Voice of America, 00-02-24

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From: The Voice of America <gopher://gopher.voa.gov>

CONTENTS

[01] ALBRIGHT / KOSOVO (L-ONLY) BY KYLE KING (STATE DEPARTMENT)

[02] KOSOVO - DIVIDED CITY BY RON PEMSTEIN (MITROVICA)

[03] TURKEY / KURDS (L-ONLY) BY AMBERIN ZAMAN (ANKARA)

[04] U-S/EUROPE WTO RULING (L-ONLY) BY NICK SIMEONE (WASHINGTON)

[05] SECRETARY OF STATE TO VISIT EUROPE (L-ONLY) BY KYLE KING (STATE DEPARTMENT)

[06] U-S - NORTHERN IRELAND (L-ONLY) BY DEBORAH TATE (WHITE HOUSE)

[07] NY ECON WRAP (S&L) BY ELAINE JOHANSON (NEW YORK)

[08] THURSDAY'S EDITORIALS BY ANDREW GUTHRIE (WASHINGTON)

[01] ALBRIGHT / KOSOVO (L-ONLY) BY KYLE KING (STATE DEPARTMENT)

INTRO: The United States is welcoming France's decision to send more peacekeeping troops to Kosovo, and says additional American forces also may be deployed there. V-O-A's Kyle King reports from the State Department.

TEXT: Secretary of State Madeleine Albright says the recent ethnic violence in Kosovo's troubled northern city of Mitrovica poses a challenge for international peacekeepers. Clashes between Serbs and ethnic Albanians in Mitrovica have left several people dead in the past few weeks, and NATO's commander, General Wesley Clark, has called for additional troops to be sent to the province. France, which already has about four-thousand troops in Kosovo, says it is ready to send an additional 600 or 700. Secretary of State Albright welcomed the announcement, saying it is important for the peacekeeping force, known as K-FOR, to make clear that it is in charge. Ms. Albright says the United States may send additional troops, too, but will be looking to other countries to do so first.

[02] KOSOVO - DIVIDED CITY BY RON PEMSTEIN (MITROVICA)

INTRO: The town of Mitrovica in northern Kosovo is divided between the Serbs, who live north of the Ibar River, and the Albanians who live on the river's south side. Tensions in recent weeks have made those divisions deeper. V-O-A correspondent Ron Pemstein reports from Mitrovica that the plans of NATO and the United Nations to bring the town together face some tough obstacles.

TEXT: The wooden cupboards lining the halls of Mitorvica's technical university have been forced open. Some of them have been split with an axe. Doors of laboratories have had their moldings gouged to open them. Desks have been smashed. These are the physical effects of the search by NATO peacekeepers to find weapons on the north side of Mitrovica where Kosovo's Serbs live. The search found no weapons at the university. Elsewhere on the northern side, the peacekeepers found plastic explosives, rifles and handguns, a grenade, a machine gun and supplies of ammunition. University officials insist nothing was found there despite the damage. ///Opt/// The dean's assistant, Juniya Zivkovic, says students have been staying home since the peacekeepers' search.

[03] TURKEY / KURDS (L-ONLY) BY AMBERIN ZAMAN (ANKARA)

INTRO: A Turkish court has sentenced 18 leaders of the pro-Kurdish People's Democracy Party - known as Hadep - to jail for staging a hunger strike in support of Kurdish separatist leader Abdullah Ocalan. Amberin Zaman in Ankara reports on the continuing legal crackdown on Hadep, Turkey's largest pro-Kurdish party.

TEXT: News of the prison sentences against the Hadep members, including party chairman Ahmet Turan Demir and former chairman Murat Bozlak, coincided with the arrests of three mayors accused of links with Abdullah Ocalan and his outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party, the P-K-K.

[04] U-S/EUROPE WTO RULING (L-ONLY) BY NICK SIMEONE (WASHINGTON)

INTRO: The World Trade Organization has dealt a major setback to the United States, agreeing with the European Union that a U-S tax law gives American companies an unfair trade advantage by allowing them to avoid paying taxes on a wide range of exports. Correspondent Nick Simeone reports the ruling could end up costing American business billions of dollars and further strain cross-Atlantic trade relations.

TEXT: At issue is an obscure provision in American law allowing some of the biggest names in U-S business to channel profits from exports through some well- known off-shore tax havens like The Virgin Islands, Barbados and Guam. In the biggest trade dispute before the body so far, the W-T-O agreed with the European Union that companies such as Microsoft, Boeing and General Motors are taking advantage of what they say amounts to an illegal trade subsidy and avoiding billions of dollars in taxes. The Clinton Administration strongly disagrees, and maintains the Europeans are in effect doing the same thing by waiving the value-added taxes on their own exports. If the W-T-O ruling stands, American business claims it would no longer be competing on a level playing field. Washington lawyer Homer Moyer represents more than 50 American exporters affected by the ruling and argues American businesses have been using the tax shelter to counterbalance the European system.

