News - VOA Digest, June 28, 1996
Dr. Jai Maharaj
Welcome astrologers and other readers!
Here is a compilation of some of today's events:
VOA DIGEST - Friday, June 28, 1996
reports by voa central news service:
summit / economic -- the group of seven industrialized
democracies friday concluded their economic discussions
and issued a seven point declaration promising increased
cooperation to promote global prosperity. correspondent
barry wood reports from lyon, france. (6/28)
g-7 summit / friday opener -- the economic discussions
of this year's summit of the group of seven
industrialized nations gets underway in lyon, france.
correspondent barry wood reports from lyon the leaders
will be assessing trends in the world economy. (6/27)
clinton / summit -- the leaders of the seven
industrialized nations meeting in lyon, france, have
released a declaration that calls the fight against
terrorists their absolute priority. the declaration
says the leaders are resolved to do more to defeat
terrorism, including convening a ministerial meeting on
the subject to be held in paris as early as this july.
from lyon, white house correspondent david borgida
reports the terrorist truck bombing in saudi arabia
prompted the renewed public commitment. (6/27)
saudi arabia / investigation -- officials in saudi
arabia are continuing their search for those responsible
for the truck-bomb blast that killed nineteen american
military personnel at a base in dhahran, saudi arabia,
and injured nearly four hundred people. correspondent
laurie kassman in dhahran reports a new bomb threat
jolted the base awake in early friday, but it turned out
to be a hoax. (6/28)
dhahran / memorial -- us general benford peay, commander
of the us central command, led a memorial service in
dhahran, saudi arabia, friday for the nineteen american
servicemen killed when a truck-bomb exploded outside
military housing at the us air force facility this past
week. several hundred more were injured in the blast,
which destroyed an apartment building and damaged nearby
buildings. middle east correspondent laurie kassman
reports. (6/28)
russia / chechnya -- russian troops have begun the first
stage of a phased withdrawal from breakaway chechnya.
stringer peter heinlein in moscow reports the pullout is
conditional on the success of ongoing peace efforts.
(6/28)
russian pol / yeltsin -- with days to go before russia's
presidential election, president boris yeltsin has
dropped from public view, fueling renewed concern about
the state of his health. stringer peter heinlein in
moscow reports kremlin officials have issued statements
of reassurance. (6/28)
russia campaign / yeltsin -- as russia's presidential
race moves toward its final weekend, incumbent boris
yeltsin's campaign appears to be slowing down. before
the first round of voting, the sixty-five-year old
president set a hectic pace, criss-crossing the country
to address widely-publicized rallies. since then,
however, mr yeltsin has remained mostly inside the
kremlin, away from television cameras. from the central
russian town of aleksin, stringer peter heinlein reports
the president has cancelled several recent campaign
trips, renewing concerns about his health. (6/27)
kantor / thailand -- us commerce secretary mickey kantor
is in thailand, capping a three-nation asian tour that
also took him to south korea and indonesia. mr kantor
brought with him clinton administration concerns about
the flow of counterfeit goods from china to southeast
asia, as well as other trade matters. as southeast asia
correspondent gary thomas reports from bangkok, mr
kantor also backed a tough trade stance against burma.
(6/28)
congress / china -- the us house of representatives has
given the clinton administration a rare victory.
correspondent paula wolfson reports by a wide margin,
members refused to block the president's decision to
extend china's most favored nation (mfn) trade status.
(6/27)
chinese communist party / anniversary -- monday (july
first) marks the seventy fifth anniversary of the
chinese communist party. from beijing, correspondent
gil butler reports the commemoration of the event is
relatively low-keyed. (6/28)
vietnam / foreign policy -- a senior vietnamese official
has called for faster movement toward a comprehensive
trade agreement with the united states. as
correspondent dan robinson reports from hanoi, deputy
foreign minister vu khoan also spoke about human rights
and relations with china during a news conference held
on the first day of a major congress of vietnam's
communist party. (6/28)
vietnam / congress / opener -- vietnam's communist party
has opened a four-day congress in hanoi attended by more
than one thousand delegates and many foreign guests.
