Voice of America, 00-06-27

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

CONTENTS

[01] KOSOVO / DEMILITARIZED ZONE BY EVE CONANT (DOBROSIN, KOSOVO-SERBIA BORDER)

[02] EURO CURRENCY DEBATE (L O)(CQ) BY BARRY WOOD (WASHINGTON)

[03] NATO / KAZAKHSTAN (L-ONLY) BY RON PEMSTEIN (BRUSSELS)

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

[05] TUESDAY'S EDITORIALS BY ANDREW GUTHRIE (WASHINGTON)

[06] GERMANY / INTERNET (L-ONLY) BY JONATHAN BRAUDE (BERLIN)

[01] KOSOVO / DEMILITARIZED ZONE BY EVE CONANT (DOBROSIN, KOSOVO-SERBIA BORDER)

INTRO: A new ethnic-Albanian force is being formed inside the five kilometer "demilitarized zone" between Kosovo and Serbia. Representatives of this self- styled "liberation army" say their aim is to protect three towns in Serbia that are heavily populated by ethnic Albanians and have been subject to harassment by Serb police and authorities. Troops from the international peacekeeping force known as K-FOR, who are stationed nearby, estimate that fewer than 200 fighters have joined the Albanian force. But the peacekeepers are concerned about what they see as the unit's intensified militarization. Correspondent Eve Conant recently visited the village of Dobrosin, inside the demilitarized zone, and filed this report.

TEXT: The Kosovo Liberation Army may have been disbanded over the last year, but now there is a new ethnic Albanian army forming -- this time in Serbia. It calls itself the U-C-P-M-B, or the Liberation Army of Presheva, Medvegja and Bujanovc -- the Albanian spellings for three towns where the army's commander says Serb police have been harassing ethnic Albanians. Those who have fled the region say their situation has deteriorated ever since the Kosovo conflict ended a year ago. Serb refugees from Kosovo have fled to southern Serbia, fearing revenge attacks. But many of the tens of thousands of ethnic Albanians from this region call it "Eastern Kosovo," and say it should be united with Kosovo itself. The core of the small army, which aims to make that a reality, is in the village of Dobrosin.

[02] EURO CURRENCY DEBATE (L O)(CQ) BY BARRY WOOD (WASHINGTON)

INTRO: Four British and American economists gathered Tuesday at the conservative Heritage Foundation in Washington to argue against Britain adopting the euro currency that is being used by 11 European Union nations. V-O-A's Barry Wood reports the conservative economists believe Britain's economic growth rate will slow if becomes part of the euro zone.

TEXT: Heritage Foundation economist Jerry O'Driscoll believes the euro will remain weak because Europe's generous welfare system undermines the wealth creation that is needed to pay for it. Mr. O'Driscoll says the euro is weak against the dollar because Europe's economy can not grow as fast as that of the United States.

[03] NATO / KAZAKHSTAN (L-ONLY) BY RON PEMSTEIN (BRUSSELS)

INTRO: Kazakhstan's parliament has voted to give President Nursultan Nazarbayev special executive powers after he leaves office -- an event that is not currently scheduled to take place until at least 2006. The Kazakh president was in Brussels at the time of Tuesday's vote, meeting with leaders of NATO and the European Union. From Brussels, V-O-A Correspondent Ron Pemstein reports Mr. Nazarbayev says he believes the special powers are nothing special.

TEXT: The law allows President Nazarbayev to remain a member of Kazakhstan's Security Council after his term as president ends, and to appear before parliament and at government meetings. The second reading of the proposal eliminated an earlier provision that would have given Mr. Nazarbayev a role in advising his successor about emergency or military situations. Mr. Nazarbayev won re-election to the Kazakh presidency last year, extending his term of office until early in the year 2006. Speaking to reporters (through an interpreter) following his meeting with NATO Secretary-General George Robertson, President Nazarbayev denied opposition charges that he is trying to become Kazakhstan's president for life.

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

INTRO: U-S stock prices were lower Tuesday) in relatively quiet trading. Investors adopted a wait- and-see attitude as the U-S central bank, the Federal Reserve Board, prepares to announce Wednesday whether interest rates will be going up again. V-O-A correspondent Elaine Johanson reports from New York:

TEXT: The Dow Jones Industrial Average came under late-day selling pressure. The Industrials fell 38 points to 10-thousand-504, for a fractional loss. The Standard and Poor's 500 index dropped four points. Meanwhile, the technology-weighted NASDAQ composite gave up over one percent. Analysts say investors overall were not willing to take new positions before Wednesday's interest-rate decision. The latest on the U-S economy shows consumer confidence in June fell sharply. Americans apparently were feeling less confident every time they pulled their cars up to a gasoline pump - thanks to higher oil prices. A lower confidence level could mean Americans will spend less. That would appeal to the U-S central bank. Consumer spending accounts for two-thirds of U-S economic growth.

