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Voice of America, 00-05-11

Voice of America: Selected Articles Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

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


CONTENTS

  • [01] U-N/ KOSOVO REPORT (L-O) BY BARBARA SCHOETZAU (UNITED NATIONS)
  • [02] U-S - KOSOVO (L-ONLY) BY DEBORAH TATE (WHITE HOUSE)
  • [03] U-S/EUROPE MISSILE DEFENSE (L) BY NICK SIMEONE (STATE DEPARTMENT)
  • [04] E-U / ENLARGEMENT (L ONLY) BY RON PEMSTEIN (BRUSSELS)
  • [05] E-U / CHINA TRADE (L-ONLY) BY RON PEMSTEIN (BRUSSELS)
  • [06] POLAND PROGRESS (LO) BY BARRY WOOD (WASHINGTON)
  • [07] NY ECON WRAP (S&L) BY JOE CHAPMAN (NEW YORK)
  • [08] THURSDAY'S EDITORIALS BY ANDREW GUTHRIE (WASHINGTON)

  • [01] U-N/ KOSOVO REPORT (L-O) BY BARBARA SCHOETZAU (UNITED NATIONS)

    DATE=5/11/2000
    TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
    NUMBER=2-262251
    CONTENT=
    VOICED AT:
    /// Eds: See also U-S Kosovo from Tate at the White House. ///

    INTRO: A new U-N Security Council report has again pointed to the need for a special envoy to investigate the issue of detainees and missing persons in Kosovo. Correspondent Barbara Schoetzau reports from the United Nations.

    TEXT: The report is the result of a recent visit to Kosovo by eight members of the Security Council, who traveled to the Serb province to observe the U-N mission. The mission is charged with setting up an interim government and police force, rebuilding the economy and facilitating the return of detainees and missing persons. The report finds a return to normalcy gradually taking hold in Kosovo as economic activities slowly progress. But the report expresses concern about continued violence and discrimination against minorities, particularly Roma and Serbs. One of the major impediments to reconciliation, according to the report, is the issue of missing persons and detainees. The report recommends the Security Council deal with the issue on an urgent basis. The United States' deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, James Cunningham, says the United States supports the appointment of a special envoy to look into the problem.

    /// CUNNINGHAM ACT ///

    We join others in underscoring the problem of the detainees and missing persons. As the mission discovered, this is an emotional and sensitive issue that is blocking progress on inter-ethnic reconciliation. It needs to be addressed on an urgent basis. We strongly support calls for a special envoy to address this issue.

    /// END ACT ///

    On a more optimistic note, the report says the ethnic relations at a local level are less politically charged than they have been and could foster peaceful coexistence. (Signed)
    NEB/NYC/BJS/KBK 11-May-2000 17:16 PM EDT (11-May-2000 2116 UTC)
    NNNN
    Source: Voice of America

    [02] U-S - KOSOVO (L-ONLY) BY DEBORAH TATE (WHITE HOUSE)

    DATE=5/11/2000
    TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
    NUMBER=2-262255
    CONTENT=
    VOICED AT:
    /// EDS: ALSO SEE 2-262251 UN KOSOVO REPORT ///

    INTRO: The Clinton administration is stepping up its criticism of a bipartisan proposal in the Senate to end funding for U-S troops in Kosovo next year unless the next administration wins specific congressional authorization for the operation. U-S officials say the measure sends a dangerous signal to the enemies of peace in Kosovo, and would undercut the progress made in bringing stability to the region. Correspondent Deborah Tate reports from the White House. Text: The proposal would cut off funds for the continued deployment of U-S troops in Kosovo beyond July first of next year, unless the White House obtains congressional authorization to continue the deployment. The measure -- contained in an amendment to the military construction bill and approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee Tuesday -- also requires the administration to develop a plan to shift the full responsibility for providing ground troops in Kosovo to European allies by the same date. With President Clinton's term ending next January, the measure would effectively leave the decision to his successor. The provision reflects the widespread concern among lawmakers about an open-ended deployment of U-S troops in a region where sporadic violence has lingered for nearly a year -- since the end of a NATO bombing campaign that ousted Yugoslav troops from Kosovo. At the White House Thursday, National Security Council spokesman P-J Crowley -- while acknowledging there has been what he called a "less than a perfect picture in Kosovo" - said the Senate proposal sends the wrong signal.

