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Thursday, 15 August 2024
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Voice of America, 00-04-28Voice of America: Selected Articles Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Voice of America <gopher://gopher.voa.gov>CONTENTS
[01] U-N BELGRADE VISIT REACT (L-ONLY) BY BRECK ARDERY (UNITED NATIONS)DATE=4/28/2000TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT NUMBER=2-261812 CONTENT= VOICED AT: INTRO: The president of the United Nations Security Council, Canada's ambassador Robert Fowler, says he was disappointed by a meeting in Belgrade this week (Wednesday) between the U-N ambassadors from China and Russia and Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. V-O-A Correspondent Breck Ardery reports from the United Nations. TEXT: Mr. Fowler says he is disappointed that Russian Ambassador Sergey Lavrov and Chinese representative Shen Guofeng left the Security Council mission to Kosovo to visit with President Milosevic in Belgrade. /// FOWLER ACT ////// END ACT ///NNNN Source: Voice of America [02] BOSNIA / WAR CRIMES (L-ONLY) BY LAUREN COMITEAU (THE HAGUE)DATE=4/28/2000TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT NUMBER=2-261799 CONTENT= VOICED AT: INTRO: A Bosnian Serb former who once commanded a prison camp has pleaded not guilty to all 80 counts of war crimes against him. Dragan Nikolic entered his plea before a judge at the Yugoslav War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague. Lauren Comiteau has this report. TEXT: Dragan Nikolic was the first man ever to
be indicted by the War Crimes Tribunal. That was
six years ago.
On Friday, the 43-year old former aluminum
factory worker pleaded not guilty to all 80
counts of rape, torture, and murder against him -
the highest number of charges brought against any
one person by the court.
Prosecutors say Mr. Nikolic commanded the Susica
detention camp in Eastern Bosnia near Srebrenica,
where as many as 8 thousand non-Serbs passed
through during the five months the camp was open
in 1992.
Mr. Nikolic is charged with murdering eight of
them - two of whom he allegedly clubbed to death
with wooden sticks. He is also accused of raping
four women, torturing several others, and
imprisoning and persecuting at least 500 Muslims.
His arrest by NATO-led troops in Bosnia means the
tribunal now has 39 men in its custody - a sign,
says NATO, that justice is being done. (Signed)
[03] E-U / NINTENDO (L-ONLY) BY RON PEMSTEIN (BRUSSELS)DATE=4/28/2000TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT NUMBER=2-261803 CONTENT= VOICED AT: INTRO: The European Commission, the European Union's executive body, has accused a Japanese video-game maker, Nintendo, and seven of its distributors in Europe of price-fixing. Ron Pemstein reports from Brussels on the possible legal trouble ahead for the video game giant. TEXT: Europeans spend millions every year on video games and the European Commission, according to Competition Commissioner Mario Monti, wants to make sure they are not being swindled. The commission has opened formal legal proceedings against the Japanese video-game maker saying it appears to be in breach of European Union anti-trust rules by artificially keeping prices higher. The commission believes Nintendo and seven importers of its products in Europe operated a cartel to try to partition the European single market. By dividing the market and imposing export bans, Nintendo kept the prices high and prevented Europeans from benefiting from cheaper imports. Mr. Monti's spokesman, Michael Tscherny, says Nintendo appears to have been price-fixing. /// TSCHERNY ACT ////// END ACT ////// TSCHERNY ACT ////// End Act ///NEB/RP/GE/KL 28-Apr-2000 10:20 AM EDT (28-Apr-2000 1420 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America [04] EASTERN EUROPE SUMMIT (L-ONLY) BY STEFAN BOS (SZEKESFEHERVAR, HUNGARY)DATE=4/28/2000TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT NUMBER=2-261811 CONTENT= VOICED AT: INTRO: The presidents of 11 nations in central and eastern Europe have been meeting (today/Friday) in Hungary. The summit talks outside Budapest focused on the prospects for greater European unity, but Stefan Bos reports the leaders of the region's former Communist states are concerned about delays in their attempts to gain membership in the European Union. TEXT: /// SFX: CROWD NOISE--ESTABLISH, FADE UNDER ///// OPT ///// HAVEL / INTERPRETER ACT ////// END ACT ////// REST OPT ////// KUCHMA ACT ////// END ACT ////// MESIC / INTERPRETER ACT ////// END ACT ///NEB/SJB/WTW 28-Apr-2000 16:49 PM EDT (28-Apr-2000 2049 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America [05] NY ECON WRAP (S&L) BY ELAINE JOHANSON (NEW YORK)DATE=4/28/2000TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT NUMBER=2-261813 CONTENT= VOICED AT: INTRO: U-S