Voice of America, 98-06-22

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

CONTENTS

[01] HOLBROOKE / ATHENS (L ONLY) BY ANTHEE CARASSAVA (ATHENS)

[02] KOSOVO CONUNDRUM BY PAMELA TAYLOR (BELGRADE)

[03] EURO STOCKS (S ONLY) BY KEVIN LYNCH (LONDON)

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

[05] MONDAY'S EDITORIALS BY ANDREW N. GUTHRIE (WASHINGTON)

[01] HOLBROOKE / ATHENS (L ONLY) BY ANTHEE CARASSAVA (ATHENS)

INTRO: U-S ENVOY RICHARD HOLBROOKE HAS ARRIVED IN ATHENS FOR TALKS WITH THE GREEK OFFICIALS ABOUT THE SITUATION IN CYPRUS. AFTER HIS TALKS IN ATHENS, MR. HOLBROOKE IS SCHEDULED TO GO ON TO BELGRADE AND PRISTINA FOR TALKS WITH SERBIAN AND ALBANIAN LEADERS ABOUT KOSOVO. ANTHEE CARASSAVA HAS A REPORT FROM ATHENS.

TEXT: THE U-S ENVOY'S VISIT COMES AMID A NEW PERIOD OF TENSION BETWEEN GREECE AND TURKEY OVER THE DECISION BY ATHENS AND ANKARA TO SEND MILITARY JETS TO CYPRUS.

GREEK OFFICIALS, FOR THEIR PART, ARE ANXIOUS TO HEAR WHETHER MR. HOLBROOKE, NAMED LAST WEEK BY PRESIDENT CLINTON TO BE THE NEW AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS, WILL CONTINUE HIS ROLE AS THE PRESIDENT'S SPECIAL ENVOY TO CYPRUS.

MR. HOLBROOKE DECLINED TO MAKE ANY COMMENT ON THIS OR ANY OTHER TOPIC AFTER HIS MEETING WITH PRIME MINISTER COSTAS SIMITIS. BUT DIPLOMATIC SOURCES SAY THAT IT IS UNLIKELY THAT MR. HOLBROOKE WILL CONTINUE HIS MEDIATION EFFORT, BUT THEY ALSO SAY THAT THE CYPRUS WILL STILL HAVE THE ATTENTION OF THE UNITED STATES.

THIS MEANS, AMONG OTHER THINGS, THAT THE UNITED STATES, WILL CONTINUE ITS EFFORTS TO PREVENT THE GREEK CYPRIOTS FROM PURCHASING A RUSSIAN ANTI-AIRCRAFT SYSTEM. TURKEY SAYS IT WILL GO TO WAR TO BLOCK DEPLOYMENT OF THE ANTI-AIRCRAFT SYSTEM.

DESPITE MONTHS OF SHUTTLING BETWEEN GREEK AND TURKISH CYPRIOTS, MR. HOLBROOKE HAS FAILED TO CONVINCE EITHER SIDE TO AGREE TO FACE-TO-FACE PEACE TALKS.

GREEK OFFICIALS SAY THE ONLY HOPE NOW IS FOR THE UNITED STATES TO GUARANTEE THE SECURITY OF CYPRUS AND TO ASSIST IN THE MONITORING OF A NO-FLY ZONE OVER THE DIVIDED ISLAND.

MR. HOLBROOKE, GREEK OFFICIALS SAY, HAS SO FAR DECLINED TO OFFER ANY SECURITY GUARANTEE FOR CYPRUS OR TO OFFER ASSISTANCE IN MONITORING A NO-FLY ZONE OVER THE ISLAND.