correspondent dan robinson says a report by party chief
do muoi, listed achievements since vietnam's market
reforms began in 1986, but it also spoke of serious
problems and major mistakes. (6/28)
un / zaire / rwanda -- gunmen in eastern zaire launched
an attack near a rwandan refugee camp late thursday. a
spokeswoman for the un high commissioner for refugees
told reporters in geneva eight people were killed and
four wounded in the raid. correspondent douglas roberts
reports the incident is likely to fuel demands to
re-locate the refugee camps in zaire farther away from
the increasingly tense border region. (6/28)
rwanda / hutu bounty -- a new rwandan hutu extremist
group claims to be operating inside rwanda in an attempt
to overthrow the present tutsi-led government. stringer
chris tomlinson in kigali reports. (6/28)
rwanda refugees / media -- more than one and one half
million refugees from rwanda have so far refused to
return to their homeland. they fled in 1994, after the
slaughter of hundreds of thousands in a conflict between
hutu and tutsi ethnic groups. hutu extremists are
widely accused of using intimidation and rumor to
frighten refugees about going home. the united nations
high commissioner for refugees (unhcr) is running a
program to counter the propaganda. correspondent
william eagle reports from kigali. (6/28)
niger / politics -- niger's electoral commission says it
cannot complete preparations in time for presidential
elections on july seventh and has asked the government
to set a new voting date. west africa correspondent
purnell murdock reports niger's military ruler, ibrahim
mainassara, rejected a recommendation earlier this month
to postpone the elections. (6/28)
ghana / electoral commission -- in ghana candidates are
gearing up for presidential and parliamentary elections
in december. during the past year, the country's
electoral commission has been compiling new voter
registration lists after criticism there were
irregularities during the last elections in 1992.
reporter deborah block was recently in ghana and spoke
to the head of the electoral commission about plans for
the coming elections. (6/28)
saf / vote counting -- officials in south africa's
kwazulu/natal province are counting votes after local
elections this week. correspondent delia robertson in
durban reports counting is proceeding smoothly in urban
areas but very slowly in rural districts. (6/28)
bosnia / the karadzic question -- current affairs'
pamela taylor reports on a congressional hearing which
questioned osce's bosnia envoy robert frowick and the
state department's william montgomery about proceeding
with elections and indicted war criminals at large.
(6/28)
bosnia / karadzic -- the party of bosnian serb leader
radovan karadzic was scheduled to meet friday in the
village of pale to determine who will be the party's
presidential candidate in upcoming elections. although
serbian president slobodan milosevic and the leaders of
the western world have demanded that karadzic step down
from power, he shows no signs of doing so. from
sarajevo, correspondent kyle king reports. (6/28)
tajikistan / drugs -- tajikistan has recently become a
major transit area for illicit drug smuggled from
afghanistan to europe and presumably north america.
correspondent ali jalali in dushanbe reports that
political instability and adverse economic conditions in
the country help the contraband traffic to grow. (6/28)
haiti / compromise -- the united nations security
council is poised to vote friday on extending the
mandate of un troops in haiti. the outcome was
uncertain until china agreed to a compromise formula
thursday. correspondent elaine johanson reports.
(6/27)
canada / quebec / cuba -- less than a year ago, canada's
province of quebec voted narrowly to remain in the
canadian federation. despite promises from proponents
of separation that the issue will not go away, the
premier of canada's midwestern province of saskatchewan
predicts quebec will always be a part of canada. he
says he also hopes for an end to canada's dispute with
washington over trade with cuba. the premier spoke
recently before a group of business leaders in chicago.
correspondent michael leland reports. (6/27)
gdp revised downward -- the commerce department says the
us economy grew at a slightly slower pace during the
first three months of this year than previously
reported. correspondent nick simeone says analysts
still expect the american economy to remain strong for
the foreseeable future. (6/28)
world bank / economic reforms -- a new world bank report
shows a number of countries in central europe that have
endured painful economic reforms now enjoy greatly
improved economies. the findings are contained in a new
bank survey of economic changes in twenty eight
countries around the world. more from correspondent
nick simeone. (6/27)
illinois / gop conventions -- the governor of the
midwestern state of illinois is suggesting conservative
commentator pat buchanan be kept off of the list of
speakers for this year's republican national convention.