[05] SECRETARY OF STATE TO VISIT EUROPE (L-ONLY) BY KYLE KING (STATE DEPARTMENT)

INTRO: U-S Secretary of State Madeleine Albright has announced plans to visit the Czech Republic and Bosnia during a week-long European trip that will include stops in Portugal and Belgium. From the State Department, V-O-A's Kyle King reports.

TEXT: Ms. Albright's first stop will be Lisbon, Portugal, where she will take part in the U-S -- European Union ministerial meeting on March 3rd. The Secretary is also expected to meet with Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov for talks likely to include recent developments in Chechnya. Ms. Albright, who was born in Czechoslovakia, will be in Prague from March 5th to the 8th, to take part in celebrations marking the 150th anniversary of the first Czechoslovak President. State Department spokesman James Rubin says Ms. Albright will also visit Bosnia, March 8th and 9th to discuss progress in bringing further unity to the ethnically polarized country.

[06] U-S - NORTHERN IRELAND (L-ONLY) BY DEBORAH TATE (WHITE HOUSE)

INTRO: The top negotiator for the Irish Republican Army's political wing, Sinn Fein, is blaming the crisis in the Northern Ireland peace process on Britain's decision to suspend the province's power- sharing government - a move he denounces as "illegal." Martin McGuinness, in Washington to meet with Clinton administration officials Thursday, says Britain prompted the deadlock by insisting the I-R-A unilaterally disarm. Correspondent Deborah Tate reports from the White House. Text: Mr. McGuinness is criticizing Britain's Secretary for Northern Ireland, Peter Mandelson, for suspending the 72-day-old joint government between Catholics and Protestants earlier this month -- an action taken despite a last-minute I-R-A proposal on disarmament.

[07] NY ECON WRAP (S&L) BY ELAINE JOHANSON (NEW YORK)

INTRO: U-S stock prices were mixed today (Thursday), as selling gripped Wall Street in a highly volatile session. V-O-A correspondent Elaine Johanson reports from New York:

TEXT: The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled more than 250 points before paring its losses in the last hour. The Industrials closed down 133 points, over one percent, at 10-thousand-92. The Standard and Poor's 500 index dropped seven points. Even the technology-weighted Nasdaq composite struggled for footing in a volatile market. The Nasdaq gained one-and-one-half percent, closing at another record high. Analysts said investors are battling an environment of rising interest rates. Federal Reserve Board chairman Alan Greenspan signaled again Wednesday that rates will likely be going up until the U-S economy slows down.

[08] THURSDAY'S EDITORIALS BY ANDREW GUTHRIE (WASHINGTON)

INTRO: The victories by Arizona Senator John McCain over Texas Governor George W. Bush in the presidential primaries in Michigan and Arizona are the major editorial topics this Thursday. There is also comment on China's latest warnings to Taiwan; and comments on the reformers' victory in Iran's parliamentary balloting last week. Rounding out today's topics are editorials on North Korea's missile threat; Northern Ireland's faltering peace process; and the violence in Kosovo. Now, here is __________ with a closer look and some excerpts in today's Editorial Digest.

TEXT: The prevailing view of Tuesday's primary results is that the McCain victories are creating a longer than anticipated, and more hotly contested Republican primary, which is good for the voters. It gives more time for an exposition of the candidate's position on issues. Many papers point out that while John McCain, with his strong appeal to Democratic and independent voters, has proven a much stronger opponent than Governor George Bush anticipated, the remaining primaries are limited, for the most part, to only Republican voters, a factor which should favor Mr. Bush. The Houston Chronicle says the race is raising "interesting questions."

VOICE: The question, of course, is do the non- Republican votes amount to true broad appeal for [Mr.] McCain's message or a sort of sabotage of the integrity of the Republican nominating process. The answer is probably some of both, though maybe more of the latter.

TEXT: Ohio's [Akron] Beacon Journal suggests that: "Republicans find themselves with the right strategy but the wrong man (George W. Bush) to execute it. [Mr.] McCain can form a majority." In California, the San Francisco Chronicle is pleased at the role that state's primary may now play.

VOICE: For the first time since 1972 . the outcome of this state's primary could determine the nominee of a major political party. ... the candidates will be focused on California in the next two weeks. It means that issues of importance to the state - - education, technology development, race relations, abortion rights, the environment - - will get a fuller airing than they received in Iowa, New Hampshire and other early states.

TEXT: The Chicago Tribune breaks down the significance of Tuesday's votes to good and bad news for Republicans.

VOICE: The good news. ... [is] that they've got a candidate ... John McCain ... who appears to have the broad voter appeal needed to recapture the White House. The bad news is that he may not be able to win his party's nomination.