stock prices were mixed Friday, as inflation and interest-rate concerns lingered for "old economy" investors. V-O-A correspondent Elaine Johanson reports from New York: TEXT: The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 154 points, one-point-four percent, closing at 10- thousand-733. The industrials are down one percent for the week. The Standard and Poor's 500 index dropped 12 points, less than one percent. However, the NASDAQ composite gained over two percent. The technology-weighted index is up six percent for the week. "Blue-chip" stocks continued to feel pressure from inflation fears, following Thursday's larger-than- expected rise in the employment-cost index. Meanwhile, investors in the technology area remained focused on good earnings reports. // OPT ///// HILL ACT ////// END ACT ////// END OPT ////// REST OPT ///NNNN Source: Voice of America [06] FRIDAY'S EDITORIALS BY ANDREW GUTHRIE (WASHINGTON)DATE=4/28/2000TYPE=U-S EDITORIAL DIGEST NUMBER=6-11796 EDITOR=ASSIGNMENTS TELEPHONE=619-3335 INTERNET=YES CONTENT= INTRO: The editorial papers of Friday's U-S dailies are discussing the crackdown on the press in Iran; the Ethiopian famine; Haiti's quest for democracy; and the Mexican presidential election. Domestic topics include comments on the potential breakup of the giant computer software company, Microsoft. Now, here with a closer look and some excerpts is ____________ and today's U-S Editorial Digest. TEXT: The backlash against the victory of reformers in Iran's recent parliamentary elections remains a concern for the U-S press. The papers say that Iran is slipping away from the reform movement that began with the election, two years ago, of a reform-minded president. We begin in Texas, with the Houston Chronicle, which writes: VOICE: A free press is essential to a free and open society and, almost always, to a prosperous society. Yet the hard-liners in Iran, despite the desire of many of their compatriots to reintegrate their country into the society of nations, continue to defy this truism in the name of maintaining strict control. A media crackdown in Iran intensified this past weekend. ... Why does press repression in Iran matter to this country? Even a casual look at the map of the Persian Gulf region and a cursory scan of late 20th century history will show how a more progressive, open, constructive Iran is in American's [and] Iran's interest. TEXT: Turning toward the Horn of Africa and continuing concern over the famine in parts of Ethiopia and neighboring regions, Long Island, New York's, Newsday calls for aid: VOICE: /// OPT /// ... [in] Ethiopia ... nearly ten million people are threatened with starvation after crop failures brought on by a three-year drought. Severe food shortages are facing eight million more people in neighboring countries - - Eritrea, Somalia, Sudan, Djibouti, Kenya and Uganda. /// END OPT /// All the signs -- agricultural failure, war and civil conflicts, cross-border hostilities -- point to a repeat of the scenario that cost more than a million lives in 1985, before a massive international relief effort ended the deaths from hunger. ... There are [however] basic ethical questions involved in aiding these warring nations. What obligations do rich nations have to help if [some of] these [nations] are squandering their meager resources on war instead of helping their own people survive? ... These are valid issues, but they pale beside the urgency of staving off hunger for millions. /// OPT ///TEXT: The Sun in Baltimore agrees that aid should be sent, though admitting that the Ethiopian-Eritrean border war has made the situation worse. VOICE: The United States and non-government agencies should not stint or place conditions. Most of the food needed has been pledged. Relatively little has been delivered. ...[However] short-term aid must be accompanied by strong pressure for a settlement between two countries, whose geography and kinship demand cooperation. Neither the long-term solution nor immediate relief can succeed otherwise. /// END OPT ///TEXT: Domestically, the big topic of the day is the potential break up of the giant computer software company Microsoft, which a federal court found guilty of anti-trust violations. Papers are coming down on both sides of this issue. The New York Times, in affirming the break-up plan, says: VOICE: ... the inconvenient truth is that less drastic remedies are apt to be less effective and might involve government or court officials taking a permanent oversight role in the American software industry, hampering its evolution. TEXT: But the big, national daily USA Today, published in a Washington, D-C suburb, says a breakup of the company is "overkill." VOICE: The thinking is that the applications [software] business, on its own, will offer its products to more operating systems, creating some