correspondent michael leland reports. (6/27)
creativity in business -- creativity is a word that is
often more associated with art than business. however,
correspondent breck ardery reports from new york an
american business professor is strongly promoting the
idea that creativity belongs in all businesses. (6/28)
the aging of america -- as a result of population
control and global medical advances, people around the
world are having fewer children and living longer. in
the united states, the over-85 age group is expanding
more than any other segment of the population, and the
number of americans over 65 is expected to make up
one-fifth of the population in the next 30 years.
current affairs' linda cashdan examines the potential
ramifications of the rapid aging of america. (6/28)
us / aviation -- current affairs' erica benis has the
first two in a series of three reports on american
aviation in the wake of the valujet crash. the first
discusses the impact on the crash on the federal
aviation agency, which regulates airlines. the second
looks at the low-fare airliners, their market niche,
their safety record, and how they've been impacted by
the valujet crash. (6/28)
court limits california's three strikes law -- the
california supreme court has ruled that the state's
tough "three strikes and you're out" law does not
eliminate a judge's discretion in sentencing. the
intent of the 1994 law was to keep repeat offenders in
jail without chance of parole. correspondent greg
flakus reports from los angeles that legal experts think
the setback to the three strikes idea may only be
temporary. (6/28)
campaign 96 / the people speak -- current affairs' tom
mahoney has the first in an occasional series of reports
sampling public opinion about the candidates and the
issues in campaign '96. we recently took our
microphones to the jefferson memorial in washington and
listened to everyday people--many of them visitors to
the nation's capital--express their views. (6/28)
clinton / polls -- current affairs' andrew baroch
examines why president clinton continues to have high
approval ratings despite whitewater and the fbi files
case. he interviews "newsweek" columnist joe klein.
(6/28)
texas / wildflowers -- the national wildflower research
center, near austin, texas, promotes the preservation of
native grasses and plants. correspondent greg flakus
visited the site and interviewed patricia alholm and
julie barrett heffington, staff members. also includes
sound from the garden and exhibit area. (6/28)
discover card youth program -- nine high school juniors
from around the country have received scholarship awards
for their accomplishments outside school. each year the
discover card credit company offers close to a million
dollars to participants in this unique program.
current affairs' zlatica hoke reports. (6/28)
costa rica / olympics -- the head of costa rica's
national olympic committee says it is only because of
help from the private sector that his country is able to
field a team at the upcoming games in atlanta. as
correspondent bill rodgers reports from san jose, the
olympic committee head says despite a lack of resources,
the team has great promise. (6/27)
euro football -- germany and the czech republic face
each other in the finals of the european football
championships sunday in london. correspondent andre de
nesnera previews the game. (6/28)
voa reports in individual languages:
inside usa:
bomb blast / engineering -- reporter john pitman speaks
to robert smilowitz, a civil engineer at weidlinger
associates in new york city, about steps that can be
taken to make buildings more blast resistant. he says
distance from the blast is the best defense when you
have the real estate. he says the thirty five meters or
so that the air force kept between its buildings and the
street in dhahran was standard practice and would have
absorbed the shock from a blast the size of the oklahoma
city bomb. unfortunately, this bomb appears to have
been at least twice as powerful as the oklahoma city
bomb and, he says, there was no way to know that
beforehand. he notes that planners will now increase
the safe 'keep away' distance from thirty five meters to
compensate for bigger bombs. tempered glass that
shatters into small balls of glass instead of shards is
helpful; so are extra structural supports to keep a
building from 'pancaking.' he also says he expects bomb
resistant techniques will become standard requirements
in civil engineering classrooms. (enp 6/27)
supreme court / vmi -- krzysztof jasiewicz, sociologist
from vmi evaluates the us supreme court decision
rejecting vmi men-only policy. jasiewicz focused on vmi
military traditions, and the impact of southern
conservatism in keeping traditions alive. he pointed
out that other military schools underwent the same
transformation. interview by staffer maciej wierzynski.