THE U-S ENVOY WILL LEAVE FOR MACEDONIA TUESDAY TO MEET WITH IBRAHIM RUGOVA, THE POLITICAL LEADER OF THE ETHNIC-ALBANIAN COMMUNITY IN KOSOVO. ON WEDNESDAY, HE GOES ON TO BELGRADE AND PRISTINA. (SIGNED)
NEB/AC/KL
22-Jun-98 3:16 PM EDT (1916 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America

[02] KOSOVO CONUNDRUM BY PAMELA TAYLOR (BELGRADE)

INTRO: NATO FLIGHTS OVER ALBANIA AND MACEDONIA LAST WEEK WERE INTENDED TO PERSUADE SERBIA TO SCALE BACK ITS FORCES IN KOSOVO SO NEGOTIATIONS BETWEEN THE TWO SIDES CAN RESUME. BUT SERBIA INSISTS ITS FORCES ARE NEEDED TO COMBAT WHAT IT CALLS -- TERRORISTS -- AND SAYS NATO INTERVENTION WOULD BE INTERFERENCE IN THE AFFAIRS OF A SOVEREIGN STATE. V-O-A'S PAMELA TAYLOR REPORTS THE VIEW IN BELGRADE BEGINS AT THE TOP.

TEXT: // MILOSEVIC ACT //

I DO NOT SEE A REASON TO CONDUCT NEGOTIATIONS WITH TERRORISTS.

THAT WAS PRESIDENT SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC, SPEAKING AT A MOSCOW NEWS CONFERENCE AFTER AGREEING TO RESUME NEGOTIATIONS WITH MODERATE ALBANIAN LEADER IBRAHIM RUGOVA.

THE COMMENT HAS BEEN REPEATED OVER AND OVER ON STATE-RUN TELEVISION BECAUSE FOR THE MAJORITY OF SERBS, IT GOES TO THE HEART OF THEIR POSITION. SERB OFFICIALS SAY THEY WILL TALK WITH KOSOVO'S ETHNIC ALBANIAN POLITICAL LEADERS, BUT NOT WITH GUERRILLAS OF THE KOSOVO LIBERATION ARMY, THE K-L-A.

THE PROBLEM IS THE K-L-A IS GROWING IN POPULARITY AMONG THE KOSOVAR ALBANIANS, WHILE THE PACIFIST POLICIES OF POLITICIANS SUCH AS MR. RUGOVA ARE SEEN AS WEAK.

THE K-L-A IS INSISTING ON HAVING A PLACE AT THE NEGOTIATING TABLE IF TALKS ARE TO RESUME. BOTH MR. RUGOVA AND K-L-A LEADERS SAY A WITHDRAWAL OF SERBIAN TROOPS IS A PRECONDITION FOR RESUMING TALKS.

BUT SERBIAN OFFICIALS SAY IF BELGRADE AGREES TO PULL ITS TROOPS OUT OF KOSOVO, IT WOULD BE TANTAMOUNT TO GIVING THE ETHNIC ALBANIANS WHAT THEY ARE DEMANDING -- INDEPENDENCE FROM SERBIA.

THE SON OF THE LATE DISSIDENT SERBIAN WRITER MILOVAN DJILAS, ALEKSA DJILAS, SAYS SERBIA CANNOT PULL ITS FORCES OUT OF KOSOVO AS LONG AS THE K-L-A CONTINUES ITS ATTACKS.

IT WOULD MEAN THAT THE KOSOVO LIBERATION WOULD TAKE CONTROL IN KOSOVO WHICH WOULD IN TURN MEAN THAT IN REALITY KOSOVO WOULD THEN SECEDE FROM YUGOSLAVIA AND SERBIA, SO IT WOULD MEAN THE TRIUMPH OF AN ILLEGAL GUERRILLA AND TERRORIST ORGANIZATION.

MR. DJILAS SUGGESTS THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY TRY WORKING WITH MR. MILOSEVIC INSTEAD OF CONTINUING TO ISOLATE SERBIA, A POLICY HE SAYS ONLY PUSHES THE SERBIAN PEOPLE FURTHER INTO NATIONALIST PARANOIA.

