[02] N-Y ECON WRAP (S & L) BY BRECK ARDERY (NEW YORK)

INTRO: Stock prices in the United States were up today (Wednesday) with all major averages closing at record highs. VOA Correspondent Breck Ardery reports from New York.

TEXT: The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 11- thousand 483, up seven points. The Standard and Poor's 500 index closed at 14-hundred-63, up five points. The NASDAQ index gained 69 points to close at four- thousand-41, the first time that index has ever closed above four-thousand. Analysts say that, with trading volume relatively light, the buyers has the upper hand in driving stock market momentum. Many investment managers are believed to be making end-of-the-year adjustments to make sure their funds are holding stocks which have recently done well. An index designed to forecast future U-S economic activity rose three-tenths of one percent in November. Analysts say it is another sign that U-S economic growth will continue next year.

[03] TURKEY / RUSSIAN SHIP (L ONLY) BY AMBERIN ZAMAN (ANKARA)

INTRO: Efforts are underway to clean up a massive oil spill from a Russian tanker that ran aground in Turkey's Bosphorus Strait. Amberin Zaman reports from Ankara that bad weather is being cited as a cause of the mishap.

TEXT: Turkish coast guards workers battled choppy waves and gale force winds to rescue most of the 15 crew members believed to have been on the Russian- flagged ship, the Volga Nest. The Russian tanker ran aground and split in half in the early hours of Wednesday. Turkey's N-T-V television reported five crewmembers remain on board in line with orders they received from Russian authorities. Turkish officials say the ship was carrying about 43- hundred tons of oil, some of which spilled into the narrow waterway that divides Turkey's largest city, Istanbul, between Europe and Asia. The Bosphorus Strait is the only access route to warm water ports for countries bordering the Black Sea - making it one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world. Heavy traffic has led to many accidents, including tanker collisions and fires posing huge safety and environmental risks to Istanbul's 10- million residents. In recent years, Turkish authorities have moved to reduce tanker traffic through the strait, provoking strong protests from Russia. Moscow cites the 1936 Montreux agreement that guarantees the free passage of all commercial traffic through the strait to justify shipping ever-increasing volumes of oil through Turkish waters. At the heart of this debate lies a fierce battle between Turkey and Russia to become the main supply route for vast reserves of Central Asian and Azerbaijani crude oil. Turkey wants the oil to be transported via a proposed pipeline to loading terminals on Turkey's Mediterranean coast. Russia wants the oil to be pumped through an existing pipeline grid that connects former Soviet republics to a Russian Black Sea port from where it would be carried by tankers via the Turkish straits. (Signed)
NEB/AZ/JWH/JP 29-Dec-1999 12:55 PM EDT (29-Dec-1999 1755 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America

[04] YUGOSLAV WAR CRIMES (L-O) BY LAUREN COMITEAU (THE HAGUE)

INTRO: A Bosnian-Serb General says he is not guilty of terrorizing residents during the siege of Sarajevo in the mid-1990'. Lauren Comiteau reports from The Hague, the General, who was arrested by NATO troops last week, pleaded not guilty to all charges against him.

TEXT: 56-year old General Stanislav Galic showed little emotion as the charges against him were read: seven counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity for terrorizing, sniping at, and shelling the residents of Sarajevo. Prosecutors say thousands of people were killed and wounded by troops General Galic commanded. They say the attacks were meant to keep the residents of Sarajevo in a constant state of terror. General Galic is the only person publicly charged for inflicting terror upon a population, including the 1994 marketplace bombing that killed 66-people. The General's indictment was kept secret to facilitate his arrest. NATO-led forces reportedly broke General Galic's car window and dragged him out of it. Today, his defense lawyer Nikola Kostic said such force was not necessary.

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