(polish 6/27)
inside africa:
nigeria / party registration -- on wednesday,
twenty-three political associations applied to register
as political parties with nigeria's national electoral
commission, nadeco. reporter kemi southey-cole spoke
with ralph obioha, nadeco's representative in north
america. (english to africa 6/27)
nigeria / abiola's doctor -- the nigerian military
government has permitted abiola's doctor to visit him in
his prison cell to brief him on the death of his wife.
mrs kudirat abiola was slain earlier this month.
stringer babangida jibrin reports from abuja. (hausa
6/27)
south africa / local elections -- south african election
officials are describing wednesday's elections in
kwazulu-natal province as substantially free and fair.
aside from scattered incidents, the elections went ahead
without the violence that has claimed thousands of lives
in the last ten years. reporter kemi southey-cole
talked with the african national congress election
manager sipho gcabshe, in durban. (english to africa
6/29)
rwanda refugees / media campaign -- human rights workers
say video technology is helping to disrupt a
disinformation campaign by extremists in rwandan refugee
camps. reporter william eagle spoke with the head of
the un mass information campaign for rwanda, william
spindler, and with assistant denise jeanmonod. (english
to africa 6/28)
burundi / cndd interview -- in an interview with staffer
ferdinand ferella, jerome ndiho, spokesperson for the
main rebel group in burundi said the cndd would be ready
to accept a simultaneous cessation of hostilities if it
were negotiated by former tanzanian president nyerere,
and zairean president mobutu. m. ndiho was responding to
the statement by burundian prime minister antoine ndwayo
that he would be willing to negotiate with the cndd if
it renounces violence. the surprise announcement by the
prime minister was made the day before in an exclusive
interview with staffer ferdinand ferella. (french 6/27)
uganda / elections -- reports say there are no
significant surprises from the parliamentary elections
in uganda. reporter shaka ssali spoke with independent
journalist abdi hassan in kampala. (english to africa
6/28)
uganda / elections -- stringer mike arrereng reports
from kampala that early results in uganda's
parliamentary elections show supporters of president
yoweri museveni doing well, and there has been no strong
opposition. opposition leaders boycotted the elections.
(swahili 6/28)
zimbabwe / tariffs -- the zimbabwean government recently
dropped an economic and political bombshell by
announcing new protectionist tariffs. reporter trevor
grundy has details from harare. (english to africa 7/1)
niger / pol -- the nigerien election bureau has
suspended the upcoming elections scheduled for july 7,
1996. the chairman of the commission made the
announcement in niamey thursday. a new date will be
announced later. stringer lawal boucar reports. (hausa
6/27)
niger / pol -- niger's national election commission has
recommended the postponement of the presidential
elections scheduled for july 7. stringer mohamed elbou
asked niger's prime minister boukary adji what is the
government's reaction to the recommended postponement.
(french 6/27)
niger / conflict resolution -- niamey stringer lawal
boucar reports on the conflict resolution conference
underway in niger. some fifty traditional chiefs from
ten african countries are studying ways to prevent and
resolve conflicts in africa. niger's association of
traditional chiefs and synergie africa, a geneva-based
non-governmental organization are sponsoring the
conference. (french 6/27)
african leaders / ghana -- the leaders of african
nations meeting with world financial institutions have
adapted a resolution calling for the establishment of an
african financial institute that would monitor
investment strategies and economic growth of african
countries. stringer abdulmalik danbirni reports from
accra. (hausa 6/27)
ethiopia / dam building -- the ethiopian government
announced that it plans to build dams on its nile and
tekeze rivers. sudan has objected the move demanding
that consultation be held between the two governments
before the construction starts. the blue nile that
originates in ethiopia flows through sudan to egypt.
stringer tafesse kifle reports from addis ababa.