    /// Crowley Act ///

    We do think the legislation sends a dangerous message to (Yugoslav President Slobodan) Milosevic, and potentially undercuts the success of the progress we have experienced thus far in Kosovo.

    /// End Act ///

    Mr. Crowley said the administration is not troubled that a key lawmaker from Mr. Clinton's Democratic Party -- Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia -- was the chief author of the measure, saying there has been both bipartisan support and bipartisan opposition to the Kosovo mission. But he warned that the peacekeeping operation may not be able to continue if the nearly six-thousand Americans who take part in the 37-thousand-strong NATO-led force pull out of the U-N-controlled Yugoslav province.

    /// Crowley Act ///

    To the extent that the purpose of the legislation is to try to encourage our European partners who are providing 85 percent of the troops and the vast majority of support, we just believe this will ... ultimately would be self- defeating, and it undercuts our ability to work with our European partners to make sure that Kosovo gets the international support that it needs.

    /// End Act ///

    But Mr. Crowley's argument was dismissed by Republican Senator John Warner, chairman of the Armed Services Committee, who co-sponsored the amendment with Senator Byrd.

    /// Warner Act ///

    The thrust of the Byrd amendment is not cut and run, not that we are trying to undermine NATO, not that we are turning our back. It is simply saying to the Congress of the United States, and to the next President, "give us a plan."

    /// End Act ///

    Congress never voted or debated the deployment of U-S peacekeeping troops to Kosovo following the end of NATO's air war over Yugoslavia. Senators have made clear the decision to continue U-S participation in the mission is Congress' to make. The full Senate is expected to take up the military authorization bill and its amendment on the Kosovo operation later this month. (signed)
    NEB/DAT/JP 11-May-2000 17:43 PM EDT (11-May-2000 2143 UTC)
    NNNN
    Source: Voice of America

    [03] U-S/EUROPE MISSILE DEFENSE (L) BY NICK SIMEONE (STATE DEPARTMENT)

    DATE=5/11/2000
    TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
    NUMBER=2-262250
    CONTENT=
    VOICED AT:

    INTRO: The French government is following Russia and China in raising concerns about a multi-billion dollar U-S project to deploy a missile defense system that would guard against nuclear attacks by enemy nations. French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine -- whose government takes over as rotating head of the European Union in July -- is expressing the concern of E-U nations directly to senior U-S leaders. Correspondent Nick Simeone reports.

    TEXT: A number of European countries are worried that the proposed missile defense shield as well as U-S efforts to renegotiate the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with Russia could weaken trans-Atlantic defense ties. After a meeting in Washington Thursday with Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, French Foreign Minister Vedrine told reporters his government wants Washington to take Europe's concerns into consideration, including whether missile programs like that of North Korea's really do constitute strategic threats that warrant a re-negotiation of the A-B-M treaty. He spoke through an interpreter.

    /// VEDRINE INTERPRETER ACT ///

    If there were to be any changes in the treaty, if the Russians were to agree to such changes, what we are asking is that the consequences and the effect on the global strategic situation and on other disarmament agreements be taken into account. That is what we are asking for. We have mentioned this on a number of occasions and I know that this is not specifically a French point of view.

    /// END ACT ///

    Russia and China say a system designed to shoot down incoming missiles would pose a threat to their own security and could lead to a renewed arms race. The Clinton Administration has been trying for months to persuade Russia to agree to changes in the A-B-M treaty to allow the system to be deployed while not upsetting negotiations with Moscow on further cuts in both countries nuclear arsenals.

    /// REST OPT ///

    Secretary of State Madeleine Albright seemed to indicate some flexibility in the treaty, but would not say how the United States thinks Russia's concerns can be accommodated.

    /// ALBRIGHT ACT ///

    The Clinton administration regards the A-B-M as the cornerstone of the arms control system and we believe that it can be amended as it has been previously.

    /// END ACT ///

    The French concern about the missile defense system comes just as China's top arms negotiator warned that if President Clinton decides to move ahead with deployment, Beijing may take countermeasures such as producing or deploying more nuclear warheads. (SIGNED)
    NEB/NJS/JP 11-May-2000 16:43 PM EDT (11-May-2000 2043 UTC)
    NNNN
    Source: Voice of America

    [04] E-U / ENLARGEMENT (L ONLY) BY RON PEMSTEIN (BRUSSELS)

    DATE=5/11/2000
    TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
    NUMBER=2-262240
    CONTENT=
    VOICED AT:

    INTRO: The European Union is launching a public relations campaign to encourage support for expansion both in its 15-member-nations and in the 13- countries seeking E-U membership. Correspondent Ron Pemstein reports from Brussels.