MR. DJILAS, A SOCIOLOGIST WHO SPENT SEVERAL YEARS AT HARVARD UNIVERSITY, SAYS PRESIDENT MILOSEVIC IS NO MORE AUTOCRATIC THAN CROATIA'S PRESIDENT FRANJO TUDJMAN, WITH WHOM GERMANY AND OTHER EUROPEAN INSTITUTIONS DEAL OPENLY.

ONGEN PRIBICEVIC, OF THE BELGRADE INSTITUTE FOR SOCIAL SCIENCES, AGREES THAT ISOLATING SERBIA ONLY SERVES TO ENHANCE THE APPEAL OF NATIONALIST EXTREMISTS.

MR. PRIBICEVIC SAYS ORDINARY SERBS DO NOT BLAME MR. MILOSEVIC FOR THEIR WORSENING POVERTY. INSTEAD THEY ARE ANGRY WITH THE WORLD FOR HAVING IMPOSED ECONOMIC SANCTIONS. HE SAYS THIS ANGER TRANSLATES INTO SUPPORT FOR LEADERS WHO ACT IN A FORCEFUL, EVEN BRUTAL MANNER TO DEFEND SERB RIGHTS, AS IN KOSOVO:

PEOPLE STILL TEND TO VOTE FOR (RADICAL PARTY LEADER VOJSLAV) SESEJL AND (PRESIDENT) MILOSEVIC, ESPECIALLY OUTSIDE BELGRADE BECAUSE THEIR PEOPLE LIVE IN REALLY TERRIBLE CONDITIONS. AND YOU CANNOT EXPECT FROM PEOPLE WHO DO NOT KNOW IF THEY ARE WORKERS OR PEASANTS, OR WHAT THEY ARE, LIVING IN TERRIBLE CONDITIONS, SURROUNDED BY CRIMINALS AND MAFIA AND THEY SEE (FOR EXAMPLE) MR. SESEJL BEATING SOMEONE UP AND THEY ARE ACTUALLY VERY HAPPY TO SEE THIS.

AS LONG AS SERBS FEEL BEATEN, MR. PRIBICEVIC SAYS, THEY WILL SUPPORT EXTREMISTS WHO STAND UP TO OUTSIDE FORCES, WHETHER IN THE WEST OR IN KOSOVO. HE SAYS THE ONLY THING THAT WILL CHANGE THIS SUPPORT IS A GROWING NUMBER OF PEOPLE -- MOSTLY PARENTS -- WHO DO NOT WANT THEIR SONS TO FIGHT AND DIE IN ANOTHER SEPARATIST WAR.

ALEKSA DJILAS HAS PROPOSED A SOLUTION FOR KOSOVO SIMILAR TO THE DAYTON AGREEMENT WHICH ENDED THE WAR IN BOSNIA -- CREATING A KOSOVO ENTITY WHICH WOULD HAVE CONSIDERABLE AUTONOMY -- BUT REMAIN PART OF SERBIA. MR. DJILAS SAYS IT IS IN SERBIA'S INTEREST TO SUPPORT GREATER AUTONOMY FOR KOSOVO BECAUSE IT IS THE ONLY WAY TO END THE PROVINCE'S CURRENT ECONOMIC DRAIN ON SERBIA:

THERE ARE VERY POWERFUL ARGUMENTS FOR AUTONOMY FOR KOSOVO WHICH ARE NOT POLITICAL, NOT CONNECTED WITH THE DEMANDS OF THE KOSOVAR ALBANIANS OR PRESSURE FROM THE WEST, BUT SIMPLY (RECOGNIZING) THE REALITY OF THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC SITUATION IS SUCH IT DEMANDS AUTONOMY.

[03] EURO STOCKS (S ONLY) BY KEVIN LYNCH (LONDON)

INTRO: EUROPEAN MARKETS ENDED ON A LACKLUSTER NOTE MONDAY, AS TRADERS CONTINUED TO WORRY ABOUT THE FUTURE OF THE JAPANESE ECONOMY. KEVIN LYNCH IN LONDON HAS CLOSING FIGURES FROM THE MAJOR EUROPEAN MARKETS.

