Voice of America, 01-08-09

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

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

CONTENTS

[01] U-S / MACEDONIA (L ONLY) BY SCOTT STEARNS (WHITE HOUSE)

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

[03] THURSDAY'S EDITORIALS BY ANDREW GUTHRIE (Washington)

[04] MACEDONIA (L ONLY) BY JEFF BIELEY (SKOPJE)

[05] WAR CRIMES / BOSNIA (L-O) BY ROGER WILKISON (BRUSSELS)

[01] U-S / MACEDONIA (L ONLY) BY SCOTT STEARNS (WHITE HOUSE)

INTRO: Macedonians demonstrated outside the White House Thursday calling on NATO to do more to stop attacks by ethnic Albanian gunmen. V-O-A's Scott Stearns reports, demonstrators were protesting Wednesday's killing of 10 government soldiers outside the Macedonian capital, Skopje.

TEXT: Waving red and yellow Macedonian flags, protestors marched outside the White House calling on Western nations to take a harder line against ethnic Albanian militants. Albanians in Macedonia took up arms against the government six months ago demanding a bigger say in how the country is run. They ambushed a government convoy outside the capital Wednesday, killing ten government soldiers. Protestors say that is just the sort of violence that NATO troops need to stop. But NATO observers will not be deployed in Macedonia until both sides reach a political settlement. European Union officials say they have negotiated a deal that Macedonia's political parties will sign on Monday. That plan includes a greater role for the Albanian minority in the police, parliament and education. It has a framework for constitutional reform and a selective amnesty for Albanian gunmen. Protestors outside the White House said they are cautiously optimistic about the new arrangement but worry it may not stop the fighting. Government supporters say ethnic Albanians are not after more autonomy in Macedonia. They say the militants want to make the country part of greater Albania. Most of the demonstrators were Macedonians living in the United States who say they had to adapt to the language and laws of this country, so the Albanian minority in Macedonia should adapt to the system there. The largest Albanian militant group says it is committed to Monday's plan. But a breakaway faction claiming to be based inside neighboring Albania says it will not respect the accord. (SIGNED)
NEB/SS/MAR SLUG: US Editorial Digest 8/9/01 DATE: NOTE NUMBER:

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

INTRO: The debate over the cloning of a human being and other aspects of this developing science continue to be a popular editorial topic in the American press. The latest developments in Northern Ireland are also topical, as is the George Bush presidential vacation [holiday] at his Texas ranch. Other editorials deal with the Mideast violence, the United Nations racism conference, additional census data on the United States and North Korea's President touring Russia while his people starve. Now, here is ____________ with a closer look including a quote or two in today's U-S Editorial Digest.

TEXT: The National Academy of Sciences in Washington held a symposium on human cloning this week, causing a flurry of new editorials. The San Francisco Chronicle was not pleased with the near-circus atmosphere generated by some participants, nor with the societal implications.

VOICE: Society is unprepared to deal with the legal and psychological implications of "asexual" baby-making... the threat of human cloning - which has yet to be done successfully, but is surely doable - - is a target of legislators and regulators in much of the world. It is widely deplored by mainstream scientists.

TEXT: The New York Times is also bemoaning what it calls the "Stampede to Cloning."

VOICE: Cloning, which can create an embryo by inserting an adult's genetic material into a female egg, arouses intense opposition from those who regard it as immoral to circumvent the normal reproductive fusion of sperm with egg or who deem it unethical to create a baby with the identical genes of an adult donor. But whatever one's views ... cloning techniques are still far too primitive to risk trying in human guinea pigs.

TEXT: The Times also worries about Congress overreacting because of the current furor. And in Minnesota, the Minneapolis Star Tribune worries that the U-S House of Representatives went too far last week as it "voted hurriedly to ban all human cloning."

VOICE: ...the House bill would do more than ban cloning for reproduction. It would also forbid human cloning for research and therapeutic uses -- and outlaw the sale of treatments developed from such cloning. ... A federal ban on therapeutic cloning will do nothing but harm medical progress. ... lawmakers ...should find another way to step carefully ... entering the Brave New World...

TEXT: Internationally, the latest deadline for a peace compromise in Northern Ireland draws lots of attention. The Irish Republican Army has agreed to destroy or otherwise take its arms out of circulation, but the Protestants are balking. "Another Ulster Cliffhanger" cries today's Los Angeles Times.