[05] TUESDAY'S EDITORIALS BY ANDREW GUTHRIE (WASHINGTON)

INTRO: The announcement that U-S and British scientists have completed a rough draft of the human genetic code is occupying a top place in newspaper editorials. A new call for a special prosecutor to investigate Vice President Gore's alleged campaign fundraising violations in the last presidential campaign continues to get attention, as does a new Supreme Court decision reaffirming the rights of accused people arrested by police. There are also comments on the financial and political situation in Japan; a loan for China; help for Colombia; and the hypocrisy used in dealing with refugees. Now, here with a closer look and some excerpts is _____________ and today's editorial digest.

TEXT: U-S and British scientists say they have essentially completed a map of the human genetic code. That is the complex formula of genes and chromosomes that regulates such individual characteristics as hair, eye, and skin color, as well as a predisposition to certain inherited diseases such as diabetes. U-S newspaper editorials are struggling for comparisons to explain its importance. The Wall Street Journal is one.

VOICE: It is no exaggeration to say that the completion of a rough draft of the human genome is one of the great scientific achievements of history. Bill Clinton and Tony Blair are politicians, not scientists, but it is fitting that they joined yesterday in hailing completion of the ten-year-effort; political backing will be needed to damp down objections to this kind of progress. ... The genome project has provided a rough road map, but the hard work mostly lies ahead.

TEXT: Here is a down to earth analogy explaining what has been accomplished from The San Francisco Chronicle.

VOICE: One scientists compared mapping the human genetic code to staring at Earth from outer space and jotting down the location of every house, plumbing line and overhead wire. The task of blueprinting human heredity is that painstaking and all-encompassing. ... The superlatives and comparisons are endless.

TEXT: In Michigan, The Detroit Free Press says the news is - enough to make your spine tingle - while the Chicago Tribune, warning that the hardest work is yet to be done, adds - it is impossible to overstate the importance of [the] announcement. Elsewhere, The Boston Globe likes the comparison with the birth of nuclear energy, and says it is an apt analogy.

VOICE: ... in many respects it is that quantum leap in human knowledge that bears the strongest similarity to ... decoding the book of life. Understanding nuclear physics has given humans the godlike power to destroy the Earth - or at least make it uninhabitable. Making sense out of the bewildering jumble of nucleotides that twist upon each other on human chromosomes gives us the godlike power to change the genetic makeup of generations to come.

TEXT: Another popular topic is a new call for an independent investigation of Vice President Al Gore. It comes from the head of the Justice Department's task force investigating possible illegal activity in fund raising during the 1996 presidential campaign. In Georgia, The Augusta Chronicle feels nothing will come of it.

VOICE: Attorney General Janet Reno is expected to turn down, for the fourth time, a recommendation to appoint an outside prosecutor to investigate Vice President ... Gore's 1996 fund-raising activities. It is clear that, no matter what, not naming a special prosecutor is a Reno policy that is not about to change. ... Robert Conrad ... the fourth Justice Department prober[`s] recommendation for special counsel centers on whether [Mr.] Gore lied to investigators about his ... appearance at a Buddhist temple in California.

TEXT: Monday afternoon's Deseret News', from Salt Lake City, Utah, editorial recognizes that to investigate the Vice President in the middle of his election campaign would be most unfair, but adds:

VOICE: ...the only person to blame for that unfortunate timing would be Attorney General Janet Reno. She has split legal hairs, talked in circles and repeatedly ignored the advice of her own professionals for years when it comes to [Mr.] Gore and his [fund raising activities]...

TEXT: From Vice President Gore's home state of Tennessee, The Memphis commercial Appeal suggests:

VOICE: The last thing Al Gore needs, barely four-months before the ...election, is renewed public attention to his political fund-raising activities ... Yet the allegations... are serious enough that they still demand the appointment of a special counsel to review them. ... the proximity of the latest controversy to the election offers no justification for continuing to ignore it.

TEXT: In still another domestic story, the Supreme Court has reaffirmed the obligation of police to remind suspects of their constitutional rights to remain silent and have the benefit of legal counsel. It is called the "Miranda Warning" after a Supreme Court ruling involving a criminal who was freed because police failed to tell him his rights before he confessed to the crime. Says The St. Petersburg [Florida] Times of the latest ruling:

VOICE: ... when the ... Court decided ... to keep those warnings intact, it did more than preserve a bit of Americana; it protected our fundamental right against self-incrimination.