TEXT: TRADE IN EUROPE WAS DOMINATED BY CONCERNS THAT JAPAN HAS NOT UNVEILED ANY DETAILS OF HOW IT PLANS TO BOOST ITS FALTERING ECONOMY. AND EUROPE GOT NO HELP FROM A WALL STREET THAT IS ALSO NERVOUS ABOUT THE HEALTH OF THE SECOND-LARGEST ECONOMY IN THE WORLD. IN LONDON, THE FINANCIAL TIMES-100 SHARE INDEX ENDED THE DAY DOWN 36-POINTS, A DROP OF A LITTLE MORE THAN ONE-HALF PERCENT. IN PARIS, THE CAC 40 ALSO DECLINED, DROPPING ALMOST NINE-POINTS, LESS THAN ONE-QUARTER OF A PERCENT. FRANKFURT WAS THE ONLY MARKET THAT ENDED ON THE PLUS SIDE, BUT JUST BARELY. THE DAX CLOSED UP FOUR-POINTS, AN INCREASE OF POINT-ZERO-SEVEN-PERCENT.

THE U-S DOLLAR ENDED THE DAY TRADING HIGHER IN EUROPE. (SIGNED)
NEB/KL/RAE
22-Jun-98 3:28 PM EDT (1928 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America

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

INTRO: STOCK PRICES IN THE UNITED STATES WERE MIXED TODAY (MONDAY) IN A LATE SESSION SELL-OFF. VOA CORRESPONDENT BRECK ARDERY REPORTS FROM NEW YORK.

TEXT: THE DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE CLOSED AT 87 HUNDRED 11, DOWN ONE POINT. THE STANDARD AND POOR'S 500 INDEX CLOSED AT 11 HUNDRED THREE, UP TWO POINTS.

ANALYSTS SAY THERE APPEARED TO BE SOME BARGAIN HUNTING AFTER FRIDAY'S SELL-OFF AND THE INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE WAS UP MOST OF THE DAY. BUT SOME LATE SESSION SELLING BROUGHT THE INDEX DOWN.

YOU ARE GOING TO SEE BUYING IN DECENT STOCKS ON DIPS AND YOU ARE GOING TO SEE PROFIT-TAKING IF THEY MAKE ANY KIND OF MOVE TO THE UPSIDE.

SOME ANALYSTS SAY THEY STILL EXPECT A SUMMER RALLY. BUT OTHERS ARE SKEPTICAL, CITING UNCERTAINTY ABOUT CORPORATE PROFITS AND THE CONTINUING FINANCIAL CRISIS IN ASIA.

A REPORT FROM THE CONFERENCE BOARD RESEARCH GROUP SAYS THE U-S ECONOMY WILL REMAIN STRONG FOR THE REST OF THIS YEAR. HOWEVER, THE REPORT SAYS THERE ARE EARLY SIGNS THAT U-S ECONOMIC GROWTH COULD START TO SLOW IN 1999.

THE STOCK OF THE SUNBEAM SMALL APPLIANCE COMPANY FELL AFTER A REPORT (WALL STREET "JOURNAL") THAT U-S REGULATORS ARE INVESTIGATING THE COMPANY'S ACCOUNTING METHODS. LAST WEEK, SUNBEAM'S DIRECTORS FIRED COMPANY CHAIRMAN AL DUNLAP BECAUSE OF HIS FAILURE TO REVIVE SUNBEAM'S FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE.

GENERAL MOTORS HAS AGREED TO A JOINT VENTURE IN CHINA TO MANUFACTURE PICK-UP TRUCKS AND SPORT UTILITY VEHICLES. PRODUCTION IS SET THE BEGIN WITHIN TWO YEARS.