(amharic 6/27)
environment / water / congo -- experts from forty six
african countries are meeting in the regional office of
the world health organization in brazzaville, congo to
discuss water resources and the environment. report by
brazzaville stringer alain ngongo. (french 6/27)
world bank / africa / microfinancing -- a workshop was
organized recently in bamako, mali by the women's world
banking non-profit organization and the undp to study
micro-financing practices in africa, followed by a
high-level forum on the same issue organized by the
world bank. staffer camille grosdidier interviewed
world bank official silvia sagari about the issue of
micro-financing in africa. (french 6/27)
cape verde / oau -- the oau summit will be held in the
next few days in yaounde, cameroun. but some african
countries will not participate because they have not
paid up their contributions to the organization. among
them are the following portuguese speaking countries:
guinea bissau, cape verde, sao tome and principe,
angola, and mozambique. correspondent alvaro ludgero
reports. (portuguese to africa 6/27)
stp / campaign -- staffer ovidio pequeno interviews
former president, manuel pinto da costa who is running
for the presidency. the former president wants to
concentrate his campaign on competence, good management,
and combat against corruption. staffer ovidio pequeno
also interviewed armindo tomba, former journalist who is
running for the presidency. the candidate wants to
strengthen the bilateral relations with united states
and remodel most of his government's institutions.
(portuguese to africa 6/27, 6/28)
stp campaign incident -- two people have been seriously
injured after clashes between the supporters of two
candidates during a rally in s?ao tom?e city.
correspondent diogenes cravid reports. (portuguese to
africa 6/28)
kenya / new catholic leader -- pope john paul ii has
nominated the outspoken bishop of nakur, ndingi
mwananzeki as cardinal of kenya. bishop mwananzeki, an
open critic of president moi's policy, takes over from
cardinal otunga who resigned because of illness.
stringer mwai gikonyo reports on the nomination and
reaction. (swahili 6/28)
kenya / crime -- the notorious kenya gang leader wanted
for a number of crimes and attacks on foreign diplomats
in nairobi, has been killed by security forces in nakur,
a town which is about one hundred miles west of nairobi.
stringer mwai gikonyo reports that gerald wambugu, the
most wanted criminal in kenya, was cornered at a guest
house and tried to use his girlfriend as a human shield,
but both were killed. (swahili 6/28)
inside central asia:
transcaucasia / regional cooperation and security --
this forum, sponsored by the national endowment for
democracy, was held in washington this week. staffer
etery pichkhadze interviewed georgian scholar ghia
nodia, the panelist who represented the georgian
perspective in the forum. in addition, several
attendees were interviewed. (georgian 6/28)
us / armenian students -- stringer mariam ter-grigorian
reports that due to the great influx of armenians in
recent years, the number of armenian students in los
angeles county, especially in glendale, hollywood and
pasadena has increased significantly. for example, 80
percent of the graduating students of the hoover high
school in glendale are armenian-americans. (armenian
6/26)
inside south asia:
bangladesh / economy -- the political situation is
stabilizing in bangladesh with the handing over of power
to the newly elected peoples' representatives led by
prime minister sheikh hasina. the new government is
concentrating on restoring a peaceful atmosphere in the
country essential for economic growth and foreign
investment. finance minister sam s kibria and others in
the administration now face the challenge of taking
bangladesh on the road of economic development and
prosperity after two years of political unrest and
economic stagnation. stringer matiur rahman chowdhury
reports from dhaka. (bangla 6/28)
child labor / congress / soccer balls -- labor secretary
robert reich, senator harkin and congressman joseph
kennedy addressed a news conference to discuss a
campaign to stop use of child labor by soccer ball
manufacturers. they say manufacturers of soccer balls
must stop this abuse. eighty percent of the world's
soccer balls are made in pakistan by children under
fourteen years of age. staffer roquia haider reports on
the news conference and the congressional hearing on
this problem. (bangla 6/28)
inside east asia:
vietnam / china -- political scientist wang shaoguang of
yale university talks about relations between hanoi and
beijing with staffers william chien and xu feng. at a
press conference held at the beginning of a four-day
congress of vietnam's communist party, an official
pointed out that china sent its premier to hanoi for the
conference to demonstrate the improvement of bilateral
relations. (mandarin 6/28)
nuclear test ban failed to meet deadline -- arms
control negotiators failed to meet friday's deadline to
complete work on the proposed nuclear test ban treaty.
the conference chairman says he will present a revised
version of the treaty to the conference, but will not
ask for an immediate decision. instead, negotiators are
to resume at the end of july. staffer william chien and
xu feng report with an interview with military
specialist dr. lin changsheng, claremont institute.