    TEXT: The European Union is holding talks on 25-areas of legislation with the most advanced applicant countries. But talks have not started on the four most sensitive topics - agriculture, justice, the free movement of people, and the budget. This has led to an impression that enlargement negotiations are dragging. Countries such as Poland and Hungary are expecting to receive invitations to join the European Union by New Year's Day 2003 or 2004. But they are worried the schedule is falling behind because E-U members are reluctant to make concessions on the difficult topics. European Commissioner for Enlargement Guenter Verheugen says, through an interpreter, that he is satisfied negotiations are on track.

    /// VERHEUGEN ACT W/ INTERPRETER ///

    There are no delays, either intended or accidental. No, quite the contrary, I would have to say that I am very satisfied with the present pace of negotiations that we have been able to maintain this year. This has exceeded my expectations.

    /// END ACT ///

    The Commission may be satisfied with the pace of enlargement. But it is worried about the public relations aspects of nearly doubling the European Union's membership by the middle of the decade. It is launching a publicity campaign in an effort to dispel misapprehensions about enlargement. The Commission plans to spend about 135-million dollars during the next six-years to encourage support. In the 15-member countries, the campaign will concentrate on the reasons the European Union wants to include countries in Central Europe and the Mediterranean and the benefits the new members will bring. In the applicant countries, the themes will include the impact of joining the European Union and what it means for individuals. One of the major concerns about enlargement - is the fear that cheap workers from Central Europe will take jobs away from western Europeans. Employment Commissioner Anna Diamantopoulou says that previous experience with enlargement has shown the impact on the labor market is minimal. She says that when her country, Greece, joined the European Union along with Spain and Portugal, there was the opposite effect. She says emigrants came home because economic conditions improved. E-U member Austria said this week it expects 110- thousand workers from new member countries to emigrate in the five-years after enlargement. It is fears such as these that the European Commission hopes to overcome with an information campaign tailored to the individual countries. (SIGNED)
    NEB/RDP/JWH/RAE 11-May-2000 13:07 PM EDT (11-May-2000 1707 UTC)
    NNNN
    Source: Voice of America

    [05] E-U / CHINA TRADE (L-ONLY) BY RON PEMSTEIN (BRUSSELS)

    DATE=5/11/2000
    TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
    NUMBER=2-262228
    CONTENT=
    VOICED AT:

    INTRO: The European Union's Trade Commissioner leaves Sunday for Beijing, where he hopes to reach an agreement on China's accession to the World Trade Organization, or W-T-O. Ron Pemstein reports from Brussels that the telecommunications business remains a key issue for the European Union.

    TEXT: The European Union is the last major trading partner China needs in order to become a member of the World Trade Organization. China is optimistic, with China's Minister of Foreign Trade saying it will not be long before China joins the W-T-O. The European Union's Trade Commissioner, Pascal Lamy, agrees the negotiations are in the final stages. Mr. Lamy tells reporters before he returns to China that a larger share (of the Chinese market) for Europe's mobile telephone business is a necessity.

    /// Lamy Act ///

    It's a sector where European industry has a real competitive advantage. We probably have around 90 percent of the Chinese market in mobile telecom (telecommunications). We want to consolidate this position. We want the possible stake or share of European joint ventures in China to be increased substantially. The real goal is around 50 percent. There are difficulties there. We are starting from a very low level.

    /// End Act ///

    /// Opt ///

    Commissioner Lamy says Europe wants to maintain its competitive advantage in the telecommunications sector in China. The European Union and China have conducted three rounds of negotiations this year. On his last trip to China in late March, Mr. Lamy left without completing an agreement for China's admission to the World Trade Organization. China has pledged to open its telecommunications sector as well as its banking, insurance and legal services after it joins the W-T-O.

    /// End Opt ///

    Since his last visit to China, European ministers have given Mr. Lamy more flexible negotiating instructions. At the same time that Mr. Lamy will be in China, the U-S Congress will be preparing to vote on the United States granting China permanent normal trading status. Approval would clear the way for Chinese trade concessions to the United States. Mr. Lamy believes a successful conclusion of the European Union's negotiations can only help the vote in Congress.