IN NORTH AMERICA, G-M PRODUCTION IS VIRTUALLY HALTED AS A RESULT OF STRIKES AT TWO PARTS PLANTS IN MICHIGAN.

THE MERRILL LYNCH INVESTMENT COMPANY WILL EXPAND ITS PRESENCE IN CANADA WITH THE 855 MILLION DOLLAR ACQUISITION OF THE MIDLAND WALWYN COMPANY, THE LARGEST INDEPENDENT BROKERAGE FIRM IN CANADA.

A HUGE TAKEOVER IN THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY WAS ANNOUNCED. THE BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INVESTMENT FIRM WILL BUY THE GENERAL REINSURANCE COMPANY FOR 22 BILLION DOLLARS. THE STOCKS OF OTHER INSURANCE COMPANIES ROSE ON THE NEWS.

BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY IS CONTROLLED BY WARREN BUFFETT, THE LEGENDARY AMERICAN INVESTOR AND, ACCORDING TO "FORBES" MAGAZINE, THE THIRD RICHEST MAN IN THE UNITED STATES. "FORBES" SAYS MR. BUFFETT IS WORTH 33 BILLION DOLLARS. ON TOP OF THE MAGAZINE'S LIST IS BILL GATES, FOUNDER OF THE MICROSOFT COMPUTER SOFTWARE COMPANY. WITH A NET WORTH OF 51 BILLION DOLLARS, MR. GATES IS DESCRIBED AS THE RICHEST PERSON IN THE WORLD.(SIGNED)
NEB/NY/BA/WFR
22-Jun-98 4:36 PM EDT (2036 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America

[05] MONDAY'S EDITORIALS BY ANDREW N. GUTHRIE (WASHINGTON)

INTRO: U-S NEWSPAPERS ARE DISCUSSING A WIDE ARRAY OF TOPICS IN THEIR EDITORIAL COLUMNS AS WE BEGIN ANOTHER WEEK. AMONG THE TOPICS UNDER THE MICROSCOPE ARE U-S AID TO COLOMBIA AND HOW IT IS BEING USED OR MISUSED; THE COMIC OPERA OVERTONES IN BELARUS' FOREIGN EMBASSY FEUD; DISARMING ALL SIDES IN NORTHERN IRELAND; TROUBLED KOSOVO PROVINCE, AND SOME THOUGHTS ON WORLD TRADE. NOW, HERE WITH A CLOSER LOOK AND SOME QUOTES IS ________________________ AND TODAY'S EDITORIAL DIGEST.

TEXT: TODAY'S "NEW YORK TIMES" FEARS THERE ARE SHADOWS OF WHAT IT FEELS IS A DISCREDITED U-S POLICY TOWARD EL SALVADOR IN PRESENT MILITARY AID TO COLOMBIA.

VOICE: WASHINGTON'S GROWING INVOLVEMENT IN A BRUTAL LATIN AMERICAN GUERRILLA WAR ECHOES THE OPENING STAGES OF AMERICAN INTERVENTION IN THE CONFLICT IN EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980'S. ... MUCH OF THE AID THE PENTAGON IS GIVING COLOMBIA'S MILITARY TO FIGHT COCAINE IS BEING USED INSTEAD TO FIGHT GUERRILLAS. AMERICAN SPECIAL-FORCES TRAINERS NOW WORK IN COLOMBIA, TEACHING THE MILITARY SUCH SKILLS AS JUNGLE MANEUVERING AND PSYCHOLOGICAL OPERATIONS. ... AS IN EL SALVADOR, AMERICAN AID IS GOING TO AN ABUSIVE AND INEPT ARMY FIGHTING VICIOUS MARXIST GUERRILLAS. THE GUERRILLAS KILL POLITICIANS AND KIDNAP AMERICANS. THE MILITARY HAS STRONG TIES TO PARAMILITARY DEATH SQUADS, WHICH MASSACRE PEASANTS AND MURDER HUMAN RIGHTS WORKERS AND LEFT-WING POLITICIANS. ... AS IN EL SALVADOR, PEACE TALKS ARE THE ONLY SOLUTION TO A CIVIL WAR NEITHER SIDE CAN WIN.