(mandarin 6/28)
china / taiwan / jiang invites lee teng-hui to china --
china's president jiang zemin once again invited taiwan
leader lee teng-hui to visit beijing. jiang announced
the invitation in spain, where he is visiting. the new
invitation is made in response to lee's earlier proposal
to visit mainland china. experts believe the visit will
be difficult to realize. staffers xu feng and xiao hua
report with an interview with professor winston yang of
seton hall university. (mandarin 6/27)
us / presidential campaign -- former cia chief woolsey
expressed on wednesday his support for bob dole and
criticized clinton's foreign and defense policies for
being too weak in dealing with international challenges.
staffer wang ge interviews commentator zhao jinglun on
the positions of clinton and dole on international
affairs and woolsey's remarks. (mandarin 6/27)
france / nuclear test ban treaty -- france announced its
willingness to sign a draft treaty for a global ban on
nuclear tests in its current form, amid growing signs
the treaty will not be signed by the friday's deadline.
staffer xiao hua reports the latest developments in the
nuclear test ban treaty negotiations and interviews
professor june dreyer of the university of miami.
(mandarin 6/27)
g-7 meeting/ anti-terrorism / human rights -- us and
french leaders urged the g-7 leaders to take specific
actions against terrorism at their summit in lyon in the
wake of the deadly saudi bombing. in the meantime,
human right groups hope the meeting will specifically
criticize beijing's human rights record. staffers
herman liang and william chien report with an interview
with political scientist zhao yuesheng, french national
academy of social sciences. (mandarin 6/27)
china / taiwan -- jiang zemin renewed his invitation to
taiwan's leaders to visit the mainland and the bid was
seen as a good-will response to taiwan president lee
teng-hui's inauguration speech. but taiwan's mainland
affairs committee said the mainland should renew regular
meetings between taiwan's sef and mainland's arats.
taipei stringer chang yung-tai reports with comments
from zhang jingyu of the mainland affairs committee and
jiao renhe of the taiwan strait exchange foundation.
(mandarin 6/27)
us / china / military -- us undersecretary of defense
walt slocombe met with chinese top military officials in
his three-day visit to beijing. analyst believe this is
part of an effort to get the relationship back on track.
staffer wang ze interviews ron montaperto, senior fellow
at the institute of national strategic studies, us
national defense university. (mandarin 6/27)
hong kong / women -- hong kong women rally to celebrate
the return of hong kong to china in one year. they hope
the return will help improve hong kong women's status.
in hong kong, according to some women activists, only a
few women enjoy high status. the majority is still
encounter discrimination. hong kong stringer li yan wa
interviewed several women activists for the report.
(mandarin 6/27)
clinton / g-7 / kedo -- president clinton was quoted by
japanese press as having said to prime minister hashmoto
that he would urge european countries to make more
financial contributions to the korean peninsula energy
development organization that will provide north korea
with two light-water nuclear reactors. at a bilateral
summit before g-7 meetings in lyon, france, president
clinton reportedly explained to the japanese leader
about financial difficulties kedo is facing, and
stressed the need for european nations to come up with a
financial help for kedo as japan has done for
bosnia.correspondent cheeyung boo reports from seoul.
(korean 6/28)
south korea / new spy planes -- the south korean
ministry of national defense friday announced a plan to
buy ten us hawk 800-xp intelligence planes and their
support equipment worth over 400 million dollar for
deployment in 2000. seoul officials say the planes will
help the south korean military increase its ability to
independently gather information on north korean
military activities. the project had triggered fierce
competition among military aircraft makers from the us,
france, canada and israel, but south korean defense
officials said the us planes was selected based on the
price and capability and financial issues.
correspondent cheeyung boo reports from seoul. (korean
6/28)
north korea / kim il sung anniversary -- north korea
began commemorating the second anniversary of the death
of its founding leader kim il sung with a memorial
documentary film titled "great leader comrade kim il
sung is forever" shown throughout the country for ten
days. correspondent cheeyung boo reports from seoul.