TEXT: The Detroit [Michigan] Free Press says the court's decision: "upholds a valuable tool for justice," while in Nebraska, The Omaha World-Herald adds:

VOICE: The Miranda warning works. It draws a bright line that makes as sure as humanly possible that all confessions are truly voluntary - and therefore, not merely fair but substantially trustworthy as well. It has done much to bolster public confidence that the legal process is fair and even-handed.

TEXT: Turning to Asian developments, The New York Times feels the loss of 32-seats to the opposition in Sunday's parliamentary elections should be a wake up call to Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori who urged undecided voters to "stay in bed" on election Day.

VOICE: The long-run message for the [ruling] Liberal Democrats ... is bleak. Young urban Japanese have grown disenchanted with the party's factional maneuvering, secretive ways and inability to extricate the country from a decade-long economic slump.

TEXT: The proposed loan from the World Bank to China for the resettlement of thousands of poor Chinese to the Tibetan plateau, displacing the nomads who live there, gets more criticism from today's Los Angeles Times.

VOICE: The Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, sees the proposed resettlement ... as - cultural genocide. The U-S and German representatives to the World Bank voted against it, and Tibet supporters around the globe oppose it as an encroachment on Tibetan culture. An independent panel of experts concluded that the bank's staff violated many of its key policies in approving the loan. The bank's board of directors ... should scrap [Editors: "cancel"] it.

TEXT: Still with China, today's Chattanooga [Tennessee] Free Press says the U-S needs to issue a clear warning to China about defending Taiwan in order to avoid a war, in the face a newly proposed missile firings by Beijing.

VOICE: The United States should ...avoid - the Korean War mistake. The Korean War was invited by U-S Secretary of State Dean Acheson's announcement that South Korea was outside the U- S defense perimeter, making the North Korean Communists believe they would have a free hand. ...[And] the U-S should sell our Free China friends on Taiwan whatever arms they need to defend themselves. We can prevent war between Communist China and the Republic of China simply by being sure the communists know in advance ... they cannot possibly win.

TEXT: In Charleston, South Carolina, The Post and Courier is pleased that the Senate finally approved one-billion dollars in anti-drug aid to Colombia.

VOICE: The Colombian people are trapped in the ferocious crossfire between government forces, the left-wing guerrillas and private armies ... The most controversial element in the U-S aid package is military support for the Colombian army, which is alleged to have had links with para-military groups accused of serious human rights violations. ... Unless the army respects human rights, President Pastrana's government will lose the all-important battle to win the confidence of peasants in areas controlled by the guerrillas.

TEXT: Lastly, in Jacksonville's Florida Times Union, we get the idea that not only do Americans go slightly crazy [mad] in summer, but also it is a healthy reaction.

VOICE: When a state trooper stopped three nude women in a car near Houston, they said God had told them to burn their clothes, drive to Wal- Mart and buy new ones. There were more than 20- thousand hits in one day recently on an Internet site that shows corn growing in an Iowa field. In this rapidly changing and often stressful world, such stories are welcome relief.

TEXT: On that note, we conclude this sampling of editorial comment from Tuesday's U-S press.
NEB/ANG/RAE 27-Jun-2000 12:15 PM EDT (27-Jun-2000 1615 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America

[06] GERMANY / INTERNET (L-ONLY) BY JONATHAN BRAUDE (BERLIN)

INTRO: Germany's justice minister is calling for an international agreement to combat the dissemination of hate and racism on the Internet. The German official contends the United States is holding back cooperation on such an effort. Jonathan Braude has this report from Berlin.

TEXT: In 1995, according to the Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center, there was just one so-called "hate site" on the Internet, inciting people to racial hatred and -- in its words -- offending human dignity. Now there are more than two-thousand, the center says, with most of them operating out of the United States. German Justice Minister Herta Daeubler-Gmelin launched a call for action against extremist Internet sites Tuesday at (the concluding session) of an international conference organized by her ministry and the Wiesenthal Center. Presenting a paper she called the Berlin Declaration, she said the international community should decide that freedom of speech must be protected, both on and off the Internet. She says if incitement to hate and violence is banned from conventional media, it must also be driven out of cyberspace. Since the Internet is global, the German justice minister notes, a site banned in Europe or Canada can simply move to the United States to operate legally. She is calling for governments to work together to agree on binding standards for the Web, as well as on standards of punishment for what she calls peddlers of hate and incitement. Ms. Daeubler-Gmelin's proposal would require Internet companies and marketing groups to take responsibility for what they sell on the Web. No U-S lawmakers were at the conference, but a delegate from the U-S Federal Bureau of Investigation noted the First Amendment to the U-S Constitution guarantees the right of free speech and free expression to all Americans. Justice Minister Daeubler-Gmelin says such rights should not protect an Internet auction company offering to sell Nazi memorabilia items, or online booksellers promoting hate literature.

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