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Politics : Clinton -- doomed & wagging, Japan collapses, Y2K bug, etc -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: SOROS who wrote (245)	9/13/1998 10:32:00 PM
From: SOROS	Respond to of 1151

Jerusalem Post - 09/13/98 By Michal Yudelman Tens of thousands flocked to Kikar Rabin Saturday night to take part in a Peace Now demonstration, marking the fifth anniversary of the Oslo agreement and calling on Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to resign. Crowd estimates ranged from 40,000 to 50,000. Demonstrators held up posters saying "Netanyahu go home," "Netanyahu - danger'' "Peace Now'' and "Meretz.'' There were also many posters of Labor Party leader Ehud Barak, although Labor refused to fund buses or provide posters for the demonstration. Meretz leader MK Yossi Sarid called on the prime minister to resign, together with all "his collaborators," ministers Avigdor Kahalani and Yitzhak Mordechai. "We won't be the donkeys carrying the harbingers of destruction any longer," Sarid said, referring to the controversial book The Messiah's Donkey, which portrays secular society as the donkey carrying the religious rulers on its back and doing all their dirty work, like fighting wars and producing food. "You who are riding towards a halachic state, get off our back! We're not your donkeys. We're not your suckers. He who is riding to Tel Rumeida and Joseph's Tomb, the Jewish settlement in Hebron and Yitzhar and all those damned places, we won't carry you on our backs any more," Sarid called. "We despise that man [Netanyahu], who regards everyone as traitors," Sarid said, telling the demonstrators: "You, too, are traitors in his eyes.'' MK Shlomo Ben-Ami blasted Netanyahu for his indifference to social causes and to "the victims of the criminal social neglect of the Likud and Shas. "Because you, Netanyahu, don't have and never had a social memory and a social heart," Ben-Ami said. "You have no remedy for the diseases of education, the collapse of welfare and you're indifferent to the collapse of the health system.'' Hundreds of policemen safeguarded the square and closed Rehov Ibn Gvirol from Rehov Arlosoroff to Shaul Hamelech Blvd. Most of the demonstrators were teenagers and people in their 20s and 30s. Many people brought their children to the rally. The Likud spokeswoman, Ronit Eckstein, said the demonstration was the first pre-planned spectacle of personal incitement against the prime minister. She said Peace Now should have held the rally in Gaza, to demand Arafat fight terrorism.(c) Jerusalem Post 1998

To: SOROS who wrote (245)	9/13/1998 10:34:00 PM
From: SOROS	Respond to of 1151

Jerusalem Post - 09/13/98 Territories closed to avert Hamas revenge bid By Arieh O'Sullivan and Steve Rodan The IDF is on high alert and has beefed up its forces in the territories after a weekend of violent clashes with Hamas supporters vowing to avenge the killings of two of its top terrorists. Dozens of Hamas militants were injured Saturday in clashes with the IDF as well as with the Palestinian Police in the territories, which have been sealed off since before dawn Friday after security forces on Thursday killed Hamas master bomber Adel Awadallah and his brother, Imad, in a cottage west of Hebron. Palestinian sources said more than 100 people were wounded by rubber bullets fired by Israeli soldiers during the clashes. In Gaza, five Hamas supporters were wounded by PA policemen who fired on them when they marched toward a PA complex. PA officials said the marchers had demonstrated without a permit. Military sources said the closure would remain in effect "for some time. There are warnings of attacks and [Hamas] itself is threatening to carry out attacks. It will be a while until the closure is lifted." The clashes came amid a general strike called by Hamas to protest the killing of the Awadallah brothers. Channel 2 said that the strike was only partially observed. OC Judea and Samaria Brig.-Gen. Yitzhak Eitan said the Awadallah brothers were killed when IDF and Border Police commandos raided their hideout in Khirbet Teibeh, near Hebron. Palestinians claim the raid was staged and that the Awadallah brothers were killed elsewhere and dumped in the one-room summer cottage. Adel and Imad Awadallah were on the General Security Service's most wanted list and had been involved in several terrorist attacks. Imad had escaped from a PA prison in Jericho on August 15, an incident which GSS director Ami Ayalon questioned as highly unlikely without assistance from PA forces in the jail. Imad Awadallah was arrested in April on charges of involvement in the murder of Mohieddin Sharif, the chief Hamas bombmaker whose body was found riddled with bullets and mangled by an explosion in Ramallah. Eitan insisted that the IDF did not know the identity of the Awadallah brothers before the assault. In fact, the two men had been carrying Palestinian Authority identification cards belonging to Hebron residents. "After a check it turned out that the terrorists were the arch-murderers Adel and Imad Awadallah," Eitan said. "Their identity was not known before they were eliminated. The intention was to take control of the terrorists who were in the house," he said, dismissing accusations that the mission was to kill, not capture the two brothers. "We are fighting terror and we have promised that we will attack any terrorist and murderer and get to him," said Eitan. "This is an ongoing war and every place where we come into contact with terrorists we will arrest them or kill them." The house was in area C and there was no coordination with the Palestinian Authority, Eitan said. A sweep turned up an Uzi submachine gun, a Kalashnikov assault rifle, two FN 9mm pistols, and hand grenades and ammunition. But the IDF also found an assortment of wigs and hair pieces, including earlocks worn by some observant Jewish males. "From their equipment we understand that the terror cell was on its way to carry out either a shooting attack or a kidnapping," Eitan said. The Awadallah brothers were senior Hamas figures in the West Bank and the blow to the Hamas infrastructure is relatively heavy, Eitan said. The apparent top Hamas man in the West Bank is now Mahmoud Abu Hanud, who is also a fugitive. "We expect or think that Hamas will try to carry out revenge attacks," Eitan said. "Hamas is trying to carry out attacks all of the time and doesn't need to wait for an incident like this to try to avenge."