TEXT: In Minnesota, the [Minneapolis] Star Tribune says the problem for Mr. McCain is that:

VOICE: ... most of the important coming fights do not allow crossover votes. So unless he can successfully win the allegiance of more Republicans, ... [his] Michigan victory could be his last moment in the sun - even though national polls show he is the best thing the G-O-P has going to beat Democrat Al Gore.

TEXT: Florida's St. Petersburg Times says of George W. Bush, he:

VOICE: ... began the presidential campaign as a self- proclaimed compassionate conservative who promised to reach out for support beyond the Republican Party's traditional base. Now he's acting as if he's proud of his unpopularity among independents and Democrats ... a strange strategy for success in November.

TEXT: The New York Times, noting that the "odds against Mr. McCain's insurgency . remain formidable," nevertheless suggests that he:

VOICE: ... has spawned a genuinely new phenomenon that could defy the logic of the professionals and keep right on building. Mr. Bush has to figure out how to overcome it or risk being washed away. ... Mr. McCain's success is of a different order than anything seen in many years. ///OPT /// His presence on the ballot is driving voter turnout ... He pulls big crowds that clearly adore him. Their excitement undercuts the conventional wisdom about citizen apathy ... /// END OPT ///

TEXT: Turning to Asian affairs, the latest "white paper" (official statement) from Beijing about Taiwan's eventual reunification with the mainland, by force if necessary, prompts this from Charleston's [South Carolina] Post and Courier.

VOICE: With its unerring sense of bad timing, China has once again stirred up tension over Taiwan at the same time ... it is trying to persuade the world's other nations to let it join the World Trade Organization. The Clinton administration must firmly tell China that its new position on Taiwan is unacceptable, and that the roles of regional bully and peaceful trading partner cannot go together.

TEXT: The San Francisco Chronicle believes that: "China had little to gain with its latest saber- rattling" ... but adds:

VOICE: It makes sense that the United States did not overreact.

TEXT: Still in the Orient, Honolulu's Star Bulletin is worried about North Korea's long-range missile threat.

VOICE: North Korea has issued another statement denouncing the United States for planning to build a missile defense system. The North Koreans are inadvertently providing ammunition [Editors: "support"] for continuing the problem, because North Korea is one of the so-called rogue nations that are the chief threats to launch missiles against this country.

TEXT: To the Middle East, and these thoughts about the reformers' victory in Iran's recent parliamentary elections from today's Dallas Morning News.

VOICE: The victory ... signals that the Islamic nation is sowing seeds of change. It is indeed a historic moment ... [However] ... hard-line elements ...still present serious obstacles to warmer communications. Cautious pragmatism must reign on both sides.

TEXT: As for the deadlock in the Northern Ireland peace process, the New York Times suggests what needs to be done now:

VOICE: The Irish Republican Army should commit itself to resubmitting its disarmament plan in coordination with the restoration of local rule in Northern Ireland. Ulster's leading Protestant politician, David Trimble, should withdraw his threat to resign his party leadership ... Britain can then revive the power-sharing government institutions in Ulster. ... These steps will require political courage all around. But the people of Northern Ireland ... deserve no less.

TEXT: To another trouble spot now, the ethnically divided city of Mitrovica in Yugoslavia's Kosovo province, where escalating violence between Serbs and ethnic Albanians has caused civilian deaths and injuries to NATO peace-keeping troops. The Rocky Mountain News foreign affairs columnist Holger Jensen says the recent events:

VOICE: ... demonstrate the futility of trying to persuade implacably hostile Serbs and Albanians to live together in a multiethnic Kosovo. They also show how ludicrous it is for the Western powers to recognize Serbian sovereignty over a province that is now only five percent Serbian, with 100-thousand Serbs surrounded by two million Albanians who don't want nor recognize rule from Belgrade.

TEXT: Lastly, some good news for lovers of chocolate from today's Orlando Sentinel.

VOICE: Recent headlines touting the health benefits of chocolate were as comforting as an extra-large Three Musketeers bar [Editors: a popular American chocolate candy bar.] ...Could fat, sugar-and calorie- laden chocolate really be good for you? Preliminary research ... offers that hope. The study that University of California researchers conducted suggests that the flavonoids in cocoa ...effectively boost blood flow. [But] before unwrapping another Hershey's bar, chocoholics should read the fine print. Participants in the study consumed only moderate amounts of cocoa, sugar and water - - not the fattier milk chocolate. [And] The study was small ... Only about 40 people participated. Researchers didn't look at the side effects of overindulgence. ... The comfort food may or may not help the heart, but it sure is good for the soul

TEXT: On that note, we conclude this sampling of comments from the editorial pages of Thursday U-S press.
NEB/ANG/KL 24-Feb-2000 11:48 AM EDT (24-Feb-2000 1648 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America

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