(korean 6/28)
thai sociologist visits -- a second thammasart
university faculty member performing research at
michigan is here to use the library of congress.
professor kamala saengsrithong, told editor jesda sivali
that she is writing a new textbook on the family. she
is following us politics closely on the abortion and
family values issues, and notes the value of sex
education at all school levels as an effective means of
preventing the spread of the hiv virus, which plagues
her country. (thai 6/26)
inside europe:
bosnia / karadzic -- carl bildt, international mediator
for the civilian aspect of the bosnian peace agreement
expressed hope that bosnian serb leader radovan karadzic
will soon step down from power without conditions.
stringer vladimir bilic quotes the mediator's spokesman
as saying that mr bildt is confident that mr karadzic
will eventually end up before the hague war crimes
tribunal. (croatian 6/27)
bosnia / serb leadership -- spokesman for the
international administrator in bosnia, carl bildt, says
that no letter of resignation was received from bosnian
serb leader, radovan karadzic. stringer boro kontic
reports from sarajevo. (serbian 6/27)
karadzic / resignation -- there is still no definitive
answer from bosnian serbs whether their leader radovan
karadzic will step down from power. the ruling serbian
democratic party will chose new leadership on friday,
when it will be known whether karadzic retains his
position as president. stringer milica kuburovic
reports. (serbian 6/27)
yugo / war crimes -- the international tribunal in the
hague has opened hearings of charges against seventeen
people indicted for war crimes committed during the
bosnian conflict. stringer lada stipic nizeteo reports
that the court also started hearings in the case against
bosnian serb leaders radovan karadzic and ratko mladic.
(croatian 6/27)
the hague / new indictments -- the hague tribunal has
indicted nine bosnian croats and eight bosnian serbs for
crimes committed against bosnian muslims. the court has
also started a procedure to confirm the indictments
against bosnian serb leaders, radovan karadzic and ratko
mladic. stringer dragan blagojevic reports from the
hague. (serbian 6/27)
mostar / elections -- three new candidates in mostar
entered the election race. stringer pejo gasparovic
reports that a coalition of five parties nominated jole
musa, and the two other candidates less well known,
petar milic and dragan ziga. (croatian 6/27)
un / bosnia -- the un security council debates reports
by un and nato about the situation in bosnia and
herzegovina. council members expressed concern because
of the strengthening of separatist forces. stringer
dragisa boskovic reports from new york. (serbian 6/27)
croatia / human rights -- the croatian media has
strongly condemned the report on human rights in croatia
by un secretary general boutros boutros ghali.
croatian deputy foreing minister ivan simonovic says
that the report is an attempt to put pressure on his
country in order to achieve a comprehensive settlement
in the region. (croatian 6/27)
un / croatia -- the croatian government and media say
that the report of the un secretary general on human
rights violations in croatia reflects additional
political pressure on zagreb. however, the leader of
serbian peoples party in croatia, milan djukic said the
report realistically portrays the situation in the
country. stringer stevica susa reports from zagreb.
(serbian 6/27)
bosnia / britain -- the british ambassador to
bosnia-herzegovina visited the tuzla area. in an
interview with stringer zdravko javor, ambassador
hopkins said that his country is ready and willing to
help rebuild bosnia. he also said that the
implementation of the dayton agreements is the only way
for bosnia to survive. (croatian 6/27)
croatia / eastern slavonia -- for the first time in five
years, a train left vinkovci for tovarnik, a town in
eastern slavonia still under serbian control. stringer
vlado benic reports that the passengers were
international officials, headed by jacques klein, un
administrator for the region, and some local officials.
stringer quotes general klein as calling the reopening
of the rail link an enormous step in the process of
reintegration of the region (croatia 6/27)
mass media / former yugoslavia -- an international
conference on the role of mass media in the former
yugoslavia was held on the croatian island of brac. the
conference was attended by media representatives from
several european countries, as well as journalists from
croatia, serbia, montenegro, and bosnia. stringer
radmila karlas reports from banjaluka. (serbian 6/27)
albania / council of europe -- reporter michele kelemen
speaks to lord finsberg, the head of the british
delegation to the council of europe and one of the
authors of a council of europe resolution on albania.