    /// Lamy Act ///

    I really do not know if there is a clear interaction and link between the P-N-T-R (permanent normal trading relations) vote and our own negotiation. The only thing I am sure about is that a good, bilateral deal between E-U and China next week can only positively contribute to the outcome of this vote.

    /// End Act ///

    An advance team from the European Union is already in Beijing trying to make sure this will be the last round of talks designed to get China in the World Trade Organization. (Signed)
    NEB/RP/GE/JP 11-May-2000 10:44 AM EDT (11-May-2000 1444 UTC)
    NNNN
    Source: Voice of America

    [06] POLAND PROGRESS (LO) BY BARRY WOOD (WASHINGTON)

    DATE=5/11/2000
    TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
    NUMBER=2-262249
    INTERNET=YES CONTENT=
    VOICED AT:

    INTRO: A former U-S ambassador to Poland, Thomas Simons, says Poland is a stunning success story in making the transition from communism to democracy and free markets. V-O-A's Barry Wood reports Mr. Simons spoke at Washington's Woodrow Wilson Center.

    TEXT: Mr. Simons says national consensus, self- reliance and speed are the key ingredients of Poland's success. Mr. Simons, who was U-S ambassador to Poland in the early 1990s, says Poland is successful on almost every level. Its economy has consistently grown by five-percent annually; it has been admitted to NATO and is on the fast track for European Union membership; and it evolved into a vibrant democracy with an active entrepreneurial business class. Mr. Simons says Poland's foreign policy has also been a great success.

    /// FIRST SIMONS ACT ///

    The other side of this success story is really the astonishing success of Poland's Ost-politik, of Poland's eastern policy -- which was also not predictable. But if you deal with a country like Lithuania, you're dealing with a country that looks at Poland with the same eyes that Poland looks at Germany historically.

    /// END ACT ///

    Mr. Simons, now a professor at Stanford University, says Poland has developed cordial relations with not only neighboring Lithuania but also with Ukraine. On economic matters, Mr. Simons says the Poles wisely insisted that financial markets be regulated, something that has kept corruption to a minimum. He says then Czechoslovakia took a more doctrinaire anti- regulation stance which not only failed but unwittingly promoted corruption.

    /// SECOND SIMONS ACT ///

    I think that is one of the reasons why the Czech Republic is going backwards. The Czech Republic is an interesting example, because it shows not just the difficulty of moving forward but the real danger of going backwards.

    /// END ACT ///

    Lack of regulation has discouraged the growth of the Czech stock market while by contrast the more regulated Polish and Hungarian markets are flourishing. Poland hopes to join the European Union within two years, and 72-percent of adult Poles favor E-U membership -- a sharp increase from six months ago. (Signed) NEB/BDW/gm 11-May-2000 16:38 PM EDT (11-May-2000 2038 UTC)
    NNNN
    Source: Voice of America

    [07] NY ECON WRAP (S&L) BY JOE CHAPMAN (NEW YORK)

    DATE=5/11/2000
    TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
    NUMBER=2-262252
    CONTENT=
    VOICED AT:

    INTRO: Stock prices in the United States rallied sharply higher today (Thursday) but many market analysts were not impressed. V-O-A's Joe Chapman reports from New York.

    TEXT: The Dow Jones Industrial Average moved up 178 points, nearly two-percent, to 10-thousand-545 in another lackluster trading session despite the higher prices. High technology and Internet shares also recovered with the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite rising 115 points, more than three-percent, to three-thousand- 499. The Standard and Poor's 500 closed up 24 points to finish at one-thousand-407. Analysts say the move upward in stock prices was what they call a "snapback rally," with some investors looking for bargain prices after two days of a sharp selloff. But volume continues to be only light to moderate, with many investors remaining on the sidelines.

    /// REST OPT ///

    Al Goldman, a senior investment strategist, says he is currently among the bulls or optimists of Wall Street. He believes the current prices offer bargains, although he is not sure the market indexes have bottomed out.

    /// GOLDMAN ACt ///

    Nobody can know until we look back in hindsight, but I think that we're close enough that investors should be buyers here."