VOICE: The effort to find a permanent peace for Northern Ireland seems perpetually on the brink of failure. ...The current crisis is Saturday's [8-11] deadline for Protestant leaders to decide whether they will stay in the Northern Ireland Assembly or allow Britain to dissolve the body. The issue is disarmament of the Irish Republican Army ... [which] should be more forthcoming about how it proposes to seal its caches of arms and explosives. But ... the [I-R-A] promise should draw the Unionists back to the table.

TEXT: Views of the Los Angeles Times. The Washington Post doesn't sound overly hopeful either, as it suggests: "The I-R-A's latest disarmament plan ... does not appear to involve actually handing over or destroying any weapons before the Sunday deadline ... an extraordinary omission." There is an ongoing flow of comment on President George W. Bush's' month-long vacation [holiday] at his Texas ranch, and of his first six months in office. Wisconsin's Capital Times from Madison says:

VOICE: Before leaving ... President Bush was checked out by the best doctors in Washington [and]... pronounced ... to be sound, and that is a blessing. Too bad the blessing will not be shared anytime soon with the 44-million Americans who lack health insurance. Their plight will be on hold ... another month as [Mr.] Bush puts policy on hold to cavort in Crawford [Texas].

TEXT: Springing to the president's defense is The Oklahoman in Oklahoma City which says the "Vacationing [Mr.] Bush Deserves a Break."

VOICE: By many estimates, George W. Bush's first six months in the White House have been a rousing success, a credit to the president's hard work and skill in a town many thought would eat him alive. ... Now [Mr.] Bush and his wife, Laura, have returned to ... Texas, for a month-long vacation, and a new Gallup Poll indicates 55 percent of Americans think that's too much time off. ... Not us. We think [President] Bush has earned a break.

TEXT: And in Texas, today's Houston Chronicle says the vacation argument is "pretty lame" since "The president is on call wherever he goes." Internationally, the ongoing violence in the Middle East, which USA Today, the national daily published in a Washington suburb, describes today as a "low-level war" may soon demand a change in White House strategy.

VOICE: ... the administration may not be able to maintain the luxury of its hands-off stance much longer. The downward spiral of grievance and violence threatens ... to eliminate room for diplomatic maneuver [and]...to spread to neighboring countries...

TEXT: Still in the region, Newsday on Long Island, New York, is casting a wary eye on Teheran, suggesting the "Iran Power Struggle Has Serious Implications for [the] United States."

VOICE: The latest political spasm in Iran marks a potential pivot point in that nation's evolution, from a rigid theocracy hostile to the West to an emerging democracy striving to reintegrate in the modern world. ... The clerical hard-liners have now won a major battle by denying moderates two key seats on a powerful ruling council, but they may be losing the war for Iranian hearts.

TEXT: Turning to the United Nations forthcoming conference on racism to be held in South Africa, the Philadelphia Inquirer feels it's important for the United States to attend if "the Zionism-equals-racism line ... can be defused, it would be a shame to boycott the conference over reparations ... for past racial sins... The trip to Russia by train of North Korea's mysterious leader Kim Jong Il draws this sour note from Denver's [Colorado] Rocky Mountain News foreign analyst Holger Jensen.

VOICE: While [President] Kim dines on donkey ... many North Koreans are surviving on leaves, grass and tree bark. ... Loss of Soviet subsidies and successive natural disasters have brought six years of famine to the land. ... [And] more severe food shortages are expected this year after the worst spring drought in 82 years.

TEXT: Lastly, The New York Times is fascinated by a new supplemental survey of America conducted by the Census Bureau, calling it a "gold mine of information..."

VOICE: Americans earned more, saw their material wealth burgeon and obtained more education to guarantee their futures. But the supplement also exposes some areas that beg for improvement. Even in the world's leading economy, over half a million homes still lack complete plumbing. Though the poverty rate for adults is eleven percent, the rate among children under 18 is 17 percent.

TEXT: With that we conclude this editorial sampling from Thursday's U-S press.
NEB/ANG/MAR SLUG: 6-12420 Thursday's Editorials DATE: NOTE NUMBER:

[03] THURSDAY'S EDITORIALS BY ANDREW GUTHRIE (Washington)

INTRO: The debate over the cloning of a human being, and other aspects of this developing science continue to be a popular editorial topic in the American press. The latest developments in Northern Ireland are also much in favor; as is the George Bush presidential vacation [holiday] at his Texas ranch. Other editorials deal with the Mideast violence; the United Nations racism conference; additional census data on the United States; and North Korea's President touring Russia, as his people starve. Now, here is ____________ with a closer look including a quote or two in today's U-S Editorial Digest.

TEXT: The National Academy of Sciences in Washington held a symposium on human cloning this week, causing a flurry of new editorials. The San Francisco Chronicle was not pleased with the near- circus atmosphere generated by some participants, nor with the societal implications.