he says the resolution calls on the government and
opposition to hold talks, re-write election laws and
consider holding new elections. it stops short of
calling for a re-vote. lord finsberg is part of the
monitoring team, which will follow through on the
resolution. (enp 6/27)
brzezinski / poland / future -- zbigniew brzezinski,
former national security advisor to president carter,
addressed the small bussiness association of poland. he
said poland faces unique historical chance to become a
part of the western world and secure its position.
correspondent tadeusz walendowski reports from warsaw.
(polish 6/27)
poland / ukraine -- roman szporluk, harvard historian
examines ukrainian president kuczma's recent visit to
poland in its historical perspective. interview by
staffer mirek kondracki. (polish 6/27)
dante / festival -- stringer hagop artinian reports on
ravenna, one of the most beautiful cities in italy.
dante is buried there, and once every two years a
special art exhibit is organized to commemorate his
memory. this year artists from 37 countries
participated in the exhibit, with 306 paintings and
sculptures. among the participants were nine award
winning armenian artists. (armenian 6/27)
inside eurasia:
russian senate rejects communist land act -- staffers xu
feng and william chien interview zhang jian of the east
europe institute of france on a proposed land code
backed by the communists that was overwhelmingly
rejected by the upper house of russia's parliament.
(mandarin 6/27)
russia / lebed -- president yeltsin's national security
adviser alexander lebed's policies have been the subject
of much press discussion, reports moscow correspondent
alec batchan. according to a recently published
document, lebed wants more control from the center in
the field of economy and stricter passport control to
fight crime and the continuing brain drain. at a press
conference in moscow, lebed gave his word that he would
fight to end all foreign religious propaganda in russia
and to curtail the spread of western culture. (russian
6/27)
us / russia relations -- dimitry simes, president of the
nixon center for peace and freedom, leon aron of the
american enterprise institute and staffer vladimir
matlin discuss whether senator bob dole's recent
criticism of president clinton's policy towards russia
is justified. (russian 6/27)
russia / opic -- opic signed an agreement to create the
ceenis property fund to aid eastern european countries
and the former soviet union. ruth harkin spoke at the
signing ceremony attended by ambassadors from twelve
countries of the region and staffer george zorin. two
of the main investors in this fund are mci and bank of
boston. (russian 6/27)
uzbek president press conference -- uzbek president
islam karimov, in washington on a working visit, spoke
at a press conference at the national press club.
stringer allan davydov reports that karimov emphasized
that uzbekistan is most interested in attracting western
businessmen to his country. he admitted that his
country had a ways to go toward achieving full
democracy, but said that he is counting on help from us
and international organizations. (russian 6/28)
ukraine gets its own nasdaq -- kyiv correspondent phil
staruch reports that with assistance from us aid,
ukraine was able to establish its own nasdaq. at a
press conference in kyiv announcing the event, ukrainian
nasdaq director, yuri chopko explained the basic
principles of stock and securities trading, hailing the
introduction of this form of economic activity as a
great milestone in ukraine's privatization program.
(ukrainian 6/26)
democratic parties form a block -- correspondent phil
staruch reports on a press conference of the centrist
block, mist (bridge). the press conference was held to
welcome a new member, a political union called wybir
(choice). other members of this block include the
democratic, the labor, and the social democratic
parties. (ukrainian 6/27)
inside latin america:
latam / caribbean econ -- the role of private investment
and government institutions in the regional economy will
be the main focus of the upcoming world bank conference
on latin american and caribbean economies. (spanish
6/27)
aid / paho vaccination -- the panamerican health
organization, with a grant from aid, launches a massive
vaccination campaign, with the goal of eliminating
measles in the region. staffer milton hourcade reports.
(spanish 6/27)
28-jun-96 6:35 pm edt (2235 utc) nnnn
source: voice of america
Jai Maharaj <j...@mantra.com> Jyotishi
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