To: SOROS who wrote (245)	9/13/1998 10:37:00 PM
From: SOROS	Respond to of 1151

The Economist - 09/13/98 TO INSTALL a president for life is to court misfortune. But to have a dead president inflicted on you for eternity, as has happened to the people of North Korea, is a downright calamity. All the more so, as North Korea's grim regime poses a threat not just to its own people (the economy has shrunk by at least 30% since 1990) but also, as its latest rocket launch has shown, to others near and far. Kim Jong Il's decision to assign the presidency to his dead dad-the living Kim runs the place through the Central Defence Committee-is rational in one respect: he would be barmy to want public responsibility for the mess North Korea is in (see article). But it bodes ill for efforts to prevent a crisis of nuclear proportions erupting on the Korean peninsula. The "framework agreement" America struck with North Korea in 1994 to freeze and eventually dismantle its production of plutonium (from which nuclear bombs can be made) in return for two modern, less proliferation-prone nuclear reactors, had many flaws-not least that it put off, perhaps indefinitely, the date when North Korea had to tell all about its past nuclear cheating. But there was little alternative, short of an American military strike against North Korea, since there was so little support for economic sanctions. And, it was argued at the time, the deal would buy time to draw North Korea into talks with outsiders, including South Korea, thus reducing tensions along the world's most dangerous border. But North Korea had no intention of letting that happen. The change of government in South Korea last year, to one with a "sunshine policy" of promoting more contacts with the North, posed, if anything, an even bigger threat to the survival of Kim Jong Il's regime; that regime still rules out even limited contacts between divided families, since these would show northerners just how bad their lot really is. And whenever it looks as though North Korea's diplomats may be getting too matey with their American or South Korean counterparts, some new military provocation-the dispatch of spy submarines into South Korean waters or a controversial missile test-tends to be arranged. Even before the firing last week of a rocket (launching an innocent satellite, say the northerners), North Korea had said it would keep on selling nuclear-capable missiles to anyone with the cash to buy. Its chief customers recently have included Iran (which may be trying secretly to build a bomb) and Pakistan (now in open nuclear rivalry with India). But the latest piece of pyrotechnics was not just a part of North Korea's sales drive. Whether satellite launch or missile test, it showed that North Korea has the technology to put much of North-East Asia in missile-firing range. Clearly, the time America thought it had bought for diplomacy has been used by North Korea to strengthen its military muscle. It may also have been secretly continuing its bomb-building with plutonium produced before 1994. It has threatened to restart its plutonium-rich reactors if the project to supply it with western-designed alternatives and the promised interim deliveries of fuel oil are delayed. Yet more delays seem inevitable: incensed that part of North Korea's rocket travelled over its territory, Japan has suspended, at least for a while, its $1 billion contribution for the reactors. When time runs out The "agreed framework" for reducing North Korea's ability to cause nuclear mayhem thus looks ever more rickety. It may not be possible to keep either the reactor project or the oil shipments on schedule: getting more money from America's Congress for the oil will now be all the harder. Yet there is still no alternative course of diplomatic action. Meanwhile, the danger North Korea poses to its neighbours is greater even than before: it can now fix Tokyo and Beijing, not just Seoul, in its missile sights. Unless the living Mr Kim improbably changes his ways, it may be only a matter of time before his neighbours, and America, have to consider tougher action.

