretty well=known for their software expertise and experience.  It's not;necessarily the hardware, it's the software that makes the@hardware play together that becomes the differentiator and that/is related to the system performance overall."?   First delivery of new L-159 airplanes is scheduled to go to@the Czech air force in 1998.  The project's value, estimated atB200 million dollars, could increase if Aero Vodochody exports theBplane.  Currently the Czech manufacturer is looking for customersin the Pacific Rim.   ---------------   ---------------/   ITT SELLS FINANCE BUSINESS TO DEUTSCHE BANK   BRECK ARDERY   NEW YORK8   ITT, the American-based conglomerate, is selling itsBcommercial finance business to the U.S. division of Deutsche Bank+of Germany for about four billion dollars.8   Deutsche bank of north America is buying ITT's giant<commercial finance company, which concentrates on financing?inventories for major manufacturing companies. In a statement,Bdeutsche bank said the acquisition will boost its secured lending=operations for businesses to more than five billion dollars.B   Analysts say the deal is another indication that ITT is tryingBto restructure its mix of businesses with more emphasis on hotelsAand entertainment. Last week, ITT announced that it will acquire8the Caesars World hotel and gambling casino company for!one-point-seven billion dollars.=   Recently, ITT also bought Madison Square Garden, New York:City's premier sports and entertainment arena. With those>additions, ITT's gaming and entertainment unit is expected to7have annual revenues of more than six billion dollars.   ---------------   ---------------   NEW, MORE DEADLY BULLETS   VICTOR BEATTIE   WASHINGTONB   Two new bullets for handguns awaiting government approval have@rekindled the controversy in the United States over gun control@and violence.  The new products are designed to severely damage/human tissue and penetrate bullet-proof vests.:   The bullets' inventor, chemist David Keen of SignatureAproducts, says the rhino-ammo and the bullet-proof vest-piercingAblack rhino are designed to fragment into thousands of pieces of)tiny shrapnel when they hit human flesh:=   "If a person is shot anywhere we will have a catastrophic?wound and more than likely death will follow instantaneously."9   Mr. Keen insists his product will only be sold to law9enforcement agencies and federally licensed gun dealers.B   Gun-control advocates insist once the rounds are on the market$they will be obtained by criminals.A   Congressman Charles Schumer has joined Senator Daniel Patrick/Moynihan in calling for a ban on such bullets:>   "There is no purpose for them anywhere in society. HuntersAdon't use these bullets, people who do target practice don't usethese bullets."B   Mr. Schumer says he is trying to prevent new technologies that?are destructive.  Even many police officers oppose their sale.<   Federal regulators say the ammunition will not likely be%approved for at least another month.   ---------------   ---------------0   OPPOSITION TO US CLUSTER BOMB SALE TO TURKEY   CHRIS SIMKINS   UNITED NATIONS@   An international human rights organization is calling on the=U.S. Government to deny the sale of cluster bombs to Turkey.>   Human Rights Watch, a private New York-based organization,Bsays the United States should not sell Turkey nearly one thousandcluster bombs.@   The organization believes Turkey would use the bombs, in air@attacks against Kurdish rebel positions in southeastern Turkey.BHuman rights watch claims Turkey has deliberately used other less>sophisticated bombs several times this year in air attacks oncivilian areas.?   The State Department would  not comment on the cluster bomb@sale.  But human rights watch claims Turkey has been pressuring?the U.S. Government for the sale because the weapons have been<approved for export to all NATO countries, along with Saudiarabia and Egypt.@   Military experts say cluster bombs can saturate a large areaBwith smaller bombs that explode, sending metal pieces to at least152 meters in all directions.A   Steve goose, director of the Human Rights Watch Arms Project,@says Turkey would use the cluster bombs to step up its military:campaign against Kurdish rebels and civilian populations::   "Turkey's ground campaign against the "PKK" (KurdistanBWorker's Party) rebels has been marked by human rights violations=and extensive violations of laws of war has been directed in@large part against the civilian population, trying to move themBout of their villages and create free fire zones to fight againstAthe rebels. We are very concerned that they will carry this overAinto their air war and use these cluster bombs in indiscriminate=attacks against "PKK" areas with very grave consequences forcivilians."A   No one was available at the Turkish mission in Washington who0would comment on the pending cluster bomb deal.B   The Human Rights Arms Project says when the cluster bombs wereAused by allied forces during the Persian Gulf War, four thousand9people died after setting off unexploded bomb fragments.B   The U.S. State Department has not yet issued an export license9to the U.S. company that manufactures the cluster bombs.?   The human rights organization says in addition to rejecting?the cluster bomb sale to Turkey, the United States should also9seek written assurances from Turkey that any future arms:transfers will not be used to commit human rights abuses.A   Spokesmen at the State and Defense Departments had no commenton the report.A   The human rights group says since 1984, the war in Turkey hasBclaimed 13,000 lives, with more than half of the deaths coming inthe past year.A   A final decision on the reported eight million dollar sale is>expected to be made by Secretary of State Warren Christopher.   ---------------   ---------------)   LOS ANGELES #1 IN INTERNATIONAL TRADE   ALAN SILVERMAN   LOS ANGELESA   America's second-largest city is claiming the number one spotAin U.S. International trade.  A new trade report showing exports?and imports through Los Angeles ports have surpassed New York.>   International trade volume through the Los Angeles customs=district totaled 106-point-two billion dollars for the first?three quarters of 1994.  That's a 21-percent increase over the>same period in 1993 and, according to the weekly trade report<published by Claremont-McKenna College, almost four billion?dollars ahead of the previous U.S. international trade leader,
New York.A   LA mayor Richard Riordan [rear'-dun] says he is not surprisedAthat global trade through the west coast city is on the upswing:C   "Greater Los Angeles is the tenth biggest economy in the world.>The equivalent of the tenth biggest country in the world.  WeAare the gateway to the far east, latin America and Mexico.  WhatAan incredible place for somebody to do business just out of pureself-interest."B   But LA's biggest booster admits the city has an image problem,Bfueled by riots, mudslides, fires and earthquakes.  Mayor Riordan=complains the media treatment stands in the way of even moreinternational trade links:A   "I think people who are very knowledgeable see Los Angeles as?having rebounded.  However, we still have a media problem with@CNN and other groups who can take any one thing that happens inBLos Angeles and generalize: one murder makes it look like there's?murder all over the city, where in fact, Los Angeles is one ofAthe safest big cities in the world.  Violent crime as a whole is=down over 25-percent.  I think the perception of Los AngelesBgiven by the media, particularly the international media, is muchworse than the reality.";   Total U.S. international trade in goods was 858-billionBdollars during the first nine months of 1994, up some 150-billionAover the previous year, and that's about the same amount importsBexceeded exports.  The '94 trade deficit is running only slightly=behind the record set in 1987.   The U.S. trade imbalance is(greatest with Japan, followed by China.A   Locally, imports also exceed exports through Los Angeles, butBthe Claremont-McKenna Tradeweek figures show the LA trade deficit1almost 15-percent below the same period in 1993.   ---------------   ---------------   SOUTHERN AFRICAN DROUGHT   WILLIAM EAGLE   WASHINGTON?   In southern Africa, a shortage of rain during the usual wet@season is causing anxiety for government officials, farmers andclimatologists.;   Normally, South Africa expects about 750 millimeters of@rainfall during the wet season, which runs from October through=March.  But with things going the way they are, Craig CosignB(koe-sane') says he'd be surprised to see even 80 percent of thatamount.6   Mr. Cosign is a climatologist at the University of@Witswatersand in Johannesburg, South Africa.  He blames the dry<weather on a huge pool of warm water from the Pacific oceancalled el nino (el neen'-yo).=   According to Mr. Cosign (koe-sane'), the ocean current is?driving rain clouds away from southern Africa, and out to sea:?   "The el nino effect has to do with an [ocean] current which@runs off the western South American coast. Usually that current@is fairly cool.  Every now and then, due to unknown causes, theBwater starts becoming warmer.  Now, the one thing you learn about?climatology is that the ocean and the atmosphere are extremelyAinter-linked....And the fact there is warming in the water where8usually the water is cool leads to repercussions in theBatmosphere which displace our band of rainfall to the east of the@country.  So in fact, our rainfall [in South Africa] is falling8over Madagascar and over the Indian ocean, simply put!"@   But what may be good news to farmers in madagascar means bad@news for those in southern Africa.  Already, sparse rainfall is/affecting the region's ability to feed itself.B   Experts say harvests are likely to suffer in several countriesAbelow the 18th parallel, including Botswana, Malawi, Central andBSouthern Mozambique, South Africa, Southern Zambia and Zimbabwbe.:Dry weather is also expected to affect food production in,Swaziland, southeastern Angola and Namibia.?   Southern African countries experiencing more or less normal<rainfall patterns are tanzania, northern zambia and most of Angola and northern Mozambique.@   Some countries are better equipped to handle adverse weatherAconditions than others.  For example, last year's rain shortagesAled to a 600-thousand ton drop in food production in Mozambique.BFood experts say the scenario could be repeated this year, due to(a combination of drought and civil war.A   According to Nicole Manage [man-ahj'], a food expert with the.World Food Program (WFP) in Harare, Zimbabwe:>   We have been over the last six months exporting maize into>Mozambique.  There are certain pockets in Mozambique over theBpast year where you could purchase maize within the country.  But@as far as famine, the alarm bells really haven't rung yet.  You@would tend to see that in a few months. Now is the beginning of>the lean season.  