VOICE: Society is unprepared to deal with the legal and psychological implications of "asexual" baby-making... the threat of human cloning - which has yet to be done successfully, but is surely doable - - is a target of legislators and regulators in much of the world. It is widely deplored by mainstream scientists. ... The laughter dies down when the impact on real life is clear.

TEXT: The New York Times is also bemoaning what it calls the "Stampede to Cloning."

VOICE: Cloning, which can create an embryo by inserting an adult's genetic material into a female egg, arouses intense opposition from those who regard it as immoral to circumvent the normal reproductive fusion of sperm with egg or who deem it unethical to create a baby with the identical genes of an adult donor. But whatever one's views ... cloning techniques are still far too primitive to risk trying in human guinea pigs.

TEXT: The Times also worries about Congress overreacting because of the current furor. And in Minnesota, the Minneapolis Star Tribune worries that the U-S House of Representatives went too far last week as it "voted hurriedly to ban all human cloning."

VOICE: ...the House bill would do more than ban cloning for reproduction. It would also forbid human cloning for research and therapeutic uses- - and outlaw the sale of treatments developed from such cloning. ... A federal ban on therapeutic cloning will do nothing but harm medical progress. ... lawmakers ...should find another way to step carefully ... entering the Brave New World...

TEXT: Internationally, the latest deadline for a peace compromise in Northern Ireland draws lots of attention. The Irish Republican Army has agreed to destroy or otherwise take its arms out of circulation, but the Protestants are balking. "Another Ulster Cliffhanger" cries today's Los Angeles Times.

VOICE: The effort to find a permanent peace for Northern Ireland seems perpetually on the brink of failure. ...The current crisis is Saturday's [8-11] deadline for Protestant leaders to decide whether they will stay in the Northern Ireland Assembly or allow Britain to dissolve the body. The issue is disarmament of the Irish Republican Army ... [which] should be more forthcoming about how it proposes to seal its caches of arms and explosives. But ... the [I-R-A] promise should draw the Unionists back to the table.

TEXT: Views of the Los Angeles Times. The Washington Post doesn't sound overly hopeful either, as it suggests: "The I-R-A's latest disarmament plan ... does not appear to involve actually handing over or destroying any weapons before the Sunday deadline ... an extraordinary omission." There is an ongoing flow of comment on President George W. Bush's month-long vacation [holiday] at his Texas ranch, and of his first six months in office. Wisconsin's Capital Times from Madison says:

VOICE: Before leaving ... President Bush was checked out by the best doctors in Washington [and]... pronounced ... to be sound, and that is a blessing. Too bad the blessing will not be shared anytime soon with the 44-million Americans who lack health insurance. Their plight will be on hold ... another month as [Mr.] Bush puts policy on hold to cavort in Crawford [Texas].

TEXT: Springing to the president's defense is The Oklahoman in Oklahoma City which says the "Vacationing [Mr.] Bush Deserves a Break."

VOICE: By many estimates, George W. Bush's first six months in the White House have been a rousing success, a credit to the president's hard work and skill in a town many thought would eat him alive. ... Now [Mr.] Bush and his wife, Laura, have returned to ... Texas, for a month-long vacation, and a new Gallup Poll indicates 55 percent of Americans think that's too much time off. ... Not us. We think [President] Bush has earned a break.

TEXT: And in Texas, today's Houston Chronicle says the vacation argument is "pretty lame" since "The president is on call wherever he goes." Internationally, the on-going violence in the Middle East, which USA Today, the national daily published in a Washington suburb, describes today as a "low-level war", may soon demand a change in White House strategy.

VOICE: ... the administration may not be able to maintain the luxury of its hands-off stance much longer. The downward spiral of grievance and violence threatens ... to eliminate room for diplomatic maneuver [and]...to spread to neighboring countries...

TEXT: Still in the region, Newsday on Long Island, New York, is casting a wary eye on Teheran, suggesting the "Iran Power Struggle Has Serious Implications for [the] U-S."

VOICE: The latest political spasm in Iran marks a potential pivot point in that nation's evolution, from a rigid theocracy hostile to the West to an emerging democracy striving to reintegrate in the modern world. ... The clerical hard-liners have now won a major battle by denying moderates two key seats on a powerful ruling council, but they may be losing the war for Iranian hearts.