To: SOROS who wrote (245)	9/13/1998 10:40:00 PM
From: SOROS	Respond to of 1151

Russia Today - 09/13/98 MOSCOW -- (Reuters) Russia's economic team apparent, with key members hand-picked by the Communist Party, has sparked fears that an endless stream of credits may drown the economy without addressing the problems which drove Russia to crisis. Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov, in calls to rebuild the economy, has referred as an example to the New Deal of U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt, who mobilized government funds to pull his country out of the Great Depression. But analysts and Western businessmen say that new credits will not help Russia if they are not aimed at improving efficiency, the consequences of which Russia has long shirked. Credits, which will cost the country dearly, could revive and bloat the economy, recovering from nine years of stagnation and shrinkage. But without real change, a short surge in productivity could be swallowed by disaster and inflation. Those possibilities appear realistic because Primakov has said Yury Maslyukov, the Communist former head of Soviet super-ministry Gosplan, would be his first deputy prime minister in charge of the economy. Victor Gerashchenko, a former central bank chief who has some support among reformers but who turned on the presses in the early 1990s, has already been nominated by President Boris Yeltsin to return to that post and promised to be cautious with new monetary issues. Neither has detailed his economic plan but both were put forward by the Communist Party which has vowed to revive industry by giving credits. "If these appointments happen, I would expect hyperinflation in Russia," said Vladimir Mau, deputy director of the liberal Institute for the Economy in Transition, adding communist plans pointed the way to "economic disaster." There is broad consensus in Russia among liberals and conservatives that some credits must be used to revive the industrial and banking sectors. Primakov said on Friday that factories must also become more efficient. "Support to domestic producers must be a priority of the government," he told the Duma before being approved as prime minister. "At the same time this must be done in such a way that domestic producers are not given such extraordinary conditions so that they do not worry about the quality of their goods." But he declined to say how he would draw that line, which may be the line between recovery and failure. Vagit Alekperov, head of Russia's premier oil company, LUKoil, one of the most respected Russian companies by Western investors, said on Friday that Russia needed to change course. "Financial policy must have the effect of stimulating industry rather than a financial character," he wrote in Izvestiya daily newspaper. "For instance you can never say that monetary emission is only evil." He said Russia should address 30-50 percent overstaffing at its companies by creating new companies and new jobs. "Here you cannot get around major government aid." But the Russian treasury is close to broke, having practically defaulted on its domestic treasury bills and missed most of a payment of foreign debt interest to Germany, and it is already under pressure to pay wage and pension arrears. Scott Blacklin, president of Moscow's American Chamber of Commerce, said Russia had not made hard choices. "There has been a big orgy in this country over the past six years. The middle class has had their knees cut off from them." He said the problem with issuing credits was that Russia had no record of making, announcing, and sticking to a plan, which threatened its credibility and judgment. "You've actually got a weaker situation than before," he said. His recommendation for inefficient companies was, "bankruptcy and sales of those assets to people with money. And that means foreigners. That is where the pain comes. There is no escaping the pain. The statist, nationalist approach is doomed to fail." ( (c) 1998 Reuters)

To: SOROS who wrote (245)	9/13/1998 10:41:00 PM
From: SOROS	Respond to of 1151

The Telegraph - London - 09/13/98 By Damien McElroy in Beijing GANGS of street urchins from poverty-stricken parts of rural China are besieging the country's major cities, prompting embassies to warn visitors about their personal safety. Beijing, where gangs of up to four or five filthy, shaven-headed youths armed with wooden clubs patrol the streets, is the city worst affected by the latest crime wave. In a pedestrian underpass at the edge of Tiananmen Square, office workers and shoppers have been accosted and made to give up the contents of their wallets. Many locals have invested the œ150 or so it takes to buy a safe to store their possessions and are carrying less cash when they go out. Few are immune. Tourists who disembark from shuttle buses at the edge of Silk Alley, a market in Beijing's embassy district, are besieged by gangs of aggressive youngsters who know enough English to say: "Money. Give me money." Locals call the young beggars qigai, which means "people who ask". Most have been bought from peasant families for less than œ15 by gang leaders who promise parents that their children will be put to work on a building site or in a restaurant as kitchen hands. The promised jobs often do not materialise. A recent national survey underlined the scale of the problem the qigai pose. It said that 60 per cent of all suspects detained by the police are minors, many of them illegal migrants living in Dickensian squalor. The report said: "Gang crimes, juvenile delinquency and felonies perpetrated by migrants are sharply increasing. The general security situation is worrisome and disturbing." Analysts predict that more and more Chinese will be pushed into a life of crime as the economy continues to decline. Economic growth in China slowed to seven per cent in the first half of this year and may drop further. By international standards, overall levels of crime in China remain low, largely because of the harsh penalties meted out to lawbreakers. An Amnesty International report out this week said more people - a total of 1,876 - were executed in China last year than in the rest of the world combined. Juvenile offenders typically receive lengthy jail sentences and have to undergo long re-education programmes. Zhan, who is now 22, has been incarcerated since 1990 for killing two classmates. His sentence is due to run until 2005. But the deterrent effect of harsh retribution has waned as the rewards from a life of crime have grown. When Chris Schneider, a German advertising executive, had his backpack stolen while shopping at a market in Beijing, he tracked down the thief to the dormitory he and about 80 other youths shared in a nearby street. As negotiations progressed to recover Mr Schneider's passport and other personal effects, the boys told him that they had come from the province of Henan in central China in search of the riches of the capital. Mr Schneider regained all his stolen effects except his wallet. There are tens of thousands of boys from the countryside living in similar circumstances in Beijing. Police officers are overwhelmed. Zhang Xiong, a police superintendent in Dongcheng suburb, knocks on doors daily to caution people that their homes may not be as secure as they have traditionally believed. He said the police can no longer provide 100 per cent protection. He said: "With all the changes that are going on, and people flooding in from the country, there's too much for us to do. We can't control it. You have to be more careful about locking doors and not leaving your possessions lying around." It is a lecture that Mr Schneider does not need. He said: "I watch my things more carefully now. As a foreigner I still feel pretty safe, but I'm more worried for my girlfriend who is Chinese. I won't let her go outside at night any longer."