    /// END ACT ///

    Analysts say investors are concerned about the size of an interest rate increase from a U-S central bank meeting next Tuesday. One final economic report this week on wholesale prices is also expected to have some influence on the stock market. But most analysts say they expect stock prices to continue to be volatile with little clear direction until sometime after the U-S central bank announces its decision on interest rates.(Signed) Neb/ny/jmc/gm 11-May-2000 17:04 PM EDT (11-May-2000 2104 UTC)
    NNNN
    Source: Voice of America

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

    DATE=5/11/2000
    TYPE=U-S EDITORIAL DIGEST
    NUMBER=6-11814
    EDITOR=ASSIGNMENTS
    TELEPHONE=619-3335
    CONTENT=

    INTRO: As a congressional vote nears on granting China permanent normal trading status with the United States, the topic continues to figure prominently in the nation's editorial columns. The latest chapter in the saga of the Cuban shipwreck survivor Elian Gonzalez also is a popular topic. Other editorials in Thursday's papers are discussing: the revived Northern Ireland peace process, a Mother's Day march for better gun control, the crisis in Sierra Leone, and congressional moves to restrain U-S peacekeeping efforts in Kosovo province. Now, here is ___________ with a closer look in today's U-S Editorial Digest.

    TEXT: President Clinton is stepping up his efforts to win congressional approval for giving China permanent normal trading status with this country. To that end, he got help this week from former presidents George Bush, Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford, who all consider it a good idea. In Hawaii, Honolulu's Star-Bulletin agrees.

    VOICE: As three former presidents and other leaders contend, failure to approve the status could be disastrous. /// OPT /// ... [President] Carter acknowledged that China has failed to take adequate steps in terms of human rights, democracy and labor standards. "But there is no doubt in my mind that a negative vote on this issue in the Congress will be a serious setback and impediment for the further democratization, freedom and human rights in China," he said. This is an accurate assessment. /// END OPT ///... Rejection by Congress would achieve nothing positive, would hurt U-S exports and could cause serious damage to the Sino-American relationship and to the movement for democratization ...

    TEXT: The Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville is also for granting China the new trade status, noting:

    VOICE: China's economy is growing rapidly and eventually may be the world's largest. But, because of the uncertainty over trade status, long-term commitments are difficult. As a result, U-S exports are growing 22 percent slower than exports from the rest of the world. ... Capitalism is morally superior to Chinese communism, but there are better arenas to have that debate. Meanwhile, free trade will help bring about the changes in China that the politicians say they want.

    TEXT: The Detroit [Michigan] Free Press agrees, arguing that "trade has become America's best avenue of global influence on a variety of issues. Economic engagement, it says, "will be more effective with the Beijing government than costly saber rattling."

    TEXT: The saga of the little shipwrecked Cuban boy, Elian Gonzalez, is once more commanding attention in the editorial columns. Several aspects are under discussion, including today's federal court hearing on his plea for asylum. Says The Miami Herald:

    VOICE: ... this is not, contrary to the Clinton administration's spin, a simple custody battle between a father and a relative. This is a fundamentally important asylum case whose outcome could have a wide-ranging impact on thousands of other children who arrive alone in the United States and whose best interest may conflict with the wishes of parents ...

    TEXT: U-S-A Today, the national daily published in a Washington, D-C suburb, makes the point that Elian's case is getting special attention from the U-S government mainly because he is a Cuban citizen. And the newspaper faults the State Department's efforts in cases involving U-S children taken to other countries.

    VOICE: ... Washington's superheated efforts to do the right thing for Elian are more than heroic. They ring of hypocrisy. American parents get no such intense help when ... their ... children are taken to other countries.

    TEXT: U-S-A Today reports that about one-thousand U-S children are abducted every year to another country and most never come back. In another facet of the story, today's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel faults the lawyer for Elian's father for taking the family to a fancy Washington party last weekend. The Milwaukee paper suggests the boy was being exploited on behalf of his host, a rich Washington Democrat who heads a foundation advocating normal U-S - Cuban relations.

    /// OPT ///

    VOICE: The Washington Post reports that a wealthy Democratic contributor ... Smith Bagley held a pool party at his home ... for about a dozen people, including Elian, his father and stepmother, their lawyer and his young son ... and several other children and adults ... holding the outing at [Mr.] Bagley's home ... he also runs a foundation that advocates normalized relations between the United States and Cuba - (raising) the possibility that Elian might have been invited simply to burnish [Mr.] Bagley's image. If [true] ... then [Mr.] Bagley was using Elian, just as Cuban expatriates in Miami used Elian to hammer away at Cuban President Fidel Castro.

