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To: John Hunt who wrote (45422)	11/30/1999 8:17:00 AM
From: Enigma	Respond to of 116770

Euro Slide and UK: Times: November 30 1999 BRITAIN Germans launch attack on Brown Britain is blamed for euro slide BY PHILIP WEBSTER AND LEA PATERSON GERMANY yesterday accused Britain of undermining confidence in the euro by holding out against a new savings tax as the fledgling currency teetered dangerously towards parity with the dollar. The German Finance Minister spoke out as the Chancellor and Tony Blair persisted with demands that the City's Eurobond market be exempted from the new tax. Faced with the potential collapse of two-year negotiations on a package to tackle cross-border tax dodges, Hans Eichel said: "It would be harmful for the internal market and harmful for the common currency if we cannot agree on tax." The euro slipped to a record low of $1.0038 and to a new low against the yen yesterday, but a British Treasury source dismissed any link between the decline of the currency and the tax impasse. "What would really damage the single currency would be agreeing to a directive which was flawed," he said. "The logic of Britain's position has been about protecting Europe's financial markets." Mr Brown and Mr Blair are clearly ready to plunge the country into one of its biggest disputes with the EU since the BSE crisis. Downing Street said that Mr Blair would be equally robust if heads of government tried to overcome British objections at their summit in Helsinki next week. "This poses a major practical problem for us. There is no question of us backing down on a position we have put forward very strongly. It is about protecting the national interest and also protecting the EU financial markets." But Francis Maude, the Shadow Chancellor, said Herr Eichel had let the cat out of the bag. "He has finally admitted what we have said all along: that the EU sees tax harmonisation as an integral part of the single currency." The sticking point is the proposed 20 per cent "withholding tax" on the interest on non-resident EU citizens' savings. Britain believes that to the tax to the Eurobond market could force the $3 trillion industry to move out of the EU, putting thousands of City jobs at risk. A Treasury study last summer concluded that the tax directive in its present form had the potential to wreak serious damage on London's financial markets by making it more expensive for international investors to issue debt in Europe. Mr Brown proposed a compromise which would exempt large investors from the tax, but this was rejected out of hand by other European finance ministers. The plan for the withholding tax now looks almost certain to be kicked into the long grass. The failure of the talks came as finance ministers tried to talk up the euro. Christian Sautter of France said: "The European economy is clearly in a recovery phase. The euro has the potential to rebound. The fundamentals of the euro are sound." Herr Eichel said: "The growth expectations are positive and we have a positive current account." Wim Duisenberg, president of the European Central Bank, also said he saw no cause for concern. He told the European Parliament's monetary committee that the decline was more a short-term reflection of the strong economic performance in America and insisted that the euro was poised for a comeback, now that the economies of the euro-zone were on the road to recovery. Mr Brown steered clear of the issue. "Finance ministers like myself never get into a position of giving running commentaries on a minute-by-minute or day-by-day basis on international currencies and I am not going to do that today," he said. Financial traders, however, predicted that the euro was almost certain to be tested against parity with the dollar. "A test of parity certainly seems very likely", Jane Foley, currency strategist at Barclays Capital, said. "We're not far off that level now". The receding threat of intervention by the European Central Bank (ECB) added to speculation in the financial markets that the euro had further to fall. Analysts also blamed the latest bout of euro weakness on apparent political interference by Germany in business affairs. Next page: Labour warned on sponsors Arts (Mon - Fri) \| Books (Sat) (Thu) \| British News \| Business \| Court page \| Features (Mon - Fri) \| Go (Sat) \| Interface (Mon) \| Law (Tue) \| Metro (Sat) \| Obituaries \| Opinion \| Sport \| Travel (Sat) (Thu) \| Vision (Sat) \| Weather \| Weekend (Sat) \| Weekend Money (Sat) \| World News Opinion Leading Article - Withholding support Next: Labour warned on sponsors Copyright 1999 Times Newspapers Ltd. This service is provided on Times Newspapers' standard terms and conditions. To inquire about a licence to reproduce material from The Times, visit the Syndication website.

To: John Hunt who wrote (45422)	11/30/1999 9:22:00 AM
From: lorne	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116770

Fear of Y2K glitches may be worse than the glitches themselves 1.03 a.m. ET (615 GMT) November 30, 1999 foxnews.com Morning John. I think I know what to do with all those nuisance squab messing up the barn. They just may make a good y2k meal. :-) Lorne

To: John Hunt who wrote (45422)	12/5/1999 9:01:00 PM
From: long-gone	Respond to of 116770

Y2K - Many Still Doubt Nuclear Missile Safety By Martin Nesirky 12-5-99 MOSCOW (Reuters) - Few people doubt Russia has enough nuclear weapons to destroy the world but many still need convincing the missiles will stay put when midnight chimes on December 31. The United States and Russia, despite relations being at a post-Cold War low, are both eager to oblige as they prepare for the so-called millennium bug which may cause some computers to confuse 2000 for 1900. (cont) sightings.com