TEXT: Turning to the United Nations forthcoming conference on racism to be held in South Africa, the Philadelphia Inquirer feels its important for the U-S to attend if "the Zionism-equals-racism line ... can be defused, it would be a shame to boycott the conference over reparations ... for past racial sins... On to the trip to Russia by train of North Korea's mysterious leader Kim Jong Il, which draws this sour note from Denver's [Colorado] Rocky Mountain News foreign analyst Holger Jensen.

VOICE: While [President] Kim dines on donkey ... many North Koreans are surviving on leaves, grass and tree bark. ... Loss of Soviet subsidies and successive natural disasters have brought six years of famine to the land. ... [And] more severe food shortages are expected this year after the worst spring drought in 82 years.

TEXT: Lastly, The New York Times is fascinated by a new supplemental survey of America conducted by the Census Bureau, calling it a "gold mine of information..."

VOICE: Americans earned more, saw their material wealth burgeon and obtained more education to guarantee their futures. But the supplement also exposes some areas that beg for improvement. Even in the world's leading economy, over half a million homes still lack complete plumbing. Though the poverty rate for adults is eleven percent, the rate among children under 18 is 17-percent.

TEXT: With that we conclude this editorial sampling from Thursday's U-S press.
NEB/ANG/RH SLUG: 2-279133 Macedonia (L) DATE: NOTE NUMBER:

[04] MACEDONIA (L ONLY) BY JEFF BIELEY (SKOPJE)

INTRO: Fighting continues in Macedonia (Thursday), a day after ethnic-Albanian guerrillas killed ten government soldiers. Responding to the killings, Macedonian leaders say they are going to intensify their military effort against the rebels. The government warning comes one day after the two sides reached a preliminary peace agreement. Jeff Bieley has more from Skopje.

TEXT: A Macedonian policeman was killed and another injured in the latest fighting (Thursday) between government forces and ethnic-Albanian rebels. Government forces shelled rebel positions in villages near Tetovo in northwestern Macedonia, and local radio reported the guerrillas fired mortars and sniper rifles at police checkpoints and an army barracks in the city. The radio also said that the rebels burned down dozens of previously vacated Macedonian homes. The government proclaimed Thursday a day of mourning for the ten soldiers killed by the rebels Wednesday. All of the soldiers were army reservists from the central Macedonian town of Prilep. Following news of the deaths, rioters in Prilep targeted the town's only mosque and several ethnic-Albanian shops and homes. Local television also reported that Macedonians stormed an arms depot in Prilep, looting the weapons. In the capital, Skopje, gangs of youths looted Albanian- and Muslim-owned shops and cafes in the city center. E-U envoy Francois Leotard said he could not guarantee that the preliminary peace agreement reached Wednesday would hold up until a formal signing set for Monday.

[05] WAR CRIMES / BOSNIA (L-O) BY ROGER WILKISON (BRUSSELS)

INTRO: Three senior Bosnian Muslim wartime officers have pleaded innocent to war crimes charges before the United Nations tribunal in The Hague. V-O-A correspondent Roger Wilkison reports the three men deny responsibility for war crimes against Croat and Serb civilians that were committed chiefly by foreign Muslim fighters during the 1992 to 1995 Bosnian War.

TEXT: Retired generals Mehmed Alagic and Enver Hadzihasanovic and colonel Amir Kubura each entered 19 not guilty pleas to charges including murder, inhuman treatment, hostage-taking and destruction of religious sites. The three men are the highest-ranking Bosnian Muslims to appear before the international war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. They were arrested last week by the authorities of Bosnia's Muslim-Croat Federation and handed over to the tribunal after the court issued sealed indictments against them. The charges stem from a period of especially vicious fighting throughout 1993 between Bosnian Muslims and Croats, who started the war as allies against Bosnia's Serbs but later fought their own bitter conflict for territory in central Bosnia. The three are not charged with having personally committed atrocities but for failing to prevent crimes perpetrated by fighters under their command or punishing those responsible for such crimes. The indictment says that, as senior officers of the Bosnian Muslim army, the three oversaw the killing of civilians and prisoners of war, the use of hostages as human shields and the pillaging and destruction of several towns and villages. Most of those crimes, say prosecutors, were committed by foreign Muslim mercenaries and volunteers from mainly Arab countries who went to Bosnia to help Bosnian Muslims defend themselves. The three men denied they were responsible for the crimes, including the murder of at least 200 Bosnian Croat and Bosnian Serb civilians during Muslim attacks on Croat forces. The trial of the three wartime officers will not start for several months. Meanwhile, the tribunal is increasing pressure on the authorities in Bosnia's Serb Republic to hand over the court's two most-wanted suspects: Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic and his military chief, Ratko Mladic. (Signed)
NEB/RW/GE/RH

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