    /// END OPT ///

    TEXT: There is also comment on the latest development in peace process in Northern Ireland - the Irish Republican Army agreement to put its weapons beyond use and open to international inspection. The Tulsa [Oklahoma] World has this to say on the subject:

    VOICE: The decision puts the possibility of peace back on the table and is a step toward fulfilling the agreements of the two-year-old Good Friday peace pact. /// OPT /// Maybe this bold move can set a new and straight course toward peace. /// END OPT ///

    TEXT: The San Francisco Examiner also praises the announcement, suggesting:

    VOICE: The Northern Irish people need several years of such confidence-building, and no resurgence of violence, to put three decades of societal disorder behind them. In time, as an increasingly integrated and prosperous part of the European Community, they will wonder what the trouble was about.

    TEXT: Thousands of U-S mothers are planning to demonstrate in Washington and 60 others cities this Sunday, Mother's Day, asking for better gun control in the country. The New York Times says the outpouring:

    VOICE: ... has the potential to achieve something that a seemingly endless sequence of school shootings and other gun tragedies somehow has not. ... to seize control of American's gun control debate from the national Rifle Association and its political mouthpieces [Editors: "gun-friendly" members of congress] ... tilting it ... toward a recognition of the serious public health threat the nation's porous gun laws represent.

    TEXT: Turning to international subjects, the Dallas Morning News comments on the situation in the West African nation of Sierra Leone, where a rebel band is advancing on the capital, Freetown, and Westerners are fleeing under British paratroop protection. Says today's Morning News:

    VOICE: The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Sierra Leone is beginning to look like another Somalia-type disaster. ... Everybody wants to help Sierra Leone. However, the answer is not to repeat the mistakes of Bosnia and Somalia by sending more U-N peacekeepers where there is no peace to keep.

    /// OPT ///

    TEXT: In Colorado's leading city, Denver's Rocky Mountain News runs this comment from chief foreign affairs columnist Holger Jensen.

    VOICE: The sorry performance of the United Nations peacekeeping mission ... demonstrates yet again that the world body is an effective peacekeeper only where there is a peace to keep.

    /// END OPT ///

    TEXT: And regarding U-N peacekeeping, the NATO-led peacekeeping force in Yugoslavia's Kosovo province could be without U-S troops in a year, as Congress votes in a new deadline for American support. In what The Washington Post calls a "Wake-up Call:"

    VOICE: ... the Senate Appropriations Committee has voted ... to stop funding the U-S presence in Kosovo on July first of next year unless there is express congressional authorization to stay longer. ... the Senate measure is the wrong answer to ... legitimate concerns. ... it would actually discourage U-S allies - - who are, after all, providing the lion's share of the ground forces already -- from seeing the job through ...

    /// OPT ///

    TEXT: Concerning that destructive computer virus called the Love Bug, which appears to have originated in the Philippines, The Houston [Texas] Chronicle laments how the destructive program displays the vulnerability of the Internet and the World Wide Web, the international network of computers.

    VOICE: The speed and ease with which the virus spread were astonishing, and the damage done will be tremendous, even though warnings were quickly issued and countermeasures taken. ... the world has a long way to go before its cyberspace patrol is effectively armed to combat the dangers and potential chaos lurking out there.

    TEXT: President Clinton's lawyers are arguing before the Arkansas Supreme Court that testify the president gave under oath in the Monica Lewinsky affair should not be cause for his disbarment as a lawyer in his home state. Connecticut's Waterbury Republican- American is not swayed by the arguments.

    VOICE: It's too bad the ... Summer Olympics won't include competition in linguistic gymnastics because if it did, Bill Clinton would be the odds-on favorite to bring home the gold. .... he has tortured the language and logic like never before in arguing against (his) disbarment before an Arkansas disciplinary panel ... the indisputable truth is he lied to protect his political hide [Editors: career]

    /// END OPT ///

    TEXT: Lastly, a plea from the Boston Globe to save Zeugma, an archeological site of two ancient cities, possible of Roman times, to be flooded within weeks by a dam across the Euphrates River, providing hydroelectric power for southeastern Turkey. Says the Globe:

    VOICE: One might wish for a Poseidon or Zeus to protect the site or a Moses to hold back the water. A less epic but simpler approach is available to the Turkish government: Delay the dam project for a few months so archeologists can complete more of their rescue.

    TEXT: On that note, we conclude this sampling of comment from the editorial pages of Thursday's U-S press.
    NEB/ANG/JP 11-May-2000 12:21 PM EDT (11-May-2000 1621 UTC)
    NNNN
    Source: Voice of America


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