TEXT: LOOKING HALF A WORLD AWAY, AT EASTERN EUROPE, "THE SUN" IN BALTIMORE IS TAKING NOTE OF WHAT IT FEELS ARE THE COMIC OPERA OVERTONES IN THE LATEST EPISODE INVOLVING THE CONTROVERSIAL PRESIDENT OF BELARUS, ALEXANDER LUKASHENKO. OBSERVERS SAY HE IS TAKING REPRISALS AGAINST SEVERAL FOREIGN EMBASSIES IN RESPONSE TO FOREIGN PRESSURE ON HIS UNDEMOCRATIC GOVERNMENT.

VOICE: IN FOUR YEARS SINCE HIS ELECTION, BELARUS PRESIDENT ALEXANDER LUKASHENKO HAS FORGED A REPUTATION FOR THE BIZARRE. ... AFTER HE EXTENDED HIS TERM UNTIL 2001 IN A QUESTIONABLE REFERENDUM, MANY FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS EFFECTIVELY STOPPED RECOGNIZING MR. LUKASHENKO. THAT IS WHY THE 43-YEAR-OLD LEADER ORDERED 22 FOREIGN AMBASSADORS EVICTED FROM THEIR RESIDENCES IN APRIL. THE ENVOYS KEPT REFUSING. ON FRIDAY, MR. LUKASHENKO ORDERED THE WATER AND ELECTRICITY AT THESE RESIDENCES BE TURNED OFF. MR. LUKASHENKO'S ACTION IS UNHEARD OF IN THE ANNALS OF DIPLOMACY. HE MUST BE PROUD.

TEXT: STILL WITH EUROPEAN AFFAIRS, THE "HARTFORD COURANT" IS COMMENTING ON STATEMENTS MADE IN ITS CITY LAST MONTH BY GERRY ADAMS ABOUT HOW THE LAYING DOWN OF ARMS IN NORTHERN IRELAND SHOULD BE HANDLED.

VOICE: MR. ADAMS AND OTHER CATHOLICS ARE ON SOLID GROUND IN DEMANDING THAT THE ROYAL ULSTER CONSTABULARY -- BASICALLY A PROTESTANT POLICE FORCE -- BE REPLACED BY A 'DEMOCRATIC POLICE FORCE IN WHICH CATHOLIC REPUBLICANS, NATIONALISTS, CAN BELONG.' THERE IS NO OTHER WAY. CATHOLICS MUST SHARE IN POLICE POWER IF THE POWER-SHARING AGREEMENT IS TO HAVE MEANING. THE SINN FEIN LEADER ALSO SPOKE OF 'DEMILITARIZING' NORTHERN IRELAND, SAYING THAT BRITISH TROOPS MUST LEAVE THEIR BARRACKS AND 'GO HOME AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.' BRITISH TROOPS SHOULD WITHDRAW. BUT IT WOULD HELP IF PEACE TAKES ROOT FIRST. ... OVERHEATED NATIONALIST RHETORIC IS NOT HELPFUL TO THE CAUSE OF PEACE. MAKING THE POWER SHARING AGREEMENT WORK IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF EVERY LEADER -- INCLUDING MR. ADAMS ...

TEXT: "THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR" DISCUSSES ANOTHER EUROPEAN TROUBLE SPOT, SERBIA'S KOSOVO PROVINCE, WHERE IT SAYS, FOR THE WEST TO APPEAR UNWILLING TO USE FORCE IS TO COURT A REPLAY OF THE HUMAN TRAGEDY OF BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA.