To: SOROS who wrote (245)	9/13/1998 10:44:00 PM
From: SOROS	Respond to of 1151

BBC - London - 09/13/98 Clinton: projecting image of business as usual President Clinton's legal team and supporters have begun a high-profile public relations blitz to counter the explosive Starr report. The president's lawyers and supporters have taken to television and radio to promote the comprehensive White House rebuttal issued on Saturday. Since the report was published, the Clinton strategy has switched from seeking forgiveness to damage limitation. The new approach stresses the rebuttal's argument that absolutely no grounds existed to impeach the president. On NBC's influential Meet the Press programme, White House lawyer Charles Ruff said the president had admitted he had done wrong by having a sexual relationship with Monica Lewinsky. But he had apologised to his family and the country. "Whatever is in that report ... there is no basis for an impeachment," he said. That view is supported by the Vice-President, Al Gore, who has said that, although the president has done wrong, he should not be impeached. Starr under fire The White House is hoping to convince Americans that the report is a crude attempt to embarrass the president and does not warrant impeachment. Our Washington correspondent says the scandal is no longer just about legal niceties but is a political crisis. What matters now is how the American people respond and the reactions of the Congressional members who have to decide whether they can stomach going through the sexual detail outlined in the report again in impeachment hearings. In what some believe could become another Democratic tactic, Clinton supporters have taken the offensive to the Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr. They have suggested he was as much on trial as the president for the tactics of his inquiry and the "lurid" nature of his report. "This president will not be railroaded," said Representative Maxine Waters, head of the Congressional Black Caucus and a member of the House Judiciary Committee which will consider impeachment. Signs of success There are signs that both strategies may be working. A new CBS poll released on Sunday showed 62% rejecting impeachment and 66% saying the president should not resign. The poll supports opinion polls by other major US TV networks and Newsweek magazine which show a slight increase in the president's job approval ratings. However, an editorial in one of the most influential newspapers in America, the New York Times, has captured the tone of much of the Press. It said that a president who had hoped to be remembered for the grandeur of his social legislation will instead be remembered for the tawdriness of his conduct. Business as usual The president himself has tried to project a business as usual image. In his weekly radio address on Saturday, he suggested Congress pay attention to what he called "our primary mission" rather than the sex scandal. But most members of Congress, along with most Americans, are still reviewing the details of the report in which Mr Starr contends that the president's attempts to keep his affair a secret led him to commit at least 11 impeachable offences. What next for Clinton? The Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives must now decide whether the allegations in the Starr report constitute "high crimes and misdemeanours". If so, the committee can begin formal impeachment hearings. But such hearings would probably not begin until January next year, once the new Congress starts work. If, after hearings, the committee were to recommend impeachment - a formal accusation of the President - it would be up to the full House to endorse. Once impeached, Mr Clinton would go before the Senate for what would, in effect, be a trial.

To: SOROS who wrote (245)	9/13/1998 10:46:00 PM
From: SOROS	Respond to of 1151

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To: SOROS who wrote (245)	9/13/1998 10:47:00 PM
From: SOROS	Respond to of 1151

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To: SOROS who wrote (245)	9/13/1998 10:49:00 PM
From: SOROS	Respond to of 1151

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To: SOROS who wrote (245)	9/13/1998 10:51:00 PM
From: SOROS	Respond to of 1151

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To: SOROS who wrote (245)	9/13/1998 10:55:00 PM
From: SOROS	Respond to of 1151

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To: SOROS who wrote (245)	9/13/1998 10:57:00 PM
From: SOROS	Respond to of 1151

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