competition for [Microsoft operating software, universally known as] Windows. Perhaps. But a breakup still is overkill with dubious consumer benefits. It's unlikely to accomplish anything more than what a strict set of conduct remedies - - agreed to by both parties - - would achieve without costly, time- consuming legal wrangling. TEXT: In one other domestic note, the continuing struggle by the courts to keep U-S politics and religion separate, has caused a new controversy. The official state motto of Ohio, "In God, all things are possible," has been ruled unconstitutional by a federal appeals court in Cincinnati. The Los Angeles Times says the court: VOICE: ... waded into a silly little whirlwind of a dispute and got itself twisted up. ... the Ohio motto case goes to a ridiculous extreme. What's next? Should we reprint U-S currency because the bills say, "In God We Trust?" ... The Ohio decision is just the latest legal nonsense-making over religion. TEXT: Back overseas, and to the Caribbean where Haiti's tortuous path toward more democracy is taking another small step, according to Jacksonville's Florida Times-Union, with parliamentary elections next month. VOICE: ...[President Rene] Preval says he will allow parliamentary elections May 21, with runoffs to follow on June 25. That was unexpected. [Mr.] Preval's mentor, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, is running for president in November and, barring a major upset, will be elected by a landslide. Most analysts thought the parliamentary vote would be postponed until then to help [Aristide's] party win a majority of those seats. ... The beleaguered country desperately must hope that those who go to the polls [in May] have the collective wisdom to choose wisely. TEXT: Still with elections, the Mexican presidential vote, coming soon, appears likely to be the freest in seven decades, according to the Dallas Morning News. VOICE: Mexico is undergoing a peaceful rebellion. Its political opposition is making its best attempt ever to erase the dominance of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, which has governed Mexico since 1929. ... No matter the outcome, the process is bound to be good for Mexico, which only in the last decade or so has begun to enjoy the fruits of robust political competition. The rebellion was on display Tuesday night during the first presidential debate of the two-thousand campaign. Vicente Fox of the center- right National Action Party presented a stark choice between his vision of dynamic change and the P-R-I's [Institutional Revolutionary Party] stultifying continuity. ... Yet longtime Mexico handicappers know ... it would be premature to dismiss the ruling party ... TEXT: This is the quarter century anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, and many papers, Boston's Christian Science Monitor among them, are reflecting about that most divisive of conflicts. VOICE: Many Americans, especially those who fought and those who protested, are still divided about a conflict that took over 58-thousand U-S lives. The nation has yet to collectively resolve whether the U-S was fighting communists or nationalists. Was it just a small civil war, with North Vietnam trying to reunite with South Vietnam? Or was it rather a proxy war against Communist China and the Soviet empire? (OPT) TEXT: Lastly, a thought or two from The Augusta [Georgia] Chronicle, on one of the most remarkable finds of recent years in science, the actual fossilized heart of a dinosaur, which has challenged many long-established theories about the giant reptiles. VOICE: For decades conventional wisdom held that these prehistoric creatures, who "ruled' the Earth for many millions more years than humans have, were basically oversized cold-blooded reptiles, whose distant descendants may be crocodiles or lizards. Then this month ... North Carolina researchers found in South Dakota a fossilized, grapefruit-sized heart of a plant-eating dinosaur estimated to have died more than 65 million years ago... Not only was this ... a rare find, it also yielded some highly valuable, and surprising, information. ... the heart was revealed to have had four chambers and an aorta. What this means, say scientists, is that this vegetable-eating dinosaur ... had warm oxygen-rich blood coursing through its veins. It was not an overblown, cold- blooded reptile dependent on the environment for its body heat, but was a warm-blooded mammal, not unlike humans. ... what does all this dinosaur research matter ... well ... what we learn about our ... predecessors and why they inexplicably became extinct may help us protect our own species from suffering a like fate. (END OPT) TEXT: On that note, we conclude this sampling of
comment from the editorial pages of Friday's U-S
press.
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