VOICE: WITH MILITANCY DEEPENING IN KOSOVO, THERE IS LITTLE TIME FOR LENGTHY DIPLOMATIC MANEUVERS AT THE U-N OR ELSEWHERE. THE U-S AND OTHERS WHO WANT TO AVERT BOSNIA-LIKE VIOLENCE AND POSSIBLE REGIONAL WAR MUST DEMAND PROMPT FOLLOW-THROUGH ON [MR.] MILOSEVIC'S REASONABLE WORDS -- THEN BE READY TO SHOW HIM THAT INTERVENTION IS A REAL OPTION, NOT A BLUFF.

TEXT: '"USA TODAY" PUBLISHES A LONG LIST OF SENATORS WHO VOTED AGAINST THE ANTI-SMOKING BILL LAST WEEK, AND NEXT TO THEIR NAMES, IS THE AMOUNT OF DONATIONS THEY RECEIVED FROM THE TOBACCO INDUSTRY FROM 1993 TO THE PRESENT. THE ACCOMPANYING EDITORIAL NOTES:

VOICE: FOR A MONEY-HUNGRY POLITICIAN, FEEDING AT THE TABLE OF BIG TOBACCO CAN BE QUITE TASTY. THE 46 SENATORS WHO OBLIGED THEIR CANCER-PEDDLING PATRONS BY VOTING TO KILL THE ANTI-SMOKING BILL LAST WEEK HAVE TAKEN IN MORE THAN ONE-POINT-THREE-MILLION DOLLARS IN TOBACCO MONEY SINCE 1993. ... FURTHER, THE BULK OF TOBACCO'S 'INVESTMENT' IN POLITICIANS IS IN 'SOFT MONEY,' A LOOPHOLE THAT LETS CORPORATIONS, UNIONS AND WEALTHY INDIVIDUALS EVADE THE LEGAL CURBS ON CONTRIBUTIONS. ... AS LONG AS CAMPAIGNS ARE PAID FOR BY TOBACCO AND OTHER INTERESTS, NOT BY THE PUBLIC, NO ONE SHOULD BE SURPRISED THAT THEY WIN.

TEXT: AND LASTLY, SOME COMMENTS FROM "THE LOS ANGELES TIMES," ON HOW THE ASIAN ECONOMIC CRISIS, PARTICULARLY THE TROUBLES IN JAPAN, ARE SHOWING EVERYONE HOW TRULY INTERRELATED THE WORLD ECONOMY HAS BECOME.

VOICE: ANY LINGERING HOPE THAT THE U-S ECONOMY COULD REMAIN LARGELY UNAFFECTED BY THE FINANCIAL CRISIS IN ASIA HAS BEEN LAID TO REST BY THE LATEST TRADE FIGURES. DECLINING AMERICAN EXPORTS TO PACIFIC RIM COUNTRIES BOOSTED THE TRADE DEFICIT IN APRIL TO 14-POINT-FIVE BILLION DOLLARS, ITS HIGHEST LEVEL SINCE 1992. IN THE FIRST FOUR MONTHS OF THIS YEAR, U-S EXPORTS TO THE REGION FELL BY 10-POINT-FIVE PERCENT WHILE IMPORTS ROSE BY SIX-POINT-SIX PERCENT. ... THE LATEST FIGURES ON THE TRADE IMBALANCE ARE A REMINDER OF HOW INTERCONNECTED THE WORLD ECONOMY HAS BECOME. THOSE IN CONGRESS WHO ARE DETERMINED TO SIT TIGHT ON THE REQUEST TO INCREASE THE RESERVES OF THE INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND -- NEEDED SHOULD THE ASIAN FINANCIAL CRISIS DEEPEN -- SHOULD THINK AGAIN ABOUT THE POLITICAL GAME THEY ARE PLAYING.

TEXT: THAT CONCLUDES THIS SAMPLING OF COMMENTS FROM THE EDITORIAL COLUMNS OF MONDAY'S U-S PAPERS.
NEB/ANG/RAE
22-Jun-98 10:38 AM EDT (1438 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America

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