Certainly there are enormous needs, with so?many refugees that have been repatriated from other countries.AThere were close to a million from Malawi who have gone back [to@Mozambique] in the last year, a little under 140 thousand [from>Mozambique] here in Zimbabwe, some in Swaziland as well as in=Zambia. With all those returnees [Mozambique has] very great=strains on [its] economy in some provinces that are normally;already strained without this extra population returning."@   Ms. Manage says, however, the World Food Program is preparedAto help coordinate food relief to the region.  Usually, she saysAthat means importing vegetable oil, soybeans and the supplies of@southern Africa's most popular food crop, maize. Traditionally,8the WFP would buy maize from the region's two main food&suppliers, South Africa and Zimbabwe.:   But Ms. Manage says this year things may be different:;   I think right now, it looks like Zimbabwe has about 936?thousand tons of buffer stock, reserve stock, which represents?approximately five months of supply and they will probably get?some harvest.  They might be able to break even.  South Africa=has the same situation as here, they didn't have their early>rains, so it looks like they will at least break even, but ifBthey do have a surplus it  won't be terribly large. So, the issue>at hand is what to do if both [Zimbabwe and South Africa] are?able to support their own needs,  but don't have a surplus for?export to their neighbors that depend on them.  If there is noBsurplus we'll have to see how else maize could be brought in; the>only other possibility is there may not be a surplus of whiteBmaize, but perhaps we could perhaps yellow, if there is a surplusBof that.  Yellow maize is not well accepted [by consumers] in the?region but it's better to have it from this area than importedAyellow maize which is usually imported from the U.S. or Canada."A   Ms. Manage says it is too early to tell if the dry spell willBturn into a drought.  But she says donor agencies and governments=should make contingency plans.  For example, she says donors<should begin purchasing small stores of maize, which can be+increased as the growing season continues.;   Another food expert says farmers could be supplied withAdrought resistant maize seed.  John Rook is an official with the?U.N. food and agriculture organization in Harare.  He's also aBchief technical advisor to the drought early warning system.  TheAsystem is operated by the southern Africa development community.   According to Mr. Rook:?   "We can't call it drought yet.  If it started raining todayBand it rained consistently for the next two months, then we wouldBsee quite a significant recovery in the harvest levels,  but that@possibility of recovery depends on farmers being able to switch?away from long-maturing varieties to short-maturing varieties.AMost subsistence farmers use their own seed, which is taken from<last year's harvest, and they don't have the flexibility of@adjusting the type of varieties to suit the weather conditions.>They have one variety and that is the type they plant, longermaturing varieties."B   But John Rook says subsistence farmers do not have the cash toBpurchase the improved seed, and will need immediate help from the?donor community.  Better to start now, he says, before the wet!season grows shorter, and dryer.   ---------------   ---------------G   86 TURK ISLAMIC RADICALS CONVICTED OF ARSON FIRE, 37 WRITERS KILLED   AMBERIN ZAMAN
   ANKARAB   A special Turkish court has convicted and sentenced 86 Islamic<radicals accused for setting a fire at a hotel last year in?eastern Turkey.  The fire killed 37 writers and poets who were<considered pro-secularist, or opposed to a government underreligious rule.=   The trial of Islamic radicals, who took part in the arson=attack in the eastern town of Sivas last year was held under>tight security measures with more than 500 security personnel+deployed in and around the court building.@   Twenty-six of the defendants were sentenced to 15 years each=in prison.  Sixty others were sentenced to three year terms.3Another 37 on trial were acquitted of the charges.8   The sentences have provoked a storm of protest among>pro-secular groups here who had billed the trial as a crucialBtest for Turkey's secular credentials.  They accused the court ofBleniency toward the defendants who cursed loudly and hurled their>chairs at the jury and journalists as the sentences were readout.@   In a further blow to the pro-secularist camp, the court also=recommended that charges be brought against Turkey's leading?satirical writer, Aziz Nesin, for insulting the Islamic faith.=   A self-proclaimed atheist, Mr. Nesin became the target ofBfanatic Muslim groups for publishing extracts of Salman Rushdie's("The Satantic Verses" banned in Turkey.@   Mr. Nesin was among those trapped in the hotel in Sivas when@it was set ablaze in July, 1993.  Turkish officials accused Mr.?Nesin at the time of provoking the riot because of a speech heAmade in Sivas in which he said he did not believe in the Islamicholy book, the Koran.B   Commenting on the outcome of the trial, Mr. Nesin said that he<blamed the government for the rise of Islamic radicalism inATurkey.  Pointing to what he termed a marked increase in Islamic@clerical training schools and Koranic courses under the present:government led by prime minister Tansu Ciller, he said he2believed that the situation would only get worse.   ---------------;   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.  It also includes many?features covering such topics as economics, science, medicine,$technology, agriculture, and music.<   Every day, INEWS gathers reports filed by correspondentsBstationed at 26 news bureaus throughout the world.  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